Thank you NIS America for sending us the Ultimate Edition of this game to review!

Ever since my first time playing an Ys game, I quickly fell in love with this series. From the 'bump system' beginnings of Ys I & II, to the solo games in the middle era with Ys VI through Origins, and through the party system era of Ys Seven through IX, all have been great. Ys X: Nordics introduces us to a new game engine and system, revolving around a pair of protagonists. Of course the red-haired Adol Christin takes center stage as the main hero of Ys. But this time he's paired up with Karja Balta, an unexpected but excellent companion.

Adol, his new (and soon life-long) pal Dogi, and Dr. Flair recently left Lance Village after the conclusion of Ys II. The trio is on the Adamas, a passenger ship traveling towards Celceta, so Dr. Flair can find the Celcetan Flower, a mysterious herb that has powerful healing properties. Unfortunately, the captain of the Adamas did not pay dues to the Balta Seaforce who rules the local waters. During their seemingly peaceful trip, the Adamas is boarded by what passengers think are pirates. The captain is made an example of, though not before Adol gets into a fight with some of the boarders, thinking it's a pirate invasion. This includes their leader, a certain female pirate captain who wields a power called Mana. They eventually stand down, after realizing Adol is not part of the mercenary crew of the ship. It's then docked at Carnac, a local port town in the Obelia Gulf. Adol and the rest of the passengers of the Adamas are now stranded there until they can figure out a new route to get to Celceta.

For those who are big Ys fans like me, you've probably already figured out that this game is the earliest story right after the conclusion of the events of Ys I & II, and right before the events that take place in Ys: Memories of Celceta. While there are some small references to those other two games, they are extremely minor. If you are new to Ys, this is a reasonable starting point, like with most of the other games. The only thing you might want to know is that Adol, Dogi and Dr. Flair traveled here from the floating island of Ys in Esteria, as the dialogue references that a few times. Ys games do have a continuum, but they are largely self-contained, and Ys X: Nordics is no exception. Because of this, you can start with pretty much any entry and play what you like.

Back in Carnac, Adol and his friends plan out ways to earn money so they can afford that next trip. Adol explores the town, and offers to join the local militia for some quick cash. Before he can start, he hears a voice come out of nowhere, asking him to seek someone. He finds a beautiful seashell and discovers that a mysterious woman named Lila is speaking to him through the seashell. He is then granted the power of Mana. The pirate captain from earlier soon runs into him and wants a rematch, since Adol clearly knows his way around a sword. It turns out she is the princess of the Balta Seaforce, the daughter of the jarl who rules the seas in the Obelia Gulf. Her name is Karja, and to their great surprise, a Mana chain forms, linking the two of them together. This means they can't separate from each other by more than around ten feet or so, surprising both and forcing them to work together, like it or not.

It's also quickly revealed that a strange form of monster called a Griegr has been increasing in tenacity, and only Mana users can kill them; for anyone else, they are knocked down and get right back up. It's not long before the entire town of Carnac is invaded and destroyed by Griegr forces, with no one knowing if the townspeople are living or dead. Adol, Karja, and a very small crew escape on board a dilapidated vessel called the Sandras that's barely seaworthy. Much of the adventure revolves around finding and rescuing anyone who may have survived, along with upgrading the ship making it better able to handle the challenges ahead.

Karja is part of a Norman tribe, and as such is bound by their codes of honor and ethics. This means that since Adol is an outsider, he needs to be inducted into Norman society, and they decide the best way to do this is for him to become Karja's first Shield Brother. They agree to complete the trial. This deepening bond between Adol and Karja throughout the adventure is one of the many highlights of Ys X: Nordics.

Ys is first and foremost an action role-playing game (action RPG or ARPG) and Ys X does an interesting job of mixing up the formula established in earlier Ys games. While it does retain the third-person behind the character action combat like Ys VIII and IX before it, the characters feel more grounded and less floaty, making the action feel a bit more technical and focused. Blocking is generally more effective, especially as a pair, since you can Perfect Guard powerful enemy attacks. You can also Perfect Dodge certain attacks as well, though I find guarding to be much more useful in this game compared to previous ones where dashing tended to be more effective. The Perfect Guard/Block happens when you block/dodge certain attacks within a specific timing window rather than just spamming the buttons. Spamming dodge or holding block still works reasonably well, but the timing does lend to more effective counterattacks. You are then rewarded with a cinematic counterattack that not only looks cool, but does tons of damage.

Each character has their own set of powerful skills that you learn throughout the adventure, and can be mastered by repeated use. There are also Duo skills that can also be learned and mastered through use. I find that using skills as often as possible is key to not only keeping the damage up, but helps a lot with crowd control. The most powerful skills unlock as you master earlier ones, giving you great incentive to keep mastering them.

You can switch between characters instantly by pressing the switch character button, usually 'X' on an Xbox controller (I use one on PC). This can be done at almost any time, and only the active character can take damage, with a few exceptions. The main exception is that you activate Duo mode by holding 'R2', which brings both characters in close and has them attack at the same time. This is very powerful especially since you can then just block by continuing to hold 'R2', that doubles as the block button, and attack in Duo mode or use Duo skills easily. You can only jump when not holding the Duo button, but outside of that you can execute plenty of powerful attacks in Duo mode. I really like using this for bosses or for enemies with lots of armor. You see, most normal enemies just have a health bar. But some also have an armor bar that covers the health, and you can't damage their health until the armor is removed. Some bosses lean into this mechanic, where the armor bar can return multiple times before their health can be exposed and finally defeated.

Adol specializes in fire attacks, and at least the way I built him he tends to do more pure damage to health. Karja's skills are ice-based, and her attacks seem to do more damage to armor. So I often found that I would start bosses as Karja and finish them off as Adol. Of course late game this matters less as damage comes easier, but even still this rule generally applies. As a veteran of Ys games, I found the game generally on the easier side even on Hard difficulty, with the exception being a few particularly nasty bosses. By the end of the game I was max level and did wicked damage, especially as Adol who can clear out enemies really quickly with his room-clearing attacks.

This is largely impacted by gear choice but especially how you setup the Release Lines. Each character has a line that they unlock slots with Mana points throughout the game. Each slot can be filled with Mana Seeds, of which there are five types. Each main type contributes to offence, defence, or other bonuses. I don't want to list out too much as it would spoil it a bit, but building appropriate lines for Adol and Karja can make you dramatically more powerful. There is a certain amount of griding involved if you want a perfect setup, but it's not necessary.

Outside of the normal combat sections that take place largely on islands or dungeons there is the new to Ys nautical aspects to the game. Since you spend so much time on the Sandras, you can navigate it to discover new and hidden areas in each region of the Obelia Gulf. Each region has a discovery map, and you are rewarded for discovering everything. Navigating with your ship is really slow and a bit unpleasant at first, but over time as you upgrade your ship and gain new abilities, it becomes a lot more enjoyable. There are also naval battles where you engage other ships in direct combat, where you shoot them with canons to sink them to the bottom of the sea. In this way, upgrading the Sandras grants offensive, defensive, and movement upgrades over time. I will say that by the middle of the game there are only a select few nautical enemies that will give you any trouble at all. Maneuvering this ship can be awkward at times though, as steering it can require switching the direction on the analog stick to continue turning in the same direction; I never did figure out why it's like this.

Graphically, the game is generally much better looking than previous Ys games, but not nearly as good as Falcom's other major release, Trails through Daybreak. This surprised me because Daybreak was released a couple of years earlier. The explanation for me that makes the most sense is that Ys X: Nordics was the first game Falcom has released that was developed simultaneously for PS4, PS5 and Nintendo Switch; this targeting of the slower hardware like the Switch must mean that they kept the graphical details down to keep performance up. Outside of that, it looks pretty good, and is probably the prettiest Ys game to date.

The music is excellent, though perhaps not as good as the best Ys games, it's still a rockin' soundtrack. The voice acting is truly fantastic though. I especially love how Karja's character is portrayed, and her voice lines are excellent by any standard. Characters quip constantly while exploring Obelia Gulf while navigating the waters on the Sandras, and every character exudes personality. While not every scene is voice acted, most of the main story ones are, and it's a big highlight.

The PC version was ported by the inimitable PH3 GmbH, who always does some of the best PC ports available. Ys X is no exception. The frame rate, resolution, and details are all fully customizable with frame rates up to 360Hz supported. It will look and play fantastic on virtually any modern PC, and even plays really well on Steam Deck or desktop Linux.

Morally, Ys X: Nordics has a few things to note. First of all, there is action violence, and plenty of it being an action RPG. There is occasional blood in cut scenes, but it's not a constant thing like some of the earlier games. Curse words are used, or in some cases replacement words for curse words. For example, Karja uses 'skitr', which is clearly meant to mean 'sh*t'. (This is confirmed to be a viking curse word after some research.) Other equivalent words like 'hel' for 'h*ll' are used, since again, they mean similar things in that language. I'm pretty sure '*ss' and 'd*mn' are present also, though I don't recall them being used often.

Obviously there is a lot of magic use by enemies and the player, given the role of Mana in the story. One of the characters, the priest Cuthbert, is part of the Hieroglyph church, an approximate analogy to the Catholic church. It's a shame that being a holy man doesn't give him any power over these undead; only being a Norman wielder of Mana does. There are many other references to the Norse pantheon, like Harr and other gods. Lots of magical skills of many kinds are present, and most of your enemies are the undead Griegr, but not all. A certain Griegr can <spoilers> take over human subjects against their will, turning them into a Griegr themselves</spoilers>. One powerful magic attack is called 'Pentagram', and has you executing a powerful sword strike in the shape of one. There is a fortune teller present.

When it comes to sexual content, this entry is somewhat lighter compared to others. Some females wear clothes with exposed midriffs, but most dress fairly modestly. (There are DLC costumes for swimsuits, but they are a separate purchase.) There is one child character that calls themselves a boy, though it's somewhat unclear if that's accurate.

Ys X: Nordics is another entry into the fantastic Ys series that I really thoroughly enjoyed. The dual-protagonist system is a lot of fun, and the way Adol and Karja play off of each other is also great. The time spent boating on the Sandras can be an enjoyable, relaxing time compared to the main combat, though early on it is a bit too slow. Despite this, it still lends itself to exploration, and NPCs change their dialogue whenever a major story event happens. There are lots of characters to get to know, and lots of story and side quests to experience if you want to. While I'm not sure if it's better than the very best entries like Ys VIII, it's a solid one for sure that I enjoyed a whole lot. One thing that's upsetting to many fans is Falcom in Japan just announced Ys X: Proud Nordics, an expanded remake of Ys X: Nordics, just a few months after the release of this game in the West. It's expected to release in Japan later this year. So I can understand it if you would rather wait the year or two for Ys X: Proud Nordics to come West. Nevertheless, Ys X: Nordics is still a really solid and fun game that I recommend to any fans of action RPGs. If you already love Ys, then Ys X is an easy recommendation.