Ys X: Nordics Hands-On – Adol’s next adventure is full of action, Vikings and boats

July 9, 2024

In keeping with the series’ long-standing tradition, Ys X: Nordics, the latest chapter in the long-running action RPG saga starring Adol Christin, has left fans in the West waiting quite a long time to get in on the fun. Thankfully, that wait is soon coming to an end, and after spending an hour jumping between different sections of the game to experience the dual-fighter action, get a taste of the all-important story, and even try out the new naval battle system, I’m inclined to believe that this seafaring tale might be worth the usual localization delay in the end. By replacing the usual larger party seen in recent Ys games with just two characters, Nordics benefits from a more focused experience, be it through the action-packed combat or the seemingly more focused story. These changes were more than enough to reignite my interest in this long-running odyssey.

If you’ve somehow managed to avoid Ys (pronounced like “ease”) for the past 37 years, this series follows the dramatic adventures of a young adventurer named Adol, most of which involve a fair amount of swashbuckling sword fights and larger-than-life storytelling. Ys X: Nordics takes him to the Viking-inspired Obelia Gulf to battle undead creatures called Griegr and find a new friend, a warrior princess named Karja. If you missed some of the series, however, fear not, as each adventure is mostly self-contained, and since this one is set after 1988’s Ys II, you’re not expected to learn all that much anyway. After a quick cutscene introducing a few returning characters, I basically had everything I needed to know and was ready to beat up a giant, evil salamander in typical Ys fashion.

Ys X: Nordic Screenshots

Each Ys game has its own style, and Nordics is no exception. The biggest change is the decision to move away from the typical party system of the newer installments and instead focus on just two characters: Adol and Karja. This affects everything from the combat, which is tailored to these two powerful warriors, to the story, which early on felt like it was much more focused than some previous Ys installments.

Combat was smooth, fast, and even a little challenging, as I was supposed to switch between Karja, whose Nordic strength made stripping enemy armor a breeze, and good old Adol, who I used to deliver the finishing blow after my opponents were stripped of their defenses. There were far too many menus and upgrade options for me to get a proper handle on everything during my short demo, but I knew there was a lot to master, like learning the shared attacks I could perform after building up enough mana.

The focus on the story’s two protagonists also impacts the plot, as Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo told me: “By narrowing it down to just two characters to relate to, (the development team) was actually able to do more with it because they knew they could focus entirely on (Karja).” For someone who can get exhausted by convoluted stories with too many characters to follow, this was music to my ears.

But there’s also a more practical reason: the smaller scale. As Kondo-san told me, “We wanted to bring the game to the (Nintendo) Switch, and when you have that many party members, the console itself is kind of limited.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Ys game if there wasn’t a new mechanic to add variety, and in Nordics that mechanic – true to the Viking vibe it exudes – is naval combat. In the short part I played, I fended off waves of enemies with cannon fire while targeting shield generators to shut down a force field protecting an island. This silly section was certainly entertaining, with cannonballs aiming at their targets like in a cartoon, but it was also a bit simplistic, feeling more like a mini-game than anything of substance, and I can’t imagine I’ll enjoy it much more over the course of the lengthy campaign. Still, it’s hard to say how much this will evolve over the course of the 20+ hour long runtime, and it’s entirely possible it will evolve into something with more substance.