Test – Ys X: Nordics (PS5, PS4, Switch, PC)

While Nihon Falcom and us are showering ourselves with titles from The Legend of Heroes license, the Japanese publisher and NIS America have just (finally) found the time to localize Ys X: Nordics here. A wait which will have lasted more than a year. A new episode which refocuses the action on Adol, our red-haired hero, while introducing a new heroine forming a formidable duo with him. The wait was worth it, and it’s time to set sail for this new adventure.

This test of Ys X: Nordics was carried out on a Switch version provided by the publisher and a PS5 version purchased commercially.

For 37 years, Falcom has brought us the adventures of Adol Christin through his travel diaries, often presented in non-chronological order. When he was 24 years old in Ys IX: Monstrum NoxAdol returns to his 17th birthday in Ys X: Nordicsthe age he was just after his first adventures in Ys I & II. Accompanied by Dogi and Doctor Flair, Adol sails towards Celcéta, but their journey is interrupted by an attack by Norman warriors, a people inspired by the Vikings. The Normans, led by Jarl Grimson, impose their law in the Gulf of Obelia, demanding tribute for their protection. Adol and his companions find themselves on Carnac, an island under the control of the Normans, where they must work to earn money and continue their journey. However, Carnac is invaded by mystical creatures, the Griegers, which only mana users can fight. Adol gains this power by grabbing a mysterious seashell on the beach. Linked by a strange power of mana to Karja, the daughter of the leader of the Normans, Adol must face an invasion of Griegers which ravages Carnac. Together, they escape aboard a ship in poor condition and join the Norman camp to report the details of the invasion. Having become comrades in arms, Adol and Karja sail across the islands of the Gulf of Obelia to discover the mysteries of this region and fight against the Griegers, all against a backdrop of Scandinavian mythology.

Ys X: Nordics retains the real-time ARPG formula that made the series successful, with dynamic combat based on attacks, dodging, blocking and jumping. Unlike the most recent episodes where we controlled several characters, this new opus focuses on a duo: Adol and Karja. Bound by mana, they fight in sync, switching from solo to duo mode in one click. This mode, accessible via the R2 trigger, allows you to group the two characters in a defensive position and launch powerful skills in tandem, adding a new strategic dimension to the fights.

Whether solo or duo, the skills, which amount to 70 in total, use a reserve of PC which automatically recharges throughout the fight. Boss fights require breaking their armor before being able to inflict significant damage, forcing you to alternate between characters, each of whom can be “pimped” depending on the equipment to, for example, rely on brute force or on ability to break armor. Like the previous opuses, Ys X : Nordics offers an accessible but deep combat system, emphasizing above all the pleasure of the game. However, the game takes a little while to launch, the fault of tutorials sprinkled during the first hours in order to properly present all the functionalities . But once started, the story launches at full speed and we no longer see the hours passing.

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In this new opus, Nihon Falcom has chosen to immerse us in a maritime adventure across the Gulf of Obélia. Contrary to Ys VIII : Tears of Dana which took place on an interconnected island, and Ys IX Monstrum Noxcentered around the town of Balduq, Ys X : Nordics makes us live the pirate life a bit like Wind Waker. The maritime map is fragmented into different regions, and the Sandras, our ship, cannot explore them immediately.

The beginnings are laborious, with the boat extremely slow and maneuverable like a broken down semi-trailer. However, as you upgrade the ship, exploration and combat become more enjoyable. New areas and regions are unlocked as the story progresses, with the accessible islands being limited at the start before the possibilities expand as the adventure progresses. Obelia Bay offers numerous docking points, allowing you to explore hamlets and dungeons, and makes the ship play a central role in the progression of the adventure. In poor condition at the start, it requires improvements to face the dangers of the sea. You can strengthen its armor, its defense or even its offensive capabilities by recovering components at sea or from the wrecks of sunken ships. The gameplay at sea, although basic, allows you to vary the pleasures with naval battles and boardings which boil down to a succession of three waves of enemies to defeat.

Read also: Test of Ys 8: Lacrimosa of Dana on PS5

Naval battles also have the merit of rarely being imposed. No random battle, everything is visible and everyone is free to go and fight with the ships stationed on the waves or not. Because if the fights are relatively entertaining at the beginning, in the long term they turn out to be rather monotonous and the few secondary weapons that can be added to the ship do not bring depth to these gameplay phases. In fact, these sequences are a bit like the defense missions of Ys VIII and Grimwald’s Nights by Ys IXwhile not integrating as seamlessly into the flow of the game.

Ys X : Nordics presents a slightly revised artistic direction with a touch of cel-shading which brings a real character to the character design. However, if the animations and cutscenes are neat, certain aspects such as textures, background decorations and water remain very behind. In terms of decoration details, Ys VIII: Tears of Danaalthough released in 2017 on PlayStation 4, is much more detailed and the choice of the Switch as the main platform for the development of Ys X : Nordics had the consequence of severely restricting the technical part of the game. If on the Nintendo console the game is capped at 30 frames per second and suffers from a blurring effect, the PlayStation 5 versions offer something clean and fluid, without however, to offer something on par with the 8th opus, the comparison of the external environment of which is quite difficult. Musically, Ys X : Nordics doesn’t commit any major fouls, but he doesn’t place himself at the top of the franchise basket either. Compared to recent episodes, and particularly Ys VIII: Tears of Danafew themes remain in memory once the console is turned off. The spirit of the series is still present, but this opus does not have the same madness as its predecessors.