Ys is one of those gaming franchises that make me feel grateful for this website and how reviewing games opened up tons of doors to series I had never even considered tackling before. I had little to no knowledge of Ys prior to tackling Lacrimosa of Dana many years ago, but that was enough to turn me into a fan. Nowadays, I look forward to each and every brand new release, be it a new title or a remake of an older iteration of this nearly 40 year old RPG juggernaut. Suffice to say, Ys X: Nordics was a game I was looking forward to playing, and it was surely worth the wait.

We’re back at it with another adventure starring Adol Christin, the unfortunate-named ginger who seems to attract misfortune and chaos to basically any single location his right toenail touches. This time around he sees himself stranded in an archipelago after the passenger ship he was boarding is ransacked by brutal, but oddly polite Viking pirates. Yep, you read that right, Viking pirates. Who have a code of honor. And don’t kill innocents. I guess that’s not fully explained, but let’s just say he is just casually escorted to a nearby seaside town, joins a militia, starts making some money, and due to his typical inability to live a normal carefree day, finds himself literally attached to the Viking pirate princess by literal threads of fate. And now we have an adventure based around this nonsense.

The plot is a bit confusing, and not memorable, but it’s not bad. It serves its purpose to give characters reasons to go where they need to go, and do what they need to do. Ys isn’t exactly about amazing stories, but Ys X is, at the very least, less cringy than the edgelord plot seen in Ys IX: Monstrum Nox. Adol is not a member of a goth-themed Teen Titans gang; he’s just someone trying to solve a mystery, helping out a local populace, and finding out a way to untether himself from Karja, the aforementioned princess.

The good thing about Karja is that she is an actually well-written and entertaining character. Her character development does follow the Vegeta-esque clichés of a cold brute slowly warming up to others and a cause, but I liked her quite a bit. The voice acting does wonders to actually develop characters further, as Ys X has finally reached a point in which the voice acting doesn’t sound “so cringy it’s good”. The music, as to be expected, is great. Not Ys VIII great (then again, very few games can boast having a soundtrack as good as Ys VIII), but pretty good nonetheless.

At the same time, the game doesn’t look like your average anime-themed PS3 title. No, we’re dealing with much better tech this time around. Ys X looks like… a decent looking anime-themed PS4 title instead! Hey, baby steps, we’re getting there. All jokes aside, the art style is decent, the usage of colors is pleasing, and the framerate is always running at a solid 60 fps. Which, let’s face it, is really important in a game all about a cathartic combat system.

You’re here for the combat. Don’t lie to me. The one constant in every single Ys game I’ve played so far, be it mainline or a remaster of Origin, is that these games have sick controls and combat systems. It’s basically the kind of hack and slash + RPG system that always feels fresh, exciting, and entertaining to experience. If you’re low on experience, it makes grinding fun. If you’re overleveled, then you feel like a god of destruction. Even if you only control two folks in Ys X, they both feel different from one another (Adol is faster, Karja is all about delivering pain), yet they are equally entertaining to play as.

If Ys X were solely about having a neat combat system, that would have already been great. Thankfully, there’s a bit more substance, all due to the aforementioned pirate theme. By the end of the first chapter, you obtain a ship, and that lets you explore the entire archipelago in search of new secrets, areas to explore, and so on. Furthermore, there is a pretty simple, but effective naval combat system inserted into the gameplay; it’s quite similar to Sid Meier’s Pirates, in the sense it’s basically about avoiding cannonballs and shooting accordingly, in true arcade fashion.

It’s like “Wind Waker meets Sid Meier’s Pirates“, and I can’t emphasize enough that this is the ultimate kind of praise I can give such a game. It’s just hampered by Ys X‘s lack of scope (there is a lot to explore, but not that much in terms of variety). Again, baby steps. Finally, there are a handful of set pieces in plot-centric events (you can even skate down a mountain in order to avoid an invincible giant), and the addition of a grappling hook adds some verticality to the exploration, in a much less convoluted way than the one attempted by Ys IX many years ago.

Ys X: Nordics is, hands down, one of my favorite entries in the franchise thus far. I really enjoyed the “Vikings meets pirates” theme, the characters, the naval encounters, and without a shadow of a doubt, the fast-paced and cathartic combat system. I didn’t mind that the plot isn’t exactly that memorable, as this is not what we’re here for. It does its job, giving characters reasons to go where they need to go, and do what they need to do. The plot pacing has improved, and the visuals now look just a mere half decade behind the trends, and not two generations behind. All in all, this is a must-have for Ys and JRPG fans. NIS America and Falcom keep improving with each new entry, and I can’t wait to see what else they can come up with in the near future.

Graphics: 7.5 Ys X now looks like a pretty decent-looking PS4 game instead of a decent-looking PS3 game. It’s not impressive for 2024 standards, but its art style is charming. The framerate is as rock-solid as it can be.	Gameplay: 9.5 The focus on just two characters might sound like a stepback, but the combat system is outstanding. It’s fast-paced, frantic, and cathartic. There’s a bit of neat verticality, and ship-based combat is actually quite fun.
Sound: 8.5 You know what to expect: a great soundtrack. It’s not Ys VIII, but nothing else is. The voice acting is getting better and better, but I feel like the sound mixing has one or two issues. Nothing that would make the game feel like a dealbreaker, mind you. It’s still fantastic overall.	Fun Factor: 9.0 Better paced than Ys IX, with an amazing combat system, and the sailing mechanics add a neat layer of exploration to the overall mix. The plot isn’t memorable, but let’s face it, Ys isn’t known for memorable stories. All in all, one of the strongest entries in the series.
Final Verdict: 8.5

Ys X: Nordics is available now on PS4, PS5, PC and Switch

Reviewed on PS5

A copy of Ys X: Nordics was provided by the publisher.