I originally wasn’t going to do everything in Ys X; I planned to skip side quests and treasure. Then I stumbled upon a side quest where I helped three undead residents rediscover the joy of being human and everything life has to offer. Plans change.
Ys X: Nordics is a rollicking adventure across the high seas, a superb action RPG that sports one of the year’s very best combat systems. But past that, the game manages to pack in a charming cast of characters, and a dual protagonist system that feels remarkably unique and fresh. Ys X isn’t without its problems, but it already feels destined to be one of the year’s most overlooked RPGs.
Following a Legacy
Nordics is the latest entry in the decades-spanning adventure of adventurer Adol Christin. If you aren’t familiar with the series, each game takes place at a different point in Adol’s life — each one is essentially a stand-alone adventure from his illustrious career. The previous game, Ys IX: Monstum Nox, showed us a 24-year-old Adol with much more experience — Ys X flashes back to a younger, brasher 17-year-old Adol, fresh off the heels of his very first adventure.
At the start of the game, Adol and his best friend Dogi arrive by ship in Obellia Gulf, a massive area made up of dozens of populated islands and different cultures. There they find two factions locked in battle, the Viking-like Normans and the monstrous immortal beings called Griegr. Adol inadvertently finds himself in control of a mysterious power called Mana and handcuffed to the Norman princess Karja by an ethereal chain. Bound together, the two have to save the gulf from certain doom.
While most of the series’ recent games have sported a party system, with characters that have wildly different play styles, Nordics throws that completely out in favor of its dual protagonists, two different characters playing into one singular combat system. While Adol and Karja do have marked differences, what’s remarkable is how well the two characters weave into each other. In combat, they feel like two halves of a singular character, and in the story, they have an amusing dynamic that adds a ton of personality and fun flavor to the narrative.
The World Is Your Oyster
Nordics plays out a bit differently from past Ys games, as the game’s very format hasshifted. In past games, you’d explore large maps woven in between unique dungeons and story settings. But with Nordics, that formula has transformed into an open-sea environment that you can freely roam, landing on individual islands to explore — rather than walking through one continuous landmass.
To this end, you get control of a ship called the Sandras, and as you explore you gather various crew members who expand your ship’s combat capabilities and facilities. It functions a bit like the Castaway Village of Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, but with direct influence on what your ship can do.
Exploring the open seas can be a blast in Nordics, especially as the game packs in various side quests and secrets to discover, such as a ravenous penguin who wants to eat all the fish you catch and has a few rewards to boot. The sailing exploration does add a real sense of adventure to Nordics, a feeling that the world is just bristling with things to discover. It helps that Nordics constantly doles out rewards in the form of ship upgrades, equipment, presents for allies, and more.
But throughout the exploration, the visuals grow repetitive and bland. While there are dozens of islands to find, too many of them fall in the same camp of rolling green hills and gray cliffs. Anything featured in the main story has more of a hand-designed feel, but every island featured in side quests or optional exploration starts to blend together. That being said, it’s still a compelling tale to dive into purely because of the abundant charm and personality of its cast.
Coupled with that, Nordics’ story suffers from a few pacing problems, and the overall objective of the narrative lacks some of the gravitas that past games have been so good at nailing. There’s a fairly intriguing mystery to unravel, but it takes far too long to uncover answers. Nordics too often feels like its story is just spinning its wheels, filling time for the sake of it.
Just like with the last two Ys games, Adol, of course, is a silent protagonist, but there’s a ton of personality instilled through dialogue choices, body language, and visual details. This Adol has a youthful exuberance, a willingness to do anything and everything in the name of adventure. But he really shines when coupled with Karja, a stoic warrior princess who learns to soften up and enjoy life more by being bound to Adol. The two seamlessly play off each other, both for humor and emotion — and even though Adol is the main character, this is really a story of Karja’s growth.
Alongside Karja, though, are all the residents of Obellia Gulf who you recruit to your ship, a true ragtag bunch thrown together in an emergency. Grenn is a brash teenager desperate to prove himself to Adol who inevitably gets himself into trouble because of it. Rafe is a self-sufficient young man who holds a deep resentment for his father, and that molds him. And Hugill is a surprisingly intelligent (like really smart) Crow that acts as a messenger for your ship.
So many of these characters have compelling arcs that play out across the game, and focusing on their side quests or gifts can open up even richer narrative facets that see you helping them grow as people. There’s a focus on the theme of young people having to take charge in an unstable world, to grow up through necessity, and dealing with the ensuing ramifications.
Striking a Chord
While the narrative and exploration of Nordics can be a bit hit or miss, the same can’t be said for its gameplay and combat. This is a phenomenal action-RPG from top to bottom, with deep intuitive systems that continually grow in fascinating ways.
The core of combat is the foundation built in other Ys games, a combo-based system in which you string together basic attacks, dodges, and powerful skills. But in Nordics, you can switch between Adol and Karja at will or have them link together for extra powerful attacks in Combination Mode. The biggest new feature is a guard system that lets you block enemy attacks, and by doing so, build up a Revenge Gauge. The more you build up the gauge, the more powerful your skills are in Combination Mode. All of your skills are dedicated by a recharging SP (skill points) resource, and Combination Mode skills require both characters to expend SP.
On top of the core combat, Nordics layers in some really fascinating traversal mechanics that can also be utilized in combat. Mana String lets you grapple around like Spider-Man. A Mana Board lets you skateboard down slopes at high speed, grind on mana rails, and launch off at points — and it’s even used in some spectacular set pieces. Mana Sight lets you find hidden items and slow down time briefly, getting a leg up on enemies or darting through doors that are about to close. All of these features make the game’s world feel truly dynamic and interactive, much more so than past Ys titles.
Nordics’ combat feels like a deadly ballet that constantly plays out — everything just clicks together superbly well, like that perfect Lego set. Ys games have always had stellar combat, but this is honestly on another level of satisfaction. You’re constantly getting new Mana abilities, unlocking new skills, finding new ways to use Combination Mode — it’s truly astounding how much this combat system grows and improves across the experience. I’m not afraid to say this is the best action combat out of any RPG this year.
But it doesn’t end there, as Nordics also has Assassin’s Creed-style ship combat on the high seas. It’s not quite as robust or visceral as the former, but still has Ys’ trademark sense of speed and fine-tuned control. You unlock various special styles of ammo and abilities, like a barrier that can block attacks, and similarly to the main combat, it’s impressive how the ship options grow. Naval battles start out a bit slow but turn into explosively climactic showdowns by the end of the game.
Toward the Horizon
Ys X: Nordics doesn’t exactly feel like an evolution of the prolific series, but more of a sidestep into something new and different. I’m not sure if future games will look like this, but that’s honestly Nordics’ biggest strength. It simultaneously feels faithful to the franchise and bold and new, all at once. It certainly stumbles here and there with story and the visual variety of its world, but it’s a robust seafaring tale full of rebellious spirit — just like the pirates that inspired it. It’s already been an absurdly busy year for RPGs, but I hope something as stellar as Ys X doesn’t get lost beneath the waves.
9/10
Ys X: Nordics launches Oct. 25 for PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Inverse reviewed the PS5 version.
INVERSE VIDEO GAME REVIEW ETHOS: Every Inverse video game review answers two questions: Is this game worth your time? Are you getting what you pay for? We have no tolerance for endless fetch quests, clunky mechanics, or bugs that dilute the experience. We care deeply about a game’s design, world-building, character arcs, and storytelling come together. Inverse will never punch down, but we aren’t afraid to punch up. We love magic and science-fiction in equal measure, and as much as we love experiencing rich stories and worlds through games, we won’t ignore the real-world context in which those games are made.
