Ys X: Nordics Review

thesixthaxis.com:

I’m always in awe at the dedication that long-running Japanese game developer Nihon Falcom has for their legacy series like The Legend of Heroes and Ys. Most game franchises this long in the tooth might have gone through some reboots or massive changes in style or direction at this point, but not Ys. This series is a lot like Final Fantasy in how each entry can update and reinvent itself, but each game still features the same protagonist Adol Christin and the same sort of high-fantasy, treasure-hunting vibe that the series is so closely tied to. Well, all except for Ys IX: Monstrum Nox, which shot for a wildly different tone and atmosphere that was honestly a welcome change of pace. While Ys X: Nordics introduces just as many meaningful changes to the formula, it ends up coming a lot closer to being the sort of bright and vivid expedition adventure that the franchise has been known for.

Ys X: Nordics technically takes place after the second entry in the series, but that only matters if you’re a diehard fan analysing every crumb of minor NPC dialogue for hints of lore like a rabid fanboy tying the various Legend of Zelda timelines together. This is essentially a standalone adventure about a young swordsman named Adol who gets himself roped up in some trouble while hitching a sea-fairing ride on a large ship.

A raiding party of Normans arrive, who are a very 11th century viking-inspired clan of peoples, and Adol soon finds out that the ship he’s on is helmed by bandits and that the raiding Normans are actually just protecting their village. After arriving on land and making camp with the Normans, Adol finds himself mysteriously stuck to their princess leader Karja Balta by a mysterious glowing chain – kicking off a series of events that sees Adol involved in a mysterious, ancestral battle involving undying creatures, clashing clans and more.

While I was impressed by the story of Ys IX, I felt like it didn’t hit the mark as well with the character-specific writing and