Ys X: Nordics preview bullet point impressions

Procure your boarding pass.

Last week, Pure Nintendo joined a media preview event for Ys X: Nordics, which is coming to Nintendo Switch and other consoles on October 25th. That may be quite a while off, but NIS America still had quite a bit to show and tell.

If you prefer the “show,” you can see and hear more in this week’s Pure Nintendo Podcast. If you’re in a hurry, the relevant bit starts at 46:56. If you’re really in a hurry, then just stay right here for the “tell” presented in my customary 11 bite-sized bullet items.

• For those unfamiliar with Ys, don’t be frightened off by the X. Although all Ys games are centered around Adol Christin, within the lore, these are considered posthumous retellings of his adventures (of which there are over 100). Longtime fans will recognize certain elements and characters, but the adventure is otherwise entirely self-contained.
• Here, Adol is 17 years old. That places this adventure after Ys II, and well ahead of Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana and Ys IX: Monstrom Nox, also available for Switch.
• Unlike with those games, Nordics features only two playable characters: Adol and newcomer Karja Balta. They’ve become bound by Mana, forcing them into the adventure together.
• That adventure will require a lot of sailing, but don’t expect Windwaker vibes here. Their boat, the Sandras, serves as their base of operations. Remember in Ys VIII that the shipwreck survivors quickly settled ashore to aid Adol’s adventure? Imagine the same, but the boat didn’t sink.
• You’ll use the Sandras to explore and map the oceanic regions. NPCs can be recruited to outfit the vessel, allowing you to upgrade not only Adol and Karja’s combat abilities, but the Sandras’s as well.
• This will be important, as ship battles are a key component to the adventure. To get ashore, many islands will first require you to enter into naval combat against other ships. You must protect the Sandras while attempting to destroy the barriers preventing you from docking.

• The better you do in these battles, the more prepared you’ll be when you finally get ashore. If you’re not happy with how you did, you can replay the ship battle to improve your ranking and earn better items.
• When you do make landfall, Adol and Karja will need to battle their way through “dungeons” in order to reach and take out the level’s boss. Here, players will be able to switch between the two protagonists for quick strikes and dodges.
• There will be times, however, when it’s better to control both of them at once. Although combat here bore visual resemblance to the dual control system of Astral Chain, it doesn’t actually work that way. It’s mainly just a way to build up and unleash powerful Duo Skills that help you overcome the bosses.

• The media preview began with chapter 4, and it seemed that quite a few of Adol and Karja’s skills had already been unlocked. The Sandras was mostly pretty empty, however. It appears that abilities and character/story elements will have a nice, gradual release to them.
• The demo was not played on the Nintendo Switch, so I can’t comment on graphics or performance. I can’t comment on the story, either, as we didn’t get a clear view of how Adol and Karja view one another and their predicament.

The release of Ys X: Nordics is still about three months away, so NIS America is sure to release more details on the game ahead of that. Even if they don’t, the preview was enough for me to feel that JRPG fans will definitely want to add this to their watch list.

And if you haven’t yet checked them out, that should give you enough time to first run through Ys VIII and/or IX. Already done so? Then how about Ys Origin? Adol’s counting on you to keep his legacy alive, you know.

For more information on Ys X: Nordics, including details on a rather robust limited edition, visit nisamerica.com/ys-x/.