Falcon on developing Ys X for Switch alongside PlayStation

Ys X: Nordics is a bit of a landmark release for Falcom as it’s the first time that the company’s Switch version launched alongside the PlayStation release. Of course, we’re referring to Japan here – NIS America tends to bring everything over to North America and Europe later.

Toshihiro Kondo spoke about developing Ys X for both Switch and PlayStation in a recent interview with Joshin Web. Falcom kept Nintendo’s console in mind from the beginning, and this version was actually completed first. Kondo did also pointed out how the company needed to consider Switch’s specs in mind during development.

Kondo’s full words:

“Recently Ys had very much been a title with a focus on the PlayStation, so I don’t think there were any big problems relating to that (of course we did still have all the normal struggles associated with producing a game). From the start of the project we knew we wanted it to be on Switch. Of course the specifications of the Switch are very different so there were some troubles thinking about how to design the game to accommodate those differences.

It wasn’t like the Ys development team was divided to work on consoles separately, so the games were finished in sequence. First the Switch version was done, then PS4 and PS5, which meant the final push was a lot more like a marathon than normal. But, with each passing day of the push, the game was getting better and better, which was very encouraging.”

Switch has been by far Falcom’s most-supported Nintendo platform. Many different entries in The Legend of Heroes and Ys franchises have made their way over over the past few years. Even Tokyo Xanadu saw a port, though it thus far has only released in Japan.

Translation provided by Simon Griffin and SatsumaFS on behalf of Nintendo Everything.