System: Switch
Release date: October 24, 2024
Developer: Falcom
Publisher: NIS America
Adol Christin has certainly led an interesting life. Across the series’ thirty-six year lifespan he’s crossed numerous continents, explored the ruins of civilizations past, and saved the world from dire threat on more than one occasion. But, fearless adventurer that he may be, Adol has never had much luck with ships. It seems that every time Adol sets foot on a ship it ends up sinking due to one circumstance or another, so putting him at the helm of one probably sounds like a bad idea. However, Ys X: Nordics does just that, and manages to mostly stay the course to deliver yet another solid entry in the series.
Nordics is set after the events of Ys I and II, although no knowledge of the events of these games is necessary. Fans of the series will spot the references to names and places that are significant in other Ys titles, but as with Adol’s other adventures, the story here is entirely self-contained. A fresh-faced youth of seventeen, Adol and his two companions Dogi and Dr. Flair are on their way to Celceta by way of the Obelia Gulf. Unfortunately they run afoul of the Normans, a group of local militia and/or pirates, whatever suits their mood at the time.
After a duel with their princess, Karja, Adol finds himself bound to her by a mysterious set of cuffs forged of Mana, a power that he suddenly has access to for unknown reasons. It proves to be a fortuitous acquisition, as the town of Carnac is accosted by another group of locals known as the Griegr, who promptly make off with the majority of the population. Barely escaping himself on a run-down ship called the Sandras, Adol’s adventure begins as, Karja (literally) in tow, he must set out across the Obelia Gulf to rescue the townsfolk, foil whatever sinister scheme the Greigr are planning, and work out how to separate himself from Karja before she resorts to hacking off his hand to get away from him.
Nordics establishes a lot in its opening chapters before allowing the big picture to take a back seat to focus on the individual characters you’ll encounter, and although it offers enough mystery and intrigue to keep you hooked, it all often feels like a secondary concern. Things will unravel in their own time, and the focus is always on the adventure, and the developing relationships between the cast. With recent games especially Adol hasn’t really fit into the mold of a silent protagonist because his dialogue has always been quite expressive, but the element of player choice in what he says at various points makes him an easy character to relate to, even if these choices have no lasting impact on the story.
The real star of Nordics is Adol’s Shield Sister, Kajra Balta. In a departure from what had become a norm for the series in recent years the game forgoes the party dynamic to focus entirely on Karja, and she benefits enormously from this level of focus. Initially violent and aloof, Karja’s gradual development over the course of the story to become a multi-faceted and emotionally mature character, without being sidelined by Adol the way that his co-star Dana was in Ys VIII, make her a highlight of the game. The gradual evolution of their relationship makes up for the lack of presence of the villainous Griegr for much of the experience, and makes the story a more personal one that stays relatively grounded despite the high stakes; every moment of interaction is treated with as much importance as pivotal story cutscenes.
Nordics also has a strong supporting cast in the various NPCs that you’ll rescue as you journey across the seas, and exploring their backstories and watching them grow alongside Adol and Karja is an engaging process. Each new character that you bring aboard the Sandras has their own personal quest line that adds some much-needed depth to both their character and to the world at large, and although some of these will amount to little more than fetch quests or similar busywork, the additional dialogue with them usually more than justifies going out of your way to complete them.
Like its predecessors, Nordics is an action RPG with a strong focus on exploration. You’ll need to fill in the map of each new area you visit yourself, and the game provides you with more than adequate incentive to do so with numerous hidden treasures and, naturally, a percentage tracker that will tell you exactly how much you have left to find. As you progress you’ll also unlock new abilities that make a return visit worthwhile if you’re seeking that highly tempting 100 percent completion rate, as some treasures can only be uncovered later. None of these abilities are anything new or groundbreaking – the first you’ll acquire is the Mana Line, which is a simple grappling hook – but they all add to your adventuring capabilities in interesting ways.
The combat, despite being fast-paced and quite brief outside of boss encounters, feels a lot more methodical than its predecessors, with a greater focus on combo attacks and exploiting weaknesses. You can freely swap between controlling Adol and Karja at any time, and knowing when to do this is the key to success, as each has their own strengths and weaknesses that make them better suited to take on certain enemies. You can also use both of them together at once in Duo Mode, which dramatically reduces mobility but allows access to skills that utilize both of their SP gauges, as well as a Revenge Gauge that fills as you take damage and increases the potency of your next strike.
There is a nice ebb and flow to combat that on higher difficulties demands specific responses, as some enemy attacks can only be guarded against in Duo Mode, or will need to be evaded by whichever of the two that you’re controlling. The game offers the standard range of difficulty modes for Falcom games that cater to players of all skills, allowing you to turn the game into a much simpler hack-and-slash affair if the intricacies of combat aren’t to your taste, although even on the lowest difficulty setting switching between the two is often required to overcome some of the game’s bosses, or even stronger enemies.
Although Adol and Karja work in tandem during combat they are functionally separate characters, having their own individual stats and equipment. A new mechanic to the game is Release Lines, which allow you to slot in Mana Seeds for stat-boosting effects that vary by color: for example, Red Valor seeds focus on offensive capabilities. Slotting in enough of any one type will also unlock cumulative abilities, allowing for some more specialized builds that can completely change the way they handle in combat if you lean in any one particular direction. Fortunately Adol and Karja share levels and experience points, meaning that you won’t be punished for favoring one over the other, and the AI is relatively competent when it comes to controlling the one that you don’t use, being capable of at least distracting other enemies whilst you focus on your target.
The other half of the gameplay revolves around your ship, the Sandras. Ys X: Nordics takes place across the Obelia Gulf, and you’ll spend a lot of your time traveling between the various islands that make up this location. The map is large and fairly open, and although parts of it will be locked off behind abilities that you won’t acquire until later in the game, you are largely free to explore as you wish after the opening chapters. Unfortunately, traversing these waters is a painful process that doesn’t become any noticeably more bearable for the majority of the game as ship upgrades are incremental and are designed more to improve your combat capabilities than your ability to move around. The Sandras’ default speed is agonizingly slow, and the short bursts of speed provided by the Mana Sail take far too long to recharge. This feels particularly counter-intuitive because of the air currents that line the sea, which improves your Mana Sail’s recharge time to the point that you can spam it constantly as long as you remain inside them, and make travel much less arduous. I often felt as though I was being railroaded into following these air currents and actively discouraged from exploration because of the resulting loss of speed. Although points of interest are usually within a short distance of an air current, and you can fast travel to any previously discovered location, it does make the game feel more linear than the open-ended map suggests.
You’ll also need to battle against other ships in combat, which can prove to be clunky and awkward at times as you try to maneuver to get your opponent into firing range, but there is something extremely satisfying about putting on a burst of speed and ramming straight through them, or unleashing a barrage of cannon fire, of which there are several types to unlock as you progress. Larger ships can also be boarded for waves of melee combat and additional treasure, which gives some added depth to the naval combat and incentive for engaging with it, because you’ll need these resources to upgrade the Sandras’ capabilities. As you rescue more of Carnac’s inhabitants they will suggest new upgrades for your vessel, which increase its various stats, unlock new types of artillery, and transform it from a floating pile of kindling into a warship to be reckoned with. On higher difficulties there is a satisfying sense of progression here as you gradually become more capable of tackling greater threats, although despite both speed and maneuverability being possible upgrade options, I never found that the ship became any less unwieldy than it was when I first boarded it. You can pilot it from three different vantage points, although this is mostly for cinematic effect, and I found that having a full view of the ship and surroundings was the best way to scope out an area. As well as air currents and islands, fishing spots and floating debris can be found drifting along the sea, and rings of light denote optional encounters with enemy ships.
Nordics is the first Ys title to be developed using Falcom’s new engine, and it delivers a notably better experience on Switch than its predecessor. Loading times can drag on at points, but combat manages to hold a fairly stable frame rate throughout, and movement feels fluid and responsive. Visually the environments are notably bland, and I would have liked some more exotic island locales rather than the repeated hilly plains with the occasional ruin thrown in for good measure; this is not a game that will dazzle you with breathtaking vistas and immersive lighting and shadow effects. However, character and enemy models make up for this lack of flair and are notably more detailed, sporting a more stylized look that isn’t quite cel-shaded but feels like a natural upgrade over the previous two entries in the series. A higher and more consistent frame rate and better visual quality can be found on other platforms, but Nordics is nonetheless a significant improvement and a satisfying experience that won’t be ruined by poor quality performance.
The Verdict
After playing through Ys X: Nordics, I can see why Adol Christin has never had much luck with ships in his (chronologically speaking) later escapades, as all of the problems I had revolve entirely around controlling the Sandras. But despite how much time I spent steering that ungainly vessel, it proved to be a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things. The engaging narrative and captivating cast, satisfyingly punchy combat, and desire to uncover every inch of the world that the game instills in you, are more than worth a few moments of slight aggravation in between. I would suggest testing the demo on other platforms if you have that option to see if the improvement to performance there is a deal-breaker, but the game still offers an excellent experience on the Switch that is an easy recommendation to make for both fans of the series and newcomers.
A copy of Ys X: Nordics was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
