Ys X Proud Nordics (Switch 2)

Adol Christin returns in Ys X: Proud Nordics, an updated release for 2023’s Ys X: Nordics, but with improved graphics and all the extras. 

Our hero is, chronologically, setting out on his second adventure, joined by his friend Dogi and Doctor Flair Rall. The journey is scarcely underway when the ship is attacked by viking-like warriors who board the ship and attack the captain and mercenaries on the crew. Said captain has been avoiding his tolls, and so the warriors take his life. Adol gets involved in the battle - a good exercise for the player to learn the basic controls - until his foes, including the “Pirate Captainess” are called off as the passengers are not to be harmed. 

The ship is escorted to the island of Carnac, where Adol and friends decide to settle for the time being. While Rall joins the local surgery, Dogi works the docks and Adol decides to join the local militia - before he can do so, a mysterious voice calls out to him - a decorated shell sits on the shore and speaks to Adol, granting him the power of Mana before the voice fades away. The next day, on his way to enlist, he is cornered by the Norman warrior girl (Karja Balta, the daughter of the Norman leader) that attacked the ship and she engages him in combat, suspecting he may have powers similar to her own. As they fight, they are attacked by monsters that have the power to regenerate unless hit with mana attacks. The two begin to synchronise, acting as one. By the end of the fight the two find they are shackled by some mysterious mana power - unable to leave each other’s side, Adol and Karja must try to unravel the mystery.

Bound together by Mana, it only enhances Adol and Karja's fighting style!

I missed out on the 2023 release, though I did enjoy Monstrum Nox on the original Switch (the Collector’s Edition was a wonderful presentation). I was eager to dive into Proud Nordics and I have to say I was genuinely impressed with the speed at which the story gets going - from the initial attack on the ship to the discovery of the shell, there’s really no filler. You can converse with the townsfolk, flirt with the Innkeepers daughter and visit various areas of the town, but the dialogue is enjoyable, the directions clear and the characters all very entertaining. Karja in particular, as the haughty Norman princess, is a lot of fun. Strong but naive, it’s amusing to gently mock or tease her as you get to know her. Convincing her to change into a less recognisable and aggressive outfit brings you closer, and it’s easy to see how Adol charms those around him.

I also love the style of the game - the Nordic elements are all beautiful - having recently visited the Viking festival in my hometown of York I have a special affection for all things Viking, and the game delivers here too - Karja obviously has the strongest ties to this aesthetic, but everything from ships to weapons just have a lovely feel to them, which makes me want to spend time in this world. Additional outfits and design elements, many from the DLC, are worth finding and equipping just to change to the game's style to your liking. Overall, I love how this game looks.

I have to tip my hat to the story setup too, which is incredibly smart - the town is destroyed and the locals scattered across multiple islands, so it falls to Adol and Karja to rescue them. This provides a compelling reason for the pair to take to the seas and explore, looking for survivors, adding them to their ship and opening up new resources as they do so, the townsfolk lending their skills to the expedition. True, the execution isn't perhaps as urgent as I might have liked, but you really can't fault the structure or the way in which the game leads you to constantly evolve your abilities and resources, all while giving you a great reason to search every nook and cranny of the archipelago. 

Despite the occasional pacing issues with the story, what always makes Ys sing is the dialogue. Adol and Karja in particular make for a wonderful pairing, sniping at each other affectionately but each coming to admire the other’s qualities. The rest of the cast do a fine job in adding more depth and making the world feel alive, so as is traditional with Ys games, the world will move you.

I'm also a big fan of the combat on offer here. As an action RPG, fighting is handled without the menu-driven format of turn-based RPG’s - once bound to Karja you attack together, set special commands for Mana attacks and jump, dodge and target specific enemies in a way that’s intuitive and enjoyable. It’s not as seamless as Zelda - you do transition into a combat arena and you can’t leave the fight until it’s concluded one way or the other, but it all coalesces into an intuitive combat system that looks great on-screen and provides enough depth to stay interesting. You’re pretty much using the two as a pair throughout the game, which encourages you to switch between them in battle as the rested character fills an SP gauge that allows for special attacks - filling that and unleashing it while the other character charges brings a good rhythm to combat that forces you to make the most of both protagonists.

While you'll mostly attack one after the other, the Duo mode allows you to attack simultaneously, using both SP gauges at the same time, overwhelming the enemy by sheer force - moving into this mode also negates the need to block ,so time it well and the rewards are yours. This brings us to the Revenge attacks, which increases the more you successfully block attacks. Starting at 1x, successful blocks will increase this number, powering up your attacks - again, it’s all about rhythm and using the pair to best effect when taking on enemies. The enemies have two “super attacks”  Speed Attacks flash blue and can be avoided with a dash, while “Power attacks” flash red and can be blocked with good timing, both of which open up attack opportunities for the player if performed successfully. It’s a real strength of the game’s design and arguably the best part about Ys X: Proud Nordics - it’s a genuine blast to play, at least on foot.

There's more than one way to get around land quickly...

To keep things fresh, there are tons of new skills to learn from beginning to end, allowing you to test lots of options and find the best skills to complement your play style throughout. This helps to keep the game feeling fresh and that progress is never stale.

Another major addition is Öland Island, an area previously only viewable at a distance, this new island is full of interesting items and challenges, helping to spice things up considerably. It adds new characters, deepens the lore of the Normans and gives a lot more context to Karja's life - it also helps that it's full of interesting new challenges and cool treasures. You'll return to the island at various stages of the game, making it feel fully integrated rather than bolted on. You have an additional ability to use here too; mana hold. This allows Adol and Karja to move blocks to create new pathways and reach previously inaccessible treasures. It's a nice puzzle-element but tricky to control. While it's a nice addition, it feels like it could have used a little more time in the oven, as controls are finicky and it's easy to move things to places that render them useless.

Taking to the seas is a lot of fun, and from what I've seen, one of the major improvements from the last release

Taking to the ocean has also been enhanced, most notably by having the ship able to travel much faster over long stretches thanks to a new boost ability. Optional naval battles open up new pathways with increased wind to help you traverse more quickly -  I can only imagine how dull it would have been to navigate more slowly between islands, so if this was a frustration for you in the initial release, this should be a massive bonus. It also translates well into a new racing mode found near the end of the game, with the ship's handling feeling intuitive enough that this feels like a meaty addition as opposed to a gimmick.  Speaking of extra modes, there's also a new Arena mode that pits you as Adol, Karja or both together against waves of monsters. Depending on who you fight with, there are separate reward tracks. As combat is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the game, this is a great addition that lets you hone your skills.

New Game + content is also plentiful, including additional dungeons like Muspelheim, which encourages repeat runs through roguelite elements and rare treasures. There are also fragments of a painting to find, which again encourages repeat play and exploration.

Dungeons require dexterity, the platform elements make the game feel more immediate

Since you'll be taking to the unfriendly seas, you'll have to take on enemy fleets. This is slightly more clumsy, and I'm led to understand that the original game made this aspect of the game quite dull. I quite enjoyed them, so didn't find this to be an issue, but I can appreciate it won't be to everyone's taste and even though I enjoyed taking down enemy vessels, I'll readily admit that land-based combat is far more enjoyable. 

In terms of technical improvements, there’s a lot here to like over the original Switch release. Sure, you could just run the original on Switch 2 and enjoy improved performance, but the dedicated release has far more going for it than a simple upscale. For a start, there’s more content - an entirely new side-story awaits, seamlessly integrating into the original story, with new characters to meet, expanding the game’s lore by learning more about the Normans. You’ll revisit the new island throughout the game, making it something that’s woven in rather than just sat in a block off to the side.

Other additions include Elding Fragments, which basically exist to raise the original’s power ceiling for Adol and Karja, which naturally enough are dropped by more powerful enemies, adding some difficulty for returning players who mastered the original. Also new to the game is something called Sparkling Whitesand, which can be used to further enhance your mana abilities - it certainly makes the game feel like the best version of itself.

The game has performance and graphical fidelity options, taking the game up to 120fps if you sacrifice some of the prettier elements. I’m happy with 60fps myself and like the game to look its best, so I opted to take that route. Having examined some screenshots and gameplay from the original release, it’s very clear that this is a massive improvement in both resolution and textures. It’s not the most impressive game I’ve picked up in terms of character model detail, but the anime-style visuals don’t require detailed skin textures, allowing the graphics to instead focus on smooth details, much longer draw-distances and solid environments. There’s nothing jaggy or blurry here, it’s an attractive, well rendered game that does what it needs to.

Now, for all the praise I'm heaping on the game, there’s an argument that an upgrade would have been preferable (and cheaper) than having to buy the game over for those that picked the game up in 2024, and I can absolutely appreciate the sentiment. Having missed the original release I’m spared that extra cost, but do acknowledge it’s a bitter pill to swallow. In the game’s defence the extra content is very substantial, going so far as to update bosses to improve the core experience, but the idea of replaying a massive 70-hour RPG is not going to appeal to those with game backlogs or are just generally short on time. 

If, like me, you missed the initial release then I can wholeheartedly recommend the game as a highly enjoyable JRPG with an excellent combat system, endearing characters and solid graphics. This is a narratively tight, well scripted game that's a joy to play. It's easily my favourite Ys game, and although I'm baffled as to why this slipped passed me on first release, I'm delighted that I get to play the game in its best form. For those that  have the original release, waiting for a sale may be the most prudent option, but if you fell in love with the characters as I did, you'll get a lot of new content for your money.

For those who completed the game, it’s probably worth waiting on a sale instead of paying full price if you want to experience the game again and you can knock a point off the score - as someone coming into this fresh, it's a worthwhile purchase and a fantastic experience, but if you've been here before, it's clear that there's less on offer, even if the additions genuinely elevate the game.