Even if you’ve played previous games in the series that didn’t grab you, there’s good reason to suggest Ys X might be the one to win you over.
It’s an excellent action game
I’ll cut to the chase: Ys X: Nordics has the best combat system of any Ys game to date. Other recent Ys games played as fast-paced hack-and-slash action-RPGs, with an emphasis on perfectly timed dodging and switching between party members to exploit enemy weaknesses. In Ys X, the party system has been minimized, and there are no more enemy weaknesses. Protagonists Adol and Karja now fight in tandem as you rapidly switch between the two to barrage enemies with quick strikes and build huge combos. Similarly, the dodge mechanics have mostly coalesced into Adol and Karja’s block function, with perfectly timed parries resulting in the series’ trademark “Flash Guard.”
These changes transform the combat of Ys X so much that my muscle memory from past Ys games completely failed me at first. However, once I got the hang of it, I couldn’t believe the colorful flurries of quick sword strikes I was pulling off on screen. Since Adol and Karja have separate SP meters which their special attacks consume, combat felt like a dance where I constantly looked for the right moments to tag the two in and out of battle to maintain a functionally endless stream of special attacks. Meanwhile, by activating the “Duo Mode,” Adol and Karja fight as a singular unit to deliver weighty attacks that I used to generously dispatch huge groups of foes and lay the smack down on bosses whenever they left themselves open.
Duo Mode pairs perfectly with Ys X’s block, as perfectly timed parries cause Adol and Karja to lock steel with their foes until they push them back and inflict damage-boosted counter attacks. Make no mistake, this is still a very fast action game, just like previous series entries—it’s just that Ys X isn’t afraid to slow the action down at times, to let you build up to those moments of sheer speed the previous games were known for. Falcom basically created a battle system that embodies the feeling of a well designed Sonic The Hedgehog level.
I could go on, but at this point, you can just look at combo videos uploaded from the Japanese release of Ys X and see how cool it looks in motion yourself. It’s just good, man.
The cast of characters is lovable
Ys games generally aren’t known for gripping storylines. However, this series excels at creating warm atmospheres where virtually every NPC has a name and their own personal stories that advance in the background of the main plot. Ys X especially excels on this front, featuring an emotive crew that supports Adol and Karja as they sail the seas in their boat. However, in a surprising twist for the series, it’s the protagonists that steal the show this time around.
Ys X is a coming of age tale, in which teenagers Adol and Karja are literally bound together by a thread of fate (it’s literally wrapped around their wrists like cuffs) as they join forces to figure out why they’re so attached, and rescue the residents of the town Carnac. While Adol is typically a silent protagonist, he’s surprisingly expressive in Ys X. He’s a flighty goofball with a mischievous streak, but his boundless thirst for adventure and his penchant to run headfirst into danger makes him easy to root for when the chips are down. Meanwhile, while Karja comes off as a stereotypical tsundere at first, her calculated demeanor endeared me to her as she grew into the leader that the people of Carnac needed. Make no mistake, though; Karja’s just as much the badass fighter that Adol is, and it’s a joy to see how well together they work as a team
Even as soon as the game’s second chapter, Adol and Karja establish a genuine, earnest bond with each other as they share stories of their lives and support each other through their hardships. Whenever they defeat a major boss together, they celebrate with a fistbump or a highfive in exactly the same way you might rejoice after beating a tough challenge with a friend in a video game. They have disagreements and get into nasty arguments, but if anything, these moments further drive home just how authentic their bond together feels. Ys X feels surprisingly personal, and it’s one of the best ways to get to know series protagonist Adol. It’s a low-stakes story by RPG standards, but the overarching themes of realizing your potential and finding meaning in life resonated with me thanks to how well the characters were written.