Ys X: Proud Nordics

Once more into the deep.

While my own personal experience with the Ys franchise is limited to Lacrimosa of Dana, Memories of Celceta, and Ys: IX: Monstrum Nox, I have become quite the fan of the series and am eager to jump into every new release. Even when I first took control of the adventurer Adol Christin, I knew the series had a penchant for jumping around the timeline. In fact, while Ys X Nordics is the tenth game in the series, it takes place following the events of Ys: II, and shortly before Adol would wind up waking up in the land of Celceta without his memories. Regardless, as a younger Adol than in his previous exploits in Monstrum Nox, this new adventure is fine enough, even if it doesn’t match the highs of its previous outings. 

Ys X: Proud Nordics is a definitive version of Ys X: Nordics, adding in new story content, a new ability, various fixes and balances to gameplay, and more to do once you've wrapped credits. However, unlike most re-releases that add new content, there is no upgrade path outside of Japan for existing owners, and that is a massive disappointment, given that the new content is not entirely massive in scale and that it was possible for the publisher to offer this overseas as said upgrade. Sure, this is the best version of the game, but owners of the original shouldn't have to buy it again for just a few hours of new stuff. In the end, it feels greedy.

As Adol is attempting to sail to Celceta, he, Dogi, and Dr. Flair Rall find themselves aboard a transport vessel that is captured by a group of Nordic Warriors called the Balta Sea Force. While their inspirations are clearly those of Vikings, the game takes a lot of liberties to apply unique and alternative names to this clan of people, such as using the term Walhalla instead of Valhalla. As these warriors capture the ship, despite a tussle with Adol, the captain is slain, and Adol and company find themselves stranded on the island of Carnac, a town under the protection of this sea-fairing brigade known as Normans. 

Shortly into Adol’s stay on this island, the town is attacked by a group of monsters known as the Griegr. These fiends are not invincible, but to normal folk, they cannot be killed. According to the Normans, the Griegr can only be felled by two of their clan, Karja, and her father, the Norman Chief, Grimson Balta. However, shortly before this invasion, Adol hears a mysterious voice, and it lures him to a seashell that has washed up on shore. This voice then grants Adol the power of Mana, the same force that allows Karja and her father to slay these beasts. And while this power is enough for Adol to assist in vanquishing these creatures, the mysterious power then pairs Adol and Karja together, linked by a set of phantom handcuffs, forcing the pair to work together. 

Proud Nordics adds a new storyline to add context to much of the lore surrounding the Normans and how they came to this land. While the coverage leading up to this release mentions it would look to seamlessly add this into the story, it comes off more as an elaborate side quest, as it doesn't really feel like something crucial to the plot. Hell, it is likely you could miss this if you didn't pay attention to a letter you receive surrounding an island just north of Balta Island.  

This added story follows a rivalry between Karja and her cousin, Canute, who, alongside his Shield-Sister, Astrid, look to test Karja and Adol with a series of lore-hunting objectives. There is a great sense of history between the two, even if Canute’s position in the game does break the continuity of Karja and Grimson being told to us in the base game as the only two who could use Mana. Despite this revelation, Canute’s skills do make for a somewhat ok plot. Players who have already sunk 30+ hours into the original may find this content to be lacking and simply not worth buying the game all over again, despite one of the best boss fights in the game closing out this arc. 

Back to the base game, the bulk of the game has you vanquishing generic beasts and other Griegr forces. You will also contend with three more advanced Griegr, those who have a more humanoid form. These become your threats for the majority of the game, each with their own powers and demeanor. These characters are fairly one-note with each having one basic personality trait, albeit for a lore reason, and then amping that up to eleven. It is a shame they are not terribly fleshed out, and while the story built around their past is fine enough, they are probably the least impressive villains across what I have played of the series. 

Ys has had pretty by-the-number storylines over the years, with nothing being too amazing, but each story has served its purpose with a few solid twists and turns. While the story does get to a good place with a few of those said twists, it does get to a point where you’ll know exactly how it ends, given it starts to predictably take certain players off the board in a steady fashion. Still, there are some endearing moments of Karja and Adol getting closer as a result of this union, especially as Karja is a brash and proud warrior when the pair first meet. The early moments of Adol having to convince her to wear something different so the townsfolk won’t recognize her is a nice touch, especially due to how fearful the people truly are of her and her people. For any faults the game has in its narrative, the relationship between Adol and Karja is one of the game’s better qualities, and Proud Nordics does a lot of good with more moments between them via the new island.

For Adol to truly help Karja, however, he must become her Shield-Brother, a title given to the male partner of this pairing. And in turn, Karja will become Adol’s Shield-Sister as a result. While it simply means the two will take on a single mission to prove their worth, it nonetheless bonds the pair and causes Karja to be more forthcoming and honest with Adol. That said, if there was a drinking game on how many times those titles were spoken, you’d be sloshed within the game’s first few hours. 

This pairing also allows Adol and Karja to perform several special attacks as they work in unison. These are separate from their own core skills that they have individually. These attacks unlock every ten levels, whereas their own skills are unlocked as they purchase nodes on their skill tree. You can also learn skills via books, but the bulk are learned as you master the basic skills first. This tether between the two does more than just contribute to combat; they can use it to swing around like Spider-Man across various areas of the game, as well as pull out blocks or lower ramps as they pull and tug at them. Traversal has always been fun across the series, and Nordics proves no different than the rest, especially with the inclusion of a surfboard that allows you to race across flooded paths or glowing blue grind rails. 

What is truly different this time around is that there is no party system or additional members to recruit. Sure, you’ll have a colorful bunch of allies that contribute in other ways, but you only ever play as Adol or Karja. While this is stated as some new combat system for the series, it really is no different than selecting the different characters you recruited in Ys IX: Monstrum Nox. In fact, I truly believe that while the combat system is similar, I do prefer Monstrum Nox due to the variety of having different weapons and classes. Here, Adol and Karja wield the same weapons and the same basic skills across 25-30 hours. While less is more in some circumstances, that doesn’t hold true here. 

Combat generally works as you swap back and forth between the pair. While that is fine enough, Karja and Adol both shout “SWITCH!” at the top of their lungs every single time, with no setting to turn that off. The offhand character will gain some HP regeneration, but it’s rather slow to really be of much use. Still, being able to quickly swap back and forth is great, even if I feel it was better handled in Monstrum Nox due to the variety that switch entailed. Still, combat is as flashy and fun as it has been for years. 

Adol and Karja can also block incoming attacks in a defensive stance by using their paired skills, whereas individually, you can only block certain attacks, forcing you to dodge out of the way. Attacks that you block while in this stance then contribute to your Revenge Meter, which grants you a bonus multiplier to your next paired attack. While you’ll rely on this union quite often, there are a few moments in the game where you’ll need to rely on other tactics to be able to handle combat without this pairing. 

Both Adol and Karja can slot in 3 skills as well as their general attack. Their own skills are used with R1 and three face buttons, while their paired attacks are used by holding down R2 instead, with 3 skills slotted in to those attacks as well. The skill tree unlocks a series of nodes every ten levels with Mana Seeds to place in them that grant a series of stat increases, such as attack power, luck, or defense. As each ten-level segment will have several nodes to utilize, you can essentially create builds of sorts as you focus on certain traits more than others. And as you can craft more as you acquire the right materials, you’ll have a wide variety of different tiered Mana Seeds to use. 

New to Proud Nordics is a new Mana ability called Mana Hold. Previously, you could only use Mana in certain ways, such as using it to scan objects and items that were invisible to the naked eye, or a Mana lasso that allowed you to propel yourself toward certain objects or enemies, or use it to pull platforms forward or back. Mana Hold, however, allows you to pick up items and chuck them around. However, the puzzle aspect of it is only present on the new island, which I've experienced, anyway. While I get wanting to add a new power to the mix, its execution is extremely poor, and aiming the block is a chore, especially as it can be tossed into the ground, becoming unusable, and requiring you to find the platform to reset the block. Honestly, it adds nothing to the game at all.

Added via this new version are more encounters with dangerous and difficult foes. These are presented with a red aura around them and most are really just harder versions of existing monsters. That said, they do drop currency to advance your skills past their limit and are seriously worth taking on when you encounter them.

Combat and preparing Adol and Karja for the fight ahead is just one element of what this game offers, as the pair will take to the open seas as they try to solve the mystery of this Griegr threat. You’ll earn a ship fairly quickly and then recruit and rescue those townsfolk who have gone missing during the invasion in the game’s opening hours. Each recruit will add to your ship’s stats across both Strength, Defense, and Speed. While adding ship combat and exploring the open sea is one way to build on the Viking inspirations and provide something new to the series, it only works if it is done right. Sadly, that isn’t the case here, even with Proud Nordics’ enhancements. 

As you recruit new members to the ship and unlock upgrades, you’ll eventually get into a good place with combat and speed. It won’t be amazing, but it will be better than at least the first 10-15 hours. Proud Nordics mentions it has increased the core boat speed, but it must be by such a tiny amount since I didn't notice. Sailing is still dreadfully slow, and is the one aspect of this game I really didn't want to experience again.

You’ll have a series of different cannons and other ranged projectiles that allow for some fine enough combat, but it never becomes more than that. Targeting is easy to pull off and there are various activities and enemy spawns to tackle. However, the speed of the ship is hilariously lousy, as you’ll constantly want to use the boost to even feel like you are moving. Even the top speed when you have maxed out the ship is painful. Thankfully, once you have discovered a location on the map, you can then fast-travel to it, meaning you can skip the whole boat sequence to slowly inch along this boring and PS Vita quality ocean. 

Early on, you’ll be given control of the boat and feel like the ocean is your oyster, but you’ll soon be met with a ton of invisible barriers that railroad you into following the path. Thankfully, it isn’t long before you can sort of go wherever you want. Some areas will be locked off until you’ve gained certain Mana abilities that translate to the boat, such as a Mana Boost and a Shield, which allows you to traverse over dangerous waters. The ocean also has a lot of blocked off areas that require you take the long way around a series of small islands to get something on the other side of a shallow sliver of land.

New to Proud Nordics are more ship battles, especially those that then add a current to travel to make sailing faster. Having more battles does alleviate some of the slugging sailing, but I feel just making the boat lack a stamina gauge would have been the better play here, as the currents are fine and all, but act mainly as a patch to a real problem.

While you can take in fishing or track down new islands or uncover treasure, one of the main activities to take on is a series of wave-based boat combat scenarios. In these sessions, you’ll destroy waves of boats while blasting away at blue pillars that spawn incoming threats. Once these are all destroyed, you’ll then speed through a rapid-fire dungeon to earn rewards. You can repeat these activities to get a higher score or earn better rewards, since your progress in the boat section has a level system that grants you better stats for the dungeon section. That said, I never found a compelling reason to really tackle them again and honestly, every dungeon is more or less the same basic location. Had costume pieces or ship cosmetics been at the heart of the top rewards, I'd be spamming those missions constantly. Instead, most of those types of items are part of the publisher’s DLC offerings as usual. 

Included with Proud Nordics is all of the game’s DLC offerings. You get a ton of useful items for Adol and Karja, as well as your boat, but also all of the cosmetic dlc in each of the pair’s costumes. There are also little hanging chibi versions of each of the cast that you can pin on the screen and watch them bounce around as you take part in combat or swivel the camera around. 

Upon completion of the story, Proud Nordics offers a new dungeon, one where you've got a timer pushing you to fly through it. Muspelheim is no joke when it comes to its difficulty, and only seasoned players will really see it through. As someone who does like the combat, even with its apparent flaws, this post-game area does provide some good battles, and while I didn't fully dive into its core, I could only see those truly invested in this game to really give it a go. What adds to its replayability is that during this dungeon, you’ll earn Deepcrystal Shared, which can be used to unlock various modifiers. These range from increasing the amount of time you can spend here, as there is a very brief timer, to the increase of rarer items, to more chests, more enemies, and how difficult they are. It is a good time waster, but really only for those looking to max out everything or tend to any remaining quests you have unfinished with better loot. 

Ys has always felt behind when it comes to other NIS titles, such as the Trails series. It has normally been graphically behind in more ways than one. While Ys X: Nordics does run off a new engine, it feels dated and visually weaker than even Ys IX: Monstrum Nox. To convince myself of this, I reinstalled the previous game and genuinely do believe this is the case. Ys X: Nordics has some extremely bland level design with only three or four biomes at most, each of which has poor texturing and enemy draw distance. The ocean itself is a series of the same flat blue texture, with very few instances that even convince me that I am sailing on water. It’s a shame that Ys X: Nordics looks so bland, especially given that the latest Trails games, especially Trails Through Daybreak, have seen major improvements to their visuals from even the last three or four years. At its best, Ys X: Nordics looks fine, but this series truly demands a better effort next time around. 

Proud Nordics does come with some advancements in performance, at least on the Switch 2. Visuals are slightly better, with the new island taking advantage of the hardware in better ways than the original Switch version. As Ys: Nordics had the Switch as the lead platform, it certainly shows why Monstrum Nox was the visually superior game of the two. Regardless of the visual bump in certain aspects, the ocean, as mentioned, and the shore of islands still look painfully bad, with nothing here to make the ocean look and feel like water.

While good portions of the game are voiced, there are some odd moments that feel they would have been more impactful if the team had recorded more dialogue. Adol has the least dialogue of the bunch, with only a handful of sayings, mostly those that are him shouting during combat. Adol is a great character, and one who has a lot to say. I just wish he were presented better vocally. That said, there are a few extremely poor performances here, especially the voice behind Dr. Flair. The bulk of the cast is fairly well done for this series, at least for the most part, and allows them to be compelling enough to stand out, especially Karja. While the new content in Proud Nordics does see Adol speak more, the whole moments feature zero spoken dialogue between the two, which initially led me to believe the new island had no dialogue. Thankfully, I was wrong. 

Ys is a series I fell in love with some years ago, and each new entry has often given me what I have wanted from it. Nordics, however, doesn’t provide me with much more than what I already got from Lacrimosa of Dana in regards to its combat and exploration, and the newly implemented ship combat and sailing is just as bland as its lifeless ocean. 

Proud Nordics does provide some fine quality of life features, but they are still encased in an adventure that is nowhere as good as the previous entries in the series. The new content is fine for what it is, but does little to push the story forward, and is only for those who loved the story and want to deep dive into the lore. However, as a full purchase for such little payoff, it's hard to recommend this despite this clearly being the best version of the game. If you've yet to dive into this particular adventure, then certainly give it a spin, but for those who've already sailed these seas, I'd steer clear until a substantial sale makes it a more attractive venture.

Developer - Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH.
Publisher - NIS America. Released - February 20th, 2026. Available On - PS4/PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, PC. Rated - (T) - Blood, Language, Violence. Platform Reviewed - Nintendo Switch 2. Review Access - A review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.