The ninth of Adol Christin’s adventures and the tenth game in the Ys series, Ys 9: Monstrum Nox, was released in Japan in 2019, with the English localization releasing in 2021. After the success of Lacrimosa of Dana, developer Nihon Falcom took the systems and lessons from that game and iterated on them to make Monstrum Nox. With Nordics‘ English localization releasing next month, let’s take a look back at Monstrum Nox.
The Story
Ys 9: Monstrum Nox takes place in the prison city of Balduq, northeast of the island of Esteria where Ys 1 took place. To date, it’s the latest game in the timeline, with Adol being 24 years old. He and Dogi arrive at Balduq, only for Adol to be arrested by Romun military officials citing many of his past adventures. Adol, being an adventurer, doesn’t take long to find a way to escape from the prison, leading to him encountering a strange woman who turns him into one of the titular Monstrums. From there, his adventure begins, with him seeking to uncover the suspicious activities surrounding the prison.
The Monstrums are a mysterious group, villainized by both the Romun soldiers and the knights of the city’s church. They each have powers granted to them by their curse, called Gifts. For instance, Adol’s Gift is Crimson Line, which allows him to teleport to designated vantage points in the area. With their Gifts, the Monstrums are tasked with fending off monsters that most of the civilians can’t see but are nonetheless threatened by. However, their curse also restricts them from leaving Balduq, so they want to find a way to break it.
Much like Lacrimosa of Dana, the story of Monstrum Nox is separated into multiple chapters. It also has more chapters than Lacrimosa of Dana. Their pacing is more balanced than in Lacrimosa of Dana, another of the lessons learned from the previous game. However, the writing in Lacrimosa of Dana is still the pinnacle of Ys stories.
The Gameplay
The gameplay of Monstrum Nox takes the gameplay of Lacrimosa of Dana and improves upon it. Its skill system and map system return, along with its weapon upgrade system. However, thanks to Monstrum Nox not taking place on a deserted island, the party can buy more weapons in addition to upgrading their existing weapons. Several series staples, like the journal, also return. Where Lacrimosa of Dana has Adventuring Gear, Monstrum Nox has Sacramentals which fill the same gameplay niche – granting abilities to the party. The game also incorporates elements from Ys Origin, such as the Boost mechanic.
Monstrum Nox also experiments with something akin to an open world. While there are still level transitions for entering buildings and some areas outside of Balduq, the city itself is one large level. Many of the dungeons are also structured as one level, or occasionally two levels for the especially large dungeons. Much of the level design across the game has more verticality than any other game in the series, between the city and the dungeons. The openness of Balduq is a welcome change. One might like to imagine what Lacrimosa of Dana would have been like, had that game’s level design had the same openness as Monstrum Nox.
Where Lacrimosa of Dana is still the pinnacle of Ys stories, Monstrum Nox is undoubtedly the pinnacle of Ys gameplay to date. It does a phenomenal job of iterating on the mechanics from Lacrimosa of Dana and Origin while introducing new and unique mechanics.
The Soundtrack
Monstrum Nox’s soundtrack has some similarities with the soundtracks of Lacrimosa of Dana and Ys Origin. The dungeon and battle themes often incorporate rock guitars into their instrumentation, while the calmer themes are typically orchestral. Some of the songs in Monstrum Nox‘s soundtrack are very similar to songs in Lacrimosa of Dana or Origin. Falcom has always been known for the high quality of their games’ soundtracks.
Another Falcom tradition is the final dungeon theme being particularly energetic and amazing, even for a series that already has energetic dungeon themes. Monstrum Nox continues that tradition, with a final dungeon theme that spurs Adol and the party onward toward the truth about the prison and everything surrounding it. It doesn’t have as much energy as the final dungeon theme from Lacrimosa of Dana, but it’s still a welcome addition to the roster of Falcom final dungeon themes.
Final Thoughts
From everything that publisher Nippon Ichi Software America has shared about Nordics, it looks to have many mechanical similarities with Monstrum Nox. Monstrum Nox itself is a very fun game, with tighter combat and more freedom of exploration than previous games. With Falcom’s long-running tradition of iterating on previous games, perhaps Nordics will also employ a pseudo-open world. Maybe the ocean itself will be the open world portion, with the islands and settlements each being their own levels.
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