The free demo for Ys 10: Nordics released on Monday, on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Steam. Total Apex had the opportunity to play through the demo on Nintendo Switch. With the full release drawing closer, let’s take a look at the game’s demo. This article will contain spoilers for the prologue up to part of Chapter 3 of Nordics.

The Demo’s Length

While the demo for Monstrum Nox was limited to two of the game’s dungeons with no story present, Nordics’ demo begins at the prologue and continues until partway through Chapter 3. Progressing through the demo took us almost 8 hours of gameplay, which included three dungeons, naval combat, and island exploration.

This is much longer than Monstrum Nox’s demo, in particular the Nintendo Switch version which was limited to 10 minutes. The Steam version of the Monstrum Nox demo had no time limitations but was otherwise identical to the Nintendo Switch version of the demo. It only featured two dungeons, and no story content was featured.

The Story

Nordics’ demo opens in the prologue, with Adol and Dogi on board a passenger ship called the Adamas. This introduction is very reminiscent of the opening to Lacrimosa of Dana, albeit with a much smaller ship that is only partially explorable. They’re accompanied by Dr. Flair, a character from Ys 2. They boarded the Adamas to journey from Esteria to Celceta. However, along the way, the Adamas is boarded by pirates known as Normans. It comes out that the Normans demand a toll for sailing in their waters, and the Adamas’ captain has been caught skipping said toll. For this, the captain is slain.

The passengers who had been on the Adamas found themselves at the port city of Carnac. While Carnac has its own militia, the Normans act much like the Romun Military in that they often supersede the city’s militia. Adol and Dogi decide to get jobs to save up money to board another ship to Celceta as quickly as they can. Dogi joins the dock workers, while Adol decides to join Carnac’s militia. It isn’t long until things take a turn for the strange. On the way to talk to the militia, Adol hears a strange voice calling to him, coming from a small seashell.

Skills

The voice grants Adol the use of Mana, allowing him to use skills. This allows him to kill the otherwise unkillable Griegr, which also draws Karja’s attention the next day. She calls him to the beach, where she fights with Adol. After this fight, Duo Mode is unlocked, which Adol and Karja are given the opportunity to use on more monsters. As Karja goes to leave, magical linked cuffs appear on her wrist and Adol’s, binding the two together much like in The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon. They don’t have much time to question how the cuffs appeared, as they hear that people are in danger.

Griegr have appeared on the highway, putting Carnac’s civilians in danger. As only Adol and Karja can kill Greigr, they decide to go help the townspeople and deal with the Griegr. Along the way, they find out that monsters have broken into the lighthouse, trapping two young girls inside. This small dungeon is where the Mana String ability is learned, allowing Adol and Karja to grapple across small distances. With the townspeople safe, Adol and Karja return to the city. One of the townspeople invites the two of them to a get-together to thank them.

Conflict

The get-together is soon interrupted when the city is attacked by Griegr and set ablaze. Adol and Karja investigate, discovering that there are also humanoid Griegr. One of them, a woman named Jörð, develops a particular hatred for Karja after the Norman scars her face using Mana. Jörð summons another Griegr she calls Iði to chase Adol and Karja until the two end up escaping on the Sandras and making their way to the Normans’ Balta Island. Along the way, Griegr ships chase the Sandras, only to be repelled by the Balta Seaforce arriving to escort Adol and Karja.

Karja’s father Grimson, the jarl of the Balta Seaforce, decides to have Adol and Karja become Shield Brethren. This requires the two to complete the Rite of Brotherhood, which involves sailing to Lecto Island and investigating the Runestone in the Cavern of the Rite. Before the two can leave the island and complete the Rite, Iði appears as the game’s second boss. When Adol unlocks the ability to purify things using Mana, he discovers that Iði was actually Dogi converted into a “puppet Griegr” by Jörð. Dogi tells them that Jörð did the same to the rest of Carnac. Another Griegr named Lǫgr appears but doesn’t attack, instead musing about humans and their stories being fascinating, before disappearing.

Adol’s Journey

Adol, now part of the Balta Seaforce as Karja’s Shield Brother, is told to gather information about the Griegr and their plans. Along the way, the crew of the Sandras find a shipwreck, leading to a fight against another puppet Griegr. This time, it’s Joel Asrad, who runs the clinic in Carnac. The investigation continues, leading to a fleet of Griegr ships attacking the Sandras. Another Griegr named Óðr boards the ship to challenge Adol and Karja to a fight. They lose, and Óðr curses Adol. Either Adol and Karja kill Óðr within 3 months, or Adol will die. Óðr and the other Griegr then force the Sandras into rough waters, which bring the crew to Termina Island.

Nordics’ demo ends on Termina Island, after a fishing tutorial and unlocking Mana Ride, and before a boss fight. Players can reload their save file to keep playing, though the Sandras was damaged by the landing so travel to other islands isn’t possible after landing on Termina Island. A popup window also states that demo save data can be loaded in the full game to continue with that save file.

The Gameplay

Though at first the gameplay in Nordics feels more floaty than in Monstrum Nox, it doesn’t take too long to become accustomed to it. Many of the controls are the same as in Monstrum Nox, with some key differences. What stands out immediately is the pause menu – rather than a standard menu layout for the Ys series, each section of the menu is mapped to a particular input. For instance, while on the pause menu, pressing Y opens the skill menu, while pressing A opens the equipment menu.

Interacting with other characters has also changed. When a character has unread dialogue, they have a blue icon over their heads. This icon turns gray once all dialogue has been read. Walking up to a character shows that each of the face buttons corresponds to one type of interaction with the character. A is used for talking with the character, X for opening their shop, and Y for quest-related interactions. In the demo, B is only used for jumping, but it isn’t clear whether this will be the case in the full game or whether this is only a limitation for the demo.

Levels

Nordics’ level design feels like a combination of the level design in Lacrimosa of Dana and Monstrum Nox, with larger continuous areas divided between level transitions. The largest continuous area in the demo is the sea, though at different points movement in the sea is restricted to certain areas. In the dungeon below the lighthouse, the level design is fairly basic. Lecto Island’s dungeon has some more varied level designs, incorporating both cave sections and outside sections. Termina Island’s dungeon also incorporates cave and outside sections but features more verticality.

Sailing the Sandras brings to mind sailing in The Wind Waker, with islands scattered across the map to visit. The first couple of sections of sailing heavily limit you to where you’re able to sail, but after that the sea is much more open. You’re also able to upgrade the Sandras, with the first quest of the demo being a Norman teaching Adol and Karja how to commission a shipwright to fix the Sandras. Navigation can feel slow at times, with the large gaps between islands and points of interest, though there are conversations between the Sandras’ crew that can be listened to along the journey. There are also points where battles with Griegr ships can be initiated.

Mana Line

Mana Line does have some similarities with Crimson Line from Monstrum Nox. However, the range at which points can be grappled to is significantly lower than Crimson Line’s, and rather than teleporting the player to that point, the ability acts more like a grappling hook. The Mana Ride ability is somewhat similar to shield surfing in Tears of the Kingdom, with the addition of being able to ride over bodies of water. Purifying people and Hewnstones are only available as contextual interactions, rather than being a gameplay ability.

The Soundtrack

The music in Nordics’ demo is reminiscent of both Lacrimosa of Dana and Monstrum Nox. For instance, the theme that plays while sailing the Sandras includes a leitmotif referencing “Being Slow on the Waves” from Lacrimosa of Dana. On the other hand, the theme for exploring Lecto Island and Termina Island is similar to “Norse Wind” from Monstrum Nox as well as “Sunshine Coastline” from Lacrimosa of Dana.

Notes

It’s common for demos to be based on earlier development builds, which could explain some of the oddities of the demo. For instance, in the scene where Óðr boards the Sandras, his subtitles switch to Japanese text for part of the scene before switching back to English subtitles while the spoken dialogue remains in English. Another strange detail in the demo is that while some menus allow the use of the left joystick to select options, others only respond to the d-pad inputs. Sometimes skipping cutscenes pauses the music, while other times the music continues playing. We anticipate that these will not be true of the release version of Nordics.

Update: The bug has since been patched.

Final Thoughts

Ys 10: Nordics’ demo gives plenty of time for players to give the game’s mechanics and story a try to decide if they want to buy the full game. In fact, we believe it gives an impressive amount of content to experience, especially compared to the demo for Monstrum Nox. It also sets up several mysteries, to build interest in the story before the full game releases next week. Total Apex will continue coverage of Nordics, including a review of the full game.

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