Ys 10: Nordics was released on October 25th of this year by publisher Nippon Ichi Software America, which is headquartered in Santa Ana, California. Last week, Total Apex was able to play through the game on Nintendo Switch. Playing this game took us over 60 hours, comparable to Lacrimosa of Dana. This review will contain spoilers.
What’s Great About Ys 10: Nordics
Gameplay
The Duo system took some time to get used to, after being more familiar with the combat in Lacrimosa of Dana and Monstrum Nox. Once it clicked, it was very fun. This isn’t a system that would fit other games in the series. However, this is something that only works for the story of Nordics.
Mastering skills is significantly less tedious than in previous entries. Where skills in Ys Seven maxed out at 10 levels, and 3 levels in Lacrimosa of Dana and Monstrum Nox, in this latest entry skills simply have a Mastery level. Each skill can be maxed out at 100%, often leading to unlocking new skills.
Mana String and Mana Ride make exploring Obelia Gulf more fun. Mana String, especially in its late-game upgraded incarnation, is a better version of Monstrum Nox’s Crimson Line. Mana Ride is an improved version of shield surfing in the Zelda series, able to be used on land as well as on water. Partway through the game is a very Sonic-like section, which is very fun and has plenty of interesting visuals accompanying the action. Mana Sense is a better version of Monstrum Nox’s Third Eye, especially after it’s upgraded.
Nordics also added a very useful quality-of-life feature – characters now have icons (visible both on the map and over their heads) signifying whether they have new or unread dialogue. For players who don’t want to miss character dialogue, this feature is greatly useful. Some characters also show their dialogue as Adol and Karja walk past them, rather than having to be interacted with.
Fishing
Fishing in Nordics is also an improvement from Lacrimosa of Dana, with none of the fish having broken or glitched prompts. When fishing, completing the quick time events will also fill a new Support gauge. The Support gauge being filled means that the other character can help by adding to the catching gauge. Rather than having regular fish and “boss fish” that can be caught with the same type of bait, there are now 5 additional types of bait for different sizes of fish. There is also a type of bait that can only be used at sea in specific places.
Level Design
Nordics’ level design is a combination of Lacrimosa of Dana’s and Monstrum Nox’s level design, with larger open areas like in Monstrum Nox that have level transitions between. The first dungeon is a simple cave, but from there the dungeons start to break from that mold. Some of the dungeons weave through cave sections and back out into the open air, much like Skull Woods in Link to the Past.
The final dungeon feels like an expansion of the final dungeon in Lacrimosa of Dana by using the open and vertical level design of Monstrum Nox. Being the mental landscape of the final boss, it also incorporates elements of Norman architecture as well as Norman ships. It’s implied to be a manifestation of their longing for the Normans’ lost homeland.
Music
Several of the songs in Nordics‘ soundtrack are phenomenal, from energetic field themes like Heat Hazard and dungeon themes like Aegir Undersea Temple to the intro theme and the various themes for sailing across Obelia Gulf. While the music in the demo primarily called back to the music of Lacrimosa of Dana and Monstrum Nox, the music in the full game also calls back to The Oath in Felghana and Ys Origin as well as the first two games in the series. Even the calmer songs are great, fitting the scenes and areas where they can be heard.
The final dungeon theme isn’t as high-energy as Lacrimosa of Dana’s but still embodies a feeling of finality and grandeur much like Monstrum Nox’s final dungeon theme. Similarly to Lacrimosa of Dana, a variation of the title theme plays before the final boss fight. Nordics’ final boss theme itself is split into two pieces, to compliment the fight having two distinct phases.
Writing
Developer Nihon Falcom has always been known to its fans for having stellar writing in their games, especially with their two flagship series. This latest entry is no exception, with endearing characters whom Adol meets and bonds with throughout his adventure through Obelia Gulf. Central characters go on emotionally fulfilling arcs and have both silly and heartwarming interactions.
Story
Nordics’ story takes place over 10 chapters, plus a prologue and an epilogue, with the demo having ended partway through Chapter 3. Much like the other Ys games’ stories, there are some twists and turns to the story, though, unlike Monstrum Nox’s story, the twists aren’t jarring. Some of the reveals are also well-foreshadowed, and even among those with less foreshadowing they still fit with the story before the reveal.
Graphics
Being a smaller studio, Falcom has never pursued photorealistic graphics like many AAA studios do today. Instead, they opt for stylized graphics, which often age better. Nordics is no exception to this trend, itself having a style like an improved version of Monstrum Nox’s. Its stylized graphics look great even on lower-end hardware like the Nintendo Switch. There are many places across the game with gorgeous scenery, and the character models are expressive.
Ys 10: Nordics’ Flaws
Gameplay
Mana Burst is only situationally useful for the puzzles requiring it, as it’s unfortunately too slow to use in combat. It continues the skills’ motif of Adol being paired with fire and Karja being paired with ice, so it would have been nice for it to have been viable in combat.
On the other hand, another Mana ability Adol unlocks towards the end of Chapter 2 is the ability to purify things corrupted by the Griegr. This ability is very situational, only available as a contextual button prompt. Its two uses are to fix Hewnstones, which are the game’s fast travel locations, and to cure Jörð‘s puppet Griegr.
Switch Performance
When we played Nordics, it was on a Nintendo Switch OLED that was docked. For the most part, Nordics performs pretty well on Nintendo Switch. However, there were points where the performance did suffer. For instance, in Faarlundheim, there’s a section where there can be several enemies on screen at once. This drops the game’s performance, much like an optional side quest in Lacrimosa of Dana.
The Switch version of the game also often saw asset pop-in and stark differences between low-detail textures and high-detail textures. With Nordics likely being the first Ys title natively developed for the Nintendo Switch, these were presumably measures for improving the game’s performance on the Switch.
Missing Material Tab
Both Lacrimosa of Dana and Monstrum Nox had tabs in the journal for the materials that Adol had collected, which also showed where those items could be obtained and what they could be used for. This is conspicuously absent from Nordics, which made late-game grinding for equipment or ship upgrades more tedious. The battle tab still shows the items that monsters drop.
Final Thoughts
For the first time in the Ys series, Nordics’ English credits list all of the voice actors. This is great to see, as the voice actors all did a wonderful job and they deserve credit for their hard work. It’s also the first Ys entry on the Switch to include achievements, which were previously only seen on the PlayStation and PC versions of the games. Another thing setting it apart is its cutscenes – where other Ys games’ introduction made use of 2D anime-style. Nordics’ introductory scenes uses 3D models. Some of the game’s cutscenes also use more fluid animations, such as the cutscene before the final boss fight.
Even with some of the issues in the game and its performance on the Switch, Nordics is still a great game and a great entry into the series. It’s up there with Lacrimosa of Dana in terms of quality amongst the Ys series. For players new to the series, it’s a great starting point, and for veterans of the series, it’s more of all the things Ys fans love.
Score: 4.5/5
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