After its initial release in Japan on 28 September 2023, Ys X: Nordics will be heading to the Nintendo Switch in the West in Fall 2024, courtesy of NIS America.
If it wasn't obvious from the game's title, this will be the tenth mainline game from the long-running Ys franchise, which started all the way back in 1987 with Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished (also known as Ys: The Vanished Omens).
Ys X: Nordics brings naval exploration and combat to the franchise for the first time, boasting gorgeous visuals and slick storytelling. In fact, if you want a more in-depth breakdown of how the Japanese release holds up, then you can check out John Linneman's analysis via Digital Foundry right now.
Rather disappointingly, mind, the game will only come with Japanese language support via the PC version.
Update: NIS America has been in touch with the following clarification regarding Japanese audio, which will be present in the console versions of the game:
For clarity, all console and PC versions of Ys X: Nordics will include Japanese audio. Japanese text is an exclusive feature for the PC version.
Here's a rundown of some more features, as per the official PR:
- Two Heroes, One Story: Bound by unexpected circumstances, the young adventurer Adol and the Norman pirate Karja must work together to determine the fate of Obelia Gulf and its people.
- Cross Action System: Swap between controlling Adol and Karja independently or together.
Combine their unique strengths to overcome enemies, and build up the Revenge Gauge to unleash devastating attacks.
- The Power of Mana: Harness the unique abilities of Mana to overcome challenges. Grapple and
slide through dungeons, demolish obstacles, create new platforms, and uncover hidden treasures and critical points.
- Sailor’s Delight: The sailing ship known as the Sandras takes your exploration to new levels.
Ocean travel, naval battles, and discovering uncharted islands are all made possible with this seaworthy vessel.
We'll be sure to keep you updated on a firm release date as soon as we hear more.
Will you be picking up Ys X: Nordics when it launches in the West later this year? Let us know with a comment down below.
Comments 42
Loved ys 8, but didn't really gel with 9 and stopped after a few hours. Loving the look of this one though, so we will see.
That's fine if it only has Japanese voice acting, almost always sounds better in Japanese given how high quality the talent is over there. Excited for this looks a lot closer to Ys VIII. I enjoyed IX but being trapped in the city for most of it was a mood killer.
This is the most exciting news!
I know they were also looking to bring over the remake of 4 too, I hope that’s in the cards still!
The Switch introduced me to this series with 8 and now it is one of my
Very favorites
Big kudos for dropping the DF link.
While it's obviously better looking on PS5, it seems like the switch (badum-tish) to in-house development paid off in terms of the performance, which is all I was really looking for. Just didn't want the long sections of really low framerates that plagued Ys VIII and (to a much larger extent) IX. This is especially nice considering the game is apparently a nice visual improvement from the previous two games as well.
I plan to buy very little new software this year, but Ys X is definitely on the list.
I love JRPGs but I could never get into Ys8 despite only hearing good things about it
Might give the series another try though if this reviews well enough
Yessssssss they just made me happy! Now THIS is a good gift for this day lol
Always happy to see games get released also outside of Japan, first and foremost for those who wouldn't be able to play them otherwise and also for those like me who could regardless, but are much facilitated in doing so thanks to it!
This announcement also works as a reminder that I really need to finally play the Ys series when I can!
I highly recommend it, it's a near perfect series of games hindered only by their technical state in the last years. X breaks this trend and looks much better while also running way smoother.
I ended up loving the Ys games after not playing them for decades. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys on the SNES was the last game I'd played in the series before finally going back and playing through the entire catalog (excluding the Japanese exclusives), and fell in love with the series, all over again.
According to the Gematsu article, the Switch version will have English and Japanese audio support and English and French text support. I can deal with that.
That said, I'd do ANYTHING to not have to endure another screeching Japanese audio experience. I've been playing the Dragon Quest games in Japanese for a decade, now, and maybe it's just me, but does everything have to be screamed?
Yooooo let's goooooo. 2 banger games this year. Hopefully Kuro / Daybreak 2 english next year (I guess around Q2?)
Also, I got the limited edition for this in Japan with the Ys X bag it's dope af.
That's some good news, but... What's about Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana?
Fantastic, now give us the first seven games in the series: Ys I & II Chronicles (originally known as Legacy of Ys), Ys III Memoire: The Oath in Felghana (originally known as Wanderers from Ys), Ys IV: Memories of Celceta (originally known as Mask of the Sun and Dawn of Ys), Ys V: Lost Kefin, Kingdom of Sand, Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim, and Ys Seven.
I skipped IX but will definitely get X when it releases. Looks great.
I’ve completed 8 and 9 so am eagerly awaiting this one. The new gameplay and visuals look amazing.
@Serpenterror I tried playing the DS port of Ys 1 & II a couple of years ago. Part of me wants to say remake, but the changes are so bare that port seems more appropriate. Maybe I'm so spoiled by the signposting and QoL features of modern gaming, but I quit about halfway through the second dungeon on Ys 1 because the game was so archaic at that point and felt like it didn't really care about itself, if that makes any sense. It was a whole lot of, "Go to this town you haven't been to and talk to every NPC until you find the right one. That NPC will tell you to go talk to another NPC from a place you were at a few hours ago but forgot where it was because no characters have any character, no towns are memorable, and the map is almost useless."
Sorry, just realized that I'm ranting about a game that has nothing to do with the game this whole news piece is about to someone in the comment section that didn't ask for my opinion. I can see the framework of a good game in there, so I'm not knocking you or anyone who enjoy the older Ys games.
I guess this is a REALLY long way of saying if the games that are like the old-school Ys like 1 & II ever come back, please be in full-on remake mode with better writing/localisation, a more fleshed out plot to get people invested, and more QoL features.
Edit: speaking of Ys 1 & II, is that the same Adol?
Ys Nordics and Trails through Daybreak are the two games I'm really looking forward to this year so far on Switch. Hopefully a direct will come along soon for some more excitement for this year
@Serpenterror Ys: The Oath in Felghana is a remake of Ys III, Ys: Memories of Celceta is as Wikipedia says it: "identified by Nihon Falcom as the 4th canonical game in the series, after they had outsourced the development of Ys IV: Mask of the Sun and Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys in the 1990s."
Mask of the Sun and The Dawn of Ys are two separate and distinct games made by different studios.
@burninmylight You played the worst version of those games, Ys I & II Chronicles+ on Steam is the definitive way to experience them, ultimately they're still dated titles so it's understandable if you want to skip them entirely. And yes, it's the same Adol in all games though the chronological order can get very confusing.
Having played a bit of the japanese demo it's definitely a huge improvement over IX, glad it's relessing this year cause I was sure it was gonna be delayed to 2025.
Finally! Been waiting for this one.
8 was awesome, 9 didn’t appeal to me so I never tried it.
In the 4th paragraph, what does the game only coming with Japanese language support via the PC version mean? The game's website (NISA) lists supported voice languages as English and Japanese, with the text languages being English and French. Just looking for some clarification.
I still need to finish #9 and Origins!
@burninmylight I wouldn't recommend playing either the DS or the PSP remakes of Ys 1 & 2, if anything just play the Turbo CD versions. While the DS versions are nice by featuring a swing sword feature and the PSP version had better graphics, the Turbo CD versions are still the best way to go and aren't as barebone or buggy. If you had a PC or any of the Anbernic or Retroid emulation handhelds, just play the Turbo CD versions of Ys 1 & 2 using Temper or Magic Engine. If you had a Wii get the Virtual Console versions, modders are opening back the Wii Shop soon (just like they did the Ouya shop) so one could hope. When those shop reopen everything on there will be free to download forever.
@burninmylight
Yes, Adol Cristin is the same in every game.
It's not like the Zelda Series where it's a new link (almost) every game.
I really want the remake of Ys5. Origins, I&2 and 3 already done, ys4 on the works.
@burninmylight if I'm not wrong, the only game that Adol is not the main is Origins
I can’t wait obviously. If you can’t tell by my username, I am quite fond of falcom games.
JPN voice with EN text is all I need for JPRPG is all I need to enjoy the game.
cant wait for this.
I’ve never played the Ys series games but they look great. Having never played, is this a jumping off point for someone new? Or anyone recommend what game WOULD be a good place to start? Thx!
I have to get this one, it looks amazing.
@vec42 It's rather awkwardly worded, but it means that only the PC version will have the option to use Japanese text. So a console version can use the Japanese voices but not have Japanese subtitles or Japanese text in the menus.
they don't make it easy to be a Ys fan......
@Coversnail Oh, that makes sense, thanks for clarifying!
Always loved the series since i bought biok 1 and 2 on the turbo cd when that came out. 7-9 were among my favorites, so this is really good news. Not sure if id play the switch ver though, need more details on it. If its on ps5 in probably go there. If switch only, or switch 2 is out, the. Ill get it there.
They messed up 9 on switch big time. I got through it but it was painful. I hope this one runs better
Looks good, its Ys after all.
Sweet! My most anticipated game of the year!
Ah yes... Ys X. I will get IX played before it drops. Me and Adol got unfinished business.
@TDRsuperstar2 VIII made me fall in love with the series. I don’t care much for the storylines, but the gameplay is really tight and satisfying, and VIII had great exploration too!
@vec42 NIS America reached out to clarify some of the wording in the original press release, we've updated that section.
Long story short, their website is correct: Japanese audio options on consoles, too. Japanese text options on PC only.
I have no idea how I missed this article on NL yesterday. I thought the site hadn't covered it yet.
I'm very excited for this game and hope to get to it when I finish my modern Ys series playthrough. I've already blown past where this one would be in the timeline. I'm due to revisit Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana next. Then play Ark of Napishtim for the first time.
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