The Ys games are a long running series of Japanese RPG games, but I had never delved into them before. That has finally changed with Ys X Nordics as I went on an epic adventure with character Adol and Karja.
This game takes a northern Viking theme as its setting and you get to explore various islands while traveling by boat. There are a lot of customizable options for you to play around with. You can upgrade your boat in various ways and recruit new crew members. You then go and liberate villages and explore dungeons to stop the threat of the Griegr. The unique thing here is that Ys X offers a system where you can control both main characters at the same time. While you hold the trigger down, the two characters will be linked and each attack will be performed by both at once. You also have access to brand new special attacks and the guard can be used in a parry as well.
The traversal of the world is also very cool where you have a handy grappling hook and a mana board which you can use to surf over water or mana strings. The movement is fluid and responsive and the combat is fast paced and visceral.
All the characters are lovely and there is often also a cozy atmosphere when you are setting sail on the blue ocean. Probably the weakest point of the game is how the enviroments look. Though the characters look great and detailed, many of the enviroments lack that detail and I hope that in the next title they will let us explore areas that are not just interesting, but also look amazing.
#ysx #gaming #ysnordics #ysxnordics #anime #jrpg #adol #karja #falcom #nisamerica