Info about Ys X: Nordics: Official game description: Standard Edition ================ Standard Edition Contents: \-Ys X: Nordics \-Beginner Mana User Set \*Includes a Mana Seed that unlocks the Mana user's latent abilities, as well as items and gold that will come in handy during the adventure. \- Mark of the Axe \- Mark of Armor \- Mark of the Lyre \- Bitter Potion \- 3000 Gold Digital Deluxe Edition ====================== Deluxe Edition Contents: \-Ys X: Nordics \-Beginner Mana User Set \-Legendary Cleria Armor \-Summer Adventure \-Azure Mermaid \-Endless Voyage \-Heroic Captain \-Sacred Beast Roo Costume Set \-Eyewear Set: Cool \-Eyewear Set: Fun \-Ear Accessory Set \-Extension & Color Set: Vivid \-Extension & Color Set: Wild \-Display Stand Set \-Headwear Set \-Horn Set \-Scarf Set \-Shield Set \-Marine Companions Set \-Ironclad Battleship Set \-Nosfleet Ship Set \-The Pikkard Set \-Deck Decoration Set \-Sail & Hull Color Set \-Ouch! Sail Set \-Ouch! Flag Set 25 Costume/Attachment DLC Items \*Includes content that is also sold separately.Beware of duplicate purchases. About the Game ============== Experience the latest action RPG featuring Adol Christin, a legendary adventurer who left behind over a hundred adventure journals for posterity, now on Steam! Who are the immortal beings known as Griegers appearing around Obelia Bay? Take control of Adol and Karja to engage in fast-paced battles, utilizing steps and dashes to defeat your foes! 【Featured Characters】 --------------------- ■Adol Christin He's the main character of the story, a vibrant adventurer with fiery red hair and eyes full of curiosity. Adol left his first adventure land, Esteria, at age 17 and was believed to have set off for Celceta. However, according to one of the adventure logs found in his family home, it's revealed that he had visited Obelia Bay with the former thief Dogi before heading to Celceta. ■Karja Balta The sole daughter of Grimmson, the leader of the Baltan Navy. Karja leads the rough seafarers in piracy with confidence, earning her the moniker 'Pirate Princess' among the people of Karnack who have seen her in action. While she possesses elegant features, she is armed with a hatchet and a round shield, displaying a ruthless, Norman fighting style. 【Major Battle System Overhaul!】 ------------------------------- The all-new “Cross Action” system allows players to fight in two modes depending on the situation: a speedy solo mode in which the player controls gameplay supported by a partner who attacks automatically; and a dual mode in which two players simultaneously control a series of actions to engage in a turn-based battle against a powerful enemy! ■Enhance Your Skills with Increased Proficiency and Unlock Advanced Skills! Improve your skills by using them frequently, thereby increasing their proficiency and power. Certain skills, when leveled up in proficiency and meeting specific conditions, can unlock even more potent advanced skills. ■Combo Skills Get a Power Surge with Proficiency & Revenge Gauge! By successfully guarding against enemy attacks, your Revenge Gauge fills up. Activating skills in this state boosts their power based on the gauge's multiplier. As skill proficiency enhances the base power of skills, unleashing a combo skill at maximum proficiency and a full Revenge Gauge can deal immensely more damage than regular solo mode skills. ■Teamwork is Crucial! Explore dungeons and interact with Raven Marker Stones to temporarily release the mana bonds linking Adol and Karja. During this time, control Adol and Karja separately. You’ll need to strategically switch between them, coordinating their moves from different positions to overcome challenges effectively. 【All-New “Mana Actions” System】 ------------------------------- The game also features the “Mana Actions” system, a special ability that greatly expands the freedom of the player in fields and dungeons. "Mana String": Use a string of Mana like a pendulum to reach faraway places "Mana Ride": Allows you to glide on a grimble board "Mana Burst": A Mana attribute attack released by a charge attack ■Spin the Threads of Fate! Nornir's Spindle: "Mana String" Harness the power of Mana Strings to swing like a pendulum and reach far-off places with this dynamic mana action! Upgrade your Mana Actions to strengthen the strings, enabling you to manipulate objects and activate switches in dungeons. ■Ride with Style! The Grimble Board: "Mana Ride" Soar and slide over the ground on the Grimble Board in this thrilling Mana Action! Glide over water, race down Mana Roads at high speed, or launch through the air from wind pockets for a fast-paced experience. ■Unleash the Power of Mana! "Mana Burst" Release elemental Mana attacks with charged strikes! Adol uses fire and Karja ice to not only damage enemies but also to aid in exploration--burn away obstacles or create icy platforms. ■Enhance Your Perception! "Mana Sense" Reveal hidden elements of the world with the ancient Druid Monocle. This Mana Action lets you detect enemies, uncover hidden gimmicks, and find buried treasures. As the Druid Monocle gets stronger, your Mana Sense sharpens, allowing you to slow down time and overcome challenges like impassable doors and treacherous walkways. 【Sail a Ship!】 -------------- For the first time in the series, Ys X allows players to become a ship’s captain! This adds an exciting new element of challenge to the adventure, such as exploring vast regions of the ocean using nautical charts as guides, and sometimes challenging enemy ships to naval battles! 【Land the Big One on the Open Seas!】 ------------------------------------ Engage in fishing at designated spots on water surfaces within fields and dungeons, where you can spot the shadows of fish. First, select your bait and fishing spot to begin. Once you get a bite, you'll need to quickly press buttons or manipulate the joystick according to the situation. This will increase the fishing gauge at the top of your screen. When it's completely filled, you've successfully reeled in your catch! 【New Features Exclusive to the Steam Version!】 ---------------------------------------------- Supports 21:9 ultra-wide monitors and frame rates exceeding 60fps! Enjoy a wider field of view and smoother gameplay. Preset settings tailored to your gaming environment are also available, ensuring a comfortable experience even on the Steam Deck. 【Engine Powered by DirectX 12】 ------------------------------ With improved performance and support for Intel® XeSS, NVIDIA DLSS, and AMD FSR, you can experience the beautiful world of Ys X at higher resolutions and frame rates than ever before. 【About the Game】 ---------------- The story takes place in the northern sea Obelia Bay, a bay filled with countless islands of all sizes. Adol Christin, a young adventurer who has explored the ancient kingdom of Ys, encounters two factions: the “Normans,” seafaring people known for their powerful warriors, and the “Greegers,” a mysterious group of immortals that threatens the people of Obelia Bay. Ys X: Nordics depicts a brand-new adventure in the northern sea Obelia Bay, featuring the young adventurer, Adol Christin, as its protagonist! Release date: 13 Mar, 2024 Categories: Action RPG, Real-time Combat, Single-player Story, Open-World Exploration, Ship Combat, Character Progression, Puzzle Solving, Fishing Simulation - Hardware Profile: No data Feature extractions: - Community Price: No data - Playtime Metrics: No data - Time-to-fun: No data - Player Archetypes: No data Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category. Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews. What players like: - Fluid, satisfying combat system (weight 0.96): The combat system is fluid, fast-paced, and satisfying, with responsive controls and impactful feedback. The game features visually impressive animations, special effects, and a variety of skills and combos. Many reviewers consider it a significant improvement over previous titles. - Forgiving, rewarding parry mechanic (weight 0.58): The game features a generous parry/guard system that is easy to learn but rewarding to master. Well-timed blocks and dodges lead to satisfying counterattacks and special animations. This mechanic enhances player engagement and makes combat more strategic. - Improved performance, optimized graphics (weight 0.54): Recent updates and optimizations have significantly improved the game's performance and visuals. Reviewers note smoother frame rates, better graphics, and fewer bugs compared to the initial release. This has led to a more positive reception of the game. - Engaging adventure, satisfying story (weight 0.51): The game offers a well-paced and engaging adventure with a satisfying story. Reviewers appreciate the clear guidance, manageable difficulty, and complete narrative arc. The game avoids common JRPG pitfalls like excessive grinding or convoluted plots. - Well-developed, appealing characters (weight 0.42): The game features well-developed characters with detailed backstories and satisfying arcs. Reviewers highlight the appealing character designs and the strong relationships between the main characters. Kaga is a standout character, praised for her strength and personality. - Impressive large-scale battles (weight 0.08): The game features impressive large-scale battles, such as those against the White Whale, with dynamic camera work and exciting sequences. These battles are memorable and enhance the overall game experience. - High-quality, complementary music (weight 0.07): The game features high-quality music that complements the gameplay and creates a memorable experience. The music maintains Falcom's signature style and adds to the overall atmosphere. - Engaging sea exploration mechanics (weight 0.07): The game's sea exploration is engaging, with a wind direction mechanic that guides players to new areas. Upgrading the ship and recruiting crew members makes exploration more rewarding. Sea battles provide a welcome change of pace from land-based combat. - Strong brotherhood theme (weight 0.07): The game emphasizes the bond between brothers, with characters frequently referring to each other as such. This brotherhood aspect enhances the combat and story, creating a sense of camaraderie. - Enjoyable naval combat (weight 0.06): Naval battles are surprisingly enjoyable and more entertaining than expected. They provide a decent change of pace from traditional combat. Common complaints: - Tedious and repetitive exploration (weight 0.44): The game's exploration is criticized for being tedious and repetitive, particularly the sea exploration and naval combat. The ship's slow speed early on, combined with uninspired map design and repetitive environments, makes exploration feel monotonous. Additionally, loading screens disrupt the experience. - Awkward and unconfigurable controls (weight 0.22): The game suffers from control issues, including awkward default keybindings, lack of proper controller support (especially for non-Xbox controllers), and inability to remap keys effectively. These issues make the game difficult and uncomfortable to control, even after attempts to adjust settings. - Frequent game crashes (weight 0.12): The game experiences frequent crashes, sometimes multiple times per hour, and generates large crash dump files. These crashes can occur during cutscenes, loading screens, and prolonged gameplay sessions, requiring frequent manual saving to avoid losing progress. - Disappointing final boss/ending (weight 0.07): The final boss fight and ending are described as disappointing, rushed, and unsatisfying. The final area is considered boring, and the ending fails to resolve plot points adequately, leaving the reviewer with a sense of anticlimactic closure. - Concerns about developer progress (weight 0.05): Some reviewers express concerns about the developer's (Falcom) graphical capabilities and overall progress, feeling they are falling behind industry standards. There are also criticisms regarding business practices, such as selling 'Royal Editions'. - Poorly written side characters (weight 0.04): Side characters and their storylines are considered nonsensical, poorly written, and a waste of playtime. Some reviewers recommend skipping these storylines altogether, as they detract from the main narrative. - Limited playable characters (weight 0.04): The game features only two playable characters, which is a reduction compared to previous installments. This limitation disappoints players who enjoyed the variety and skill options offered by larger parties in earlier games. - Lacks hints, content, voice-acting (weight 0.04): The game is criticized for lacking sufficient in-game hints, requiring players to consult guides for certain story events. Additionally, the game is considered short on content and voice acting, with emotional interactions being less than ideal. Gameplay feedback: - Dual-character combat system (weight 0.21): The game features a dual-character combat system where players control two characters simultaneously, allowing for strategic switching and coordinated attacks. While generally well-received, some reviewers noted potential control issues due to limited keybinds and a reduction in the number of playable characters compared to previous entries. - Emphasis on defensive combat (weight 0.18): The combat system emphasizes defensive maneuvers like blocking and parrying, with opportunities for counter-attacks. Some reviewers found the defense timing generous and the overall difficulty low, while others appreciated the faster pace and the ease of executing precise parries and dodges compared to previous games. - New sailing and ship battles (weight 0.15): The game introduces a new sailing system with ship battles and exploration. While some found the sea battles uninteresting or initially slow, others enjoyed the ship customization and combat mechanics, drawing comparisons to Assassin's Creed Black Flag. - Traditional adventurous story (weight 0.1): The game's story is an adventurous tale set early in Adol's adventures, focusing on exploring the northern region. While some found the plot to be traditional, others appreciated the departure from recurring themes and the focus on adventure. - Focus on Adol and Karja (weight 0.09): The story focuses on Adol and Karja, with each character bringing unique abilities to the battlefield. The game features fewer playable characters than previous entries, but character development is increased. - Mana Actions enhance exploration (weight 0.07): Mana Actions enhance exploration by allowing traversal and interaction with the environment in creative ways, such as swinging and gliding. Exploration includes both land-based adventures and sea-based sailing. - 'Liberation Road' system (weight 0.03): The game includes a 'Liberation Road' system that allows players to unlock nodes and insert Mana Crystals for stat boosts and passive skills. This system is optional and provides positive feedback when materials are farmed to improve stats. - Average map design (weight 0.02): The map design is described as generally average and simple, with a suitable amount of interactive mechanisms. Performance notes: - Improved, but inconsistent PC optimization (weight 0.35): The game's PC optimization has significantly improved, especially after the 2.0 update, resolving initial issues like stuttering and crashes. Many players report smooth gameplay at high frame rates and resolutions, even on mid-range hardware, with some community tweaks further enhancing performance. However, some players still experience inconsistent frame rates and occasional crashes, indicating optimization is not perfect for all systems. - Playable on Steam Deck (weight 0.23): The game is playable on Steam Deck, with some users reporting stable performance at 30-60 FPS. This makes it a viable option for portable gaming, although performance may vary depending on settings and specific hardware configurations. - Underutilized CPU/GPU (weight 0.04): Some users report that the game does not fully utilize their hardware, with CPU and GPU usage remaining below maximum capacity. This suggests potential for further optimization to improve performance. - Unimpressive, similar graphics to previous installments (weight 0.03): Several reviewers noted that the graphics are not significantly improved compared to previous installments and are similar to promotional videos. One reviewer also mentioned that graphics are not a strength of Falcom games. - Dust texture bug obscures screen (weight 0.01): A specific bug causes a dust texture to expand and flicker, obscuring the screen during gameplay. This is a notable visual glitch that can negatively impact the player's experience. - Lower than listed hardware requirements (weight 0.01): Several reviews suggest that the game's actual hardware requirements are lower than the listed specifications. This means that players with older or less powerful systems may still be able to run the game at acceptable settings. - Freezing during loading screens (weight 0.01): Some players experience random freezing during loading screens. This can be frustrating and disrupt the flow of gameplay. - Acceptable loading times (weight 0.01): Loading times are reported as acceptable but not particularly fast, requiring some waiting. This is a minor inconvenience but doesn't significantly detract from the overall experience. - Legible Chinese font (weight 0.01): The Chinese font is legible, although not aesthetically pleasing. This is a minor point, but important for players who require Chinese language support. Recommendations: - Highly recommended for Ys fans (weight 0.5): Many reviewers recommend Ys X, especially to fans of the series and newcomers. It's considered a good entry point due to its accessibility and engaging gameplay. Some suggest it's on par with or better than previous installments, while others find it a worthwhile addition despite minor flaws. - Wait for optimization patches (weight 0.16): Several reviews mention technical issues, particularly regarding optimization and performance on PC and Steam Deck. Some recommend waiting for patches or price reductions before purchasing to ensure a smoother experience. Some reviewers even refunded the game due to these problems. - Anticipation for Ys XI (weight 0.09): Many reviewers express anticipation for the next installment in the Ys series, Ys XI. Some hope for improvements to controls, dungeon design, and bold innovations in the next entry, while others are simply eager to see where the story goes next. - Consider purchasing on sale (weight 0.05): Several reviewers suggest waiting for a sale or price reduction before purchasing the game, citing its high cost. They recommend carefully considering the price before buying, especially if money is a concern. - Start on higher difficulty (weight 0.04): Some reviewers recommend starting the game on a higher difficulty level, such as Nightmare or Inferno, for a more challenging experience. They suggest that the game may be easier compared to previous installments, and that starting on a higher difficulty can unlock additional content. - Initial negative reviews misleading (weight 0.04): This cluster shows signs of review bombing. Some reviewers initially gave negative reviews due to technical issues, but later changed their ratings to positive after the issues were resolved. This indicates that the initial negative reviews may not have been representative of the game's overall quality. - Poor PC port quality (weight 0.03): Some reviewers criticize the quality of the PC port, citing issues with optimization, graphics, and overall performance. They suggest that the publisher should focus on improving the quality of their ports before releasing them. - Use a controller for better experience (weight 0.03): Some reviewers recommend using a controller for a better gaming experience, particularly for players using PS4 or NS Pro controllers. They note that controller compatibility issues may exist, and suggest considering a third-party Xbox controller as an alternative. - Play MMOs instead (weight 0.01): One reviewer recommends playing MMOs instead, citing superior graphics, story, and gameplay satisfaction. This point is not very constructive or specific, and it is based on personal preference rather than objective analysis. Other player notes: - Norse-inspired setting and story (weight 0.09): The game's story is set in Obelia Bay, inspired by Norse mythology and Viking pirates. Players will encounter the Norman-descended Balta Navy and the enigmatic Griegers while exploring islands, conquering seas, and completing NPC requests. - Disappointing music (weight 0.05): The game's music is a bit disappointing, with only a few memorable tracks and some BGM that feels out of place. This detracts from the overall experience. - Game re-released with optimization (weight 0.03): The game has been re-released with significant optimization to address previous issues. Some older negative reviews may still be visible, but they may not reflect the current state of the game. - Controller support and Steam issues (weight 0.03): The Steam version had a delayed release due to issues. The game supports custom controller keybindings in the in-game settings, but does not support Steam Input. Some reviewers suggest that the game is better played with a controller. - Item transactions and free DLCs (weight 0.03): Islands and seas have NPCs that sell items, offering both gold and barter transactions. There are 2 free DLCs to claim: empty bottle and lunch box, which are essential for blending. Having an extra empty bottle allows you to carry one more potion. - Unclear trigger conditions for content (weight 0.03): Some NPC storylines and island content might be missed due to unclear trigger conditions. This can lead to players missing out on parts of the game's content. - Repetitive blue dialogue (weight 0.02): Blue dialogue with characters requires talking to them twice, with the second conversation being 80% similar to the first. This can be repetitive and tedious for players. - Keyboard skill configuration tip (weight 0.01): A keyboard skill key configuration tip: setting skill key to R allows for R+1,2,3,4 combinations, and R+R activates Mana Sense, or just R for Mana Sense. This can improve the player's control and efficiency in combat. - Accessibility features included (weight 0.01): The game includes accessibility features, such as preventing players from falling off edges, to cater to players unfamiliar with the series. This makes the game more accessible to a wider audience. - PC exclusive DLCs available (weight 0.01): PC exclusive DLCs are available, especially the first release bonus outfits, which are free before October 9th. Players should claim these DLCs before the deadline to get the bonus outfits. - Request compensation for PROUD version (weight 0.01): A PROUD version is coming out, and the reviewer hopes for some compensation for those who own the original version. This is a request for fair treatment of existing customers. Emotions: No emotions}