Info about Ys X: Nordics:

Official game description:
Special Edition
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About the Game
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Embark on a high seas adventure rich with action and exploration in Ys X: Nordics! Experience the perils of Obelia Gulf through the eyes of Adol Christin and his unexpected ally, the pirate Karja Balta, as they help save the people of the gulf from the mysterious immortal monsters known as the Griegr.
Feature List
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**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.

Release date: 25 Oct, 2024

Categories: Action RPG, Real-time Combat, Open-World Exploration, Ship Combat, Character-based Combat, Puzzle Solving, Single-player Story, Player Customization


- 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:
- Excellent, engaging combat system (weight 0.96): The combat system is a major highlight, praised for being fast-paced, fluid, and engaging.  Many reviewers found it to be the best in the series, with responsive controls and satisfying feedback. The combat encourages strategic play through well-timed blocks, dodges, and skill combinations.
- Enjoyable duo character mechanic (weight 0.61): The duo mechanic, featuring Adol and Karja, is a refreshing change that enhances combat and character development.  Players enjoy the unique skills and interactions between the two characters, with many considering Karja a standout character. The duo system streamlines party management and allows for more focused character customization.
- Great graphics and soundtrack (weight 0.57): The game features improved graphics, animations, and character models compared to previous entries.  The soundtrack is consistently praised as phenomenal, dynamic, and memorable, enhancing both exploration and combat. Many reviewers consider the music to be a highlight of the game, as expected from the Ys series.
- Engaging story and characters (weight 0.4): The story is engaging, with well-developed characters and satisfying plot twists.  Reviewers appreciate the personal and emotional connections formed with the characters, making the world feel alive and immersive. The narrative pacing is well-managed, avoiding tedious moments and maintaining player interest throughout the game.
- Vast and rewarding exploration (weight 0.4): The game world is vast and rewarding to explore, with interesting side quests and collectibles.  The exploration is well-integrated into the story, avoiding typical fetch quests and offering meaningful content. The game provides a great sense of adventure and discovery.
- Fun ship battles and exploration (weight 0.39): The addition of ship battles and sea exploration provides a fun and refreshing gameplay experience.  Upgrading the ship and mastering the wind mechanics adds depth to the exploration. The final ship quest and boss fights are particularly creative and enjoyable.
- Easy to pick up and play (weight 0.25): The game is easy to pick up and play, with smooth and responsive gameplay. The combat system is addictive and rewarding, with a great sense of impact and rhythm. The game offers a fun and laidback hack'n'slash experience.
- Satisfying parry-focused combat (weight 0.14): The parry-focused combat mechanics, particularly the Just Guard system, are satisfying and impactful. The generous timing window and significant rewards for successful parries encourage strategic play. The game offers a challenging but fair experience, especially on higher difficulties.
- Well-optimized PC port (weight 0.13): The PC port is well-optimized, with smooth performance and customizable settings. The controls are easily mappable, and both keyboard/mouse and gamepad control work exceptionally well. The game includes local co-op, which is a welcome addition.
- Karja is a standout character (weight 0.12): Karja is a standout character, with many reviewers considering her one of the best in the series. Her character arc is well-developed, and her interactions with Adol are enjoyable. Her strong personality and unique perspective add depth to the story.
- Good localization and voice acting (weight 0.08): The game features good English localization and voice acting, enhancing character humanization and emotional delivery. The writing is well-done, making the story and characters believable. The inclusion of both English and Japanese voice options is appreciated.

Common complaints:
- Inferior to previous Ys games (weight 0.52): Many reviewers feel this game is a step down from previous Ys titles, especially Ys VIII, citing a weaker story, less memorable music, and uninspired level design. Some reviewers feel the game lacks a sense of adventure and that the graphics are outdated.
- Sailing is slow and tedious (weight 0.41): Sailing is a major issue due to the ship's slow speed, tedious combat, and uninteresting exploration. Upgrades alleviate some issues, but the initial experience is a slog. The removal of upgrades in New Game+ further emphasizes the tedium.
- Game is too easy (weight 0.17): The game's difficulty is considered too easy, even on higher settings. Some reviewers found the skill tree inconsequential and the gem/depth system unnecessary.
- Bland and repetitive environments (weight 0.17): Reviewers found the environments to be bland, repetitive, and lacking in variety. The level design is often described as generic and restrictive, with noticeable invisible walls hindering exploration.
- Slow start, long tutorial (weight 0.05): The game starts slowly, with the initial chapters serving mainly as a tutorial. This slow pace and heavy reliance on cutscenes can deter players.
- Lacks enemy variety (weight 0.05): There is a lack of enemy variety, with many being simple color variations. The story also makes some weird choices.
- Poor boss design (weight 0.05): Some boss fights are considered poorly designed, with artificial padding and frustrating mechanics. Magna Diga is specifically mentioned as a hated boss design.

Gameplay feedback:
- Duo combat system: Adol/Karja (weight 0.41): The game's combat centers around a duo system featuring Adol and Karja, replacing the traditional party system. Players can switch between the characters or control them simultaneously in Duo mode, which encourages strategic play using their unique skills and the revenge gauge mechanic. This system emphasizes parrying and strategic blocking over attack spamming.
- Strategic blocking/parrying is key (weight 0.41): Combat emphasizes strategic defense through blocking and parrying, which fills a revenge gauge for amplified duo skills. Perfect blocks and dodges are rewarded with counter-attacks and special animations, making well-timed defenses crucial for success, especially on higher difficulties. Dodging is less useful than blocking.
- Sailing and naval combat (weight 0.24): The game features seafaring and naval combat as a significant component, with a customizable ship serving as a mobile base. While initially slow, ship combat and exploration become more engaging with upgrades, offering a change of pace and rewards, though some find it lacking depth or wishing for better level design.
- Builds upon previous Ys titles (weight 0.13): The game is set between Ys II and Ys IV, with gameplay similar to Ys VIII and IX but introducing new mechanics like blocking. Exploration is a strong point, and the game features a two-player system, a departure from previous entries. Some dungeons rely too much on hallways and look similar.
- New Mana-based abilities (weight 0.06): The game introduces Mana-based mechanics for movement and combat, including a hoverboard and grappling hook. While these abilities offer new ways to traverse the environment, some reviewers found them less impressive than similar mechanics in previous titles or poorly explained, requiring experimentation.
- New mechanics, easier combat (weight 0.06): The game introduces new mechanics for battles and world movement, with a focus on guard-based combat. While some mechanics may not be explained properly initially, the game encourages experimentation with combos and is generally easier than previous entries.
- Engaging story, weak final dungeon (weight 0.04): The story is interesting and encourages exploration, but the final dungeon was disappointing due to reused enemies and bland visuals. The story progresses linearly, with a dual narrative structure that converges towards the end. The final boss can be predicted if you play until the end.
- Cross Action system, customization (weight 0.04): The game features a Cross Action system that takes hours to internalize but is satisfying and allows for player expression. The game also includes a growth tree for stat bonuses and a gem tree for skills, providing character customization options.
- Armor break and attack types (weight 0.04): Enemies have armored defenses that must be broken before HP damage can be dealt, and they employ both red (blockable) and blue (evadable) attacks. The game has removed enemy weaknesses (slash, pierce, blunt). This system encourages strategic combat and adaptation to enemy attack patterns.
- Raids: ship combat, fortress speedrun (weight 0.02): Raids involve ship combat followed by a speedrun through an enemy fortress, replacing the tower defense aspect with a focus on reaching the end with a good score. Fortresses in raids sometimes include small puzzle elements, but mostly involve fighting through hallways.

Performance notes:
- Excellent performance and optimization (weight 0.15): The game generally runs smoothly on PC, Steam Deck, and Linux, with many users reporting stable performance and good optimization. The PC port is frequently praised, especially the work done by Durante/PH3 Games. Some users note that the game runs well even on older hardware or at higher resolutions.
- Adjustable graphics, scalable performance (weight 0.1): The game offers a variety of graphical settings and options, allowing players to adjust performance based on their hardware. While the game generally runs well, some users have noted frame rate drops in specific areas or when using certain settings. The game seems to scale well with both CPU and GPU power.
- Dated but improved graphics (weight 0.08): The game's graphics are considered dated by some, with comparisons to older console generations. However, others note improvements over previous entries in the series, with updated character models and a new graphics engine. The art style is consistent, but the limitations are more apparent on PC.
- Minor bugs and occasional crashes (weight 0.05): Some players have reported minor bugs and occasional crashes, although some bugs have been fixed. One user mentioned the need for frequent saving due to potential instability.
- Fast loading times, quick saves (weight 0.05): The game features fast loading times, especially on SSDs, and a caching system in the PH3 version further improves loading speeds for frequently accessed scenes. A feature allows launching directly into the most recent save.
- Many adjustable settings available (weight 0.02): The PH3 version of the game offers numerous adjustable settings, providing players with a high degree of customization.
- Customizable controller and M+KB (weight 0.02): The game offers customizable controls for both Xbox controllers and mouse/keyboard setups.

Recommendations:
- Strongly recommended for Ys fans (weight 0.96): Many reviewers recommend Ys X: Nordics, especially to fans of the Ys series and action RPGs. They praise it as a worthy addition to the franchise, highlighting its engaging gameplay and overall quality. Some consider it a must-play and one of Adol's best adventures.
- Consider buying on sale (weight 0.85): Some reviewers suggest that the game is good but not worth the full price, recommending a purchase during a sale. Others suggest waiting for an upgraded version expected to address some shortcomings. This point does not indicate review bombing.
- Try the demo first (weight 0.72): Reviewers suggest trying the demo to see if you enjoy the game's mechanics and style. It's a good way to get a feel for the game before committing to a purchase, especially for newcomers to the series.
- Good entry point for newcomers (weight 0.66): The game is considered a good entry point for newcomers to the Ys series. Its story is independent, making it accessible without prior knowledge of the franchise.
- Not as good as Ys VIII (weight 0.41): Some reviewers feel that Ys X doesn't quite reach the heights of Ys VIII, with some even preferring Ys IX. They suggest that while it's a decent entry, it may not live up to the expectations set by its predecessors.
- Play on higher difficulty (weight 0.05): Several reviewers recommend playing the game on higher difficulty settings like Nightmare or Inferno for a more challenging and engaging experience. Some players found the normal difficulty too easy, even easier than previous installments.
- Epic boss fights (weight 0.03): The game features amazing cinematic boss fights, especially the final boss. The sense of accomplishment after defeating bosses is greater in co-op mode, even though the combat is more difficult.
- Prefer PH3-ported American version (weight 0.02): The PH3-ported American version is recommended for a better experience, particularly for those dissatisfied with the Clouded Leopard version. The PH3 version's superior PC support makes it the most recommended version, surpassing even console versions.
- Wait for complete edition (weight 0.02): Reviewers suggest waiting for the complete edition or remaster, which is said to include extra content. If you have a PlayStation, consider waiting for the complete edition.
- Disappointed with Falcom's direction (weight 0.01): One reviewer expressed disappointment and felt that Falcom ruined one of the best action RPG series. Another reviewer feels that they may no longer be the target audience for Falcom's games, which is disheartening. This point shows signs of review bombing.

Other player notes:
- Early timeline placement; accessible. (weight 0.12): Ys X is set early in Adol's timeline, specifically between Ys II and Ys IV, making it accessible to newcomers. The game explores Adol's adventures before he becomes a renowned adventurer, with the story being largely independent of other entries.
- Gameplay changes; Norse/Viking theme. (weight 0.1): Ys X introduces significant gameplay changes since Ys Seven and incorporates Norse mythology and Viking themes. The game takes place in the Obelia Gulf region, offering a new setting for Adol's adventures.
- Some missable quests/entries exist. (weight 0.05): Quests are generally well-labeled, but some are missable if players don't thoroughly explore each map. There are also a few missable character entries, making completion slightly challenging.
- Strong Adol-Karja partnership dynamic. (weight 0.03): The game emphasizes the bond between Adol and Karja, who serves as a central character and partner throughout the adventure. Karja's character dynamic is more of a partner than a love interest.
- Limited budget; simple visuals. (weight 0.02): The game appears to have been developed on a limited budget, with resources primarily focused on the final third of the game. The visuals and scenario design have a simple charm, reminiscent of older PlayStation titles.
- Generally high-quality music score. (weight 0.02): The game's music maintains the series' high-quality standard, although some reviewers found it less impressive than previous installments. Music quality is subjective, but generally well-received.
- Good translation with minor errors. (weight 0.02): The game features generally good translations with only minor errors, indicating an improvement in localization quality. Some reviewers noted instances where the Japanese and English text did not perfectly match.

Emotions:
No emotions}