Ys X: Nordics marks the tenth mainline game in the beloved action-RPG franchise, extraordinarily now in its 37th year. Originally released in Japan in September 2023, Ys X now at last has a worldwide English-language release. And yet, despite all this, you’ve never played a Ys game! Let us convince you this is the perfect place to start.
Before I say anything to you about Ys X: Nordics, I need to level with you for a second: I’m a huge fan of Nihon Falcom’s Ys series. This long-running action-RPG series has captivated me since I first played Ys I&II on the TurboGrafx-CD, and my casual blogging about the series eventually turned into my professional writing career. Every writer has inherent biases to consider when recommending a video game on the internet, and it’s only fair that you know that my biases are especially strong in this case.
With that said, after pouring roughly 50 hours into the official English version of Ys X: Nordics, I’m here to tell you that I really loved playing this game. This is easily the biggest evolution the series has seen in its core gameplay since Ys Seven, and I eagerly sought out every side quest and optional boss I could find just to make the experience last. Despite the absolute deluge of quality RPGs released this year, Ys X is one of my favorite games of 2024.
If you’ve never dipped your toes into Ys before, know that Ys X is a mostly self-contained story early in the overall series canon. You can jump right into this game without feeling like you’re missing the plot from the other games. With that said, is Ys X really the best way to get into the series, or should you opt for one of the earlier entries instead? To answer that, I’ll break down my biggest pros and cons about Ys X below, and I’ll give my firm opinion on who I think would most enjoy playing Ys X first at the end.
