Ys X: Proud Nordics Review
Ys X: Proud Nordics is the definitive edition of Adol Christin’s latest adventure.
Ys X: Proud Nordics. Credit: Nihon Falcom / NIS America
Ys X: Proud Nordics is the latest and tenth mainline entry in Nihon Falcom’s long-running series. More specifically, Proud Nordics is an updated and expanded version of that game. The original released in Japan in late 2023, followed by a worldwide release from NIS America a year later. Falcom then released Proud Nordics in mid-2025, with the global version arriving just last month.
Nihon Falcom announced Proud Nordics only months after the US release of the original, and the lack of an upgrade path is a questionable move. This is clearly the definitive edition, with quality-of-life changes, new mechanics, and an additional storyline. I’ve only played a handful of entries in the series, but for what it’s worth, Proud Nordics is my favorite so far.
Ys X: Proud Nordics. Credit: Nihon Falcom / NIS America
This Norse-themed entry takes place between Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished - The Final Chapter (1988) and Ys: Memories of Celceta (2012). It follows red-haired adventurer Adol Christin at age 17, who takes an unexpected detour in the Obelia Gulf on his way to Celceta when his ship is raided by the Norse pirates of the Balta Seaforce, leaving him stranded in the seaside town of Carnac.
He soon finds himself literally tethered at the wrist to Karja Balta, Pirate Princess of the Seaforce, by an invisible mana thread for unknown reasons. That same night, Carnac, under Balta’s protection, is razed by invading undead creatures known as the Griegr. As Adol, like Karja, turns out to be one of only three people with the power of Mana and the ability to kill Griegr, he agrees to help her defeat the threat while figuring out what’s linking them together.
Ys X: Proud Nordics. Credit: Nihon Falcom / NIS America
The writing isn’t stellar, but the mystery at the story's center is strong enough to carry things forward to the end. As you rescue Carnac’s villagers, they join your ship’s crew and add some welcome personality. You can listen to optional conversations while sailing, and they’re fun, but the pauses between lines are frustratingly long, and they’re easily interrupted by just about anything you do, after which you have to dig them out of the journal menus. Interacting with crewmates builds relationships and unlocks sidequests over time.
The fast, fluid combat is the clear highlight of the game. You can swap instantly between Adol and Karja in Solo Mode or control them together in Duo Mode. Each has a standard combo and can equip up to four special attacks fueled by mana, along with four Duo attacks shared between them. Duo attacks drain both characters’ mana, so there’s a constant push and pull in how you manage your resources. You can block or dodge by holding buttons, though perfect timing rewards you with a powerful and sometimes unique counter. Specials have different properties—launching, pulling, slamming—that make it fun to string attacks together. Blocking also fills the Revenge Gauge, boosting your next Duo attack. Once the rhythm clicks, it’s easy to get into a flow of juggling abilities and watching enemies get juggled in return. It’s not especially difficult on default settings, but it stays satisfying the whole way through. You earn new specials often enough to keep combat fresh.
Ys X: Proud Nordics. Credit: Nihon Falcom / NIS America
As you progress, you unlock Mana abilities that expand traversal, puzzle-solving, and combat, now with upgrades in Proud Nordics. Mana String acts as a grapple, Mana Burst adds elemental attacks, and Mana Ride lets you glide around on a hoverboard across land, water, and rails. Mana Ride is easily the standout; it just feels good to zip through the world, especially once upgraded. The new Mana Hold ability lets you grab and throw objects, but the implementation felt slapdash. Thrown objects sometimes behave strangely when hitting surfaces, the aiming arc is hard to read, and not being able to move while holding something makes simple puzzles more frustrating than they should be.
You’ll spend a lot of time sailing the open seas aboard your ship, the Sandras. The world is dotted with islands to explore, including optional locations outside the main story. Encounters appear as hotspots on the map, triggering battles when you sail into them, with one type opening up ocean currents that speed up sailing. One of my favorite touches is how generous fast travel is; once you discover a location, you can jump back to it almost instantly from anywhere via the map. For a game of this size, that makes a huge difference and made chasing side content much more fun.
Ys X: Proud Nordics. Credit: Nihon Falcom / NIS America
Naval combat, though, gets stale quickly, especially if you’re keeping your ship upgraded, which makes most fights trivial. You lock on, fire cannons, and use specials. A shield lets you nullify enemy attacks, and you can use the Sandras’ Mana Sail ability to ram enemies. It works, but it rarely feels exciting. The standout moments at sea are the raid battles, where you liberate enemy outposts by taking down towers across waves of enemies before finishing with a short dungeon sequence. Those at least mix things up and give you something to work toward. These missions are optional, like most of the game’s naval combat. There are only a handful of story-driven encounters. Proud Nordics adds an area with endless waves of enemy ships at the end of the game for those inclined.
Visually, the game looks about what you’d expect from a recent Nihon Falcom release. Proud Nordics looks a bit dated, with flat lighting and low-detail environments. The cel-shaded characters are appealing, even if they don’t quite reach the level of Falcom’s newer Trails games. Enemy designs don’t leave much of an impression, either. Still, none of this hampered my enjoyment of the game, which runs at a solid 60fps in Quality mode on the PlayStation 5.
Ys X: Proud Nordics. Credit: Nihon Falcom / NIS America
Ys X: Proud Nordics is a really solid action RPG and an easy recommendation if you enjoy fast, satisfying combat. The island-hopping structure, the Norse-inspired setting, and the core gameplay loop all come together in a way that feels fresh for the series. I had a great time with it, and I’m already looking forward to wherever Adol ends up next—preferably without having to buy the same game twice to get the full experience.
Ys X: Proud Nordics is available now on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2.
Overall Score: 8/10
Played on: PS5
