Ys X: Proud Nordics Review: PS5 JRPG Gets Definitive Version

Nihon Falcom’s Ys series of action RPGs has been impressing gamers since 1987 and continues going strong to this day. The most-recent mainline release is 2023’s Ys X: Nordics, which came out in North America a year later. However, just two years after its release, a definitive edition called Ys X: Proud Nordics is coming out, filled with additional content and some quality-of-life changes.

Considering it’s just been a year and a half since its Western debut, the largest factor against playing Ys X: Proud Nordics is whether you’ve just recently played Ys X. If you did, you might want to wait a bit since like Persona 5 Royal and other JRPG updates, you’ll have to play through the game in its entirety to enjoy the updates. This is great news for those new to the game, though, as it includes all previously released DLC and certainly lives up to its enhanced billing as it’s a better overall game.

The biggest addition to Proud Nordics is the new Öland Island questline, which gives you a new island to explore featuring a mysterious witch. There’s also a new timed dungeon called Muspelheim, a series of coliseum fights, new mana ride races, and a new mana ability that allows you to move environmental objects. Throw in a performance mode that can run at 120hz and you’ve got a content-filled game that plays better than ever before.

Particularly unique for such a long-running RPG franchise is its focus on a core protagonist, as the young adventurer Adol Christin is the lead in nearly every game in the franchise. While he’s been joined by a party in recent releases, Ys X scales things back to focusing on just two characters, which gives more time for character development. Joining him is the Pirate Princess, Karja Balta, who gets plenty of time to develop and is a really fun character to play as well, with her axe-based attacks.

New to the series is the game’s ship combat and the ability to sail around to nearby islands. While I preferred the game’s core combat, as the on-foot fights are often thrilling, the ship battles wind up adding a nice amount of variety, and the raids are particularly fun. With plenty of upgrades to unlock, you get a great sense of progress as the game continues and the Sandras goes from a run-down ship to a gorgeous one.

Ys X: Proud Nordics Review: Final Verdict

There’s no doubt that Ys X: Proud Nordics is a great action RPG. Featuring a stellar story and fun combat, the action never gets dull. The new story content and gameplay additions are great, although veteran fans will have to decide if they want to replay the game this soon again. However, whether they dive right in or wait a while, the good news is that Proud Nordics will be delivering a fantastic experience once they pick it up, as it’s the definitive version of Nihon Falcom’s latest RPG.