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Ys X: Proud Nordics | Review Thread

I would be kinda upset if I had paid full price for Ys X in 2024 and have this release come out so soon.

Fortunately, I didn't.

So why the fuck not ...

W0nXO2yfJjlFZJXR.png
 
mèx said:
TvhMIWEiXAGGOn25.png


So there is a discount... But it's going to be available in 2 weeks? Lmao.
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Still a $40 upgrade lol

EDIT: $45, even worse
 
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Base game was $60. This version is $70 with a couple of bullshit addons. Fans that bought the base game can either buy this version at a jacked up price or wait for a couple weeks after launch for a "discount" that'll bring the game down to a mere ~$45 (34% off). And of course they make sure to end the launch "exclusive items" beforehand because we can't be giving out shit for free...

This was the game that killed Ys, Falcom and NISA for me. Never getting my money again. I don't even like this game (first Ys I didn't even finish) and almost certainly wouldn't have rebought it regardless. It's just this whole thing is just so scummy that all companies involved can go fuck themselves.
 
70 euro? That's new for Falcom games. They've always been 60.

Gotta milk the few fans they have. Between this and them stalling new Trails games for some fucking remakes, it's not a good look.
 
mèx said:
70 euro? That's new for Falcom games. They've always been 60.
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No GOG release either. That's where I bought the original so of course no discount for me at all even if I wanted to pay for the upgrade.
 
adamsapple said:
I would be kinda upset if I had paid full price for Ys X in 2024 and have this release come out so soon.

Fortunately, I didn't.

So why the fuck not ...

W0nXO2yfJjlFZJXR.png
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Everytime I've seen you be excited to play something you post a Gamefly transaction screen cap or talk about how you're playing it on gamepass, when exactly do you support the games?
 
Moondoggy said:
Everytime I've seen you be excited to play something you post a Gamefly transaction screen cap or talk about how you're playing it on gamepass, when exactly do you support the games?
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When they're games I plan to keep permanently.
 
Moondoggy said:
Everytime I've seen you be excited to play something you post a Gamefly transaction screen cap or talk about how you're playing it on gamepass, when exactly do you support the games?
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devs are not your friends, they are working and we are just clients, if we can save money we should.
 
adamsapple said:
I would be kinda upset if I had paid full price for Ys X in 2024 and have this release come out so soon.

Fortunately, I didn't.

So why the fuck not ...

W0nXO2yfJjlFZJXR.png
Click to expand...
Same here, happy to support Falcom and buy the first Ys X game I got from them and on Switch 2. Love the fact that it seems to run flawlessly.
 
mèx said:
Gotta milk the few fans they have. Between this and them stalling new Trails games for some fucking remakes, it's not a good look.
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Plus Kyoto Xanadu. Seems pretty obvious that they're trying to make Xanadu a third pillar in their portfolio.
 
This was promoted on Japan like 4k/120fps on PS5, but in west version the 120hz mode don't even work. Durante improving PC and Switch versions and nerfing PS5 one
 
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The Mad Draklor said:
Yeah, I think I'm going to wait for a big sale (and GOG release) even though I never got the vanilla version.
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Are you unable to see the GOG?

Best Video games, DRM-free | GOG.COM

Download the best classic and new games on Windows, Mac & Linux. A vast selection of titles, DRM-free, with free goodies and 30-day money-back guarantee.
www.gog.com www.gog.com

I had planned to buy the game on GOG until I saw the steam price in local currency was equivalent to US$45.
 
LyricalShrike said:
Are you unable to see the GOG?

Best Video games, DRM-free | GOG.COM

Download the best classic and new games on Windows, Mac & Linux. A vast selection of titles, DRM-free, with free goodies and 30-day money-back guarantee.
www.gog.com www.gog.com

I had planned to buy the game on GOG until I saw the steam price in local currency was equivalent to US$45.
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Cool it definitely wasn't there earlier when the game launched on Steam, and there was radio silence as to whether there would even be a GOG release.
 
Falcoms handling of this game has been absolute trash. Way to go to fuck over your loyal fanbase. Never buying an Ys game day 1 ever again, despite being a massive fan of the franchise.
 
Relevant information.







What is Ys X: Proud Nordics?

It is an enhanced version of Ys X: Nordics that includes some extra content and changes detailed in this post. Think of this like the "Persona 5 Royal" or "Kingdom Hearts Final Mix" version of the original Ys X. For more questions, please refer to the FAQ at the end of this post.

Öland Island

Since this island contains the majority of the new content in Proud Nordics, I've decided to make it its own section. The details for it are the following:

  • Introduction: Öland Island is a large explorable island unlocked in Chapter 5. It features brand new characters and enemies, and parts of it will be unlocked as you progress through the main story.
  • New characters: Canute and Astrid (Shield Brethren from the Kingdom of Danmerk) are involved in the story of this island.
  • Bergen Arena: A colosseum where you can fight enemies as Adol and/or Karja, and earn rewards based on clear time.
  • Mana Hold: A new Mana ability that lets you carry and throw blocks or enemy projectiles to solve puzzles.
  • Mana Ride Races: Similar to that one time you race the Old Man. You race Canute and earn rewards based on your score.
  • Muspelheim: A post-game dungeon unlocked after you clear the story on Öland Island and reloading your Clear save file before the final boss. It's a timed dungeon challenge you can unlock modifiers for, and your goal is to get a high score and collect pieces of a mural.
  • New bosses and new music (12 tracks total).

Additions

  • You can now dash/boost with the Grimbleboard (the hoverboard) by pressing L1.
  • Mana abilities can be enhanced, e.g. Mana Sense can be enhanced to last for longer or Mana Ride can get faster acceleration.
  • Mutant monsters, which are just beefier versions of normal enemies, can show up on some islands and drop "Elding Fragments," a new currency used to raise skill mastery without having to use the skill.
  • Sometimes you'll see islands marked with an Elding Fragment on your Sea Chart, indicating that there's a "Mutant Outbreak," so now you have mutants to defeat on that island.
  • Skills can now reach up to 1000% mastery (100% in the original), so you can make any skill more powerful.
  • White Mana seeds have been added. A new type of Mana seed that significantly boosts stats but grants no abilities.
  • The open sea now features "Golden Symbols," which trigger sea battles that unlock new air currents for faster sailing.
  • You can press R3 to display the area's collectibles next to your map.
  • Recapture Battles now have extra enemies and objects that make use of the new Mana Hold.
  • "Ceaseless Sea" mode has been added, a mode where you battle endless waves of enemy ships under a time limit.
  • You can hang mascots on your screen, a feature returning from Ys II Chronicles. There's also mascot DLC for Ys VIII and Ys IX characters. Ys I, Ys II, and Ys X mascots are unlockable in the game.
  • There's new cosmetic DLC for Adol, Karja, and the ship, exclusive to Proud Nordics.
  • Infinity mode returns from Ys VIII. It's a New Game+ exclusive difficulty where enemies become significantly stronger, tankier, and their level can reach above 100. Reviving your partner takes more time, and limits are placed on evasion and critical hit rates.
  • The PS5 and Switch 2 versions include a Performance mode targeting 120 FPS, while Quality mode targets 60 FPS.
  • The PC version now supports TAA, as well as DLSS (for RTX GPUs) and XeSS (for Intel GPUs). The Switch 2 version uses DLSS, while the PS5 Pro version uses PSSR.
  • The game now supports Spanish and German text, bringing the total number of supported languages to four on consoles for the western version (five if you're on PC, since it supports Japanese text too).

Changes

  • Carnac in Chapter 1 has received a lighting change, but it reverts to how it looked originally in later chapters.
  • Counterattacking after dodging a speed attack now raises your Revenge Gauge by one point.
  • The fishing minigame has been tweaked, now no longer requiring you to mash at all. You just do QTEs.
  • Magna Diga (the Chapter 3 worm boss) has been reworked. Both phases are different, and the second phase makes use of the Grimbleboard's new boost.
  • Recapture Battles now have higher requirements for the S Rank.
  • The game is "rebalanced" with the expectation that players complete the Öland Island content, so some enemies have slightly adjusted levels. For example, the final boss is level 85 in the original game but level 87 in Proud Nordics, or a random enemy that was level 21 in the original is now level 20.

Miscellaneous

  • All DLC from the original Ys X: Nordics is included in Ys X: Proud Nordics, including all the costumes and cosmetics (but not consumable item DLC).
  • Adol and Karja now lean in the direction you're running, similar to Ys VIII and Ys IX.
  • Adol and Karja will now say a line whenever you equip a cosmetic like a costume or accessory.
  • The Trident have new portraits illustrated by toi8.
  • Some of Adol's dialogue choices are now voiced near the end of the game.
  • Clear save data from Ys X: Nordics can be carried over into Proud Nordics, so you can start New Game+ immediately. Note that only Clear save data is compatible, you can't transfer over a regular save file.
[More will be added as additional differences are found.]

FAQ

Q: Can I start with Ys X: Proud Nordics as my very first Ys game with no prior knowledge of anything in this series?

A: You absolutely can, have fun.

Q: Should I buy Ys X: Nordics or Ys X: Proud Nordics?

A: You should always buy Ys X: Proud Nordics, even if it is more expensive—it is the definitive version of Ys X. Think of it like Persona 5 Royal or Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix. It essentially makes the original obsolete.

Q: Should I buy Ys X: Proud Nordics if I already played Ys X: Nordics?

A: Maybe wait for a deep sale. While Proud Nordics offers an okay amount of new stuff, there's not nearly enough additions or changes to justify a second purchase of the game for full price. You'll still be playing what feels like the exact same game (because it is).

Q: How long is the new content in Proud Nordics?

A: The new content will add around 6-10 hours of content, depending on how much you engage with the extras like the Mana Ride Races and post-game dungeon.

Q: Should I hold off on buying the next Ys game and wait for an enhanced version of it?

A: This is a hard question. I can't predict what'll happen, but Falcom has gotten a fair amount of backlash/concerns due to the timing of Proud Nordics' announcement from both fans and their own shareholders. It's safe to assume Falcom will think twice before pulling something like this again.

Q: Why wasn't the extra content in Proud Nordics sold as DLC?

A: Kondo has given several reasons, but none of them are satisfying answers. You have the right to be upset about it. Unlike typical expansion packs, Proud Nordics includes system-wide rebalancing, new progression mechanics, difficulty adjustments, and content that is integrated directly into the main game flow.

They probably wanted to make a new version of the game that's not tied down by the base game. An enhanced edition allowed Falcom to relaunch the game on Switch 2, bundle all DLC, change things with the base game that returning players might ignore, and market it as a definitive version rather than fragmenting the experience. There is more to say about this topic, but it's so much that it probably deserves its own post.
 
adamsapple said:
I guess that's all new DLC ?

Persona 5 Royal, for example, includes all the original P5 DLC but it also has its own set of brand new DLC.
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Yes, it is, but it's quite shitty to release another version with a bunch of new DLC. The same thing with Persona 5. Those versions should be an definitive version, no more purchases needed.
 
I can definitely see why people are upset. I managed to get the OG on a deep sale last year but it went straight to my backlog, but when this was announced decided to pick it up too. Should be arriving today finally since the storms disrupted so much supply chain stuff. Ys, a few films, my Yakuza 3 Kiwami copy and a few more items should arrive today lol. Probably will dive into Ys X since I've been in the mood for that lately, last I played was that Memoire: The Oath in Felghana release last year.
 
DarkShadowXI said:
I'm not entirely sure, but I have my doubts lol
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I went down this rabbit hole to save you time. Nihon said DLSS wasn't possible because of how the game was engineered but this was made moot when the Asian version of Proud Nordics released with upscaling. Proud Nordics western release supports DLSS in addition to the previously unlocked features.

I understand why the price/release is pissing you guys off now. The English localization of Proud Nordics is significantly cheaper than the original game in my region.

 
I do not like the way that they handled this re-release. It's fucking bullshit, and NIS America should be ashamed. I know a few of the higher ups over there, and I told them that I really hate how these releases are being handled with the crazy-priced ultimate editions and all that. There's some pressure on their side regarding pricing, but I'm not going to get into that.

Nevertheless, I bought this on GOG, even though I got screwed on Ys X's original release. The irony is, I bought Ys X thinking I'd be building a new computer pretty soon, which... didn't happen. Instead, I literally just finished my new rig yesterday, so now Ys X: Proud Nordics is my first game on there. I get that it sends the message that this sort of poor form in re-releases is acceptable, but I also want to send the message that we want to continue getting Falcom games and that I want them to be released DRM-free, unlike the Trails in the Sky remake. And yes, I'm still shelling out for these despite that I'm sure I could just as easily get a code. You've gotta put your money where your mouth is.

Whatever.

Anyway, I'm about 2 hours into the game and I'm loving it so far. I haven't played an Ys game since... I guess my first playthrough of Ys IX back in 2021, so I'm overdue for a return. It's all basically what I expected, but man do I still fucking love how the gameplay feels. And the visuals really look great to me - yes, they're low budget, but the shading and color just really pops. I'm excited to just completely tune out the world and play as much of this as I can.
 
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adamsapple said:
I guess that's all new DLC ?

Persona 5 Royal, for example, includes all the original P5 DLC but it also has its own set of brand new DLC.
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Yeah fuck this, I got the original and Falcon needs to understand it would make more money if it sold its games (especially its ultimates) at half the price their currently asking.

They ask for more than some of the big name AAA's, far more and honestly especially for this title which is a re-release with slight improvements massively overvalue their own worth.

I hope it flops hard, I would go so far as say it needs too otherwise their going to fuck themselves in the long run without a correction. What this tells me as a consumer is I need to not buy their games at launch ever and wait until the ultimate edition comes out, if no ultimate edition comes out then get the port for the next generation console over half a decade later, thats what they are telling me to do. I stopped buying any gust game for the same reason, I now wait for the "DX" release and for that to be on sale.
 
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Anyone else playing this right now? Got my copy and the fucking autosave function doesn't work.

I enable it in the options, it gets disabled automatically.... wtf .
 
I'm about 20 hours into the game and... yeah, it's Ys. Which is great - I'm having a lot of fun. While it's been a while since I've played the other modern entries (2020 for Ys VIII and 2021 for Ys IX), I'd say this one isn't as good as VIII, but better than IX. I enjoy the naval combat and exploration quite a bit, though it's just not as satisfying as how brisk the exploration is in the other games. I think the biggest issue with the game is a lack of distinctive environments - it feels like every island you traverse is more or less the same... but then, I'm not growing the slightest bit tired of the gameplay, so it's really just the window dressing rather than the actual proceedings that feels a bit light. I'd also kind of forgotten how mechanically polished these games are - it feels so damn good to kill stuff and navigate the environments. I'd like to see Ys XI - whenever that happens - change things up with the formula. I actually think streamlining the game to focus on just Adol, and getting rid of most of the crafting and other back-end systems could be an interesting way to make a new game feel like an evolution of the more action game-y Oath in Felghana/Origins/VI titles. Either way, I'm glad I'm finally playing this one.

The pricing strategy and everything else around this release is still dumb as hell, though.
 
Pejo said:
Bro...
ZrmwCjE.png


What the holy loving fuck is this price? For some digital art and whatever the Mascot sets are for, they look like digital stickers. Insanity.
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Yeah, NISA and Falcom have gotten really stupid with the pricing. For both this and the latest Trails game, all of the actual content can be gotten in the $97-ish Deluxe Edition or whatever they call it. For an extra $50, you get... in-game currency and shit you can earn by playing the game, that you don't really need anyway. It's just the Intermediate and Advanced packs of in-game items you get for that extra dosh. Which is insanely dumb.
 
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