Developed By: Nihon Falcom
Published By: NIS America
Category: RPG
Release Date: 02.20.26
Price: $69.99
*Game Download Code graciously provided for the purpose of review
We live in an age where remakes, upgrades, and Definitive Editions are rapidly released. Persona 5, Dragon Quest XI, and Final Fantasy VII Remake are some of the biggest recent examples. They’re very common and most of them significantly the base game. Ys X: Proud Nordics came out last year, not even two years after the release of the original title. Now it’s available in the west.
I don’t have much experience with the Ys franchise. I played VIII a few years ago because it was a really popular game and I played The Oath In Felghana two years ago. But I skipped the last two mainline released. I figured an upgraded version would be the perfect opportunity to get back into the series. What did I think about it? Well, it’s complicated because it’s one of the best upgrades I’ve ever played but also one of the worst.
Ys X: Nordics follows the continued adventure of Adol Christin as he travels to Celceta with his friend. The Ys franchise isn’t one giant cohesive story like Falcom’s other series, but they take place in one giant interconnected world. This one takes place near the beginning of the Ys timeline shortly after the events of Ys II. The game itself takes place in a giant gulf with a bunch of islands to visit and focuses on the conflict between two factions.
If you’re a fan of the series, you already know all about the base game. The content of the base game is good. The story is interesting and the characters are interesting as well. I thought it was interesting seeing a slightly younger Adol because this game takes place a few years before VIII, which was the game that I had the most experience with.
But what makes Proud Nordics different from the base game? Well it’s basically the equivalent of a ton of DLC being injected right into the base game. I mean injected because it’s not true DLC. With most DLC, it’s just extra content added on top of the game. You’d get more things to do, more items and characters, more places to visit and more story. You get that here but instead of it being extra stuff, it’s reworked directly into the existing structure of the game.
The game expects you to complete a lot of the new stuff parallel to the main game and the difficulty curve is altered. The entire game as a whole is rebalanced, which creates an entirely different experience, and that’s before we even talk about what’s new. But what exactly is new? Well there’s a lot.
The big difference is that there’s a brand new area called Öland Island. This area is quite large and packs a punch. It includes a new story alongside new characters and enemies. There’s an arena where you can fight for rewards. There’s a new mana ability that allows you to solve puzzles. My favorite is a brand new roguelite dungeon that’s unlocked once you beat the game.
The next big update is that the game looks and runs completely different. I had to look up videos of the base game, but they’ve been vastly improved with better lighting and performance. There are two different performance modes in the Switch 2 version, one for 60 FPS and one for 120. Proud Nordics also includes all the DLC that was available for the base game. There’s also a bunch of other quality of life boosts.
I had a lot of fun with the game. I did put a good chunk of time into the new content. Between the Öland Island content and the new minigame, I estimate it put an extra 10-15 hours towards my playtime. I was also bouncing back and forth between both FPS modes while in handheld mode. I thought both were good. I did a lot of the side stuff because I’m a sucker for RPG’s and I put close to 60 hours in total.
Overall, it was an amazing experience. Are the upgrades worth it? Öland Island and the minigame are huge additions that can add a ton of playtime. The rebalancing makes you spend a little more time grinding. The visual enhancements are noticeable. Gameplay wise, Proud Nordics is far superior in every way. But there is one big problem. The game costs $70, which is phenomenal for what you get, but if you already played the original game, it’s a separate $70 purchase.
Like I said earlier, upgrades are common. But usually, you just have to buy the DLC separately or pay a slight upgrade fee to get the enhanced version. Not here, you’re paying full price for a second copy of the game. If I played the original game when it came out, would I have paid the $70 all over again for all these amazing updates? Probably not.
The original Nordics is a great game, and the new stuff is amazing. The complete Proud package is phenomenal and if you haven’t played the original, the $70 complete package is a must buy. But if you already played Nordics, I would avoid this one. That’s a tough ask because fans of the series would have already played Nordics when it first released, but you must trust me on this one. If you played the original, wait for this one to go on sale or for a standalone DLC pack.
8/10