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GAME: Ys X: Nordics Game Review




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Kiwi93



Joined: 08 Dec 2022
Posts: 373
PostPosted: Mon Oct 14, 2024 9:17 am Reply with quote
Can’t wait to finally play this next week!
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Andrew Cunningham



Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 510
Location: Seattle
PostPosted: Mon Oct 14, 2024 9:39 am Reply with quote
I struggled a lot in the early going because of how differently it plays; Ys has largely rewarded (or allowed) aggressive play, but this one really wants you to hang back and then punish.

I think it has by far the best level design in this series, and at it's best when you were exploring new islands.

I fell like Falcom's writing quality has been on the decline for several games now, and this is no exception; the supporting cast are mostly zeros, and while Karja herself is cool, they can't stop undermining her like this is the 80s and bad ass girls have to be taught how to use make up and get in touch with their cute side.
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Fluwm



Joined: 28 Jul 2009
Posts: 970
PostPosted: Mon Oct 14, 2024 6:25 pm Reply with quote
Ooof... I didn't realize Ys IX was here already. I still need to finish Daybreak, and I just started ReFantazio.... Guess this one'll have to be put off until next year.

Maybe a patch or a mod will increase the ship speed? That sounds really annoying.

Andrew Cunningham wrote:
I fell like Falcom's writing quality has been on the decline for several games now, and this is no exception.


Ys games are easier to tolerate shoddy storytelling in, I think, since the focus is always on smashing things. Though that has been changing in recent years.... Just please tell me the writing's not as bad as in CS2. I'm not sure I could bear slogging through another story like that one.
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Vanadise



Joined: 06 Apr 2015
Posts: 525
PostPosted: Mon Oct 14, 2024 7:35 pm Reply with quote
Fluwm wrote:
Maybe a patch or a mod will increase the ship speed? That sounds really annoying.

For what it's worth, you can upgrade your ship to increase its speed. It takes about ten hours into the game before it gets to the point where it doesn't feel terrible, and that's annoying, but it's not that bad since you can pretty much just make a beeline toward your next objective and use fast travel to go back to anywhere you need to visit again.
Fluwm wrote:
Ys games are easier to tolerate shoddy storytelling in, I think, since the focus is always on smashing things. Though that has been changing in recent years.... Just please tell me the writing's not as bad as in CS2. I'm not sure I could bear slogging through another story like that one.

Also, even though the Ys games have a reputation for being Falcom's "gameplay-focused" series, I think the writing in the last few Ys games has generally been better than the recent Trails games. They've all got self-contained stories that don't rely on cliffhangers or constantly tease the viewer, and they rely a lot less on particularly annoying anime tropes. Ys X's story isn't going to win any awards, and I think it drags a bit in the middle, but I thought it was really enjoyable after it picks up, and I think it's got the best final boss and ending sequence of any Ys game in a long time, maybe since Origin.
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MFrontier



Joined: 13 Apr 2014
Posts: 13359
PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2024 9:13 am Reply with quote
Andrew Cunningham wrote:
I fell like Falcom's writing quality has been on the decline for several games now, and this is no exception; the supporting cast are mostly zeros, and while Karja herself is cool, they can't stop undermining her like this is the 80s and bad ass girls have to be taught how to use make up and get in touch with their cute side.

I think that's also just an anime cliche with tomboy Heroines.
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Andrew Cunningham



Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 510
Location: Seattle
PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2024 10:01 am Reply with quote
MFrontier wrote:
Andrew Cunningham wrote:
I fell like Falcom's writing quality has been on the decline for several games now, and this is no exception; the supporting cast are mostly zeros, and while Karja herself is cool, they can't stop undermining her like this is the 80s and bad ass girls have to be taught how to use make up and get in touch with their cute side.

I think that's also just an anime cliche with tomboy Heroines.


It *was.* It's largely disappeared in the last decade or so, for good reason.
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psh_fun



Joined: 22 Oct 2023
Posts: 88
PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2024 12:51 pm Reply with quote
Andrew Cunningham wrote:
It *was.* It's largely disappeared in the last decade or so, for good reason.


I don't think it's gone away at all but just because you don't like it doesn't mean it should go away. And even if it has gone away Ys is an 80s franchise so it invoking 80s tropes and writing sound like a very fitting and classic feel. Especially since this game is suppose to canonically take place right after Ys I and II and be Adol's first journey after his initial one.
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Vanadise



Joined: 06 Apr 2015
Posts: 525
PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2024 1:22 pm Reply with quote
psh_fun wrote:
I don't think it's gone away at all but just because you don't like it doesn't mean it should go away.

In all fairness, there's also, like, only two scenes in the game where that happens (that I can recall), and they're side events with a secondary character, not even part of the main story. Karja spends 99.9% of the game being a badass viking warrior and is the only Falcom protagonist I can think of in many years who has no qualms with outright executing another person when she decides it's warranted.
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animaters



Joined: 21 Apr 2022
Posts: 67
PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2024 2:34 pm Reply with quote
tbh, it looks more like a PS3 game than a PS2 one
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benzone



Joined: 16 Sep 2024
Posts: 28
PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2024 8:38 pm Reply with quote
Vanadise wrote:
psh_fun wrote:
I don't think it's gone away at all but just because you don't like it doesn't mean it should go away.

In all fairness, there's also, like, only two scenes in the game where that happens (that I can recall), and they're side events with a secondary character, not even part of the main story. Karja spends 99.9% of the game being a badass viking warrior


Maybe that's why the quote seems to have disappeared from the review.
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Wack Sage



Joined: 11 Nov 2023
Posts: 50
PostPosted: Tue Oct 15, 2024 8:46 pm Reply with quote
Vanadise wrote:
In all fairness, there's also, like, only two scenes in the game where that happens (that I can recall), and they're side events with a secondary character, not even part of the main story. Karja spends 99.9% of the game being a badass viking warrior and is the only Falcom protagonist I can think of in many years who has no qualms with outright executing another person when she decides it's warranted.


She sounds fun and I hope I like her. Although I think I prefer the more Yunica-style protagonist of a cute girl in a dress wielding n huge axe Laughing I love that archetype.
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Stelman257



Joined: 26 Jul 2013
Posts: 307
PostPosted: Wed Oct 16, 2024 12:49 pm Reply with quote
Fluwm wrote:
Andrew Cunningham wrote:
I fell like Falcom's writing quality has been on the decline for several games now, and this is no exception.


Ys games are easier to tolerate shoddy storytelling in, I think, since the focus is always on smashing things. Though that has been changing in recent years.... Just please tell me the writing's not as bad as in CS2. I'm not sure I could bear slogging through another story like that one.

Nahhh man Cold Steel 2 was such a sick game, also has one of my favourite final bosses and some of my favourite one liners in the entire series.
I think Falcom definitely stumbled and fell victim to a lot of 2010's anime tropes when they were making the Crossbell and Cold Steel games, but having played 'em all I feel like their heart was still always in the right place anyway. And the stuff they did in Trails through Daybreak definitely showed that to me, even with the occasional stumble still!
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