Remember the days where you’d hear about an amazing new game, only available in Japan? And when we’d eagerly await news on a North American and European release? I’m trying to channel that kind of excitement into this piece about Ys X: Nordics – the latest entry in Falcom’s long running Ys franchise. Put simply, it’s one of the most enjoyable game experiences I had in 2023, it is almost certainly heading for the West and I feel compelled to tell you about it.
If you’re not familiar with the Ys series, it’s a long running action RPG series that started life in 1987 on the NEC PC-88 series of computers. Each series entry puts you in the shoes of famous adventurer Adol Christin as you slash your way through challenges, while following the many stories told within each game. The first three games made their way to the West early on arriving on systems such as the Turbo Grafx 16, Super NES and even the Sega Master System. The Turbo Grafx version was widely praised for its cinematic presentation and served as a very early showcase for CD technology way back in 1989.
However, after Ys 3, the series basically vanished from Western shores. The story continued in Japan, albeit slowly – there were two unique games known as Ys 4 – Mask of the Sun on Super Famicom and The Dawn of Ys on PC Engine which I’m a huge fan of. In the early 2000s, however, Falcom unveiled Ys 6 – The Ark of Napishtim which received ports to both PlayStation 2 and, eventually, PSP. It was at this point that the series returned to the West with each new entry receiving localisations. Between Ys and Trails in the Sky, Falcom finally achieved a new level of success around the world.
