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Ys X: Proud Nordics Review
- Taylor Rioux
- 3 hours ago
- 7 min read
When looking at a game like Ys X: Proud Nordics, there exists some inclination to draw comparisons to stories of old, such as the Odyssey. Much like Odysseus himself, Adol has completed a great task and sets sail to reach a new destination. Also like Odysseus, he is waylaid by forces beyond his control that prevent him from reaching said destination and must overcome trials and tribulations in an effort to see himself back on track.
Despite more obvious inspiration from Norse tales (I mean, it’s in the name, really), Adol’s island-hopping adventure within Proud Nordics, is not unlike that of the King of Ithaca, with Adol sailing from place to place in an effort to free himself from the ties that bind him here to the Obelia Gulf — though Adol is not nearly so clever as the fabled King, and rarely uses more wit than is necessary to swing his sword about. We even get to experience our own sort of Scylla and Charybdis scenario, with Adol and his crew being torn between navigating a giant current and facing down a veritable monster of a foe.
Adol is bound in more ways than one. While at first he simply needs funds to continue his journey, he soon finds himself magically cuffed to Proud Nordics' main heroine, Karja Balta. Karja herself is also an unwilling participant in this union — she is no Calypso.
Publisher: NIS America, Inc. Developer: Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH Platform: Played on PS5 Availability: Released February 20, 2026, on Steam, PS5, and Nintendo Switch 2. |
And though many of these island encounters are sure to stir up memories or comparisons to this tale or that one, Ys as a whole draws one particular analogy from me: One Thousand and One Nights. I suppose which version of the fables I am referencing may be worth examining, but the framing of these fantastical stories is the same in all adaptations. In One Thousand and One Nights, the story begins with the ruler Shahryar taking a new wife each night and then murdering her the following morning. Eventually, a beautiful woman named Scheherazade (seeking to end the madness of the king) volunteers to become the king’s latest bride, but before she is killed, Scheherazade tells a fantastic tale that intrigues the king. And so, the king lets Scheherazade live another night to tell more of the tale. And then another. And another still, going on for 1001 nights.
The stories Scheherazade tells are filled with magical beings like Genii, magic items, treasure beyond imagining, and other absurdities. Despite this, the most interesting aspect of the collection is the narrative structure. Each tale works as a sort of nested story, with Scheherazade’s plot and marriage being the highest level, and the story she tells being the next. Within each of these stories, however, are more stories still. Scheherazade will tell a tale of a fisherman, who in turn speaks of a Vizier and a Sage, which holds another further story, and so on. It is this structure of nested stories that Ys as a series also employs, with Proud Nordics serving as part of a larger whole.
You see, Ys itself is a long-running series, with most of the titles being out of order from the previous entry chronologically. However, each game within the series is actually a recounting of events by Adol himself, in the future. Or rather, someone reading his journals of these adventures. So while Proud Nordics may be the specific retelling of a journey in the Obelia Gulf, within the game, smaller stories still are being told.
Adol might be primarily concerned with breaking his binding to Karja and moving on to another adventure, but smaller-scale conflicts arise, such as in the town of Carnac, where the local militia is unable to protect people from monsters due to a combination of a lack of funding and a dearth of magical skill. Adol himself frequently drifts off into these dream-like states where he entreats an old man to learn more about his current circumstances, only to then be shunted back into the main scenario again on a whim.
Any collection of stories — such as those that the Ys series represents — will inevitably have various peaks and valleys. True in a literal sense that the islands and locales that Adol roams have such topography, and a metaphorical one (e.g., Ys VIII is a game I like very much, but Ys II is not). In this regard, Proud Nordics stands among the upper echelon of Adol’s adventures. Containing both a competent collection of narrative bits and an excellent action-based battle system, it is at times endearing and nearly always exciting.
Proud Nordics may not be the highest fidelity game out there, but the environments and characters are well-designed.
While narratives and stories have never necessarily been Ys’s strongest suit, Proud Nordics carries itself well, primarily on the backs of its two leads, Adol and Karja, and their relationship. Despite Adol’s continued “silent protagonist” schtick, he does exhibit quite a bit of personality, especially as a foil to Karja’s more boisterous and brash demeanor. Indeed, Karja’s transformation in particular is worthy of note on its own. Seeing her evolve throughout the journey is really a testament to the long-form storytelling games can indulge in, even when the episodic, out-of-order nature of each entry necessitates these one-off characters.
Of course, Karja and Adol are not the only characters, nor are they the only highlights. Series regular Dogi brings his earnest nature and calm demeanor to the fold, while characters like Grenn are always good for a few laughs. These other side characters largely make up your ship’s crew as you sail the seas, but even town-specific NPCs are well-done enough to warrant attention. The game is also littered with sidequests that expand upon the world and its characters in a way that may feel compulsory. Without engaging in these side missions, I fear much of the charm of Proud Nordics would be lost. Thankfully, they are not so obtuse as to be difficult to engage in or complete.
Where Proud Nordics really hangs its hat is in the combat. Adol is a magic swordsman through and through, utilizing his blade to deliver swift blows to any who might stand in his way. On PlayStation, the “X” button beckons forth his normal blows to foes, but he also has the ability to channel Mana (a magical force bestowed by the gods) into powerful abilities needed to defeat the Griegr (a mysterious, undying force that seeks to take over the area). Karja can similarly use Mana abilities, but her technique is that of a heavier hitter, swinging the axe around with force enough to crush the Griegr.
The game is also littered with sidequests that expand upon the world and its characters in a way that may feel compulsory. Without engaging in these side missions, I fear much of the charm of Proud Nordics would be lost.
Aside from the individual abilities each character might use, they may also combine their efforts to unleash powerful Duo abilities. The particulars of combat are numerous, with each character having many skills to use alone or jointly, and strategies for engaging with enemies being equally as varied. In many instances, I was surprised at the outward difficulty of the enemies in Proud Nordics, as well as the depth of the combat system by which I was tasked to rout the bosses. Evasion, guarding, character switching — all of this is necessary and much more intricate than one might assume from first glance.
Proud Nordics is quite involved in many ways, really. Numerous systems by which you may upgrade your abilities or outfit your ship can be made use of, and minigames like fishing grant reprieve from the combat while still offering some reward for their engagement. It's charming how sure of itself Proud Nordics is in this regard. Not once does it ever feel like the developers wanted to walk something back to chase an audience they've never had. Never does it shy away from its genre trappings, opting instead to embrace its being as an RPG, flooding the zone with systems and terminology that would be indecipherable to passersby.
I can't help but wonder if Adol, in his journal musings, was so inclined to recount these particulars to those who read the journal, or to any he told his tales. Did he regale listeners with breakdowns of how he used lightning crystals to empower his skills? Was he truly so meticulous as to note each fishing spot and its possible rewards? Or was he, like me, more inclined to leave that for readers to imagine, hoping they themselves would seek out adventure?
In Proud Nordics, so much of the culture and particulars of the politics are laid bare to us in our journey. The world and its people are rich and deliberate in their presentation. It's not a shock that this is the case — Ys is a series going on for nearly 40 years at this point — but I am awed a bit by the scope of the tale the series is telling.
I keep coming back to One Thousand and One Nights in my mind. Scheherazade has a knack for telling her stories while never fully getting lost within them. While readers may fall deeper and deeper into the stories as they are told, the ones recounting them are always able to keep track, steering us from story to story as needed. I wonder how long Ys will go before losing itself or its place. I’m astonished it hasn’t yet, really. And while 1001 Ys games seems an unlikely outcome, I do hope that each new vignette we are shown will continue to be delivered with such clarity and care as Proud Nordics has been.
Verdict  |
Image Credits: NIS America, Inc.
Disclosure: We received a free review copy of this product from the publisher.
For changes made from the original Ys X: Nordics, you can check out the page on Steam.