| Ys X: Proud Nordics | |||
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| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | DLC & Pre-Order | Review |
Ys X: Proud Nordics Review Overview
What is Ys X: Proud Nordics?
Ys X: Proud Nordics is the 2025 enhanced version of the original 2023 action RPG game, Ys X: Nordics, originally developed by Nihon Falcom and PH3 GmbH for the 2024 port on Steam. Ys X: Proud Nordics was released on February 20, 2026, for the PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and Steam.
Here, players can now explore the gulf’s largest landmass: Öland Island. Here, Adol and Karja meet Canute and Astrid, a duo from the Kingdom of Danmerk, an encounter that will uncover the origins of the islands’ people and the power they call Mana.
Ys X: Proud Nordics carries over the original game’s action system with the option to swap between two modes: Solo and Duo. Solo Mode lets players control either Adol or Karja in combat individually. In Duo Mode, both Adol and Karja can be controlled simultaneously as one unit.
Ys X: Proud Nordics features:
⚫︎ Cross Action Combat
⚫︎ Mana Hold Ability
⚫︎ Naval Combat and Customization
⚫︎ Oland Island Expansion
⚫︎ Release Line Skill Tree
⚫︎ New Challenge Modes
⚫︎ Performance and Quality Mode
For more gameplay details, read everything we know about Ys X: Proud Nordics’ gameplay and story.
| Digital Storefronts | |||||
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 Steam |
 PSN |
 eShop |
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| $69.99 | |||||
Ys X: Proud Nordics Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Still the Same Engaging Combat Welcome Quality-of-Life Tweaks and Additional Content Charming Characters |
Too Expensive for Minor Upgrades Flat Level Design Stiory Often Drags, with Familiar JRPG Tropes Throughout |
Ys X: Proud Nordics Story - 7/10
Although the story here in Ys X: Proud Nordics remains a charming adventure early in Adol’s career, it is effectively a mirror image of the 2023 version, which means the same slow pacing and predictable anime tropes are still front and center. The new Oland Island side story is a decent touch that fleshes out Karja and Normal history, but it is a separate bubble and doesn’t add much to the main plot. It’s sad, though, that the developers didn’t take this opportunity to go bigger with actual changes or additions to the story.
Ys X: Proud Nordics Gameplay - 9/10
Combat is still the main reason to be here, Ys X: Proud Nordics is still fast, tense, and satisfying, especially on higher difficulties. The added abilities and post-game content like Muspelheim give the overall loop more depth without messing up what already worked. Exploration, though, could use a bit more work; there are too much invisible walls here for my taste.
Ys X: Proud Nordics Visuals - 7/10
The visual jump in Ys X: Proud Nordics is definitely noticeable, especially with the addition of a 120 FPS performance mode that makes the combat look buttery smooth. The character designs are still great, and the new batch of included cosmetics and mascots adds a nice bit of personality to Adol and Karja’s duo. However, you’ll still be spending a huge amount of time staring at the back of a pirate ship, and many of the islands and dungeons share the same flat and repetitive textures.
Ys X: Proud Nordics Audio - 8/10
The Battle themes here and the softer tracks that fit the sea-bound setting well bring the usual energy the series is known for. Voice work does the job and sells the bigger emotional beats. However, some lines are delivered too stiffly, and some sound effects sound too plasticky
Ys X: Proud Nordics Value for Money - 6/10
Asking for $70 for a game that is largely the same as the one we got in 2023 makes Ys X: Proud Nordics a tough recommendation in terms of pure value. While the extra island and technical boosts are great, the strange decision to delay the Steam discount until after the launch bonuses expire feels like it's squeezing the most loyal fans. If you have never played this entry before, there is a lot of content here to justify the entry fee, but for everyone else, it’s hard to overlook that you're essentially paying full price for a DLC.
Ys X: Proud Nordics Overall Score - 74/100
Ys X: Proud Nordics plays better than it did in 2023, thanks to welcome quality-of-life tweaks and a solid side expansion that adds value for newcomers. The combat remains as stellar as ever, yes, but most of what’s here is so similar to the original release that it struggles to justify a second purchase for those who have already played the game, especially when it could have functioned as a simple DLC.
Ys X: Proud Nordics Review: This Could’ve Been DLC
"Short Time No See"
To be completely honest, I wasn't able to finish Ys X: Nordics when it first came out back in 2023. It’s not because I grew tired of the game or because I thought it was bad. In fact, I was actually pretty close to finishing it. But as with many of these massive action RPGs, other big games eventually came along, and it got buried in my backlog. I never quite got around to returning to the Obelia Gulf to see Adol and Karja’s journey through to the end, even though I often wished I had. However, the momentum was gone, and the idea of jumping back into a half-finished save file years later didn’t feel right.
Ys X: Proud Nordics, then, is a game that is perfect for someone like me. It’s great for newcomers and for people who want to replay the experience with added content and new technical enhancements. Since this is essentially the same game as the 2023 original, just polished up with more things to do, If you missed out on the first release, or if you’re like me and left it unfinished, this version feels like the "complete" way to experience this specific chapter of Adol Christin's life.
That also means, then, that this is going to be a tough sell for those who already bought and finished the game back in 2023. Much like Persona 5 Royal or Persona 3 FES, Ys X: Proud Nordics arrives just a few years after the base game, packed with added content but sold at full price. Unlike those Persona titles, though, there are little to no major story changes or additions to the main narrative here. The new stuff is mostly tucked away in a side expansion and some post-game challenges. If you’ve already seen the credits roll once, there’s little reason to double dip here. Really, this could have been DLC.
Adol, Karja, and All the Drama
To understand where Ys X: Proud Nordics fits into the grand scheme of things, you first have to understand the man at the center of it all: Adol Christin. For decades, the Ys series has essentially acted as a collection of travelogues written by Adol, a red-headed adventurer who can’t seem to stay in one place for more than five minutes.
Every game is a different entry in his journals, documenting his travels to various corners of the world, usually accompanied by his definitely-not-boyfriend and loyal wall-crushing companion, Dogi. It is always about Adol arriving at a new land, finding a massive ancient mystery, and inevitably saving the world before sailing off to the next horizon. Ys X takes us back to his younger days, specifically when he was just seventeen, very early in his career as an adventurer.
In this particular chapter, Adol and Dogi find themselves in the Obelia Gulf, a cluster of islands inhabited by the Normans, a group of seafaring warriors who are evidently inspired by Viking culture. Adol encounters a young Norman woman named Karja, and through a series of supernatural events, the two become literally tethered together by a mystical power called Mana. They, then, have to figure out why they were chosen for this connection while dealing with a mysterious undead threat known as the Griegrs who are attacking the gulf.
The story here focuses heavily on the culture of the Normans and the politics of the sea. You spend a lot of time on your ship, the Sandras, meeting various crew members and helping different factions within the gulf.
As this happens, Karja is trying to find her place as a future leader of her people. Because this is an earlier point in Adol’s life, he feels a bit like a participant in someone else’s culture rather than a hero who has already seen it all, which gives the game a slightly different flavor compared to the epic scale of entries like Ys VIII and IX.
If you’ve played the original version of the game back in 2023, you already know every single one of these beats. Proud Nordics follows the exact same script as the base game, with little to no major deviations. If you were hoping for a Director’s Cut that adds new layers to the main plot or introduced a massive new story arc that changes the ending, you won’t find it here. The skeleton of the narrative is identical to the base game, for better or worse.
In true anime fashion, the story is packed with tropes and can often get quite cheesy. You have the classic "chosen one" destiny, the power of friendship overcoming impossible odds, the villain who like to give long-winded speeches about their philosophies while standing on top of high cliffs.
The dialogue can get a bit on the nose, and characters often state exactly how they are feeling as though they’ve yet to encounter the word "subtext." If you are a fan of JRPGs, you’re likely used to this style of storytelling, but it’s worth noting that Ys X doesn’t try to subvert these tropes. There are moments where the drama feels a bit forced, especially when the game tries to emphasize the bond between Adol and Karja for the hundredth time, but it’s done with enough sincerity that it’s hard to stay mad at it.
Ys X also has a rather slow build-up, though it starts with an undeniably engaging opening sequence. Some plot points feel like they are spinning their wheels for a long time, and certain reveals later in the game don’t feel as impactful as they should because the pacing is so lopsided. You spend a lot of time doing errands and sailing between islands, which can make the main threat less urgent than the game would lead you to believe.
Despite those pacing issues, it’s still a decent story at its heart. It’s actually more intimate than other games in the series, as it focuses heavily on the duo of Karja and Adol. There are some genuine character development, particularly for Karja, who is arguably the real protagonist of the game. Seeing her relationship with Adol evolve from mutual distrust to a solid partnership is the highlight of the writing. Adol, while still a silent protagonist for the most part, feels more grounded here as he learns the ways of the sea. It is still a relatively simple tale, but the chemistry between the two leads carries it through the slower moments.
Same Old Adventure Just With New Islands
If the story, then, is essentially identical, what is the actual reason to pick this game up if you already played through the original back in 2023? Well, not much, really.
The biggest selling point here is a brand-new location called Oland Island. You unlock access to it once your reach Chapter 5, and it acts as a side story that provides some welcome background information regarding the Normans. It’s an unapproachable landmass that has been ignored for centuries, and Adol and Karja only manage to get there by using their specific Mana powers.
While you are on Oland Island, you’ll learn a fair bit about the history of the Norman people and the origins of Mana itself. You meet two new characters, Canute and Astrid, who are a pair of Shield Brethren from the Kingdom of Danmerk. They’re sort of the foil to Adol and Karja; they show you a different side of how these magical partnerships work. You’ll spend your time exploring massive new dungeons that a bit more complex than the ones in the base game, and you’ll even get to see some lore about why the Normans originally left their ancestral homeland.
This expansion is a welcome addition to the main plot. It adds roughly ten hours of content to the 40-hour run time of the original story. It’s definitely not a small update, as it includes new bosses and even new abilities that lets you move objects to solve puzzles.
However, even with all that extra stuff, I personally feel like it doesn’t quite justify purchasing the entire game again at full price. If you’ve already seen the ending and explored the Obelia Gulf, paying for a whole new copy just to see a 10-hour side quest is a big ask.
There are Quite a Few Welcome Additions
As with the additions in the narrative, the additions to the game's gameplay are welcome, but not really significant enough that they'd change how one played the original game. If you played the 2023 version, you already know the flow. You spend your time exploring land on foot and then hopping onto your ship, the Sandras, to navigate the Obelia Gulf. The gameplay loop remains the same: you discover a new island, clear out some Griegrs, and watch your ship get livelier as you recruit more people to your crew. The 2026 version tries to inject some new ideas, but it doesn’t actually move the needle on the fundamental experience.
As with the original, you’ll still be slowly seafaring your way from island to island. This was a big complaint back then. Proud Nordics tries to fix this by introducing Golden Symbols scattered across the open sea. These are essentially optional naval battles that, once cleared, unlock permanent wind currents that let you zip between locations much faster than before. It definitely helps the pacing, but it’s still a game where a huge chunk of your time is spent looking at the back of a boat.
The biggest new tool is a Mana Action called Mana Hold. This is essentially a telekinetic grab that lets Adol and Karja pick up heavy objects, like boulders or blocks, and hurl them at enemies or use them to solve puzzles.
There is also a new Mana Ride racing minigame on Oland Island that makes use of the Grimbleboard. In the original, the board was mostly just for getting around, but now there’s a boost mechanic that lets you compete in time trials.
The post-game content is where the die-hard features live. Once you’ve cleared the main story and the Oland Island, you can dive into Muspelhelm. It is easily the most difficult part of the game, designed specifically to test your mastery of the game’s systems under a strict time limit. You collect rare items called Deepcrystal Shards during your runs, which you can then spend to make the dungeon slightly easier by extending the timer or weakening enemies. It’s a nice way to extend the life of the game for people who love the combat, but for those who are just here for the adventure, it might get a bit repetitive.
Beyond that, the game has been rebalanced with a higher level cap for skills and a new Infinity difficulty mode for people who really want a challenge. It’s a lot of small tweaks and a few bigger modes, but none of it fundamentally changes how you approach the combat of the original release.
These are very welcome additions, and really, if Ys X had launched back in 2023 with these features, that game would have been all the better for it. The wind currents alone solve one of the most annoying parts of the exploration, and having an actual post-game dungeon like Muspelheim gives the combat system more room to breathe. However, as I’ve said multiple times above, the game is still pretty good without them, and these changes aren't big enough to matter to those who casually played the original.
Still the Same Great Combat System
Fortunately, much of the game's combat, which is arguably its best aspect, is intact. Ys X moves away from the three-person party system seen in previous games and focuses entirely on the Cross Action system between Adol and Karja. You can switch between them instantly, but the real depth comes when you fight together.
By holding down a shoulder button, you enter Duo Mode, where both characters move and attack in sync. It allows you to unleash powerful combined skills and significantly increases your defensive capabilities, as both characters will block simultaneously. Blocking enemy attacks during Duo Mode builds up your Revenge Gauge. Once that gauge is filled, your next duo skill hits with a massive damage multiplier.
I personally find this system incredibly engaging because it demands more than just simple button mashing, especially if you play on the higher difficulty settings. On Hard or Inferno, you really have to mind your positioning and be deliberate with your combos and skills. You can't just dive into a pack of Griegrs and hope for the best. You have to manage your mana, keep an eye on your partner’s health, and swap between Solo and Duo modes depending on how aggressive the boss is being.
This also helps make up for the fact that the level design is quite frankly flat and uninspired. Many of the islands and dungeons you explore are essentially just wide-open corridors or circular arenas with very little verticality or environmental variety.
Is Ys X: Proud Nordics Worth It?
It’s Complicated
I sound like a broken record at this point, but Ys X: Proud Nordics is really only worth it if this is your first time through the game. Despite the welcome additions like the expansion to Oland Island and new combat tools, I simply cannot recommend purchasing the game again for those who already played it back in 2023, unless, of course, you really love the series. There is an option to transfer your cleared save data from the original game to unlock some legacy items and start a New Game+ with your stats intact, which is a nice gesture for the veterans. However, if your save data is incomplete like mine, you are completely out of luck. You can't just pick up where you left off; you have to start the entire forty-hour journey from the very beginning.
The game costs $70, which is undeniably expensive for a definitive edition of a game that released less than three years ago. On Steam, there is an option to purchase an Upgrade Pack for owners of the original that drops the price to about $45, but even that is handled in a very weird way.
This discount is only available starting March 6, two weeks after the game’s release. To make things weirder, the digital launch bonuses, like the art book and the Mascot set, are only available until March 5. This means if you want the discount, you have to forfeit the early-purchase bonuses, and if you want the bonuses, you have to pay the full $70. It’s a bizarre decision that feels like it’s punishing the most loyal fans who supported the game three years ago.
Don’t get me wrong; this is still a great action RPG. Naturally, every adventure has its price, but for a journey most of us have already taken, this one might just be asking for too much of your gold.
| Digital Storefronts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam |
PSN |
eShop |
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| $69.99 | |||||
Ys X: Proud Nordics FAQ
How Much Content is Added to Ys X: Proud Nordics?
Ys X: Proud Nordics adds approximately 6 to 10 hours of new gameplay, highlighted by the explorable Oland Island which features a side story and two additional dungeons. The expansion also introduces the Mana Hold ability for puzzles, the Muspelheim post-game dungeon, the Bergen Arena for combat trials, and all previously released cosmetic DLC.
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Ys X: Proud Nordics Product Information
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| Title | YS X: PROUD NORDICS |
|---|---|
| Release Date | February 20, 2026 |
| Developer | Nihon Falcom |
| Publisher | NIS America, Inc. |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Steam) PlayStation 5 Nintendo Switch 2 |
| Genre | genres here |
| Number of Players | Action, Adventure, RPG |
| ESRB Rating | ESRB Teen |
| Official Website | Ys X: Proud Nordics Website |
