What Is Ys X: Nordics – Proud Nordics?

Proud Nordics is a re-release of Ys X: Nordics that was mainly created to be a definitive edition for the Switch 2, but it is releasing on PC and PS5 as well.

The original Ys X: Nordics was released in October 2024, and I reviewed it at that time for a different site. That said, I didn’t find enough really changed with Proud Nordics to warrant a whole new review, so this mini review will cover only the new things and content.

The Same Red-Haired Adventure, Slightly Polished

On a fundamental level, Proud Nordics is the exact same game that was released a little over a year ago. The story still follows everyone’s favorite red-headed adventurer, Adol Christin, as he gets caught up in defending Obelia Gulf from the mystical and near-immortal Griegr.

This enhanced version does include all cosmetic DLC from the base release, which was nice, as they are typically quite costly upon launch. I greatly enjoyed getting to dress Adol and Karja differently.

The most in-your-face change is that the developers reworked the lighting, which shows through more in certain places than others. I think the fact that I haven’t played the original version since it was released keeps me from making a direct comparison, but the game does look amazing. I can’t deny that.

Oland Island: The Big New Story Addition

Of course, there is one massive piece of new content by the name of Oland Island. This island isn’t only for exploration, either. It includes a brand new chunk of story with Normans Canute and Astrid, who are in the area on behalf of Danmerk (I love the Ys country name changes) to judge if the Balta Seaforce is capable of quelling the Griegr incursion.

Upon starting the game, I was worried that this brand-new section of the game would feel tacked on and cheap, so I was pleasantly surprised when there were voiced lines from Karja and Adol to show that this was actually a proper piece of story content.

Oland Island has several major sections that play out over the latter half of the story, starting at the top of chapter five. I found it odd that the game took so long to give you access, but I understood a little better when I figured out that additional areas were then progression-locked.

The best part of the island is a coliseum that Astrid runs, letting you fight a large array of enemies with different rewards depending on the rank (recent Ys games LOVE D-S rankings) that you receive for winning. These are level-locked, so you can easily return later on and absolutely mop the floor with any troublesome fights.

Mana Hold: A New Mechanic That Fumbles

Besides that and the usual chest/buried treasure/crystal cluster discoveries (which do count towards the total discovery rate), Oland Island even incorporates a new Mana Action called Mana Hold. This allows you to pick up and move specific cubes that you can stack and align to create upward paths/bridges.

However, they are the worst part of this game. Not only do you move these around with the right stick, which is incredibly floaty and awful, but the throw aiming (because otherwise you just drop them) is poorly defined.

They also lack just about any collision and are happy to sink into the floor, where they cannot be retrieved. The instances of their puzzles typically involve specialized pads they lock into, but they can also be stuck to walls, where they will spin as though they aren’t allowed to be there. Sometimes they don’t even stick and just tumble down the wall.

Muspelheim and the Post-Game Challenge

While the new content doesn’t change anything about the ending, it does add new mechanics for a gauntlet of ship combat, as well as a dungeon called Muspelheim. By the end of the game, my ship was completely upgraded, so I can’t say the ship combat was quite for me.

Muspelheim (and the ship stuff) is accessible right before you fight the final boss, which you can only access by loading a Clear Save. This new dungeon appears right at the start of Oland Island, but I don’t know if you actually have to beat that whole storyline for it to appear or not.

Muspelheim is a cross between a time trial and a dungeon crawl, as each run has a running clock to get as far as you can. All the enemies are level 99, so you can expect a hefty challenge.

My big issue is that I was also level 99, so I couldn’t earn XP, which made it feel kind of pointless to care about this mode. Also, the rewards were disappointingly meh. My first (red “super rare”) chest held ingredients I didn’t need, and the second had one of these weird stickers that you can place on your menu screen that Proud Nordics added.

Everything you do leads to an end result that rewards a special Deepcrystal Shard currency that then can be spent on modifying the mode, such as increasing the time you can be in Muspelheim, as well as increasing rewards and strengthening enemies.

I guess if you’re itching for a challenge mode, Muspelheim has you covered, but it comes far too late in the game to matter all that much. I already had the best equipment, so there wasn’t much this mode could do to help me. I like the idea, but the execution falters a bit when you might as well just go for NG+ if you want more of the game.

Faster Seas and Smaller Quality-of-Life Tweaks

Speaking of ships, there are now yellow pillars out on the open water, like the red-ish ones that were everywhere before. These yellow ones also lead to ship-to-ship combat, but winning creates new air current paths to expedite travel. With how quick the fights are, these are also worth it, and I did appreciate the boost, even if it doesn’t feel like much.

The bulk of what Proud Nordics offers on top of this stuff is all smaller-scale inclusions. One of my favorites is the on-screen tracker for island discoveries, which cut down how often I remember having to scrutinize the map to check that before.

There are also two new crafting materials to be gained, one of which levels up artifacts, so the snowboarding Mana Ride can be made much faster now, as well as using the Mana Line for swinging over gaps. The other type further enhances a character or duo skill, increasing their overall damage.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I genuinely enjoy what Proud Nordics seeks to enhance about the base Ys X experience. The smaller touches are nice, and I had a great time with the story detour of Oland Island. However, I don’t think this needed to be a whole new release outside of the Switch 2.