With Toshihiro Kondo on hand, NIS America had a huge presence at Anime Expo. One of the biggest games featured was Ys X: Nordics, which had its release date and gameplay reveal at a panel during Day 1 of the convention. The game was also available on the show floor, and we got a chance to do some dungeon crawling.
I’m guessing that the version they had on the show floor was a complete playable build, because when I was given the controller, I left the cave and went outside, and the NIS America attendant quickly told me that the demo would be completely in the cave. I’m used to playing a demo and having the game thank me for playing once it’s actually over, or if I went over my time limit, so that was interesting.
Since I just wanted to get a handle of how the game played, I didn’t pay too much attention to the story–that was going to be hard to begin with, because there were no headphones at any of the game’s demo stations. The cave I played in was actually one of the dungeons with the pendulum boulders seen in the latest trailer and footage we saw at the Ys X panel, and when it came to those boulders, I was terrible. I got hit and thrown into the pit by every boulder there was, and the point where you respawn is also the same point I got knocked over, so my first few moments with the demo featured some humbling beginnings.
Like any Ys game, enemies infest just about every room you’re in, but the lot of them that aren’t bosses are easy to kill. I was able to get a handle of the weapons both Adol and Karja use, which took some getting used to because the default controls have your switch between Adol and Karja with the square button–something I’ve used as an attack button in so many hack-and-slash titles. Holding R2 and pressing on the face buttons also allows to you use spells if your magic meter can afford them. Running around while holding the L button allows your character to dash and sometimes dodge incoming attacks or traps, but this also took some getting used to. Making it feel even more different is the fact that there’s no block button either.
These changes were put into place because the game no longer makes use of a party system. Still, controls felt a little chaotic, but considering I only played for around 20 minutes, I expect to have a better handle of them once I get my hands on the full version.
Whether I was ready or not, we came to our first miniboss in the game, and that was easily handled by keeping our distance and switching between Adol and Karja whenever the magic went low.
Shortly after that, we gained different abilities for puzzle-solving and traversal. Karja has the ability to freeze water into pillars and platforms to get up to higher areas, while Adol has the ability to burn pesky vines that get in the way of your destination.
As we made our way into the depths of the caves using our newfound ability and grinding through enemies, we found our way into the area’s big boss. While I beat it in around a minute and a half, I did find myself fumbling through the controls rapidly press Square which led me to just switching characters instead of attacking. Luckily, heals were available in menu to prevent me from embarrassingly dying in the demo.
Upon beating the boss, I tried to trudge forward, but another attendant told me congratulations, imposing that the demo was over.
Surprisingly, Adol’s ship doesn’t capsize and there’s some on-sea combat. We didn’t get to try it out in the demo though.
As a fan of the Ys series I’m obviously excited for the game’s release this October and plan to be at head of the review table when that comes. For now, keep it on SmashPad for more from Anime Expo!
With Toshihiro Kondo on hand, NIS America had a huge presence at Anime Expo. One of the biggest games featured was Ys X: Nordics, which had its release date and gameplay reveal at a panel during Day 1 of the convention. The game was also available on the show floor, and we got a chance to do some dungeon crawling.
I’m guessing that the version they had on the show floor was a complete playable build, because when I was given the controller, I left the cave and went outside, and the NIS America attendant quickly told me that the demo would be completely in the cave. I’m used to playing a demo and having the game thank me for playing once it’s actually over, or if I went over my time limit, so that was interesting.
Since I just wanted to get a handle of how the game played, I didn’t pay too much attention to the story–that was going to be hard to begin with, because there were no headphones at any of the game’s demo stations. The cave I played in was actually one of the dungeons with the pendulum boulders seen in the latest trailer and footage we saw at the Ys X panel, and when it came to those boulders, I was terrible. I got hit and thrown into the pit by every boulder there was, and the point where you respawn is also the same point I got knocked over, so my first few moments with the demo featured some humbling beginnings.
Like any Ys game, enemies infest just about every room you’re in, but the lot of them that aren’t bosses are easy to kill. I was able to get a handle of the weapons both Adol and Karja use, which took some getting used to because the default controls have your switch between Adol and Karja with the square button–something I’ve used as an attack button in so many hack-and-slash titles. Holding R2 and pressing on the face buttons also allows to you use spells if your magic meter can afford them. Running around while holding the L button allows your character to dash and sometimes dodge incoming attacks or traps, but this also took some getting used to. Making it feel even more different is the fact that there’s no block button either.
These changes were put into place because the game no longer makes use of a party system. Still, controls felt a little chaotic, but considering I only played for around 20 minutes, I expect to have a better handle of them once I get my hands on the full version.
Whether I was ready or not, we came to our first miniboss in the game, and that was easily handled by keeping our distance and switching between Adol and Karja whenever the magic went low.
Shortly after that, we gained different abilities for puzzle-solving and traversal. Karja has the ability to freeze water into pillars and platforms to get up to higher areas, while Adol has the ability to burn pesky vines that get in the way of your destination.
As we made our way into the depths of the caves using our newfound ability and grinding through enemies, we found our way into the area’s big boss. While I beat it in around a minute and a half, I did find myself fumbling through the controls rapidly press Square which led me to just switching characters instead of attacking. Luckily, heals were available in menu to prevent me from embarrassingly dying in the demo.
Upon beating the boss, I tried to trudge forward, but another attendant told me congratulations, imposing that the demo was over.
Surprisingly, Adol’s ship doesn’t capsize and there’s some on-sea combat. We didn’t get to try it out in the demo though.
As a fan of the Ys series I’m obviously excited for the game’s release this October and plan to be at head of the review table when that comes. For now, keep it on SmashPad for more from Anime Expo!
by Danreb Victorio
