Ys X: Proud Nordics – Definitive Edition Comparison Review

Ys X: Nordics was already a strong course correction for Falcom’s long-running action RPG series, pivoting to a tighter two-character combat focus and a seafaring structure that gave Adol Christin some much-needed fresh waters to explore. Ys X: Proud Nordics arrives as the inevitable “complete” cut, promising new story arcs, expanded endgame content, and serious technical upgrades on current hardware. The question for anyone who already cleared the original in 2024 is simple: is this a meaningful evolution, or a cynical reboxing of the same voyage?

The Same Strong Core Adventure

At its foundation, Proud Nordics is still very much Ys X. You’re following Adol and Karja across Obelia Bay, contending with the undead Griegr threat, bickering with proud Norman warriors, and upgrading the Sandras ship as your mobile base of operations. The broad strokes of the plot, the structure of the main chapters, and the overall length haven’t changed. If you bounced off Nordics because the premise or characters didn’t grab you, Proud Nordics won’t magically rewrite the saga.

That said, returning to this world highlights just how solid the core game always was. Adol is more expressive than his historically mute incarnations, Karja remains one of Falcom’s best co-leads in years, and the Norse flavor of Obelia Bay gives the usual Ys mix of light-hearted adventure and low-key tragedy a distinctive edge. The new material doesn’t tear that structure down so much as reinforce it from the sides.

New Content: Substantial Additions, Not a Rewrite

Proud Nordics markets itself on three pillars of fresh content: a new island hub, post-game challenges, and a handful of story and system tweaks woven into the existing campaign.

The headliner is Öland Island, a sizeable new landmass that sits just off the main critical path. It becomes available mid-game and functions as a side arc with its own mini-hub, new NPCs, and a chain of quests that touch lightly on the broader themes of Griegr, Norman honor, and the uneasy alliances that prop up Obelia Bay. It’s not a second campaign, but it’s closer to a meaty expansion zone than a throwaway bonus dungeon. In practice you’re looking at several hours of extra exploration and combat, peppered with some of the better side stories in the game.

More hardcore players will care just as much about Muspelheim, a brutal time-trial style challenge dungeon that unlocks in the late game. It leans heavily on the duo-action combat system, throwing layered enemy waves and boss remixes at you with strict time and performance grading. This is where optimized builds and mastery of perfect guards and dodges genuinely matter. It feels tailored toward people who already know Nordics inside and out and want something closer to a skill check gauntlet.

On top of that, there are new optional end and post-game encounters, a few extra side quests that slot into existing chapters, and small extensions to some character interactions. None of it recontextualizes the events of Nordics, but taken together it meaningfully fattens the game’s mid-to-late stretch. All previously released costume DLC is bundled in too, which is a nice touch if you care about cosmetic variety.

The flip side is that veteran players will immediately see how modular these additions are. You can feel where Öland Island was bolted onto the existing sea chart, and Muspelheim is walled off as a clearly endgame-only challenge tower. It’s quality work, but you never shake the sense that most of this could have been a chunky expansion pass rather than a full re-release.

Smarter, Sharper Combat

Ys X’s biggest mechanical swing was its abandonment of the rotating three-character party from Ys VIII and IX in favor of a tight duo system. Adol and Karja fight either as an independently controlled character with AI backup or as a fully linked Cross Action pair, trading flexibility for raw power. That system was already excellent in Nordics, but Proud Nordics quietly smooths the rough edges.

Enemy stagger windows are more readable, hit-stop feedback has been tweaked so perfect guards and dodges feel punchier, and several problematic encounters from the original have been rebalanced. The result is that Proud Nordics flows better from fight to fight. Bosses in particular benefit from clearer telegraphs and slightly more generous invincibility frames, keeping the focus on aggression rather than anxiety about cheap hits.

There are also small but impactful adjustments to skill progression and resource gain, which makes experimentation with different loadouts less punishing. Combined with the new Muspelheim trials, Proud Nordics feels like the version of Ys X that truly understands how fun its combat can be when the systems aren’t fighting you.

Ship combat, still the weakest part of the design, has seen more modest gains. Targeting and turning feel a bit less sluggish and the UI communicates incoming fire and weak points better, but this is still the portion of Ys X that feels like a proof of concept more than a fully realized system. Proud Nordics doesn’t fix that fundamental imbalance where you’re eager to get off the deck and back onto solid ground.

PS5: Polished, But Incremental

On PlayStation 5, Ys X: Nordics was already the smoothest way to play, offering sharp image quality and stable performance compared to the original Switch’s compromises. Proud Nordics on PS5 refines rather than revolutionizes that baseline.

Loading is faster, texture streaming hiccups have largely vanished, and the presentation in busy port towns and ship battles is appreciably cleaner. Visual tweaks to lighting, effects density, and anti-aliasing add up to a crisper look both in motion and in cutscenes, even if the underlying assets are still more PS4-plus than truly current gen.

Performance modes are stable and combat holds its target frame rate even in the most chaotic encounters. Reports of hitches and microstutter in the original release are functionally gone. DualSense support is a bit more considered as well, with subtle haptics and tension cues for guarding and cannon fire that help make fights feel tactile without becoming distracting.

Crucially, though, this is not a night-and-day leap. Nordics already ran well on PS5 and Proud Nordics merely sands down the last remaining technical burrs. The overall impression is of a definitive, well-optimized version of a modestly budgeted action RPG, not a showcase of what the hardware can do.

If you played Nordics on PS5 and still have your save data, Proud Nordics feels like a slightly prettier, smoother replay with some fresh side courses. That may be enough if you’re already itching for a second run, but it is hard to escape the sense that this is the exact scenario where a discounted upgrade path should exist and doesn’t.

Switch 2: The Real Technical Leap

Where PS5 gets a tune-up, Switch 2 gets an overhaul. The original Nordics on Switch was playable but compromised, juggling a 30 fps target with frequent dips and a soft, unstable image. Proud Nordics on Switch 2 is the version that actually earns the “definitive” label from a technical perspective.

Falcom and port specialists PH3 rebuilt around Switch 2 as a baseline, and it shows immediately. In its Quality mode, Proud Nordics delivers a clean 60 fps with substantially improved resolution and draw distance compared to the first Switch release. Image stability is reinforced further with DLSS, making the game look closer to its PS5 counterpart than you’d expect from Nintendo hardware.

The star of the show, though, is the 120 fps Performance mode. It pares back some visual flourishes and dialing down effects density, but the fluidity it buys is transformative. Ys combat thrives on responsiveness, and sailing through a storm or threading perfect dodges in a Griegr boss fight at 120 frames simply feels incredible in handheld and docked play alike. Outside of minor streaming hitching when sprinting through heavily populated hubs, frame pacing is rock solid.

Audio and loading also benefit from the new hardware. Fast travel is snappy, and the rousing soundtrack has more consistent fidelity than on the original Switch, which occasionally struggled under heavy mix loads. For a series that has often been let down by its Nintendo ports, Proud Nordics on Switch 2 is a genuine redemption arc.

Quality of Life: Death by a Thousand Fixes (In a Good Way)

Beyond the headline content and performance changes, Proud Nordics is packed with quieter quality-of-life improvements that are keenly felt over a full playthrough. Quest tracking is clearer, making it easier to juggle side objectives without retreading the same docks five times. Inventory management and crafting flows have been streamlined just enough to cut down on menu churn.

Exploration benefits from smarter map annotations and more generous fast travel unlocks, which keep backtracking from becoming a chore. Sailing routes are less fussy to plot and certain notorious difficulty spikes in the original campaign have been smoothed out without turning the game into a cakewalk. It all adds up to an experience that simply respects your time more.

None of these tweaks would be worth a second retail purchase on their own, but combined with the new Öland Island content and a more robust endgame, they underline that Proud Nordics is more than a bare-minimum “Game of the Year” repackage.

Double-Dip Verdict: Should Nordics Veterans Come Aboard Again?

So, does Proud Nordics justify a second purchase if you already cleared Ys X: Nordics in 2024? The answer depends heavily on what platform you’re coming from and how deep your affection for this entry runs.

If your original run was on the first Switch, Proud Nordics on Switch 2 is an unambiguous upgrade. You’re getting radically better performance, higher and more stable image quality, all prior DLC, and a respectable slate of new content on top. This isn’t just a nicer way to replay; it finally delivers the experience that design deserved in the first place. For dedicated fans, a double-dip here is easy to recommend, and for newcomers, the Switch 2 version is the standout choice.

If you played Nordics on PS5 or PC, the calculus is murkier. The core story and progression are essentially identical, visual upgrades are iterative rather than transformational, and while Öland Island and Muspelheim are well-crafted, they feel like textbook expansion material rather than a full reimagining. Unless Ys X is one of your favorite entries in the series and you’re explicitly eager for another tour with some extra stops, Proud Nordics on PS5 doesn’t feel like an essential repurchase.

Where Proud Nordics shines without qualification is as a first-time experience. Taken in isolation, this is the best way to play Ys X: Nordics. The combat is tighter, the world is better supported by the hardware, and the added content closes some of the gaps critics pointed to in 2024. As a definitive edition, it earns its subtitle. As a value proposition for existing owners, especially on Sony hardware, it stops just short of being the no-brainer upgrade it could have been.