NIS America Announces Ys X Release Date at Anime Expo 2024

NIS America announced the release date for Ys X at Anime Expo 2024 in a new trailer that showcases the action RPG’s fast-paced combat and unique approach to exploration. Ys X will launch on October 25, 2024 for Nintendo Switch, PS4 and PS5, and PC via Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store.

While Ys IX followed series hero Adol Christin on the final leg of his journey, Ys X Nordics takes us back in time to the red-haired adventurer’s early exploits and to a brand new location: the Gulf of Obelia. As you might have guessed from the name, there’s a lot of water in the Gulf of Obelia, and Adol takes the helm of a ship to explore its secrets, find hidden treasures, and see what new adventures lie ahead on its many islands – presumably without crashing.

Adol’s record with ships is atrocious, but this time he seems to have things under control and can even participate in high-stakes naval combat against other ships.

Ys X may be going back in time, but this seems like a promising step forward for the series.

On land, Adol and his traveling partner Karja move around using Mana, surfing on land, flying through the sky, and generally looking cool and stylish. Ys X replaces the party system of the later games with a fighting style more in line with the original Ys games. You’ll control either Adol or Karja most of the time, but you can also perform move combos that link them together and have them act in unison, dealing more damage at the cost of slow movement.

The emphasis on timed dodges and counterattacks that Memories of Celceta introduced and Lacrimosa of Dana refined also returns, and the duo can even learn special Mana skills that give their attacks elemental powers under certain conditions.

If you’re looking to check out more RPGs from Nihon Falcom, Trails from Daybreak is coming out on July 5, 2024, and in our Daybreak review, we called it one of the best RPGs of the year so far.