Ys IX: Monstrum Nox (PlayStation 5) Review
Release Date: May 9, 2023
Publisher/Developer: NIS America/Falcom
Platform: New to PS5, previously on PS4, Switch, PC (recently enhanced)
Price: $49.99, up to $74.99 Digital Deluxe
The Ys series is a unique one: while each entry is fairly standalone, the story usually unfurls around the same hero, Adol Christin, as he travels the land and gets into adventures with new casts. Fans of the series will enjoy the links, but new gamers can see a chapter in the life of Adol and enjoy it for what it is directly. Ys is an action-style RPG. As you cruise through dungeons you come across real-time battles, get new equipment, the usual RPG fare. This time Adol begins in a jail cell, and upon escape becomes cursed by a mysterious woman to be a Monstrum, replete with new powers (and changes to the base navigation and battle styles of the series). Ys has been out for a while now on PlayStation 4 and Switch. Obviously, the Switch version was the lower performing one, but there were complaints of the game running with difficulty on the bog-standard PS4. You have been able to play that version with backwards compatibility on the PlayStation 5 for a while now, but the game now has an official native release for the system.
So what are we getting here? First, if you have played through the game on PS4 to your satisfaction, there really isn’t much reason to double dip. While the game has been cleaned up, with better visuals and higher resolution output, cleaning up a good deal of glitches people complained about before, there is no porting your save file over and nothing more to see other than the DLC from the original release baked in. If you really want to replay the title and have the fluid income, then yes, this is the best way to play the game on console, but you aren’t getting any new experiences here if you’ve exhausted the original version.
If this is your first taste of IX, the new abilities definitely mix up the traditional gameplay you are used to. The new Monstrum abilities help navigate the areas, and as you get new abilities in your party you may open up new routes through old areas. The story is more character driven than some others in the series as a larger cast takes up more of the play time as they expand on their individual stories.
A lot of times, I get a chuckle thinking about games on PS4 simply getting a PS5 release, as the games are already basically playable on the system, often at a cheaper price. NIS America and Falcom took time to update and clean up the game, offering one of the best versions of the game you can play outside of knowing how to tweak things on PC. The Ys series may not have the Final Fantasy name in RPG or the Dynasty Warrior name in all-out action combat, but it provides a fun mix of game styles and an excellent story that are definitely worth your attention. If you have yet to pick up a copy, the PlayStation 5 is definitely the way to go.
Pros:
-Updated version cleans up glitchy issues of original release
-Includes all original DLC from first release
-Fun action/RPG style gameplay
-More Adol Adventures for fans of the series
Cons:
-Nothing new for gamers who have finished it all before
-There’s still treasure boxes for DLC to tempt you
Special thanks to NIS America and Falcom for providing a code for review!