Ys IX: Monstrum Nox Review - A Thrilling, Mysterious Action RPG Worth Uncovering
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox finally came to the west earlier this year, nearly a year and half after its original Japanese release. Very much building upon the foundation set up by 2017’s Ys VIII, Monstrum Nox is a laser-focused Action RPG that offers blisteringly fast-paced combat and a great, mysterious story worth investigating. // Image: Nihon Falcom
Few games deliver as much of a frenetic flow to combat as the offerings from the Ys franchise. Pronounced like “east” without the “t”, Ys is a relatively niche yet beloved Action RPG franchise developed by the ever-talented studio, Nihon Falcom. A developer lauded for their excellent worldbuilding and overall approach to their RPGs, Falcom’s games have an ostensible charm to them that’s unlike anything else in the modern RPG landscape. Falcom’s success and notoriety has slowly been increasing over the last decade with the releases of the beloved Trails of Cold Steel titles, as well as the releases of new Ys titles that pushed the decades-old series forward.
I was first introduced to Nihon Falcom’s work and the Ys series in 2016, when I played through Ys I & II Chronicles via PC - remakes of the first two titles in the series. The charm in the writing, presentation, music, and gameplay all created a mesmerizing experience that stands as one of the most unique, if short Action RPGs I’ve ever played. A few years later, I picked up the Nintendo Switch port of Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, and fell in love with the game’s heightened focus on exploration and building a base filled with a tight-knit group of characters. In addition to the game’s captivating, if a bit cliched storytelling, stellar soundtrack, and intense combat, Ys VIII stood as one of the best Action RPGs I’ve played in recent memory. My interest in Falcom and the Ys series skyrocketed, as I felt the need to play through more of their portfolio of RPGs.
While I’ve been occupied with other games since then, 2021 will be the year that I venture further into Falcom’s endeavors. What better way to start this series of playthroughs than with the developer’s newest English release, Ys IX: Monstrum Nox? Initially released in late 2019 in Japan, Ys IX finally made its way to the west in February 2021 on PlayStation 4, with Nintendo Switch and PC ports slated to release later this year. The game is very much in the same vein as the previous title in the series, Ys VIII. Similar to Adol Chrisitn’s adventures on the Isle of Seiren in Ys VIII, Ys IX offers a brand new setting to explore, dungeons to navigate, and blistering, fast-paced combat encounters to keep players occupied. Anyone that’s played Ys VIII should have an effortless time adapting to Ys IX as the game is mechanically identical to its predecessor. What Ys IX brings to the table is new characters, new Skills to use in combat, a new setting, new environments to explore, a new captivating story, and new ways for the player to navigate the world around them.
But is it enough to stand out from its predecessor? And is Ys IX a good entry point for people unfamiliar with the series and looking for a good action RPG to get lost in? Let’s take a look at Ys IX: Monstrum Nox and discover what makes this game so remarkable.
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox’s greatest feature is its frenetic, addicting combat. Through delivering many mechanics such as using Skills to deal massive damage, guarding just before getting hit to inflict only critical hits for a few seconds, dodging an attack at the last second to slow down time for a few seconds, and being able to switch characters on the fly, there’s a lot to like with Ys IX’s frequent battles. The game’s numerous boss fights are easily among the game’s greatest highlights. // Image Captured on PlayStation 4 Pro.
Ys IX takes place in the Prison City of Balduq, where adventurer and series protagonist Adol Christin arrives before almost immediately being arrested for, well, pretty much everything he’s done in the Ys series thus far. The game is cheeky with references to previous games and how Adol encounters gods, divine artifacts, paranormal findings, and other oddities throughout his adventures. While this is a pleasant nod to fans familiar with Adol’s previous adventures, it’s brief enough so as to not alienate and confuse newcomers. The game opens with Adol’s prison break, as he escapes to the city surrounding a giant prison once known to be a fortress. During his escape, Adol gets transformed into a Monstrum - an alternate form that makes him stronger, look pretty badass, and gain a “Gift” - Ys IX’s term for abilities that can be used to navigate the environment in a new way.
Adol’s Gift allows him to teleport to nearby designated ledges, not too dissimilar to a grappling hook. After introducing the player to the basics of combat and using Adol’s Gift to move around the environment, Adol escapes Balduq Prison and takes refuge in the town surrounding the prison. Due to becoming a Monstrum, Adol is effectively trapped within the city’s walls, propelling a story of mystery about why he was turned into a Monstrum, what the Monstrums are, and how to eventually leave the city.
Shortly after, Adol takes refuge in an abandoned bar and eventually turns the building into a hub where his allies gather - effectively hiding in plain sight. This bar, eventually named the Dandelion, works as the player’s base similar to Castaway Village in Ys VIII. While I will discuss the gameplay features of the Dandelion momentarily, the narrative function of the Dandelion serves as a great way for the story to frame a context for all of the Monstrums to engage with each other early on in the story. The game is divided into nine chapters, with the first half of the game focused on introducing and developing one of the Monstrums in each chapter, with the remaining chapters focused on solving the many mysteries brought forth throughout the story.
Including Adol, Ys IX features six playable characters, all offering different playstyles that feel unique from one another. Beyond having different weapon types that inherently give them a different feel to their general combat, Ys IX continues the series tradition of separating characters into three damage types - those being Slash, Strike, and Pierce. While the player will eventually gain access to six party members, only three can be engaged in the player’s active party at a time. If all three characters in the player’s active party have different damage types, the player has higher chances to acquire rare loot from enemies upon defeating them, while having two or more characters with the same damage type results in the damage type being stronger, dealing more damage to enemies. Being able to choose between damage output and having an easier time finding rare items that can be helpful in crafting materials, potions, etc. worked wonderfully well in Ys VIII and it continues to be a unique, interesting system here.
To add to the risk-versus-reward nature of this mechanic, each damage type is specially effective against certain types of enemies. Slash is strong against soft enemies, Strike is strong against armored or hard-shelled enemies, and Pierce is effective against flying enemies. When attacking an enemy with a damage type that they aren’t weak to, the attack will deal less damage, discouraging the player from neglecting to take enemy weaknesses into account. Every area is populated by different enemies, and as such, different areas will feature enemies with a different variety of weaknesses. Certain areas may not have any flying enemies, perhaps encouraging the player to not feel as if they need a character with Pierce-type damage in their active party.
This system of different damage types is a relatively simple one, and yet it accomplishes an important thing - it gets the player to try out using each of Ys IX’s six characters, all of which have their own unique attacks and Skills that set them apart from one another. While the different damage types initially got me to want to switch characters (which can be done on the fly at anytime in or out of combat), what kept me actively playing as each of the six varied party members is how fun each of them are to control.
While levelling up throughout the game, all six playable characters will consistently learn new Skills that they can use at anytime during combat, provided that they have enough SP to do so. Each character acquires ten Skills throughout the game, though only four can be equipped for each character at a single time. Skills are yet another reason as to why I switched my party compositions very frequently throughout my playtime, as new Skills are learned at just the right pace so that whenever a character learned a new Skill, it felt like a good excuse to change up my party and see if the newly acquired Skill would influence my strategy and approach to the game’s combat. Perhaps the most important aspect of Skills, though, is that they go the extra mile of making every character feel incredibly unique from one another.
Adol is perhaps the most basic fighter, combat-wise. As he uses one-handed swords, most of his learned Skills are stab attacks or slashes that are good for immediate crowd control. Krysha has a more mobile moveset, and her Skills compliment her fast playstyle through each skill involving some kind of movement, such as lunging forward, or jumping and dealing damage from above the enemy. Jules uses ranged magic, inherently giving him a different playstyle from the rest of the melee-focused party. Jules’ Skills often involve projectiles that are good for crowd control and dealing damage from a distance. All Skills for each character feel unique from one another, with weaker Skills costing less SP and more powerful Skills costing more SP. As every Skill can be leveled up through using the Skill in question multiple times, the game strongly encourages using different Skills throughout the game, consistently experimenting with the game’s combat.
Another aspect of the game’s combat is one that amplifies the game’s lightning pace. Also returning from Ys VIII are Flash Moves and Flash Guards. Whenever an enemy is attacking the player controlled character, if the player performs a dodge at the last second, they’ll trigger a Flash Move, which will briefly slow down time (a la Bayonetta) and get a chance to deal extra hits in. Flash Guards are a bit riskier, as the require the player to hold the button that gives them access to their Skills just before getting hit by an enemy. If a Flash Guard is successfully pulled off, the player will exclusively inflict critical hits for a few seconds, refill their SP, and will be temporarily invincible, all of which stacks with the effects of a Flash Move if the player performs a Flash Move and Flash Guard closely enough to each other. While these Skills were admittedly difficult to consistently pull off early on, I was initiating Flash Moves and Flash Guards nearly constantly by the game’s latter dungeons.
Each of Ys IX’s six playable characters all give the player access to a Gift that allows them to traverse the environment in a new way. From being able to run up walls to being able to glide slowly to the ground, these Gifts make movement varied and engaging through all of Ys IX’s 30+ hour runtime, with dungeons particularly making great use of the party’s Gifts. // Image Captured on PlayStation 4 Pro.
In fact, it’s the dungeons that are perhaps when Ys IX is at its best. As mentioned previously, Adol receives a Gift that gives him a new way of traversal fairly early on in his adventure. As the player slowly gains access to more and more characters, so too do they gain access to more Gifts, all of which change the way that the player can move around the city of Balduq and especially in dungeons. In fact, the game’s many dungeons that are featured in all of the game’s chapters do a great job of teaching and testing the player’s knowledge of the Gifts they gain access to. Additionally, many enemies and treasure chests populate these dungeons, and fully exploring them and filling out the game’s map is something that the player is gradually rewarding for doing throughout the game. While the visual designs of a few dungeons can feel a bit samey and visually bland, their mechanical design still keeps them engaging to explore.
That said, each dungeon features two boss fights - with these encounters easily providing some of the most thrilling moments that Ys IX has to offer. Many bosses either have unique mechanics that require the use of Gifts or different overall approaches to combat or they simply require the player to take advantage of Flash Moves and Flash Guards whenever they can. In fact, it was mainly thanks to the many boss fights that I was able to eventually nail down the timing for consistently pulling off Flash Moves and Flash Guards (which are essential for defeating bosses and most other encounters at higher difficulties). Each of the game’s dungeons and bosses truly do a fantastic job of putting the player in scenarios where their knowledge of the game’s mechanics are put to a fast-paced, exciting test.
While the dungeons and the boss fights within them deliver some of the most exciting and rewarding moments to be found in Ys IX, that shouldn’t overshadow everything that occurs outside of combat in Ys IX. Much like its predecessor, Ys IX conveys a great sense of exploration - erm, that is, it eventually does. At the beginning of the game, the many districts of the city of Balduq are blocked off from the player, with these boundaries being lifted once the player completes the Raid Battles in the Grimwald Nox that open up once the player acquires NOX points through defeating enemies in the city or completing side quests. The Raid Battles within the Grimwald Nox mirror the Raid Battles found in Ys VIII - the ones found in Ys IX are simply more of the same.
The player must defeat waves enemies while protecting a crystal at the center of the map, concluding in a minor boss fight or they may also require the player to destroy jewels placed throughout the map. While Raid Battles are enjoyable, they often blend in with each other, with no Raid Battles being particular standouts. Their inclusion is fine but doesn’t manage to be highlights of the game like Ys IX’s more traditional boss fights. Upon the Raid Battle’s completion (which gives a rank to the player depending on how well they did, which then gives rewards to the player accordingly), barriers that separate other districts of the city (and eventually areas outside of the city) open up, allowing the player to explore more of the world and gain access to more shops, new dungeons, etc.
While this does a good job at incentivizing the player to want to complete the Raid Battles, I feel that blocking off so much of the game’s map early on felt to be a bit much. The player is very limited in regard to how much they can navigate the city early on, to the point that these barriers feel very arbitrary. The player will lift all barriers within the city and gain complete, unabated access to the entire city about halfway through the game, with the remaining Raid Battles giving the player access to areas and dungeons outside of the city’s walls. I feel that having the barriers limiting the player’s exploration should have been reserved for only outside of the city. As is, the player feels very boxed in early on. While this may have been the intention, as the developers may have wanted the player to finally feel like they could go anywhere they pleased once they acquired all of the game’s Gifts, I felt very arbitrarily boxed in an enclosed section of the game’s main city in the early chapters of the game.
That said, once the player does have access to the entire city, it’s truly a joy to navigate through. Each chapter in the first half of the game gives the player a new section of the town to explore, all of which contain unique set pieces that stand out. Indeed, Balduq is a setting that feels varied, yet lived in, with its design complementing the game’s six Gifts very well. Well, most of them. Jules’ Gift, the last Gift that the player receives, is noticeably underutilized outside of dungeons, as it’s only useful in Balduq to receive a small handful of chests that the player is otherwise unable to reach. For the most part, though, the game’s movement and implementation of Gifts make navigating the city engaging. Adding to this engagement are the Azure Petals - collectables that can be found throughout each district within Balduq, further encouraging thorough exploration and diligent, creative use of Gifts.
Ys IX encourages and incentivizes navigating the city through offering the player consistent rewards. In fact, Ys IX rewards players that engage with nearly all of its systems. As mentioned previously, the game rewards players for discovering a certain percentage of the map by giving them special items and equipment when they meet certain thresholds throughout the game. Collected Azure Petals can be exchanged for items that permanently increases the player’s SP (which can only be increased through using such items, of which there are a finite amount of) and other stats. Even finding the game’s Landmarks, which effectively serve as points of interest that act as Fast Travel points, is incentivized and rewarded to the player, as a tourist guide NPC will reward the player for finding these landmarks. Ys IX feels consistently rewarding to play since all of its gameplay elements - even the more arguably mundane sections of the game - ultimately reward the player in some capacity. As such, the player always feels like there’s meaning to their actions - they feel as if they are always making progress towards some kind of reward in some capacity. This, in addition to the game’s fantastic dungeons, boss fights, and fast-flowing combat, keeps Ys IX an engaging adventure throughout its entire runtime.
The Dandelion is a remarkable hub, as it brings a warm atmosphere where Adol and his allies gather. This bar serves as a convenient all-in-one place where the player can purchase equipment, food to temporarily buff stats, talk to NPCs, see unique scenes that develop supporting characters, and pick up various side quests. No matter how dire the direction of the plot went, returning to this bar after each chapter was always a treat. It is also easily an improvement over Ys VIII’s Castaway Village. // Image Captured on PlayStation 4 Pro.
Ys IX’s chapter structure gives the game a comfortable organization to it. Every chapter will start at the Dandelion where the player can purchase/craft upgrades to their items and equipment, purchase food to acquire temporary buffs during combat, talk to NPCs, and take on side quests. It’s during these sections that Ys IX really impresses. The writing, worldbuilding, and character development seen in Ys IX: Monstrum Nox easily stands as one of the highlights of the entire game. Over the course of this adventure, Adol will meet various characters that will get recruited to the Dandelion either through story progression or through completing various side quests.
There are 40 side quests in Ys IX and almost all of them do a great job at delivering smaller narratives that provide more intimate character moments that serve as great complements to the main story. In fact, some side quests even elaborate on the game’s lore in areas that the main story doesn’t, meaning that side quests actually serve as a great way to learn more about the history and intricacies of Balduq. The gameplay content of these side quests won’t blow your mind - they’re the fairly standard requests to talk to certain NPCs, fight hordes of enemies, find items hidden in the environment, etc. However, these side quests ultimately proved to be yet another highlight of my time with Ys IX because of their great contributions to the overall plot and gameplay of Ys IX. Additionally, all side quests give the player meaningful rewards, so even if side quests don’t deliver plot beats that resonate with you, the rewards from the quest will more than make up for it.
Another one of Ys IX’s highlights when at the Dandelion comes in form of the Affinity system. While nowhere near as long or complex as affinity systems seen in Xenoblade or Persona titles, the Affinity system in Ys IX amalgamates in the form of additional cutscenes where we see significant character development with every character that joins the Dandelion. Affinity begins at Level 1 and is maxed out at Level 3. To level up a character’s Affinity with Adol, the player must give the character a present that can be purchased or acquired somewhere in Balduq. This opens a dialogue box that gets the character to open up to Adol about themselves. After making a certain amount of story progress, the player will be able to level up a character’s Affinity with Adol again, as a cutscene between Adol and another character will become available. These cutscenes offered some of the best scenes in the entire game, as they conclude individual character arcs for major and minor characters very well. Adol comes across many characters through the main story or through side quests, yet every character manages to have a character arc that concludes in a satisfying way.
Ys IX actually has a very sweet tone to its writing, which is helped by the great cast of characters on display. The standouts of the cast are clearly the game’s six playable characters, which all bounce off of each other quite well. That said, one of the very best moments in all of Ys IX comes at the final section of the game after defeating the game’s final boss. Similar to the final sequence in EarthBound, the end of Ys IX is a brief epilogue that sees Adol walking around Balduq, talking with the various playable and non-playable characters that he’s met throughout his journey. During this sequence, we get scenes with nearly every character that Adol has interacted with throughout the game, and they all talk about how Adol has positively impacted their lives. These moments are written very sweetly, but what makes them even more impactful is that all of these moments feel earned. If the player partakes in completing side quests and levelling up Affinity with characters, this final section puts a bow on just about every single character arc in a way that feels very narratively satisfying. Moreover, it’s during this epilogue sequence that I realized just how much Ys IX makes you care about its characters, whether through gameplay, the main story, or through the game’s side content. It was during the moments where Adol was about to leave Balduq to embark on a new adventure that I realized just how much the characters and writing of Ys IX really resonated with me.
With that in mind, Ys IX manages to genuinely one of the most cozy RPGs I’ve played in recent memory. Recruiting more and more characters to the Dandelion makes the bar feel more alive, and the tavern gets more patrons as the story progresses as well. While this alone creates a sense of player satisfaction, the great characters that populate the Dandelion and the rest of Ys IX make the entire game become a joy to play through.
After the conclusion of each chapter, we see interludes where we control Adol inside Balduq Prison that do a fantastic job at adding additional layers of mystery to the plot, in addition to consistently giving the story more forward momentum after significant plot beats seen with the main cast of characters. The story seen in Ys IX: Monstrum Nox is one that will easily keep players guessing. // Image Captured on PlayStation 4 Pro.
While the game heavily rewards the player for completing side content both narratively and mechanically, it’s still much worth mentioning that the main story seen in Ys IX: Monstrum Nox delivers a satisfying experience in and of itself. The game’s nine chapters all do a great job at fueling the game’s plot with additional mystery and forward momentum. New plot elements and characters will consistently be introduced throughout the game’s story, which will keep players guessing as to what will come next. Every plot element and question in the player’s mind eventually sees a satisfying payoff over time. Indeed, the main narrative of Ys IX is yet another strength of the game itself, as it consistently keeps the player intrigued and invested to proceed with the game’s story and adventure through the new areas introduced with each chapter that progresses the narrative of Ys IX.
While there are references to previous Ys games sprinkled throughout the adventure, the story of Ys IX is primarily self-contained, meaning that series newcomers have nothing to fear if they want to try jumping into the series with this title. In fact, Ys IX is an Action RPG that I can easily recommend to just about anyone interested in the genre, as it effectively nails almost everything it tries to do. From the game’s fast-paced, exciting combat that has a high skill ceiling for players to master to the game’s wonderfully told story and its engaging, rewarding side content, Ys IX: Monstrum Nox stands as one of the genuinely best Action RPGs in recent memory. Any fans of action-based combat owe it to themselves to try out the Ys series, and Ys IX manages to arguably be the best and most accessible entry in the series to date.
I played through Ys IX because I considered myself a casual fan of the series after my playthroughs with the likes of Ys I & II Chronicles and Ys VIII - games that I very much liked. Through it’s amazing writing, lovable cast of characters, mysterious plot, fantastic implementation of exploration of the game’s world, and stellar combat, Ys IX: Monstrum Nox truly captured me unlike any other game in the series that I’ve played thus far - even more than Ys VIII, a game that I enjoyed quite a bit. While Ys VIII is a great game that’s admittedly similar to Ys IX gameplay-wise, Ys IX manages to be the greater game between the two simply due to Ys IX’s superior dungeon and environment design. Navigating through the world of Ys IX was an experience that proved to be more consistently satisfying than previous Ys titles. While Ys VIII certainly laid the groundwork for modern Ys titles, Ys IX improves upon Ys VIII’s foundation in nearly every way, making it the superior title in my eyes.
Ys IX easily stands as one of my favorite Action RPGs and a game that I can easily recommend to anyone. While it does have a few issues in regard to the somewhat bland visual design of many dungeons, the fairly repetitive Raid Battles, and the forced segmentation of the game’s main city that initially restricts exploration more than I’d like, Ys IX simply has too many strengths and fantastic moments to ignore. Whether you’re a JRPG veteran or looking for a new series to get into, you owe it to yourself to uncover the wonders of Ys IX: Monstrum Nox.
Final Grade: A-
Thank you so much for reading! What are your thoughts on Ys IX: Monstrum Nox? If you haven’t played an Ys title, does this game look interesting to you? As always, feel free to join the conversation and let me know what you think in the comments or on Twitter @DerekExMachina.
