Ys X: Nordics › Features

Ys X: Nordics Steam Deck is my favorite way to play Adol's newest adventure

by Mikhail Madnani on 14 October, 2024

Ys X: Nordics from NIS America and Falcom is finally releasing next week in the West, just over a year after it was released in Japan. The Western release sees Adol's newest adventure arrive on PC in addition to PS5, PS4, and Switch. Ahead of its Western launch, I've been playing the game on my Steam Deck, PS4 Pro, PS5 and also revisiting the Japanese version on Nintendo Switch after my first playthrough last year.

If you've not already done so, read Adam's Ys X: Nordics review covering his thoughts on the game here. I'm going to focus on the PC features, console differences, and more here to help you decide which platform you should get Ys X: Nordics on.

Ys X: Nordics PC exclusive features — co-op, HDR, soundtrack information, and many technical upgrades

Ys X: Nordics on PC included quite a few notable exclusive features. Beyond the resolution and frame rate advantages from PH3's PC release, this version of Ys X: Nordics has HDR, local co-op support, a show music information option, the ability to skip logos when launching the game, many more save slots, and a wealth of graphics options to far exceed the console version with draw distance being the most notable upgrade.

The show music option (show BGM information in-game) displays the track name and number on the soundtrack whenever you enter a location or the song changes. You can adjust this to display it every time (like I have) or have it only display when a new song plays. 

On the HDR side, I played Ys X: Nordics on my Steam Deck OLED with HDR on and it was a nice upgrade over the standard dynamic range image. You can adjust the HDR peak brightness and UI brightness individually in the display options.

Ys X: Nordics PC-exclusive co-op impressions

I played Ys X: Nordics on my Steam Deck docked and on the device itself, but I was curious to see how it would handle Remote Play Together. I tried two controllers on my Steam Deck and co-op worked fine, but what about with someone who lives in another country? It works surprisingly well, and the most recent build update even improved how controllers are handled. Keep in mind that the Remote Play Together delay (depending on the distance between players) will mean some later areas are harder unless you play on a lower difficulty. When playing on the same network or with someone close by, it works flawlessly.

When co-op is activated the FOV changes to accommodate both players, and I'm very impressed with how it works. For more on the co-op mode, read my interview with Durante going up today.

Ys X: Nordics PC graphics presets

The Ys X: Nordics PC graphics options already ship with a few presets including:

  • Performance -  Aimed at lower-end laptops or Steam Deck
  • Default - Close to the console versions with minor improvements
  • High - Graphics improvements that aren't too performance-intensive are enabled here with it targeting gaming PCs
  • Ultra - Enabled high-end settings aside from those with extremely large performance costs aimed at high-end gaming PCs

I want to highlight a few notable graphics options like Portrait Supersampling and anti-aliasing options like Sparse Grid Supersampling (SGSSAA), and the draw distance options that go well above the console versions. 

Aside from HDR support, the FOV option is also notable. Not only is this above the console versions, but it also helps with the co-op mode allowing for both players to get a good look at everything on display for both Adol and Karja.

Ys X: Nordics Steam Deck recommended settings for OLED and LCD models

If you go into the graphics options in Ys X: Nordics, the Performance preset is perfect for Steam Deck as the description indicates. If you do however want to aim for 90fps on your Steam Deck OLED with HDR, I found that this preset with shadows turned down gives a very consistent experience with some dips only. I didn't test the whole game like this, but I only noticed some drops during ship combat encounters where I saw the frame rate drop to the high 80s. 

When playing on my Steam Deck LCD, the Performance preset saw the game remain at its locked 60fps target throughout. If you want to play at 90fps on your Steam Deck OLED, keep the shadow setting in mind and be ready for some dips to the 80s, but otherwise this is a fantastic PC version and an essential for Steam Deck owners.

Hopefully my comparison helped you decide what platform to get Ys X: Nordics on across PlayStation, Switch, and PC. Having now played the full game across all platforms, I've settled on the Steam Deck as my preferred way to play the game because of the added PC-exclusive features and amazing portable experience out of the box.

Ys X: Nordics releases on October 25 for PC, PS5, Switch, and PS4 in the West from NIS America.