Introduction
Today we will be continuing the journey of Adol Christin, this time he finds himself in the city of Balduq, of course things do not go according to plan! Before he knows it, he finds himself in the unescapable fortress prison of Balduq. Knowing Adol, he escapes within a few days, only to get ambushed and shot to be turned into a monstrum!
What did I think before Ys 9 Monstrum Nox?
Since the previous game was amazing, with great graphics, an amazing story and splendid gameplay mechanics, My wife and I were very interested in this next entry in the Ys series, how bad could it be? We played this game on the PlayStation 4, but we will look for more information on the Steam page!
The Steam page
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1351630/Ys_IX_Monstrum_Nox/
This page is all about how this game builds upon the success of the previous game, as in, you will also have flash guard and flash move. However, there are also new mechanics like gifts and boosts. I was very interested how the traveling would work in this game, as the page promises a lot of flying and traveling in the city!
Rating
I rate Ys 9 Monstrum Nox with a 9 before playing.
I hope this game would even be better as the previous game!
Story
The story really starts after the tutorial ends, this is when Adol becomes a Monstrum and needs to fight in the grimwald nox to save Balduq. However, Adol is also locked within the city and cannot leave, to try to escape he must learn the truth of the city to break the Monstrum curse!
Rating
I rate the story of Ys 9 Monstrum Nox with a 6.3.
Why the low rating? Because the story will get really complicated and confusing, without spoiling the story, most of the characters are barely noticeable that they even exist. Whereas the previous game worked hard to establish the story and growth of each character.
Gameplay
The gameplay works vastly different compared to Ys 8, the largest difference is that you will not need to build a village, but you do own an inn. People that join your cause will be in your inn, these are mostly characters that are broken out of the prison. You can also upgrade your weapons here and much more!
The combat is fast-paced, but mostly only needed in dungeons, however, there are encounters in the city that will grant you nox. Whenever enough nox is gathered, a portal will open that leads you to the grimwald nox. This battle works just like a raid in the previous game, but the crystal that you will need to protect is very squishy! If you collect even more nox, you can unlock a bonus grimwald nox.
There are also side quests to complete that give you nox. However, only twice per chapter can you open a portal. This means unlocking areas can take quite a while. There are also segments with another character like in the previous game, this is not exactly the same as in Ys 8, the other character does not have any progression and dies in almost one hit!
Rating
I rate the gameplay of Ys 9 Monstrum Nox with an 7.3
While the game is fun, the previous game was much better. Unlocking the whole party takes a very long time!
Sound and Graphics
Graphics
The graphics are on the same scale as the previous game, but the graphics create a very different atmosphere, almost Bloodborne like. Most of the buildings can be climbed with the gifts that you gain from each party member. Most of the gifts look pretty but can be quite useless, except for the gift of the doll. This can be used for hunting collectables!
Sound
The music is very epic in this game, there are a lot of fun soundtracks, but the sound effects can be annoying when being repeated many times.
Rating
I rate the sound and graphics of Ys 9 Monstrum Nox with a 9.1.
I really enjoyed listening to the music in this game!
What did I think after playing Ys 9 Monstrum Nox?
My wife and I had a lot of fun, but the story was extremely confusing until almost the end of the game. Unlocking the characters takes a lot of time, but the gifts can be useful to explore the city. The gameplay does get repetitive, but it feels much easier to level up in this game, as we reached level 99 in this game.
There are many skills that you can learn, but it is more useful that you spam skills, even with the accessories that reduce the cost of skills. My wife did not enjoy the game much at the end and dropped off.
Rating
I rate Ys 9 Monstrum Nox with a 7.3 after playing.
The game was fun, but it was not as fun as Ys 8.
What are my personal thoughts about Ys 9 Monstrum Nox?
I had a lot of fun with the beginning of the game, but as time goes on, the game slums down a bit and gets boring.
Rating
My personal Rating of Ys 9 Monstrum Nox is a 6,6
Last Words
Pros
- Journey once again with Adol Christin.
- Use gifts to reach hidden places.
- Complete raids that are called Grimwald Nox.
- Find collectables to gain new items
- Unlock new skills to fight of lemures
Cons
- The game gets a bit boring after a certain amount of time.
- The story is very confusing
I hope that Ys 10 is better compared to this game, I would rather revisit Ys 8 again instead of playing Ys 9 again.
Final Rating
7.8
Let me know what you think of Ys 9 in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review!
If you liked reading this review, maybe you would like to share this review with your friends!
A not so bad game. Thanks for the information.
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There are so many Ys games, and yes, they can get repetitive over time. I loved the ones where I could co-op the story with my brother the most!
We did the PS4 version, sadly no co-op there.
Good review! Hate it when a game captivates you at the start, but then after a while it gets boring.
I also dislike that.
There are so many series this game.
VIII will be very hard to top.
Dana was a pretty compelling protagonist and the game was quite impressive.
I agree!
Nice review!
Really love to play it but after seeing your review making it repetitive , that’s a no bueno for me then.
You are better off playing another Ys game.
7.5 / 10
It’s disappointing to hear that Ys 8 got a less than stellar sequel. Thanks for the info and for the review!
Ys 8 was indeed much better
Another jrpg franchise
I’ve played a lot of Ys games in the past and this is also on my list. Glad you liked it!
I did like it, but the previous game was a lot more fun!
Good review.
Nice review sven, was totally unaware of this series but seems very much fun!
It’s a shame to know that the story, and especially the characters have a worse development than 8, but it’s still on my list because it looks fun to play xp
Great music and fun combat, but the game itself is kinda mediocre
The music is indeed awesome!
love the ys series of games
A confusing story is something lots of JRPG have … but boring or repeditive gameplay is often a deal breaker for me. Never have played a single Ys game.