An early 2026 launch for Ys X: Proud Nordics, an expanded edition of Nihon Falcom's 2024 action RPG delight, has rounded off a month filled with good news for fans of old, but not that old RPGs from Japan.
On the heels of the game's Asia launch, publisher NIS America released a trailer for the English version of Proud Nordics, which is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 and PC. We have to wait until an undefined point in "early 2026," but it's nice to have some semblance of a release window already, even if there's still room for this and other series to shrink the gaps between regional releases.
NIS and Nihon Falcom have notably not released details on other platforms (Ys X: Nordics was also released on PS5, leaving many fans out in the cold, at least for now) nor could I find anything about an upgrade path for people who own the original version of the game. This, coupled with the timing of the re-release and its game key-card Switch 2 version, has soured some fans on the reveal.
The news is better if this is your first time dipping into Ys X, as this version has added more than just added pride. Compared to the baseline Ys X: Nordics, Proud Nordics adds a Muspelheim dungeon billed as a timed challenge "of diabolical difficulty," new exploration mechanics, and a new story thread "seamlessly integrated throughout the game," per the Steam page.
The graphics have been slightly updated, various quality-of-life updates applied to myriad systems, and bonus content from the original has been folded in. Our own Dustin Bailey enjoyed his time with the original Nordics Steam demo last year, and Proud Nordics does seem like the best way to play Ys X.
This news follows the release of a hefty demo Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, a reimagining of arguably Nihon Falcom's most beloved RPG series. It's been a good summer for JRPGs, and we haven't even touched on Square Enix's band of re-releases.
