Falcom’s Ys 10: Nordics is out later this week for PS4, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Taking place between Ys 2: Ancient Ys Finished – The Final Chapter and Ys 3: Memories of Celceta, the story sees Adol teaming with Karja Balta to fight the Griegr. It sports a new combat system that utilizes Duo Attacks and Skills.
While it may seem ripe for local two-player co-op, only the PC version will support the same at launch per PH3’s Peter “Durante” Thoman. Described as “an experimental, unofficial feature, developed by me personally with a budget of 0 €, and some pretty wild hacks,” it also hasn’t had the benefit of extensive testing. Check out the footage below to see how it looks.
Throughout the game, the Co-Op State is represented in the top right and ranges from active (with each player controlling a character) to impossible, depending on the situation. There are also Co-op States for fishing and sailing. During combat, blocking is shared, but executing a Perfect Block requires abject timing from both players.
Only one character can use the Gullinboard, and if you get too far from your partner, a darker version of the Mana String will emerge until you’re back together. It’s definitely a novel approach, especially given how the game approaches duo combat. We’ll see how it pans out when the game launches on October 25th. In the meantime, check out our review of the PS5 version or the free demo.