Ys IX Monstrum Nox Review: Welcome to Balduq — Now With Faster Loading Times!

Woah, have we been here before, or is it just me? …Okay, that’s probably not a great joke to start off with for a number of reasons—I’m well aware that I’ve reviewed Ys IX: Monstrum Nox before, and I’m also aware that you, dear reader, probably didn’t read that review. I mean, it’s literally been, what, at least two years at this point? So, yeah, you probably didn’t read it. But I’m going to give you the chance to change that! Lucky you!

Now, now, no need to get upset. I was just having a bit of fun—not about the whole “me sharing my previous review of this game with you” thing, though. I’m absolutely going to. But there’s actually a reason why I’m going to do that—my opinion of this game, by and large, has not changed one bit. I really don’t think that I could have conveyed how I felt about Monstrum Nox any better now than I did when I wrote about it two years ago. And, yes, I went back and read my previous review to make sure that I still felt the same way that I did. And I do—save a single comment about the game’s graphics (which I’ll get into later). So, what does that mean for this review? Simple—I’ll mainly be focusing on what the enhanced PlayStation 5 version of Monstrum Nox brings to the table. The other stuff that I usually touch upon (story, gameplay, etc.) will still be there, it’ll just be a little more… truncated than normal. If you’d like to see my initial thoughts on the game (which still hold true today), please check out my Ys IX: Monstrum Nox PS4 review. If the abridged approach works fine and dandy for you, then let’s press onward!

A Grimwald Glance

I mean, Doll’s technically more like a… you know what? Never mind.

Touting what I still believe to be the best story in the entire Ys series, Monstrum Nox sees Adol Christin as he embarks on yet another adventure—but things are a little different this time around. Rather than running through rivers, leaping over ledges, and crawling through caves (although I guess he still kinda does that in this game), the entirety of Adol’s adventure is spent within the confines of a gigantic city—Balduq, the Prison City, to be specific. You see, all of the shenanigans from the previous games kiiiinda caught up to him, and he got arrested for what could best be described as continuously engaging in “highly suspicious behavior.” No need to worry, though. He soon breaks out thanks to being forcibly transformed by a mysterious woman with a gun into a “Monstrum”—a being who, although gifted with superhuman abilities, is cursed to forever stay within the walls of Balduq in order to protect it from the constant onslaught of threats. Also, there’s a second Adol being held prisoner in Balduq Prison while the Monstrum Adol is running around the city—the game’s story is wild in the best possible way, and it only gets wilder as you keep going.

Due to it overwhelmingly taking place within the confines of a city, Monstrom Nox‘s approach to gameplay isn’t exactly on par with the Ys norm. The game itself follows a more circular pattern, forcing players to explore various parts of the city while on the hunt for Nox—a unique substance that can be accumulated by either fighting Lumires (a special kind of monster) or completing quests. After you’ve amassed enough of that, you’ll either gain the opportunity to unlock new parts of the city or be introduced to a new dungeon—with the dungeon typically being either the halfway point or endpoint of the current chapter. I remember mentioning initially being put off by this gameplay loop. I mean, it kinda flies in the face of the whole “free-roaming adventuring thing.” But, let me tell you now, it works. And it works well. Balduq is huge and filled to the brim with secrets. And, thanks to your Gifts, you’re able to able to explore the world of Ys like never before. Oh, and that reminds me—I should probably talk about Gifts.

Monstrom Nox has a fair few things about it that make it special, but I’d have to put Gifts at the center of all of that. Essentially acting as superpowers, Gifts are abilities that allow you to do things like run up walls, teleport, and melt into the floor as a shadowy mass. They are very cool and very fun. I don’t care how childish that makes me sound—there’s literally no better way to describe them. And, even better, they aren’t game-breaking! Despite doing things like giving you the wall-climbing ability within the first few hours of the game, things like area layout (Balduq, dungeons, etc.), barriers, and the Gift Gauge—which limits how long you can use your Gift—ensure that, while you can be powerful in Ys IX, you can’t be too powerful… probably.

A Buttery Smooth Balduq

Careful they don’t start calling you the Crimson CLOWN, there, Adol!

Now that the recap’s out of the way, it’s time to get onto the new stuff! As I eluded to previously, Monstrum Nox for the PS5 is what you would call an “enhanced version” of its PS4 (and Switch) counterpart. But, what exactly is enhanced? Good question! By and large, the biggest enhancements can be found in things like framerate consistency and load times. In previous versions, certain areas—particularly bigger areas of Balduq—would chug a little bit. It wasn’t anything game-breaking, mind you, but, let’s not kid ourselves; framerate drops are annoying. Fortunately, all of those issues have been entirely dealt with this time around. While Monstrom Nox is filled with plenty of foes with which you must contend, dropped framerates will no longer be among them. I’ve also found that, while there isn’t really that much that they can do to improve the graphics of a two-year-old game, it does look just a little bit better on the PS5.

Loading zones are another major area that the enhanced edition of Monstrom Nox concentrated its firepower on. Not only does every single area load considerably faster, but some areas don’t even have loading times anymore—instead just load instantaneously. Personally, I don’t recall ever having a major issue with the loading times in the PS4, but I suppose the fact that I was both surprised and impressed with the PS5 version’s loading times speaks for itself.

Finally, while not an enhancement in the traditional sense, the latest and greatest version of Monstrom Nox comes with some of the previously released DLC automatically built into it! Now, I will warn you to read this carefully, because I certainly didn’t—it doesn’t come with all previously released DLC. It comes with all previously released costume DLC. What this means is that, while you won’t be starting off with a handful of Tempest Elixirs and other god-tier goodies, you will snag yourself some really sweet-looking costumes and accessories that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to get. Personally, I recommend making everyone dress up like they’re part of a circus troupe, but you do you!

A Happy Half-Step Up

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again—unorthodox though it may be, Ys IX: Monstrum Nox is a very welcome addition to the Ys series and a game that I highly recommend. If you’ve already played the game on PS4, I get why you might not want to pick this version up (although I wouldn’t blame you if you did). Amazing as it is, it’s basically the same game, except it works slightly better, and you get some free DLC costumes. If you haven’t played the game, yet, you literally don’t have any excuse to not play Monstrum Nox at this point.

Final Verdict: 4.5/5

Available on: PlayStation 5 (Reviewed); Publisher: NIS America; Developer: Nihon Falcom; Players: 1; Released: May 9, 2023; ESRB: T for Teen; MSRP: $59.99

Full disclosure: A Ys IX: Monstrum Nox code was provided to Hey Poor Player by the publisher.