Nihon Falcom revealed new information on
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox in the latest issues of Famitsu and Dengeki PlayStation, with both magazines featuring the same information and screenshots. We’ve got many new details on the game’s setting and the “Prison City” Balduk. Along with Adol, all the Monstrum characters have been confirmed as playable, plus another mysterious character wearing a red scarf. Here’s everything we learned:
As we already know, one of the biggest places explorable in
Ys IX is the city of Balduk, located northeast of Esteria (the island of
Ys I), in the Gilia Eltlingen region. The reason why Balduk is called a “Prison City” is because in the deepest part of the city lies the biggest prison in the Romun Empire.
Balduk is huge and inhabited by people of many different backgrounds. The city houses many merchants, religious institutions, and the Gilia Company, one of the biggest organizations in the Romun Empire. Balduk is also organized in multiple districts, with some much poorer than others. As the city became more economically developed, the taxes increased, so more and more people of the labor classes moved to the poor districts. These districts are full of unemployed people and of those who went bankrupt following the increase of Romun merchants settling in the city.
The city also has multiple facilities like theaters and public baths. The areas beside the waterway have a market selling fresh food, accessories and daily necessities. In the evening, it is packed with locals and travelers.
The prison in the heart of Balduk used to be a fortress protecting the Romun Empire’s border, which was remodeled to now house prisoners. The only entrance is the drawbridge at the front, and the entirety of the fortress is surrounded by a steep stone wall. In ancient times, citizens who criticized the Romun Empire would be imprisoned in the fortress as political prisoners.
The outskirts of the city have grasslands, forests, ruins, and more that players can explore. Some people also live in houses in the forests outside the city.
In his comments, Nihon Falcom President Toshihiro Kondo hinted that the woman shown in previous key visuals is the prison’s jailer, because of her lantern, but he didn’t confirm it. We still don’t know if she’s playable or not either.
Kondo also confirmed that all 5 Monstrum characters shown in the previous visual are playable along with Adol. We obviously knew they would be playable, but it wasn’t official until now. The newly revealed character with the red scarf is playable too, but more on them will be revealed later. Kondo said we should focus on that character’s clothing and its colors to try and guess their identity.
As previously stated, the environments and battles of
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox have a huge focus on verticality, which is something unusual in the
Ys series. Kondo said that fans of the series shouldn’t worry as they managed to conserve what makes
Ys battles fun all while giving it a new fresh feeling.
According to Kondo, while
Ys IX has bigger areas and more variation in environments to explore than the Siren island of
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, it’s difficult to directly compare the explorable area size of both games because of the verticality of the environments in
Ys IX. But we will definitely be able to see how big the game is just by walking around Balduk.
Night as a concept will play a big part in the game, hence why “Nox” is included in the subtitle. Not only as a part of the story but also through gameplay elements. This is just my own guess, but in all the information revealed so far there’s a strong implication that the Monsturm can only use their special powers at night.
The 2D artworks, included in the gallery below, were drawn early in development. The first one represents the city of Balduk at night. The second one shows the interior of the prison.
