Falcom Shows Off First Ys IX Gameplay, Latest Trails Artwork In Livestream

During Dengeki Game Fes 2019, Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo showed off new gameplay for Ys IX: Monstrum Nox and how verticality is a new element added to gameplay, as well as the debut of new art for an unrevealed Trails game. [Thanks, Game’s Talk!]

Here are the highlights on the tidbits revealed by Kondo for Ys IX:

• Adol is 24 in this game. As its been a year since Ys VII, he’s now quite well-known. He has the aura of a responsible, level-headed young man.

• Maps have been made to be more vertical. There are more actions like jumping, flying, and more that can help players get around easier.

• The prison is a symbol of the town, and the town sprung up around the prison.

• ‘Monstrum’ means ‘monster’, while ‘Nox’ means ‘night’. Taken together, it means ‘Night of the Monsters’, which will be an important keyphrase.

• For the key visual, everyone behind bars are Monstrum, while the woman in front of the cell is human.

• The way Adol will first appear in the game is different compared to previous games.

• Each Monstrum has their own abilities like running up walls, or gliding. These actions can take you to many places. There are also actions to defuse gimmicks and traps. You’ll be able to use all abilities of Monstrum currently in your party at once, so there’s no need to switch characters just to use their actions.

• Adol will be living in town, so there are things that he must do. For example, working a Guild will be one of them. There’s also a reason why Adol’s appearance hasn’t been shown off yet.

• Unlike Felghana, the town itself is a place to explore, taking up 40-50% of the explorable space. It’s the biggest town in the series’ history, and has different areas like the developed areas, the slums, and even a coliseum where an event will occur.

• Battles will once again place focus on elemental types, so you should change out characters according to the situation.

Check out some gameplay below [Thanks, bambooshoots game on Youtube!]

At the very end, we see a red-headed man who may or may not be Adol.

Trails series

While nothing substantial in terms of details were revealed, Kondo showed off several pieces of artwork for characters appearing in this game. Currently, the Trails team is working on both a new game and a side game, so it could be from either one.

Check them out below:

Ys IX: Monstrum Nox releases in Japan in Fall 2019 for PlayStation 4. Two Trails games are currently in development.