Monstrum Nox review

Of the Ys games I’ve played, Ys IX: Monstrum Nox is far from my favorite. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still good, but the story, gameplay, and characters never grabbed me the way they did in VIII and X. While rough around the edges, after her adaptation of Lacrimosa of Dana, I trust Anna Kashina to take what was presented in Ys IX, translate it to a novel, and flesh out a lot of details along the way. After getting through the massive 486 page tome, I think this might be my preferred way to experience Adol’s adventures in the city of Balduq.

The story begins with Adol and Dogi arriving in Balduq. As soon as they reach the gates, however, Adol is arrested for seemingly no reason, and thrown in the city’s massive prison complex at its heart. Of course, at the first opportunity, he breaks out, but during his escape he’s confronted by a strange woman, who shoots him causing the Monstrum Curse to take hold. While the curse grants him incredible power, it also prevents him from leaving the city. To find a way to lift the curse and continue on his adventures, Adol needs to team up with the other Monstrums and discover the secrets the prison holds.

It’s an interesting narrative, focused on how a history of war and oppression from a nation much, much larger than even this massive city affects each and every one of its inhabitants, whether they know it or not. Their resentment literally manifests in the form of the Grimwald Nox, an alternate reality the Monstrums are occasionally called to by the mysterious woman to battle nightmarish creatures to the death for eternity. While the game sends the player there fairly frequently, this novel almost entirely drops these scenes after the first few. It just becomes another thing mentioned in passing between important plot points. It’s a bit weird that something so critical to the story and themes kinda disappears after a while, but I can definitely see why Ms. Kashina chose to do this. It would get pretty tedious to have the group’s adventures interrupted all the time, and glossing over them makes for better pacing. This book is already super long, and the words that would have been spent on the Nox are better spent elsewhere.

Namely, in Adol’s narration. In the games, Adol is definitely his own character, not just a vessel for the player to project on, and the novel expands on this greatly. He’s a bit different here, however, letting negative emotions like anger and resentment bubble to the surface frequently. It’s a bit jarring at first, since usually in the games Adol is a very positive little bean, but I think it really fits here. Ys IX is still the furthest game in the timeline, with Adol being in his 20s, and it makes sense that after all his adventures he’d become a bit cynical, especially with this particular setting almost encouraging those kinds of thoughts. He still has that lust for adventure though, always excited when the group comes across some ruins. 

We also stick with Adol’s perspective for the entire length of the book, both versions of him (it’s complicated). I did find that the story’s most interesting twist with regards to these perspectives didn’t land quite as hard as it should have, it’s somewhat forgotten after it happens just like in the game, and I think it would have been interesting to go into more detail with it here. It’s similar to the fight scenes: they’re very well written and engaging, but they’re over way too quickly.

Ms. Kashina definitely keeps things moving quickly here, just like in Lacrimosa of Dana. A little too quick at times, but here there’s still a lot of spotlight given to the other Monstrums, namely White Cat and Feral Hawk. Others, like Doll, are still given their moments to shine, but Adol, Cat, and Hawk are definitely the main trio here. This adaptation benefits from just picking a few characters to place the most focus on, as in the game the spotlight was spread way too thin for my tastes. There’s a bit of a one-sided romance between Adol and Cat as well, which is an interesting dynamic I don’t recall from the game, though it has been a long time since I played it. Adol definitely isn’t open to romance, especially with all his thoughts on Dana and Feena spread throughout the book, but I think it adds something interesting to Cat’s character. Especially with her arc being about becoming confident in herself and forging her own path, regardless of what others think of her.

It’s a fun read, though it still retains one of my biggest issues with Ms. Kashina’s previous work: tons of typos. These decrease in frequency as you get closer to the end of the book, but it definitely feels like this needed another editing pass or two. There are misspellings, incorrect grammar, tons of punctuation errors, and more. For full disclosure, I am quoted in the Praise for the Author section, but GamingTrend is listed as “The Gaming Trend”. This doesn’t bother me too much, but you can expect errors like that to show up frequently.

Still, I greatly enjoyed this adaptation, and since I don’t particularly love Ys IX this will be my preferred method to revisit the story. Ms. Kashina just has a knack for capturing the spirit of the franchise while also putting her own stamp on it, flaws and all.