Ys IX: Monstrum Nox similar games & best alternatives

Ys IX: Monstrum Nox - Trailer
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Ys IX: Monstrum Nox

PlayStation 4, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch • 2021

Should you play it?

While imprisoned in Balduq, Adol is cursed and becomes a Monstrum. With his newfound powers, he must stop the Grimwald Nox from consuming the city.

What works

  • Fast-paced and satisfying combat
  • Engaging story and characters
  • Innovative traversal mechanics with monstrum gifts
  • Large, explorable prison city and dungeons
  • Excellent soundtrack

Things to keep in mind

  • Some players find setting and graphics bland or dated
  • Story pacing slow in early chapters
  • Some repetitive side quests and grind
  • Flash guard timing can be difficult
  • Limited post-game content

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • Ys X: Nordics

  • Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet

  • The Last Hero of Nostalgaia

  • Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization Deluxe Edition

  • Tales of Xillia Remastered

  • Tales of Symphonia

Less social

Games that feels like Ys IX: Monstrum Nox but with less teamwork and cooperation

  • Fable - The Lost Chapters

  • Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2

  • Tales of ARISE

  • Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

  • Tales of Zestiria

  • Tales of Berseria™

More leadership-focused

Games that feels like Ys IX: Monstrum Nox but with more leadership over others

  • Fate/Samurai Remnant

  • The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki

  • Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian

  • Sword Art Online Re: Hollow Fragment

  • Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection

  • Tales of Graces f Remastered

Choose your own criteria ->

From the same developer

From the same developer, ranked by motivational fit.

  • Ys X: Nordics

  • Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA

  • Ys X: Proud Nordics

  • Ys: Memories of Celceta

  • The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II

Similarity map

How to use the graph

Similarity map

Each dot is a game placed from its motivation profile relative to this page’s game. Direction shows which motivation differs most; distance along that axis shows how large the gap is.

  • Purple star: this page’s game at the centre — everything is relative to it.
  • Direction: each axis is a main motivational difference vs this game (e.g. more / less competitive).
  • Distance on an axis: how large that difference is (ring scales show +/− points).
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot to preview that game in the panel on the right; click to keep that comparison.
  • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom.

How to read the map This is a polar difference map: direction = which motivation differs, and distance = how much (same units as the sidebar deltas).

Ys IX: Monstrum Nox: A very typical example of its motivational profile. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Cooperation, Fellowship, Intimacy, Leadership. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Violence, Relaxation. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Leadership.

Last update: 03/08/2026