Nihon Falcom's official Twitter account shared an excerpt from an interview of company President Toshihiro Kondo, from the latest Dengeki PlayStation magazine:

Here's what it says: "Is Ys IX Monstrum Nox newcomers friendly?"

Toshihiro Kondo: "Ys games are basically standalone games. Anyone can play any Ys game without prior knowledge of the series. In Ys IX, most of the setting, places, and characters, except Adol, are new. So it's fine to start playing the Ys series with Ys IX: Monstrum Nox."

Needless to say, this is true except for Ys II which is a direct continuation of Ys I. And obviously, Kondo won't be going around telling people they need to buy and play the latest versions of all nine other Ys games before buying Ys IX Monstrum Nox. So this isn't surprising news.

Of course, you could make fun of Ys's plot and mention how probably half the games by now start with Adol getting shipwrecked, with a 70% chance of receiving the status ailment memory loss. Of course, Kondo himself already said in interviews that Falcom basically focuses on making Ys a series emphasizing gameplay, leaving complex storylines to The Legend of Heroes. However, Kondo's comments don't mean Ys IX won't have plotlines connected with past games, especially since it'll take place after Ys Seven and feature the oldest incarnation of Adol yet.

I actually like the Ys series for its overarching story and background, so I'm really looking forward to Ys IX Monstrum Nox in that regard. Plus, the game will be the first real current gen Ys game, as Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana was actually a PlayStation Vita game. Falcom never rolled in money so they've always strived to polish aspects which can be greatly improved by a few talented individuals, like story writing and gameplay mechanics, rather than graphics.

Ys IX Monstrum Nox was announced in December for PlayStation 4 and will be releasing in 2019. The game's battles and environments have an emphasis on verticality and will feature new gameplay elements to the Ys series like wall-running. You can also read more details on the game's setting, like the prison city of Balduk, and the Monstrum characters shown in one of the key visuals.

A new visual for Ys IX Monstrum Nox was published as well, you can find it below in its highest resolution. It's used as the February page in the Nihon Falcom 2019 official calendar. Other resolutions can be found here.

Update: A new screenshot was published as well, along with new details on the woman with the lantern: The fact that she has a prosthetic left arm and left leg implies she's led an extremely harsh life. And it's highly probable the lantern she's carrying, her gun, her prosthetic limbs, and her glowing left eye were made from the same technology, as they all emit the same green light.