Eighth Ys game after nearly a decade
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is a premium adventure game for PC coming from developer Nihon Falcom. It is the eighth installment in the popular Ys JRPG series and came a whole eight years after its predecessor, Ys Seven. It introduces a new story for returning fans to experience.
Serving as a continuation of Ys Seven, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana will take players on a brand new adventure to a cursed island. Shipwrecked and stranded, they will need to survive and face a variety of savage beasts and creatures, while discovering the mystery behind a blue-haired maiden.
A long time coming
It took eight years for a follow-up, but Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is here. It follows Adol on his way to the continent of Eresia whose ship gets attacked by a creature at sea. He awakens shipwrecked and stranded on the cursed Isle of Seiren. He must now band together with survivors and learn about the apocalyptic event, Lacrimosa, and stop it from happening.
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana builds upon Ys Seven’s combat where you control a team of characters and switch between them in real time. There are Slash, Strike, and Pierce damage types on top of your abilities, and cycle through them depending on enemy vulnerabilities. Build up your EXTRA Gauge to unleash devastating EXTRA Skills. Trigger Flash Guard with perfect parries for momentary invulnerability and deal critical damage to foes.
Amid everything, you will unravel the mysteries surrounding Dana Iclucia, a girl from the prehistoric era who is linked to the Isle of Seiren and your fate. Now, most JRPGs go through all sorts of localization to support multiple regions and languages. When it comes to this game, though, the process was not quite well done. It has some odd translations that negatively affect the dialogue and story.
Worth the long wait
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana handily delivers and is a great addition to the series. It took everything great about its predecessors and built upon it to offer a more polished gameplay experience. The combat is solid and despite some translation issues, the story is also quite interesting. If you’re a fan, this game was worth the wait, so go play it now.
