Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA

Great action combat and suprisingly interesting story.

Well, some things about this game are just dumb. Locations, animations, some overly dramatic stuff. Also it hates alt-tabbing and is locked in 60 fps. But overall it scratches the action-RPG itch the YS series once gave me. And you can customize controls, which is great, considering the state of some other PC ports. Also the game is really long. Like wow. End already, please.

Great game, now hard but that can be changed with the many difficulty options. Great progression from learning abilities to the story. Great story too

This is an outstanding action RPG. The story and characters are fun and engaging, the combat feels incredible, and the game is maaaaassive. I kept finding new stuff to do. Highly recommended.

One of my Favorite JRPG aot , truly a masterpiece .

This is, hands down, the easiest Ys game when it comes to exploration. The map is incredibly detailed, with every chest and harvest point practically gift-wrapped and marked for your convenience. It's a far cry from the aimless wandering of older titles. Combat is equally approachable—fluid and forgiving, unlike the relentless cruelty of the DVD screen saver boss from Ys I that seemed to exist solely to crush your soul.

However, the soundtrack—oh, the soundtrack. Compared to the iconic tunes of classic Ys games, this one feels like a shadow of its former self. It’s not terrible, but it won’t have you humming along either.

Now for the Achilles' heel: mouse look-around movement. It’s clunky, unpolished, and awkward to the point where frustration is almost guaranteed. Pair that with severe FPS drops in certain areas, and it’s a recipe for disaster—especially since those FPS issues wreak havoc on mouse responsiveness. My PC rig is leagues above the recommended specs, so the culprit here can only be a poorly executed PC port.

Still, if you can endure the technical mishaps, the game itself is pretty solid. It's worth a shot—just know you might need a little patience.

Game was overall good, Combat was very hit n miss for me though as it doesn't really "flow" well with awkward enemy attack timings, I started on Normal, switched to Hard, then later back to normal as really the only difference was going from regular feeling combat to "Now you get 2-3 shot..DIFICULTY YEA!" <- Lame.. but the parry is pretty forgiving most of the time & when you got that down for each enemy combat felt good & like you usually had more control from there.

Story is pretty predictable, down to the very lines characters say but still pretty good, though about half way through I started to feel fatigue, mostly due to terrible "Raid" timings during every important story event which kinda ruined the moment every time, can't say I really enjoyed that at all..

Ending wasn't very satisfying but it made sense given the nature of these games, honestly not sure if I'll go back to finish all the post game stuff & raid stuff as I think I had my fill & this made me really appreciate Y's Monstrum that much more, of which this game doesn't hold a candle to in my opinion.

What a game!
Best open world. nice characters. fun gameplay. awesome OST. Aweesome storyy

Dana <3 <3 <3

This game is really fun with three great aspects: Story, Soundtrack and adventure.

I loved the exploration on the island together with the jamming soundtrack and the story surprisingly got to me.

This game is fun if you focus on those three aspects for everything else the game is a bit lackluster in my opinion. But still a great experience. This game will be in my top 10 games for a while I think.

After dropping the game twice, I finally get what (some of) the hype for this game was about back in the day. I had to drop it twice because the early game was just excruciating for me. I assumed it got better but I just couldn't push myself to find out as my first two attempts to get into this game just left me completely drained of any desire to continue for another minute.

I'll get the negative part of my review out of the way first, and the vast majority of the negatives here are in the first 10 - 12ish hours of the game. Now, if you're familiar with Falcom's other flagship series, you might be thinking that a slow burn is just par for the course for this developer but that's just it, this didn't feel like a slow burn to me. Trails in the Sky FC felt like a slow burn - the early game didn't give me multiple orgasms or anything, but at least it had SOME compelling parts. Estelle and Joshua were a great dynamic duo, the bracer guild was neat, and combat was appropriately challenging with a very compelling orbment system for customization, and I actually felt like the foundation was being laid for something more. Ys 8 isn't that. At no point in the first 2 chapters did it feel like "oh man, it's slow now but I can tell it's building up to something awesome." It literally just...pointlessly sucks really bad for 12 hours, then it's like Falcom flipped a switch and decided "k, we gonna git gud at developing the rest of this game now." I've never experienced this kind of pacing before. This game has one of the absolute worst early games I've ever played in every way imaginable and just...gets good somehow.

The worst part of the early game were the characters, particularly your party members. If you've played Cold Steel 1, Alisa Reinford is back, but she has a re-skin and changed her name to Laxia Von Roswell for some reason. Seriously, I've never seen a more blatant copy and pasted "dumbass perv joke that was outdated 50 years ago and only aged like milk since + chapter's worth of fake tsundere drama with Rean Adol + sympathetic because bad parenting and now I has fee fees for her" since...uhm...other Falcom games lol. Even so, this one is pretty bad even by their standards. Your other travel companion is a literal Spongebob Squarepants character who is now in an epic, sprawling jrpg adventure for....some reason. Even more baffling is the fact that the game forces us to leave Dogi behind and take the Spongebob Squarepants guy with us instead. The fuck, Falcom?!

Yeah, it's pretty lame. And it doesn't help that the combat and gameplay simply feel extremely repetitive early on. Then there's a plot twist and mystery which goes nowhere and happens for no reason. The culprit is just like "aaaaahhhhh I am teh evulz because reasons, you must kung fu fight me to proceed with the story."

If you couldn't get through the early game, believe me, I get it. The game just straight up sucks dick for about 12 hours or so. But then it just kinda...gets good. At times REALLY good. The NPCs have touching stories, the opened up exploration becomes a lot less repetitive and a lot more fun, harder difficulties can make some areas and bosses feel like a throwback to games like Oath in Felghana, the late game dungeon crawling is Ys being Ys - that is to say, AWESOME. Characters from another...realm, we'll call it, are a little better than most of our travel companions, the lore behind said realm is awesome, and the thread by thread weaving of Adol and Dana's intertwined fates makes the 3rd chapter onward a must play.

Overall, I'd say it's a 7/10. It's definitely not Falcom's best game imho - I would put Sky the 3rd, Ys Origin, Ys 7, Ys Memories of Celceta, Oath in Felghana, and Sky SC all ahead of it for various reasons, and I’m sure the Trails die hards would likely put some other Trails games ahead of it - but it's a good one and the mid and late game pull it up to positive review territory overall for me. Better pacing could've added another half point or even full point. Same with better playable characters and also more RPG mechanics would've been nice - I miss the equipment mods/customization from Celceta - that almost made the customization options as deep as the Trails orbment system. But for being relatively barebones on the RPG mechanics, it's still an adventure worth experiencing if you can handle the initial slog.

I think I've found a new all time favorite game. This game is just so much fun.

The combat is tight and satisfying. I just loved doing the perfect block one right after another. The party members and all the other characters are really well written. (I love you, Dana.) The story builds a great sense of adventure and has a ton of heartfelt moments. The world is a joy to explore and is well paced. The visuals on display are beautiful. Not really a technical powerhouse. But the art style just elevates this game so much to just straight up gorgeous. Lastly, the soundtrack has non-stop bangers. I immediately went to Spotify to listen again to Sunshine Coastline.

Last thing I'll add is the PC version is outstanding now. I read that the launch version was a technical mess. I don't see that at all with the current version. I'd even go for and say this game has more options that I'd wish most games would have like rebindable controller buttons and great scaling from high end to low end systems.

Looking forward to playing more Ys games!

Great action JRPG as always

I highly recommend this game. I've been in a sort of gaming rut for a while now and this game has finally broken that.
The best way I can describe this game is it gives me Kingdom Hearts vibes.
The gameplay, animations, music. All every similar. Even to a fault.
My only complaint for this game so far has been the animations. I understand this game has a budget, but most cut scenes involve your party standing still with absolutely no facial animations. Even the first Kingdom Hearts game had rendered cut scenes where the MC had amazing facial expressions, and that game came out in 2002.
Thats a small gripe though. This game is just pure fun and the progress is so satisfying.
Dope game. so happy there is game 9 and 10 to play as well.

Love the Ys Game series.
This was a great addition to the franchise. The story is beautiful and touching. I loved seeing things from Dana's point of view and how it intermingled with everything. I own three copies of this game and have completed it fully on each platform I own it on. I look forward to more Ys Games.

It changed my life.

This game is incredibly charming: combat is fun, exploration is rewarding, true ending is satisfying. I don't typically finish games because I tend to lose interest, but this kept me coming back to it the whole way through. It feels like a PS2-era RPG (in a very good way). If you want the vibe of Dark Cloud with Monster Hunter-esque combat, this is a real winner.

I'm not very happy with the gameplay of the modern Ys games, but on the other hand, Lacrimosa of Dana has so much content that all my complaints cease to make any sense. I mean, there's so many things to do in this game! You can discover new areas, hunt for treasures, go fishing, cook dishes, craft a huge variety of whatever you want, complete quests and search for survivors. There are optional dungeons, night expeditions, raids and hunt sequences. Also the characters and the story overall are really great, so I enjoyed this game a lot!

Just go play it. It's awesome!

I'm going to write this review as somebody who after all these years finally figured out the Ys franchise exists. If you have to pick one game to start, pick this one. Enough said, instant classic.

Now you would have thought that with a name like Ys there is some kind of background lore to make sense of the thing. For instance, FF makes no sense but at least they keep some of the lore established between the games. Ys is the name of the people on the island in the first game.....and that's the last we ever going to hear about it (unless you play origins). So I prefer to call this franchise : Conani?!? The Japbarian.

You see, when looking at the big lines and what is carrying over, well, our red haired silent protagonist Adol has a taste for adventure and stomping monsters as fast as he can. He's travelling around a fictionalised version of Europe with his best buddy Dogi, who has no relevance to the plot other than being the incarnation of the old good guy meme. At some point a girl who may or may not be a love interest joins in, and later they have to join forces to fight an evil wizard. Rinse and repeat every self contained opus. Very Conan in the big lines, but make no mistake, it is indubitably an action JRPG with those sweet sweet anime moments.

Usually, it starts as generic as you can get, until the plot flips itself on it's head. This is no exception in Lacrimosa of Dana. This time around Adol gets stranded on the island of Seiren, dreaded by all sailors, and needs to find the remaining stranded passengers to rebuild a village to escape the island, until....well i'm not going to spoil it. Why would I ?

So stomp monsters as fast as you can, level up, buy some gear, go fishing, level up, advance the plot, fight twitch bosses, level up, stomp some more, grab ressources, level up, listen to the amazing soundtrack, stomp monsters, level up, and the faster you play the better the game is.

nice chill game

I really enjoyed this one, but at the same time made me appreciate the simplicity of the older games in the series.

It's somewhat long and the story goes many places, though that's not a bad thing; it helps to amplify the circumstances under which the game's story develops and really gives you the sense that you're embarking on a grand adventure. All the characters were great, and it did feel like a true shame to say goodbye to all of them at the end.

Combat wise...it could have been a bit better. It's way too easy and somewhat tedious for most of the game. It only really gets decently challenging in the latter part of the game, and I think it's great that they kept the simple control scheme and actions that mostly rely on your reflexes and now, timing. That said, its fast pace made it fun to engage with even in the slower, easier sections of the game.

Overall...it's very good, but perhaps simplicity is what suit the series best. No doubt this was made with the intention of being a lot of people's first Ys, which is good when you're being challenged and the story is flowing along nicely...and sometimes bad, when some of the side activities overstay their welcome, without mentioning the tedium that is material gathering. Still, I very much recommend it.

Soooo i bought this cause i saw some Top 10 Lists and was starving for an Rpg of this type , never played a Ys game before so i went in blind and at the start it was ok-ish , i knew it was an older game and the story is so so ... but then after act 2 when things start to roll the deeper i got the better it got where now i would recommend this in an heartbeat the combat is weird at the start but when you get deeper the whole game is just getting amazing the story the chars (Dana :O) if you want to buy it do it nothing to regret here absolut gem of a game

Incredible

In a shocking subversion of expectations in this, the first game of the current modern era for the franchise, Adol does not become embroiled in some mystic quest/prophecy thing involving an ancient civilization in a strange land he's just visiting after he got into a shipwreck/fell overboard/fell out of the sky/got teleported.

Just kidding, he does get thrown overboard during a shipwreck and finds himself in a strange island with a mysterious past having to do with ancient high magic civilizations and some prophecy that ends up roping him in as usual.

The subversion is that we actually get to play as Adol during the events that led to the shipwreck up to the point where he's thrown overboard and wakes up in an unknown beach instead of being nursed to health in some stranger's bed.

The second subversion is that there seems to not be any local settlements in the island and his fellow passengers and sailors also ended up there, so they now have to come together to build a settlement of their own, rescue those still missing, and survive long enough to come up with a way to reach civilization again.

The gameplay is very similar to Ys Seven and Memories of Celceta, the first two 3D games in the series, but revamped to be a bit more complex, including re-integrating elements present in previous games that had been abandoned by those two games, such as being able to upgrade your weapons twice or having an actual jump button and some platforming elements.

Combat is still focused on types of damage, skills and special attacks, and it flows very well, though the buttons are mapped very differently than in previous games. Hell, even the whole "go map out the unknown regions of the Forest of Celceta and come back to report updates and you'll get paid" mechanic of the previous game is present here in the form of going out scouting to map the island and reporting back at the main camp.

The "village simulator" part is simple in its implementation but it's still cool because it integrates every NPC in the game and allows them to actively participate in the story even if they're not playable characters that can form a 3 person party with Adol to go exploring and fighting monsters, since they end up doing something relevant to their skills as established by the dialogue, such as running the crafting facilities (smithy, tailor, apothecary, etc), and they do still participate off screen in the actual defense of the settlement when monsters attack.

Needless to say, the graphics are much better now since they have reached the latter part of the Trails of Cold Steel quadrilogy, and the game includes a few more "classic" RPG elements that were missing in earlier entries, such as being able to fish and a village defense mini-game. The side quests are also a bit better, because even if they usually still consist of simple "get me x amount of x item" or "go kill x monster" they do usually include a cutscene where the characters actually do something with the materials, talk about stuff, share backstory, get to know each other better, and stuff like that.

I'm having a lot of fun with this one, and I expect it will grow on me as the plot advances, much like almost every single previous game in the series, since I've noticed I start out thinking "it's okay" or not really feeling the changes in gameplay from the previous iteration (except when I played Ark of Napishtim after Ys II), but by the second half of the game I'm always having a blast and fully on board with whatever they're doing gampelay-wise and from the p.o.v. of the story. I totally get why this one has such a solid reputation as one of the best Ys games out there, especially for players who struggle to enjoy older games.

Edit: After finishing the game and getting the true ending, I have to say I really enjoyed the experience and the little nods it gives to the events of previous games because by the time the story in this game takes place, only Ys Seven and Monstrum Nox are yet to happen. I was particularly surprised by a certain character from Adol's previous adventure.

Peak

.

A favorite action-jrpg. Recruiting castaways and building your little camp is charming, and getting down the flash guards/moves is always satisfying. Soundtrack has amazing beats as well.

Short version: Want a short version huh? What the f.. are you doing here reading reviews? Looking for an action RPG to play? Go play this masterpiece now!

Full review:
Ys VIII may have stayed in my backlog forever, i'm so glad i picked it up on a whim, the last Ys I played was Ys VI on PS2 and while it was a good game it didn't put Ys on my hype radar more than it should have, Ys VIII on the other hand totally engraved it to the point i'm on a Ys marathon as of now.

It's hard to believe Ys VIII was at the core a PS Vita RPG, it surely have been enhanced for PC and home consoles and while graphics may be outdated, the art direction is top notch and don't suffer that much from it. After all, if you're used to Falcom games, you know it's not where their strenghs reside.

What I liked:

- The setting/world: Quite unusual for a JRPG, having its setting on a mysterious and deserted Island, shipwrecked and trying to survive. While you don't have the traditional villages and cities found in most RPGs, Ys VIII offers you to build your own survivor camp thorough its story, pushing at the same time a lot of castaways development and interactions and most quests will be geared towards that, giving them a true purpose.
Right at the beginning of the game when you ear the track "Sunshine Coastline", you know you're in for something special:
The island itself offers a good variety of landscapes, a consistent world as a whole and despite the weak graphic engine you often stop to admire these carefully crafted landscapes and the shores from afar.
Also that story twist... won't say much not to spoil, but damn!

- The combat system, Ys VIII takes the party system from Memories of Celceta and Ys VII to another level, it's so enjoyable and dynamic, it offers a ton of variety and different characters to play, you'll never get bored.
Ricotta for instance is just a Kratos version of Ys VIII, while Dana will transport you to Soulcalibur-like combat and Laksha will fly through ennemies like butter: Yes, it's THAT enjoyable, nothing comes close to this addictive feeling in an action RPG.

- The frigging music: Let's make something clear first: "Sunshine Coastline" is one of the best track ever created period. And the rest of the soundtrack is no exception, it's pure eargasm, bangers after bangers. For me (I see you Falcom fan) the best soundtrack Falcom ever produced (I know, Ys Origin...).

- The gameplay: It's so fluid, so addictive, the blend of story, combat, exploration and other crafting shenanigans is perfect: no dull moments, in like 70+ hours, that's just mind-blowing, you're on the roll all the time. And unlike its predecessors, there's absolutely no tedious grinding, at least no conscious one.
Ys VIII is also the one that sets the modern Ys formula you'll find in Ys IX and X as well, it can be a bit "templaty" but it's conceived to deliver fun and enjoyment, needless to say I love it.

- The story: Starting from Ys VIII the story takes a bigger role in Ys. My 1st thought was "Story development on a deserted island? Meh...", boy was I wrong... I'm not going to spoil but this is what makes Ys VIII so special and memorable.
Heck... ever had post JRPG depression? Yep...

- The characters: There's some Trails/Kiseki DNA here, from the main characters to secondary ones, they are all so well fleshed out, that's quite unusual for Ys but that makes you care for all of them (well, almost).
Adol is well... your usual Adol, self-proclaimed adventurer and lady-killer, Dogi's look in this one is by far the best in the series, and special mention for Dana that is to date the best partner Adol ever had.


What i didn't like:

- The Adol Christin curse (or Ys curse): Due to Ys "one-shot" nature and self contained stories, knowing that this story won't continue afterwards, you'll never see those great characters (aside Dogi and some cameos) again.

- The game engine is dated, granted it was a step in the HD era and Falcom staff is about 60 persons, let's put things into perspective here.
Also the fact that the western localization was handled poorly at the time of release (translation and PC ports), that explains the poor game ratings. Still, the game received major patches later on by the ones in charge of the next entries (Durante), and now Ys VIII PC is by far the best version of the game you could get.

To conclude:
In the end Ys VIII feels like the summer adventure you never had, it is a real and underrated masterpiece produced here by Falcom and stands out from the rest of the Ys series that is already in itself so great.
Is it a good starting point for the Ys series? Absolutely!

PSA: Never get on the same boat as Adol Christin!

So fun! The story is really compelling and keeps you playing. The combat system is very fun too. Switching between characters to get breaks mixes up the strategy enough that the combat doesnt get old. The game shows it age in the graphics, but grew up in the ps2/dreamcast era This game scratches that itch for an old school Japanese Action RPG

Excellent story, Excellent characterisation, Excellent music, Excellent art style. Good combat.

I wouldn't be surprised if the the entire comment section is lamenting the separation of Dana with Ado and co. but I would genuinely consider Laxia to be the most suitable and regrettable lady for Adol. She had a lot of character growth thanks to Adol as she starts as a helpless yet fixated ex-noble girl trying to shield her fragile self with a misandristic facade and tsundere attitude, and blames her uncertainties in life on her father to escape her past. As she gets more interactions with Adol and the other castaways she acknowledges that her noble past means nothing in the present and begins to doubt her way of life and coping mechanism. She questions how she can become useful to the village as other skilled ladies i.e. Alison and Kathleen join the villages and eventually confesses to Adol about her past to make herself comfortable to face those events and the question of who she actually is. Eventually she acknowledges that it is also an innate part of her to have admired her father and his work as an archaeologist as well as her aspiration of using her knowledge for the good and becoming a scholar of archaeology to trace her father's footsteps. Finally she also manages to be an essential intellectual support in Adol's attempt to stop the Lacrimosa and firmly asserts her own wish to live in her own way with Adol and co. against the Wardens' arguments. In the epilogue she vows to Adol for them to meet again when they have successfully made their breakthroughs as an archaeologist and an adventurer respectively. Unlike the other human girls e.g. Lilia, Elena, Leeza, she has gained the spirit of an adventurer through the events of the game and has a passion and profession specifically in making useful discoveries, similar to Adol, as well as the will to travel and learn more about the world because it is a fundamental part of her work, even though the motive is different from the explorers e.g. Thanatos and Ricotta, to be able to embark on an endless journey with Adol occasionally or permanently.

Amazing action Rpg..simple but addictive combat,flashy skill,fast paced...this game work well on steam deck too..recommended for people who like hack and slash..story quite long for action game standard

good

god

My first Ys game, really quite good. Surprisingly compelling story, fun combat and great party. Searching for castaways feels meaningful and the side activities are really trimmed down so that none of the game feels like a ubisoft collect-a-thon.
Great JRPG overall.

I absolutely loved the setting and exploring the island while trying to find the next castaway. I adored all of the main characters and most of the NPCs, and the story gripped me until the rolling credits. The combat was good too, but it's not the main thing I look for in my games. 10/10.

This is peak action RPG

Great game, fun combat.

Mandatory spamming the block button for slowmo

I decided to play this after hearing so many....and I mean SOOOO MANY....reviewers and YouTubers say this is one of the best action RPGs out there.

And honestly...it's definitely very good.

Combat is snappy, quick and responsive....but if I'm honest, I never really used much of the skills until later on the in the game. Basically, I spammed attack with the occasional block and dodge until I defeated most enemies.

As for characters and story, it's not bad on this end. The characters are actually very well done: each have likable personalities and have enough differences in them to want to switch every character and try them out.

I haven't completed the "true ending" (likely never will), but the ending is fine enough though I felt like in the last quarter of the game it extended it more than it needed.

I also wish there was more depth in some of the mini games: Hunt is basically trying to kill a specific monster and raid is killing waves of monsters. They are a fine diversion to the rest of the game, but that's it.

I definitely enjoyed my time playing this game but if this is considered the best of the Ys series, I think I'll wait to play other titles in the series. But it's definitely fun if you like simple combat with timing dodge rolls.

7/10 raids and "fall off the ledge" end areas, and a few of the boss designs are where the point deductions are from. I also played this with JP interface and audio so I can't speak on English VA/localization quality.

WARNING: while the game advertises a dual protagonist setting it's not like the multiple play through system in Origin. Instead you swap between Adol and Dana.

= Camera =

I'd say one of the more favorable camera systems in the Ys series. Didn't really have any complaints.

= Battle =

I'd say the battle was fairly solid. The only qualm which I really wish Falcom would get straight is animation canceling to prioritize guards. The game utilizes flash move and flash guard as the two main defense mechanics, much like Memories of Celceta. I will say the timing can be odd on a few enemies / bosses but I think it's much more reliable than Celceta's version.

Also like Celceta there is an weakness system. There are 3 types of weaknesses and you'll have a male and female character which handles each. This means you can have an all female / male party once you've obtained all possible party members. I also like the diversity in skills. Laxia is great for just zooming around all over the place. Ricotta was a favorite for when you just wanted that raw power playstyle.

But one of my favorites was Dana's stance system. Please Falcom I'm **begging** you keep that system in future games and give Adol the ability to use it even. The Gratika form was amazing as someone who is a big fan of "cute girl deletes enemies with large bulky weapon" type characters. The Luminious form was a gameplay style favorite. It felt like someone put her into a Devil May Cry game and said "go combo ham". PLEAAASE Falcom make that a regular thing.

= Bosses =

All and all not too bad. Though there were a few bosses with terrible amounts of downtime while trying to dodge mechanics.

= Story =

I was very addicted to the story. There was a nice balance of mystique with plot twists. The one thing I would say is that it was actually my first Ys installment but it didn't feel like I missed much okay except the Griselda reference. That said, at the minimum you'll probably want to play it before IX at least, and maybe even seven.

= Characters =

I feel like the characters were average at best (except Dana and her crew). They didn't seem to match the effort put into the overall arching storyline. I was also kind of sad that Dogi wasn't made a playable character. Unlike Ys X I didn't feel like lore limitations were preventing anything. Ricotta was fun as far as the playable characters go personality wise. Miralda was interesting for uh... dangerous reasons.

= Exploration =

Exploration felt great, and they did a good job for the most part in keeping backtracking to a minimum. That said you have to obtain certain tools to progress through certain content. One of the nice things is you can store multiple adventurer tools which you can increase the number of equippable ones through key items. Much like Origin if you're having trouble with an area/enemy you probably don't have the tool for it.

Night exploration was kind of weird. I liked the concept on a basic level, but sometimes it was like "I just need this one item and don't want to deal with a bunch of cursed back tracking". Kind of wish bailing out of it was easier.

Now one huge issue I had was some of the late game areas where you could fall off ledges (which applied a pretty notable chunk of fall damage). It made it so even simple combo chains could make you fall off. One part was so bad because it was an ocean area you could fall to despite literally having an item that let you breathe underwater. Really Falcom??? It also nerfed Laxia's gap closer attack which made me sad.

= Items =

The way that weapon upgrades were handled was really great. I kind of wish Ys X learned from it... Characters have the same weapon and a key item is used to unlock tiers of weapon upgrades. One thing to note is that swapping to Dana's solo world uses a different power system via stances. Weapon upgrades are available, but are not as straightforward as the other upgrades.

That said, there's a lot of accessory bloat. So much that I didn't bother with the "all items" achievement. I think part of it was you had certain accessories with 4 individual tiers.

= Fishing =

Normal fish were fine, but some of those master fish holy cow I thought my wrist was going to fall off. Especially annoying was the ones where you had to rotate the controller movement sticks either clockwise or counter clockwise while spamming A. There's also a few annoying cases where if you're too close to a barrier it refuses to let you fish until you back up a bit.

Not usually a fan of action JRPGs, more of a turn based guy, but there’s something about the formula of this game that clicked with me and kept me coming back.

Combat isn’t made overly complicated, but that’s a good thing in my eyes, it’s fast and looks/feels cool af. Exploration is really nice, lots of hidden treasure chests, materials and other goodies to find. Alot of back tracking though which might annoy some.

Enjoyed it so much that I just downloaded the demo for the next game in the series to spend 5-10 mins in it to see what it was like in comparison, and ended up playing for over an hour and completing it (and on hard instead of normal, which again is unlike me).

Certainly an Ys fan now.

Very fun game and fantastic soundtrack.

Very fun and comfy Action JRPG. Story is great after the first few hours

amazing game with a amazing story, this series never disappoints

You get to use skills.

beauteefool <3

WARNING this game has the most terrible map layout I've ever seen. I love the game for the most part, but the map and chapter 2's story really urk me. I almost always get a headache trying to find where to go sometimes because the outer map and the inner one are so drastically different and then the mini map is also insanely different idk what was going on when they made it, but this frustrates me to no end.

great music. slick gameplay. great story. there is so much game in this game. 10/10 would recommend.

6h played and nothing has happened.

It COULD be a great game. Three things utterly ruin it.

(1)This need to warp you back to the main village every single time something happens ending your exploration. It's needless and frustrating as hell since the damn map is so convoluted it's hard to tell where you are or were.

(2) The CONSTANT interruptions. Literally every 30 seconds the game is stopping you, taking control, and playing some idiotic dialog scene that is completely unnecessary. I have never seen a game not want you to actually play it like this one. The gameplay is so good too and just when you start really getting into a flow it will stop you. Over and over and over and over and over. The worst part is it gets worse and worse the further you get in the game. This game would be 10 hours shorter without it.

(3)The map and travel system is ATROCIOUS. It's very hard sometimes to figure out where you are and where to go even when there is a map marker. It's just lazy development.

Got on sale for $13. Great deal at that price, lots of fun. $40 is a bit steep unless you love this kind of game. It is very relaxing to play.