Physical edition available from NIS America Store

Earlier this year, during the New Game Plus Expo, NIS America announced that its 2016 release Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana? would be winging its way to the PS5 platform �and yesterday, the publisher revealed a release date for the new port, with the fantasy JRPG hitting the PlayStation Store this November.

Originally released on PS Vita, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana was the then-latest chapter in the decades-long Ys adventure seri??es. It tells the story of a shipwrecked adventurer who finds themselves em??broiled in a fated tale of ancient gods, primordial monsters, and, of course, the extinction of all life on the planet as we know it. I mean, it's a JRPG, so I'm not quite sure what you were expecting.

You can check out a brief overview of the story and its?? ??characters in the new trailer below.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=brhfKfwtNH0

Ys VIII would eventually make its way to other platforms, arriving on PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch, and eventually Stadia. The PS5 port is expected to be a direct port of the PS4 edition, complete with all post-release updates and DLC. In regards to being an "upgrade" of the previous port, there is frankly little to improve, as the PS4 Pro already runs Lacrimosa of Dana at 60 FPS. We can probably expect faster loa??d times, and maybe e?ven some DualSense support, but not a whole lot else.

In addition, a special Limited Edition release is now available for pre-order over at the NIS America Online Store. This set contains a physical copy of the game itself in SteelBook casing, along with an art book, a replica journal of lead character Adol Christin, a "Seiren Song" soundtrack CD, two acrylic bookends, and a cloth poster of the Ys VIII artwork. The Limited Edition set retai?ls for a very princely $99.99 USD.

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana launches on PS5 on November 15 in North America and November 18 in Europe. It is available now on PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Stadia. Mobil?e ports are also in the pipeline.

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Roadmap for fixes

After many long months of delays, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana's PC port finally landed on Steam today. Despite claims that it would launch in a working state, the game is pretty broken and fans are (rightfully) angry. NIS America is aware of a lot of the problems and has issued a statement on the Steam community forums detailing an outline for what fixes are in? the works.

"To begin," the statement reads, "we have isolated one of the widest-reported bugs concerning crashes occurring on start and subsequent issues related to controller support. We have created a tutorial to temporarily solve the issue while we implement a permanent solution. You can find out more in our Troubleshooting Forum post here."

I'm not sure how to begin to unpack that, but I guess we live in the era of patches, so why not just give ?up on QA and just? unleash this mess into the wild? Along with that statement above, other issues include VSync not working, flickering of textures in two areas of the game, Full screen mode not functioning properly, text errors, controller detection issues and audio issues. Wow; that sounds like a travesty.

The current roadmap and plan of?? attack ??is as follows:

-VSync issue to be fixed within 48 hours
-Controller Issues (Detection, Joystick Input)
-Fix flickering in Eroded Valley & Towering Coral Forest
-Fix irregular shadows
-Remaining issues noted above

This is all a little surreal to me. I figure??d the port would be in working order after a nine month delay, but I guess it's better to know about issues and be working on them than to not acknowledge them at all? I honest??ly couldn't defend this even if I wanted to.

I understand that making a game is hard and any number of minute problems could be the culprit here, but you can't delay a game for nearly a year and promise it will be in working order, then release it in a ridicu?lously broken state. PC fans have already waited a long time and would more than likely be accepting of another delay, so why even risk the PR blow back that this kind of release will cause?

This makes me seriously worried for the port of Memories of Celceta, though that is at least being handled by XSEED. Still, if a fully 3D Ys game is having this many issues on PC, why wouldn't another one be the same? For that matter, why would any other NIS games on PC not have issues? This just looks bad for everyone involved and that is completely unfortunate. While I hope the port can get into a working order pos??t haste, I wouldn't hold it against someone if they were just done with this game now.

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA Day 1 Report & Known Issues [Steam Community]

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Epic adventure coming to Nintendo's hybrid console

We're almost on the home stretch. After next week, there is just one more port of Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana to be released and then, hopefully, NIS America can rest ea??sy on the trouble?d RPG.

The publishers have released several videos showcasing the Nintendo Switch version in action, ahead of its June release. The videos feature Adol and pals mid-quest as they traverse the fantasy landscape, fighting monsters and c?rawling through dungeons. Wha?t do you think?

Ys VIII launched in Fall 2017 on PS4 and PS Vita, lumbered with a variety of (since resolved) issues. The much delayed PC port has finally been given a release date of April 16, with this S??witch edition currently set fo?r launch on June 26 in North America and June 29 in Europe.

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For reals this time, no fooling...

NIS America have announced yet another release date for the troubled PC port of last year's excellent RPG title, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana. The game is schedu??led to launch on Steam and GOG on April 16.

Lacrismosa of Dana launched on PS4 and PS Vita in the West last Fall, but was subject to a ton of bugs and localisation problems. Although these were taken care of through various rewrites and patches. The PC port was delayed again and again, with NIS America even offe?ring?? refunds for those who had pre-ordered.

However, it looks like everything's good to go, with the game finally hitting the PC platform next week. The new port will feature all the content (including the improved localisation) from the PS4 version. Users picking up t??he game in its first week will even get a few extra goodies, including a digital art-book, soundtrack sampler and some in-game items.

Ys VIII Lacrimosa of Dana? launches on PC April 16. It is coming to Nintendo ?Switch in June.

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Features re-written text and re-recorded script

The journey for Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA has been a rocky one. NIS America bagged the rights to the legendary franchise from XSEED last year, but received complaints over the latest iteration's poor localisation and voice-acting, ultimately leading the developers to publicly apologise to the fanbase.

The original plans were to have a new, fully re-localised patch ready for download in November, but that date slipped. Now, finally, said patch is ready to download on both the PS4 and PS?? V??ita. The new patch includes fixes to spelling and grammatical errors, as well new names for certain items, characters and monsters. It also includes re-recorded English dialogue. Better late than never.

The upcoming Nintendo Switch port will, of course, feature the new localisation as standard. Unfortunately, things are looking rough for the PC release of the title which, after suffering multiple technical issues, has been delayed even further, with NIS even offering refunds on pre-orders.

Still, looking at matters positively, those who have been wary of the PS4 or Vita release, due to the negativity surrounding its translation, may be able to finally pull the trigger on the title. Despite all the drama, its well worth remembering that the game as a whole was still received well by press and fans.

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA is available now on PS4 and PS Vita. The Switch release is expected sometime in 2018, while the PC launch ??date remains a mystery.

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Localization of Dana

As the days drew closer to release, Ys VIII was sadly delayed on PC for some unforeseen reason. Developer Nihon Falcom apologized and even offered refunds to angry fans to make up for the last minute change of plans. There was a bigger problem with the entirety of Ys VIII, though, and that was with the localization.

So to give the PC version the best possible chance, publisher NIS America delayed the port to coincide with the brand new localization patch for the PS4 and Vita versions of the game. Thankfully, the wait won't be much longer as Lacrimosa of Dana is heading to PC on January 30, 2018. The new localization will also be available ??on ?the same day for console users.

This new script includes re-written NPC dialog, renamed locations and even re-recorded lines for the voiced segments. It should be a suitable replacement for naming an area "Big Hole" in the original version. PC users will also get the bonus of some free DLC for the first w?eek of release. From launch until February 6, you'll be able to download a five-track soundtrack sampler, a mini-digital art book, a costume for Laxia and a booster pack with items for Adol.

Seeing as how I've only ever played the Ys games on PC, I'm definitely excited to finally get my hands on this. VIII looks suitably amazing and our own review was incredibly positive, so hopefully the port is finally up to snuff? and free of issues.

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa Of Dana Debuts On PCs On January 30, 2018 [Siliconera]

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Tears of joy

Have you ever heard of the name Adol Christin? If not, Adol just so happens to be the hero of the many Ys games since 1987 and he’s an adventurer who keeps f?inding himself in all sorts of adventures. For those who have no idea on how to pronounce this game’s title, Ys is pronounced like “cheese” but omit the "ch-" sound in the beginning.

This latest entry is trying some pretty new stuff to the tried-and-true action RPG formula of the Ys series. The term “Lacrimosa” happens to be latin for “weeping”, so will this new game make you cry in a good way or a bad way? Will it involve sadness in some way? You've probably read the subtitle above so just read on to find out why ?I think this makes me happy.

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA (Vita, PS4 [Reviewed], PC)
Developer: Nihon Falcom
Publisher: NIS America
Released: September 12, 2017 (NA) , September 15, 2017 (EU)
MSRP: $59.99, $39.99

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA, begins with the red haired adventurer Adol Christin working? as a sailor on the passenger ship Lombardia, just wearing his sailor suit while doing some sailor stuff. As expected, adventure always seems to find Adol and he ends up shipwrecked on a seemingly uninhabited island. This mysterious island is believed to be the cursed island of Seiren, known for all the terrible tales of ships lost that come near it. Adol and the other shipwrecked survivors must try to survive the dangers and uncover the secrets of the cursed island. The story also centers around the eponymous Dana, whose story about fulfilling her sacred maiden duty slowly unfolds alongside Adol’s tale of survival.

The bread and butter of the Ys series is the combat, and Ys VIII upholds the series’ fast and frenetic fights even with the shift in the camera, and is still very similar to the last released proper Ys game, Ys: Memories of Celceta (also on Vita). The comb?at is simple with only one attack button but is still gratifying that just looks and feels good to do every time. There will be a maximum of three active party members with the player controlling one character and the AI controlling the other two members.

Combat can still be complex with the use of skills with blocking and dodging, up to 4 different skills can be equipped at a time with plenty of different skills to use once unlocked and each character will have their own unique skills. The dodging and blocking is also ano??ther important part of combat. Performing either of the two at the right time before an enemy’s attack hits the player at the last moment will trigger a “Flash Move/Guard” which slows down everything but the player for a few seconds that allows the player to get in some hits on the enemy.

Each character will have one of three different attack types and certain enemies will be weak to these attack types.Using the right attack type will “Break” an enemy that lowers an enemy's defense and makes them vulnerable to all attacks. Thankfully, the AI controlled characters do a good job at ?fighting and can break the enemy for you. Characters can now jump which adds some verticality to the combat. Using all these combat techniques efficiently becomes really important in the higher difficulty modes when players have to use everything at their disposal to survive.

The newest change to the Ys series in Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA is that the camera moves in for a more closer view of the action from behind ??the character. It also likes to keep one of the character's behind in perfect view of the camera in a lot of the cutscenes as well. This new camera also introduces a lock-on feature to aid in combat but it isn’t perfect and both the camera and lock-on will sometimes be at odds with each other.

Fighting multiple enemi?es can be a bit confusing since it doesn’t know whether to target something in view of the camera or the closest enemy in range. The player still has re-center the camera at times when the enemies are off screen. While this sounds like an issue, it is still pretty minor and players can get the hang of using the lock-on effectively.

The PS4 and PC versions of Ys VIII are enhanced ports with added c??ontent of a Vita game released last year in Japan. The Vita version sadly does not have the added content as it releases alongside the PS4 and PC versions in the west. One of these enhancements is a increased framerate that maintains up to 60 FPS. There are some occasional stutters when many en??emies and graphical effects litter the screen, though this doesn't really interrupt the game at all since it barely lasts for a second.

Other limitations of the game design that were meant to work? with the Vita hardware is still present in this version, sections of the map are chopped up into sizeable play areas. There is a second or two of loading when moving to different areas that slows down the momentum a bit. This might make the world feel a bit less open world, but thankfully the loading is pretty fast which makes it tolerable and easily ignored.

The music in Ys series have always been good and Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA keeps that tradi?tion up and its soundtrack serves to amp up the action with a mix of fast rock and orchestral beats?. There are also some of the slower fantasy JRPG music that one would expect from such a title that completes that feeling of a grand adventure.

This new island setting encourages some backtracking action for exploration and sidequests, throwing some metroidvania elements such as being able to access new areas after unlocking certain things. Retreading paths taken gives the island setting a sense of familiarity and makes the world feel more organic. Fast travel to and from any previously visited landmarks also helps to traverse the large map.  There is plenty of exploration to do that fills out out the map inc?luding some off-the-beaten path stuff that often leads to treasure and other goodies to find.

Gathering items and material which acts a sort of currency is here again much like th??e previous entry and is used for creating many things such as useable items a??nd equipment. There’s always items to get from places and enemies, so there is always incentive in going through paths traveled before. There’s also basic fishing minigame that is a nice distraction to do on the side that nets materials and items.

One of the new additions in this new Ys game are Interception battles, which are like wave defense sequences, where the player will fight off waves of enemies that are trying to attack the home base. While this adds a bit of a breather to the exploration, these things tend to pop up right when I was just about to finish up all the stuff ?in a map area. These battles are scored and can be repla?yed later to get a better score for better item rewards.

It does take a bit for the story to get going and once it picks up, it starts to get better as more is revealed as to how the island and Dana tie in together. Most of the characters in the game have some interesting backstories, while some are more fleshed out than the others, I can still remember almost every named character and can say something about them. There are some dialogue choices in conversations that pop up from time to time?? but these don’t affect the story at all, but they do add a bit of flavor and personality to the character interactions.

A lot of the new things in Ys VIII seem to be a response to what’s currently popular in video games such as the "survival" genre where players have to gather resources and fight the elements. These additions such as the island setting and wave defense battles to name a few, are a bit superficial and not really interwoven to the fabric of the game. However, these new additions do greatly add to an already great Ys game that helps to make it better.

Ys VIII was originally on the Vita and it was already a pretty game on the system to begin with, using a stylized anim??e look helped in the transition into HD. The character models have some good detail on them, as well as the other visual elements such as in menus that you&??rsquo;ll be constantly looking at are very sharp. The environment doesn’t get the same exact treatment as much but they aren’t bad at all and are still pretty vibrant and memorable.

There wa??s some concern about the localization a while ago, particularly with an oddly literal translation of a boss name in a pre-release demo shown to the public. That little error has been fixed and I didn’t find any othe??r errors of the sort in my playthrough. The english voice acting in the localization is perfectly fine but those who want to opt for the Japanese audio will have the option.

I played this game on normal and found it a bit easy so I started up on hard and found a good challenge. That’s not to say that normal difficulty doesn’t pose the occasional challenge when a new enemy shows up, but for those wanting to put their skills to the test will have a few higher difficulties to try and test their mettle. Ys VIII clocks in around a modest 30-40 hours for those who want to focus on the main story, which is manageable for those not wanting to invest in ridiculous a??mounts of hours that Japanese RPGs usually require from the player. Completionists and those wanting to tackle the new extra endgame stuff will have an additional dozen or more hours ??of playtime.

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA has its share of flaws but its very satisfying combat more than makes up for it while the fun exploration and good story kept me going through all of it. Ys fans will love this one, and those new to the series are sure to get some enjoyment with the solid fast paced action that might turn them into fan??s as well. This is definitely a game I would like to have with me to play if I ever get shipwrecked on a deserted island.

_{[This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Debuting in Japan this summer

Nihon Falcom recently opened up an official website for Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, the next en??try in the studio's brilliant action RPG series, and with it comes new information and pretty pictures.

This particular adventure sees protagonist Adol Christin get swept off a ship once again (this time thanks to a sea monster) and wash up on a beach with some of his fellow passengers. There, the castaways set up camp on this cursed isl??e, where Christin dreams of a b??lue-haired girl (pictured in the gallery below) and sets out to explore the land and its mysterious ancient ruins.

Falcom plans to release Ys VIII for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita this summer in Japan. As of yet, a localization hasn't been announced, but I'm sure the folks at XSEED Games ;are eager to work on this one, given how many Falcom games they've publishe??d over the past few years.

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana [Falcom]

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