Topic: Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA

Finally got hold of a physical copy! Now I just need the time to play.

@NiaBladerunner I’m a fan of Y’s going back to the TG16 days (probably the version you played on Wii). Y’s VIII feels like a decent move of Y’s gameplay into 3D. On the other hand I really don’t like having to switch between characters during battle, and the controls seem a bit convoluted. I like this game and would give it a 7/10. I really hope they’ll make another one, because there is a lot of room for improvement. I’m glad I bought it, but I think the reviews are overly generous.

@Joekun The default controls suck, but changing the controls to be more like BotW and Bayonetta really work wonders. That's really my biggest recommendation to anyone getting into this game: change the controls immediately to mirror whatever action game you play, like Bayonetta or Zelda.

Overall though I really enjoyed my time with Ys and I think it does deserve the praise it's getting. Still though, each individual part of it (combat, story, OST, etc) is average to above-average, but it's greater than the sum of its parts to deliver something special.

@EvilLucario Thanks, I read through the whole thread here and saw some people recommended changing the controls. I’ll probably do that. It’s definitely a good game, but I don’t feel it deserves 9/10. I am only about 10-12 hours in, the game doesn’t hold me, and I only play 60-90 minutes at most before wanting to be done and come back to it. I agree that it’s better than the sum of its parts, but I really think they could build on what they’ve done here for a much better sequel (hopefully without character switching).

So now I've played it for a little while and it seems like a fun game! The battle system seems easy enough, even though I keep pressing the wrong buttons all the time for some reason. I think the game is good at explaining the basic mechanics of the battles and menus.

The graphics are OK, the character design pretty good. The music is great! The voice acting is... hm... like it usually is in these kind of games: a mixed bag. The controls seems fine.

There hasn't been much of a story so far, but I think it will unfold the longer I play. But I kinda like the mysterious feel of the island.

I think this game will be a satisfying experience. Not a masterpiece, but still memorable.

In the post game dungeon do the barriers come back if you leave, or would it be okay to leave to restock if I have to (I understand I'd have to rework my way through some enemies though).

Is there any difference in attack strength when reforging a fully maxed out weapon and a level 1 or 2?

Edit: Apparently there's not but for completion sake I'll continue to max out my weapon levels before I reforge.

I finally found Alison's husband during Chapter 5 atm and the little side(?) story was unexpected but definitely added the adorable factor. Damn raids be killin' the mood though. 😅🙄

@Quarth @RS-1310 I had the same feeling at the start for a bit that I wasn't sure how I'd feel and now I'm hooked!

@Joekun That's one thing that caught me offguard, too. I was expecting like Golden Sun where you could, say, switch someone in if party member happened to die.

Completed the post game dungeon last night. Very tough challenge (frustratingly so at times), but you feel good once you clear it (the end reward is pretty "meh" though).

Ok I'm utterly stuck now and it's annoying me. i like this game (though not hugely like most people) but the level layout/design is really confusing to me and pisses me off. This is what is avaliable but I can't get to any of it. I can't get to the question marks and I don't have enough people to get past the boulders ( i have) I rescued nun Nia but now have no clue where to go and what to do next.

@DonkeyDiddyKong, the green question marks are just general places of interest (landmarks or other path blocks) so don't worry about those if you can't reach them.

If I'm not mistaken, based on the yellow main quest marker, go back to the area with the big watch tower constructed by "T". There should be a path you can take somewhere up there (if you approached it the first time you were up there you're party members should have said something like "hey, we shouldn't go this way yet", or something to that effect).

So, I'm replaying the raids to S-rank them, and that's easy enough, but for some reason I can't seem to S-rank the hunts. Not even that first easy one that I blow through in a minute or two now.

Any tips?

@Ralizah
I'm not 100% sure but it may have to do with the number of waves you have been through.

Now I know why I kept hitting Y instead of A when attacking in battle: I'm used to the control scheme in games like Fire Emblem Warriors. But a quick button configuration fixed that.

I finished this game 2 weeks or so ago. Beginning was boring but it got pretty good. Need to go back and get the perfect ending. Spent about 40 hours on it. I'd rate it 8/10 after all is said and done.

This game is ridiculously fun. I absolutely love how the entire game is these people building a functioning society and trying to survive on a deserted island. The conversations between characters are fun. There's so little tedium when it comes to finding new places to use your adventure gear thanks to the great in-game map. Battles are lightning fast and thrilling.

38 hours in or so, and I'm somewhere in the middle of the fifth chapter.

@GameOtaku Weird. I'm pretty much flying through the level at this point, and I've S-ranked all of the raids so far: even the most recent one where I was a tiny bit underleveled.

@Quarth I remapped my attack button to Y at the very start of the game and forgot it had ever been any different.

I really enjoy this game, but the visual artifacts are really bad. Unless you're standing still and wait for 5 seconds, the whole screen is grainy. I heard this was due to poor porting so I hope they patch it soon.

Does anyone know how to actually use skills? I can activate EXTRA Skill but not regular skills. I have bound L to skill and R to EXTRA Skill. It's no problem doing an extra skill by pressing L+R, but pressing only L does nothing.

@Agriculture, you have to hit the corresponding face button while holding L to use a skill (the one on top is X, etc.).

Thanks