Remember Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, Falcom’s latest in the classic action RPG series that released for PS4 in 2017 before coming to PC and Nintendo Switch? A mobile version is in development and will be releasing in 2020. Ys VIII Mobile, which is the working title, can be played at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show 2019 at the Linekong Entertainment Technology booth.

This specific demo of the game will feature a boss fight with a new original character named Rucol. This mysterious girl raised by bandits unleashes powerful explosive attacks when crying but also carries an axe to fight with. The demo should offer the first real look at the game’s performance on mobile.

For more information on Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, check out our official review here. The title faced a number of issues at launch regarding its localization (that were subsequently fixed). After being delayed for PC, it launched with a number of performance issues on the platform that took time to patch. Hopefully the mobile version doesn’t suffer the same fate.

Ys VIII Lacrimosa of Dana has been available on the PS Vita, PS4, and PC for a while now and it will soon be playable on the Nintendo Switch. This is great news as the game is definitely worth playing and we gave it a fairly high rating. However, one drawback with the Nintendo Switch version is going to be that the game will only run at 30 fps.

NIS America had stated during a recent livestream that the game will run only at 30 fps in both handheld and docked modes. They already have lots of issues to address with the PC version of the game which was released in a broken state even after a long delay. Now, it is a little disappointing to learn that the action role-playing game will run only at 30 fps on the Switch.

Ys VIII Lacrimosa of Dana is set to release for the Nintendo Switch on June 26 in North America, on June 28 in Japan, and on June 29 in the rest of the world.

After numerous delays, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is now available for PC. Optimization and translation issues were the key reasons for the PC port being delayed for so long. However, even after all this time, user reviews on the Steam page are in the “Mostly Negative” range. Issues that have been pointed out include fixed internal resolution to controller issues and lack of graphical options.

NIS America recognizes this and updated players with a Day 1 report of known issues. You can check out the issues below, though the developer asked for more information to be sent in. Check them out below.

Known Issues as of 4/16/18:

• VSync is not working
• Audio Issues
• Slight flickering in light in Eroded Valley & Towering Coral Forest
• Full screen mode detection is currently not functioning well
• Irregular shadows
• Text errors
• Controller Issues (Detection, Joystick Input)

Fixes that will be coming include a fix for VSync in the next 48 hours, controller issues, a fix for flickering in Eroded Valley and Towering Coral Forest and a fix for irregular shadows. Critical fixes for client crashes will be coming first though and the development team will proceed from there. “We would like to apologize for issues encountered, and reconfirm our commitment to fixing these issues in upcoming patches,” said the NISA staff.

Though the PC version has been delayed to allow for further polish and optimization, Nihon Falcom’s Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana has received its new localization patch on PS4. This means that issues like badly translated dialogue, awkward voice acting and other annoyances should be remedied.

The update should be available as soon as you check for an update on the PS4 (as per ResetEra member CielTynave). At roughly 1.242 GB, it’s pretty small for an update that effectively makes the entire game’s dialogue and voice acting much more bearable. Or at least it does in practice – we won’t know how much has been fixed and to what extent until more feedback comes in.

As for the PC version, it’s been delayed to focus on “frame rate improvements” as well other optimizations for PC. The development will be shifted to a different developer for this purpose and once everything is rolling, we’ll receive a more concrete release schedule afterwards. Let us know in the meantime what you think of the localization patch.

After delaying it from its initial release in September 2017 for PC, NIS America has announced that Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana will be launching for the platform on January 30th. The PC version was delayed following the desire to re-localize all the translated dialogue from the original release. This means that the entire script has been rewritten and all the voice lines re-recorded.

Those who are currently playing PS4 or PlayStation Vita will receive these localization updates along with improvements to the text graphics on January 30th. PC players can also expect their free DLC – which includes Adol’s Adventure Essentials, a digital art book, digital soundtrack sampler and Laxia’s Eternian Scholar outfit – to be available on February 6th at 10 AM PST.

To learn more about the game, you can check out our review of the PS4 version here. For more information on the localization process, including the hiring of Peter “Durante” Thoman, head here.

After delaying the PC version from its initial release date in September for the West, NIS America has announced that Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana will be releasing in 2018. This is due to the sheer amount of work required for the localization with external feedback also being factored in.

Senior Associate Producer Alan Costa revealed in an official update that the process of localization includes revising the current translation with a new translator, re-editing both the voiced and unvoiced script with a new editor, re-recording voice lines and then debugging the build. The entire scope of this process is pretty massive though.

“This is going to come as no surprise to many of you, but after beginning this revision, we have realized that due to the scope of this undertaking, we will unfortunately not be able to release by the end of this month as we had originally intended,” said Costa.

“I don’t want to throw out a hard date then have to backtrack again, but, barring any unforeseen issues, we are currently looking to get this out early next year. On that note, as we want this version to be the definitive release of the title, we will be holding the PC version back to coincide this this release as well. While this does constitute a further delay of the PC version, please rest assured that this time will be used to further optimize the game.”

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is available for PlayStation 4 and garnered some pretty good reviews from critics for its exploration, combat and characters. The changes in localization will help to deliver a better experience for both PS4 and PC players, even if the latter have to wait a while longer to play the game.

NIS America’s Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana recently launched for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, bringing the latest chapter of the series over to the United States and Europe fairly quickly when compared to its Japanese release. However, the PC version would be delayed to ensure it met the right standard of quality of PC players.

To help make that happen, NIS America has added Peter “Durante” Thoman to the development team. Durante is fairly well known for creating GeDoSaTo, a PC downsampling tool; developing the DSfix for Dark Souls and DPfix for Deadly Premonition on PC; and much more.

He will be assisting the developer on GPU performance improvements, CPU performance improvements and creating a system for improving and controlling the frame rate while also looking into a shadow rendering issue. Given Durante’s reputation, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana’s PC release should see strong progress.

Part of the full statement from NIS America says that, “After we delayed the release of Ys VIII on Steam, we reached out to Peter ‘Durante’ Thoman for his expertise, and we are happy to report that he could share some of his hours with our developers these past few weeks.

“We asked Durante for his help with the following for this title: GPU performance improvements, CPU performance improvements, and developing a system for improving and regulating framerate. We also received feedback from Durante about a shadow rendering issue that we are looking into.

“The above work has resulted in significant improvements in performance. However, due to the fact that we are receiving such an overwhelming number of system issues from both our internal QA Team and our Beta testers, these issues will take considerable time to repair. As previously stated in our last announcement, fixes in one area can lead to something breaking in another, so we have to be methodical in our application of fixes and improvements.”

Currently, it seems Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana will be out in mid-December for PC.

Self Proclaimed adventurer Adol Christin and close friend Dogi set out aboard the Lombardia with sights set on new adventures, though anyone could tell from the opening five minutes after he hears a legend of a mysterious island that nobody has returned from, that the ship is not long for this world. After the ship is attacked by a mysterious creature, which totally isn’t the kraken guys, Adol finds himself washed ashore on the Isle of Seiren, alone and aside from a rusty sword beside him, fending for himself.

"Adol and the party of characters you meet aren’t driven by saving their homeland from a neighbouring empire or avenging. It’s a far more primal struggle for survival and escape. "

Adol and the party of characters you meet aren’t driven by saving their homeland from a neighbouring empire or avenging. It’s a far more primal struggle for survival and escape. You’re not racing against a corrupt force that wants to do the bad, you’re exploring your makeshift island home in order to find survivors, materials to create better weapons and armour to defend yourself against the vicious wildlife and ultimately to escape the island.

The setting drives key design deviations from other JRPGs as well. Adol and his growing band of survivors come together to make the best of their situation and defend themselves, building up the evolving home base of Castaway Village, more and more of which will become available to you as you progress in your exploration, find new castaways and add their numbers and unique skills to the group.

Perhaps you’ll have a rock to sharpen your blades, but a blacksmith’s daughter can reinvigorate your shabby, scavenged weapons and forge new armour to take on the tougher wildlife, or a Doctor will join the village who has more experience blending better medicine than you could before. Exploring, finding and growing all feed back onto each other in more ways than just an experience bar. Narratively and through gameplay systems, Adol comes to rely on the skills of those they rescue to penetrate deeper into the island just as they rely on him and his exploration party to ultimately get them home.

"Narratively and through gameplay systems, Adol comes to rely on the skills of those they rescue to penetrate deeper into the island just as they rely on him"

In the interim, the colourful cast can all have a decent, focused arc instead of just passing by a nameless quest giver, never to think about him again. The Captain wants to build a watchtower so please keep an eye for some nice wood while out and about. Quests don’t feel too much like busywork with this system, as they all come from characters that you’re compelled to care about.

If anything, the setting alone helps carry the entire game, giving you a compelling gameplay loop to drive you forward. The characters grow with you, but the dialog accompanying that growth can sometimes be a bit grating. Ys 8 dialog suffers a bit from telling instead of showing, making the voiced interactions in particular very stilted at times. It’s distracting, but not debilitating. There is also a subplot involved a little ways into the game that eventually ties in, but it kind of gets lost within the strength of the core premise, and until they build to the payoff feels more like a distraction from Adol’s adventures.

While actually out in the field, the combat of Ys 8 takes centre stage. Feeling a bit like a combination between Tales of and Fire Emblem, it builds off of the rock/paper/scissors core so many JRPG start with by having enemies susceptible to the specific type of damage your core team members can do. Perhaps you’ll need the Laxia’s Rapier to clip the wings of flying foes or the giant blunt anchor of Sahad to crack open an armoured enemy and break their defence.

"Any mud I do have to sling at the combat is based almost completely in how the controls can be mapped a bit strangely"

Ys layers a few extra systems onto the basic combat to allow some room for player skill, such as a well timed dodge slowing down your surroundings in a gameplay system reminiscent of Bayonetta’s Witch Time. Using your skills allows them to grow and deal more damage as you master them as well, rewarding you for taking the time to learn how to use them effectively.

Any mud I do have to sling at the combat is based almost completely in how the controls can be mapped a bit strangely and I seem unable to do things I feel like I would expect to do at a moment’s notice. There is no real shift to combat situation from field once you’re exploring, and that means whether in the heat of battle or just taking in the sights, you can accidentally trigger a special move instead of starting to dash like you wanted, or pop open the menu when you intended to block. You can swap which party member you’re controlling at the tap of a button, but mapping that to Square saw me doing that unintentionally a few times.

For a finer point, the game could have stood to borrow a cue from Tales of when it comes to commanding your team. If it took going into a menu for some finer control I would have been OK with that, but Ys 8 allows only full force attack or run away screaming to be set for the two party members you aren’t controlling, and they both must be on the same setting. I can’t set one member who’s taken a beating to avoid combat without also losing the other team member who’s still completely fighting fit.

"The different environments all feel different from each other, brought to life with a gorgeous colour pallet that recalls the breathtaking landscapes of Xenoblade,"

Of course, the only reason this all works is because the world of Ys 8 and the island is such a gorgeous and diverse place to explore. The different environments all feel different from each other, brought to life with a gorgeous colour pallet that recalls the breathtaking landscapes of Xenoblade, only this time with the hardware to back up that art direction. and of course, the series is renowned for its music, bringing every new area a certain swashbuckling, excited energy that suggests the hope of the castaways.

Some pervasive but ultimately only small problems aside, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana has a lot going for it. The uniqueness of the setting creates a natural and interesting scenario and problems to overcome, and some janky controls, stilted writing, and a subplot that falls flat can’t change that much at all. If you haven’t adventured with Adol, this is a great place to get lost with him.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 4.

Knack 2

When the first Knack released, intrigue gave way to disappointment as the story and gameplay were just…meh. Let’s not forget about the erratic difficulty. Knack 2 is apparently looking to fix all of that by offering more complex combat, better gameplay balance, improved platforming and so on. It also doesn’t hurt that co-op returns with the ability to drop in and drop out. It obviously remains to be seen how the final product pans out but Knack 2 is still worth watching out for when it releases on September 5^th for PS4.

A new trailer is available for Nihon Falcom’s Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, the next big title in the underrated Ys series, and it features the four new companions that players can acquire. Check it out below.

These characters include Laxia von Roswell, a nobleman’s daughter who fights with a rapier; the Greek region fisherman Sahad who wields a heavy anchor-like weapon; Hummel, a transporter who wields a rifle and acts quite aloof; and Ricotta, a young native of Seiren. Players can switch between these characters during combat as the need arises. Not seen in the below trailer is Dana, a mysterious maiden with blue hair (hint, hint) that has her very own sections.

Publisher NIS America also revealed the Day One Edition that can be purchased which includes a select soundtrack and 32 page art book. This will be available for PS4 and PlayStation Vita consumers. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is out on September 12th for PC via Steam, PS4 and PlayStation Vita. It arrives in Europe on September 15th.