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Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana |OT| Two Systems, Two Heroes, One BIG HOLE

sandpiper

Member
Ah, k. Would expect it to be Orange or yellow.

od0X9YI.jpg


It was a red XP bar in Ys I and II Chronicles too, above the green HP bar.
 
No, you have to start on Nightmare.

Thanks. I've decided I'm just going to leave it on Hard. I fought the boss at the end of Ch. 2 and while I beat it my first try, the second half of the fight got pretty crazy for me.

Well it's NISA, it's pretty much normal for them to mess the translation in one form or another.

I remember griping about NISA potentially producing a subpar localization and people telling me that I was worrying too much. While this isn't Ar tonelico II level of bad, I still wish NISA hadn't been the ones to get a hold of this game.
 

Bladenic

Member
Finally started. Only played up until you get the second party member. I will say that finally hearing Sunshine Coastline in the game is so good. Song is amazing. Kind of wanna try playing on Hard even tho Ys games wreck me, but the thing is, I almost never adequately used flash guard/dodge so I should probably learn them.
 
Finally started. Only played up until you get the second party member. I will say that finally hearing Sunshine Coastline in the game is so good. Song is amazing.

Absolutely. The song begins to play and you feel like "yep, this is the new Ys game. The big adventure starts now!"

The first few slow guitar riffs giving me that warm feeling, man.
 

stryke

Member
I really hate it when party members leave for a period of time. Makes me less interested in investing equipment for them.
 
Really loving this game so far it's like a golden age PS2 era JARPG outside of time, and I forgot how much I missed them. I hope they continue in this direction for future YS games, as I greatly prefer it to the more zoomed out view, which I always felt looked kind of cheap in comparison.

The main thing I want to see improved in a sequel is to get rid of the loading screens between the zones and in dungeons. If they could make the entire game seamless that would be amazing, which doesn't seem too undoable as you can see almost every zone from certain areas, so it seems like they mapped out the space consistently.

I just got to the beginning of Chapter 3, and the story is really starting to pick up I'm surprised that
The nameless slasher side-arc was resolved so early in the game, it really came out of left field and surprised me with that huge tone shift as everything before had been so positive and bright in comparison.
 
Still really enjoying this. It's everything I didn't know I wanted the series to be in 3D, and I think Falcom nailed the feeling of adventure with this one. Despite many non-similarities I get a similar vibe playing this that I did with Xenoblade in 2011 - it just feels like you're on a grand adventure.

The way the base camp is in the middle of the map along with the conscious landmark placement is also a smart way to make it feel like everything's happening within the same connected game world, which is important for games like this.

I haven't had to use the mini-map for navigation at all either, which is testament to the quality of the level design.

---

Looks like the game failed to chart in the PAL charts last week, which is a shame. The series has always been under the radar but I thought NISA publishing might make a difference this time, since they always have pre-orders open as soon as possible, and they do a good job marketing new series in with the rest of their portfolio (see: Danganronpa success). Maybe it'll be a slow burner.

It's not on the UK PS4 top 20, or both top 40 charts. It topped the Vita chart but when 2012's Metal Gear Solid HD sits at number 2 it's going to be slim pickings.

If it didn't crack the UK top 40 what sort of sales are we looking at here? 200 boxed units?
 
That first example is amazing. Someone sat down and said "Crevice? What the fuck is this? Let's go with BIG HOLE!"

I really hope NISA never gets anywhere near the Trails series.

Ugh, this is a bummer. Just about done with some of my backlog and was thinking of getting this but kind of puts a damper on the urgency.
 

Alucrid

Banned
my favorite writing in the game so far has been

character: it vanished!
*cuts to scene of the thing they said vanished clearly still right there*
 
Ugh, this is a bummer. Just about done with some of my backlog and was thinking of getting this but kind of puts a damper on the urgency.
It's still an amazing game and you should play it. In the grand scheme of things, it's relatively minor. I'm just saying that everything else being equal, I'd rather someone other than NISA localized games I'm interested in.
 

Quonny

Member
This is a damn fine game of the video variety.

Just a ton of fun. The dodge/block mechanic seems just tight enough to make you feel good but not too tight as to go wtf.
 

SolVanderlyn

Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
Yeah, the translation has issues. It's not fan translation or machine translation levels of bad, and it certainly comes across as professional and coherent, but you get the occasional wooden lines like the medical student exchange above, or very literally translated Japanese phrases that make sense in English but wouldn't generally be said that way in that situation. It's not a pervasive problem - it appears to pop up intermittently, and not too often - but it is there.

That said, anyone reading this or any other post about the translation, DON'T let it stop you from getting the game. It's not bad. It has issues, but it's not bad. And the game itself is amazing, which brings me to...

This is by far my favorite Ys game, I think, and I'm only on chapter 3. The story picks up a lot towards the middle of chapter 2, the environments are gorgeous, and they did a fantastic job of making the Isle of Seiren feel like a vast, coherent, explorable world despite how segmented it is, mechanically. I think this is more enjoyable than open world game #243532, but that might be open world fatigue speaking. Either way, it feels like a grand adventure in a fantastical land, and the narrative plays right along with that feeling. The story is well paced and well told, and, while not very groundbreaking, quite enjoyable for anyone who likes old school RPG style stories.
Dinosaurs, ancient history flashbacks, and serial killers, oh my.

TL;DR the game is great. Great pacing, gameplay, world, characters. Above average to good story (so far, again, only on Chapter 3, where the main plot points are just starting to show up). 95% free of modern anime fanservice/trope garbage (aside from one stupid scene with Laxia in the beginning and Dana's outfit). Game is gud.
 
I agree with the opinion above. Aside from the translation, the game is amazing and I'm really enjoying how the story is progressing past chapter 2.

Though the game does remind me of Xenoblade, the way you traverse the world is more dinamic in Ys. The enviroments are smaller but it's understable taking into account that the game was made with the vita in mind.
 

Jolkien

Member
Played for 7 hours straight, this game is pure bliss to play. So much fun. I'm better than I expected, playing on Nightmare. Just made it to the
Great Canyon Valley
level 15.

I 100% two zone so far. Can't wait to play more.
 

lionpants

Member
Played all day yesterday as well. Super fun game, I am liking it better than Celceta so far I think.

Yes, some of the translation is pretty terrible. Some of the English boss titles (not their names) are hilarious because they're translated so literally. A lot of the characters seem to need a kick at times to jolt them out of their brainwashed robot mode. "I am so sorry I called upon you to defend me. I feel ashamed. I should have been able to defend myself. I will not do this again."

But, the combat and gameplay are fantastic which is all I really wanted since most JRPG stories are pretty throw away nowadays anyway. Playing through on Nightmare is actually fun and not frustrating and makes you use every combat mechanic to it's fullest. That feel when you get a Flash & Dodge Guard at the same time and just decimate a group of enemies. So good. Or flash guard back to back like 4 times in a row.

Also... Laxia calling Adol, Adol Christin every second is going to make me toss her into the sea.

Also... <3 Little Paro

Better thank me.
 

hawk2025

Member
I see no appreciable difference between this translation and pretty much every XSeed game out there.

NIS got the game out in a reasonable time, as a great package, and with the best CE ever made. I hope they get the series for the foreseeable future.
 

Jolkien

Member
I see no appreciable difference between this translation and pretty much every XSeed game out there.

NIS got the game out in a reasonable time, as a great package, and with the best CE ever made. I hope they get the series for the foreseeable future.

The dialog doesn't sound natural at all. It's not even in the same universe as Xseed usual work. Thankfully it doesn't distract too much of the game.
 

hawk2025

Member
The dialog doesn't sound natural at all. It's not even in the same universe as Xseed usual work. Thankfully it doesn't distract too much of the game.

No Falcom game does.

Again, I see no appreciable difference between this and the last two I played -- Cold Steel 2 and Tokyo Xanadu. It's all standard JRPG fare.
 

preta

Member
No Falcom game does.

Again, I see no appreciable difference between this and the last two I played -- Cold Steel 2 and Tokyo Xanadu.

Tokyo Xanadu was Aksys. And if you don't think CS2's localization was significantly better and more polished than the other two, I have no idea what to tell you.
 

Jolkien

Member
Does anybody know what's the maximum level for the skills ? I'm wondering for the trophy requiring you to max them all.

No Falcom game does.

Again, I see no appreciable difference between this and the last two I played -- Cold Steel 2 and Tokyo Xanadu. It's all standard JRPG fare.

If you think CS2 localisation and Ys VIII are the same we can't even have a discussion. Tokyo Xanadu was not Xseed btw.
 
I see no appreciable difference between this translation and pretty much every XSeed game out there.

NIS got the game out in a reasonable time, as a great package, and with the best CE ever made. I hope they get the series for the foreseeable future.
After playing Trails in the Sky I would have to respectfully disagree. The amount of care put into those games is quite noticeable and the fact that they are constantly touching the script up is testament to how much they care about getting the details down. I'm not sure how many other companies would be willing to put that kind of effort in (if there are any at all). I certainly am not holding my breath for NISA to even address the complaints on the localization, much less attempt to fix it.

That said, I will agree the CE is top notch quality. It's definitely the best thing we got out of NISA taking over.
 
No Falcom game does.

Again, I see no appreciable difference between this and the last two I played -- Cold Steel 2 and Tokyo Xanadu.
Ys Origin has surprisingly natural dialogue in most of its script. I still wonder who wrote the dialogue in that game and Trails 3rd, which both use more subtlety and innuendos than you'd expect. Their dialogue in recent games hasn't been as good, which I'll chalk up to new writers who fit the company culture but lack experience. Xanadu Next doesn't really break the mold either, but embraces its old-/new-school tropes and has very solid writing.

Sadly we just won't know how well Ys VIII would stack up to Trails of Cold Steel (II) or Memories of Celceta or the 2000s games, all because NISA did a super literal and barebones job translating this. I can't compare the base writing and believability of dialogue when the localization quality's inconsistent with another company's work. And to all those who say it doesn't matter for Ys: this installment has more than twice the amount of story (much of it optional, sure) vs. Celceta, and some fans have described how much better VIII's story is vs. Cold Steel (II).

Agreed on the CE. It looks too good for this release, and I don't think XSEED will try to match it considering how pricey this CE must be for NISA.
 

Begaria

Member
So how does the "Explore thoroughly" trophies work? I got the one for Adol, as I explored most of the time with him. Is it a certain map percentage cleared with a character in the lead or just in the party? I've been running around as Sahaad for awhile now with nothing to show for it yet.

Edit: Alright, thanks for the replies. Seems like it's based on time playing as that character. Good to know.

Oh, and I'm so glad they made the long jump by just holding down the run button and jumping, and not like the bullshit that was in Ys 6.
 

Saphirax

Member
So how does the "Explore thoroughly" trophies work? I got the one for Adol, as I explored most of the time with him. Is it a certain map percentage cleared with a character in the lead or just in the party? I've been running around as Sahaad for awhile now with nothing to show for it yet.

If it's like Celceta, it's based on how many hours you played as a certain characters. Think it was 5 hours each.
 

Jolkien

Member
So how does the "Explore thoroughly" trophies work? I got the one for Adol, as I explored most of the time with him. Is it a certain map percentage cleared with a character in the lead or just in the party? I've been running around as Sahaad for awhile now with nothing to show for it yet.

It's an x amount of time played controlling that character, I'm pretty sure.
 

Ascheroth

Member
I see no appreciable difference between this translation and pretty much every XSeed game out there.

NIS got the game out in a reasonable time, as a great package, and with the best CE ever made. I hope they get the series for the foreseeable future.
Well they failed to deliver the PC version.

No Falcom game does.

Again, I see no appreciable difference between this and the last two I played -- Cold Steel 2 and Tokyo Xanadu. It's all standard JRPG fare.
Tokyo Xanadu is not Xseed. Haven't played Cold Steel 2, but I'm currently playing Ys Seven and random NPCs have have better flowing dialog than the main cast in Ys VIII.

Also.
;)
 
Well they failed to deliver the PC version.


Tokyo Xanadu is not Xseed. Haven't played Cold Steel 2, but I'm currently playing Ys Seven and random NPCs have have better flowing dialog than the main cast in Ys VIII.

It's funny because a lot of reviewers in particular criticized the writing/dialogue/story in that game upon release. For a lot of similar reasons.

Not to take a side in this localization debate. I'm one who sort of pays more attention to the meaning behind dialogue than what's actually being said so a lot of the lines don't really bother me. I think a lot of the characterization still comes through for most of the characters so I'm enjoying it.

(I also really like Laxia's "Adol Christin" and "Criminy" choices for her...)
 
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