I've played older Ys games on other handheld gaming consoles but I didn't enjoy playing them. I didn't play them for very long because the graphics and playable content didn't fit me as a gamer. Now that I'm older, I decided to give the newest installment a try since the game's trailers looked promising. YsVIII was developed by Nihon Falcom and published by Nippon. The game has been released for several gaming consoles as of this year. I played the Playstation Vita version which the game was originally created for.
YsVIII's story comes as a mystery for players that have never played the other games. It might even have been a mystery for those who are diehard fans of the series. Please note that you don't have to play the other games to enjoy this one. Anyway, Our hero is on a passenger ship that gets attack by a monster then he ends up on a deserted island. Your goal as the main character is to create a home base and find survivors to bring life to that base. From this point you put your adult pants on because it's up to you to actually make sure your base stays up and running. You do this by exploring the island, learning more about the place as you go. Things become clearer as you find new areas around the island BUT(in capital letters) you must make sure that you also earn the approval of the castaways that you find. Depending on how high your approval rating is determines which ending you get at the game's conclusion. So make sure you take time to do requests and join the castaways in battles to protect the village from monsters. Some quests are not always on the quest board either. The amount of approval points you need to get the true ending depends on the console your using. Mine was the lowest(above 150 points) because I was using a handheld console. Also the other consoles's versions were re-released with more content, requiring players to have more points to unlock the true ending. If you keep on top of checking on your villagers, you should have no problem getting the true ending(Use your map as it gives you hints about where to go.). Speaking of the map, that leads me to the bit of a problem I had with YsVIII in the beginning stages of the game. The game does set you up with the basics of how to do everything using detailed explanations. However, you are left in the dark when it comes to traveling around the island. Meaning you could find yourself lost in an area not knowing how to get to the story destination to progress the story. Ys doesn't take the time to shows players how to use the map to guide the you correctly. I had to learn all of this by myself through trial and error. It's really easy to end up in the wrong place next to some super strong monster that kills you instantly. Sure, the game doesn't let you go wherever you want but you do get enough space to explore. There's adventure items that you can get to help you explore more such as boots to help you walk on swamps or a necklace to help you breath underwater. Most of these items become available to the player during the course of the main story so don't go looking too hard for them right away.
The battle system isn't very hard to learn. Mechanics of the battle system revolve around the X, O, and Square buttons. Sometimes you use the R1 button to dodge or do a special attack. Most of which make the battles go by even faster. All of the battle are done in realtime and are very fun once you get the hang of how everything works. The key to winning battles is controlling the right character based on what monster you're fighting as well as keeping a close eye on enemy movements(especially during boss battles). Flash moves are a man's best friend in this game. I'll also give you a heads up: There's a shit load of bosses in YsVIII that you will have to face. They might feel like they come one after the other depending on how quickly you go through an area. Healing crystals are always around before you go into a boss area thankfully. Keep this in mind when exploring new areas. My only problem with the battle system is the camera going wild at some points while you're fighting. Same problem I have with all real time RPG titles. Blind spots created by the camera swinging around to a certain angle is a surefire way to die. I had this problem with the Tales and Kingdom Hearts series also. Both are still fantastic series of games none the less.
Ys's in game graphics look bright and lush on the Ps Vita but I can't imagine playing this game on a Playstation 4. The graphics would not look as refined on a major gaming console in my opinion. It would probably look super basic instead. Do let me know if you're play this game on a major console. I would like to know your thoughts.
YsVIII has a pretty engrossing story paired with engaging game play that makes this installment of the series hard to put down. Just make sure you work toward getting the true ending. Otherwise the game feels like a piece of the story is missing overall.
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