New Review: Ys VIII provided me a fun, if imperfect, JRPG to sink my teeth into

Despite being such a force during the PS2 era, high quality, quirky Japanese RPGs have become somewhat tougher to come by in recent years. Ys was a series that I hadn’t heard of before, other than from vague mentions and the occasional sight of one of the games on the shelf. Ys VIII’s port to the Switch seemed like a good opportunity to give this long-running JRPG series a shot, and though not without its flaws, all in all Ys VIII provides an enjoyable experience, and one that will definitely encourage me to check out future series entries down the line.

The game begins with series silent protagonist and adventurer Adol Christin onboard a passenger ship, setting sail for other continents. In the early minutes of the game, you’re able to wander the ship and chat with several characters, many of whom of course play a role in your journey once a mysterious monster causes the ship to crash onto a deserted island. Once a few other survivors are found, they lay the groundwork for Castaway Village, their home base from which they venture out, searching for other survivors and clues to help them off the island. 

The adventure progresses in a linear and yet nonlinear fashion. You’re given plenty of ability to explore the island and to backtrack, with new parts of the island being unlocked for you only once Adol has found enough survivors, who are then added to Castaway Village, to clear away debris blocking the path. It’s a system that feels surprisingly satisfying, as it allows the game to reveal itself slowly to you, as many linear JRPGs do, but with the full ability to return to previous locations, including with new abilities that unlock new areas within them, as well as a ton of sidequests to take on. It gives Ys VIII a linear but open world feel that manages to strike the right balance. Watching your party in Castaway Village grow, seeing the new things they each bring to the table, and watching the encampment expand as you progress is incredibly satisfying. The localization, which was so flawed initially that it prompted a full apology from NIS America upon its Western launch back on the PS4, is now fine as long as you download the patch, (this is true on the Switch as well)  with only a few grammatical errors still present. The voice acting and updated script is solid throughout. 

Ys VIII’s characters are likable enough, and plenty of dialogue takes place between them over the course of the adventure. I wouldn’t say ultimately that any character leaves too much of a lasting impression, but they’re all fun to venture with, and the whole cast has a pleasant, understated dynamic. There are times when things get intense for the group of castaways on this hostile island, and there are a few solid surprises throughout and some genuine emotional investment. 

This all comes packaged with an incredibly fun Action RPG battle system, one simple enough to get the hang of, but one which provides a solid amount of depth as the games goes on. Updating your weapons and equipment, the creation of clothing, the brewing of items, the learning of new skills, and a growing cast of playable characters keeps the battle system evolving as you progress. You can alternate between which character you control, with the AI handling the other two. Battles are fast-paced and fun, never getting in the way of exploring and not too difficult to avoid. The emphasis on the use of items (as opposed to magic) is the one aspect of combat that frustrated me, as it requires frequent trips back to Castaway Village to restock, along with the occasional need to search the island for the appropriate ingredients to brew more. This is generally not a big problem, as traveling can be done with a warp feature and is quite easy to do, but it does make some dungeons less fun than they could be, and requires items to be a larger part of my general strategy than I usually prefer.

Ys VIII does stumble in a few areas. Released initially as a PS Vita game, it was remastered for the PS4 and now for the Switch. Its Vita origins are plainly visible throughout, and while I can’t speak for the PS4 version, the Switch version at least does have a few issues that I wish had been fixed. Though graphics appear to be at a higher resolution than what the Vita could have managed, the technical limitations of Sony’s handheld shine through at numerous points. The Switch version operates at 30FPS unlike the PS4 version, which is 60FPS, so bear that in mind. Even so, there are some drops present on the Switch, even with the lower targeted framerate. The bigger issue for me though is the framerates of the enemies in the distance, which are so ridiculously low that it gives them a jerky performance and makes their movements look like a slideshow until you get close enough for the game to render them at full 30FPS. It looks terrible and it constantly took me out of the game. The music that’s here is often good, at least as far as the story events are concerned, though the few songs that exist repeat so constantly that it actually became repetitive to me. The music while exploring can be immersive, but I wish they’d done away with much of the generic, electric guitar-squealing rock jams in the combat areas and instead gone with something more atmospheric.

On a final note, Ys VIII goes on for a little too long. I thoroughly enjoyed my time playing it for much of its length, and in the final third, the plot fully kicks in. A very cool city location is revealed, and things get incredibly interesting. It’s a shame then that the game essentially becomes a dungeon crawler at this point, with far too much time spent returning to the same dungeon areas to fight endless numbers of enemies and bosses, and it feels like it goes on and on. The scenario’s interesting, but the characters aren’t quite strong enough to withstand the repetition of the game design, and for the final several hours of the game, I wanted nothing more than for it to end. Which is a shame, because I really liked much of it. 

Still, Ys VIII was a good experience for me. The action-based combat system’s great and incredibly addictive, and it’s deep enough and fast enough that exploring’s always fun, even with a degree of backtracking throughout. The map could have been better, and I wish the repetition had been cut down, especially in the game’s final act. Issues with Ys VIII’s origins as a Vita title, including a bunch of non-voiced story sequences, a high-quality but small soundtrack, and the somewhat dated visual look do leave a mark, but I’m excited to check out what this series could become going forward. The Switch version’s a solid way to check out the game, though the PS4 version likely comes closer to mitigating its Vita shortcomings. The final several hours drag, but all in all, it was great to get to sink my teeth into another addictive, high quality Japanese RPG. I eagerly look forward to the eventual Ys IX, and should they take care of some of VIII’s pacing-related issues, we might be truly looking at a gem.

3/5
Note; this review is based on the Nintendo Switch version.