Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is a rather large game. If you really take your time with it, it could take you over 40 hours. (I am at over 45 hours myself.) Depending on how much you do or don’t want to do, you could spend weeks with this latest entry in the series. A big part of that has to do with everything there is in this game. There are three possible endings, a new dungeon for Dana that offers background on Eternia, and new game plus for people who perhaps missed some sidequests and reaching the best ending the first time around.
The first thing you may want to do is unlock Dana’s new dungeon. This is connected to the new storyline for her in Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana on the PlayStation 4 and PC. Dana has sidequests that are available whenever you can play as her by visiting crystals and saving Astios and Wagmur, giving access to a dungeon with five floors. Going to all that trouble gives you Luminous and Gratika forms for her, an amazing weapon, and a very difficult boss fight. (Which I honestly haven’t beaten, as it is rather challenging.) Keep in mind that this is an optional storyline that tells you more about Eternia and gives her another memory. You do not need to go to that trouble for the best ending.
The best ending is tied to Adol’s relationships and reputation with his fellow castaways. If you do not bother with people at all, you will likely get the bad ending. That happens if you get under 74 Reputation Points. Getting between 75 and 200 points will give you the normal ending. The best happens only if you get 201 points or more. Fortunately, it is rather easy to build Adol up. Recruiting people, taking sidequests, completing the map, giving gifts, fighting Master Kong, feeding food and fish to characters, going to Location Points, and protecting Castaway Village from monster attacks all add up. Showing Captain Barbaros the map as you reach various percentages of completion, participating in the Interception and Suppression Battles, giving fish to Shoebill, offering completed recipes to Mishy, and showing Location Points to Austin are the best ways of getting your count up, in case you only care about the normal ending, so keep that in mind. Just don’t delay on quests, as some are time sensitive and will disappear.
For those who want to go through Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana after beating the game, there is an option for that. It does offer a new game plus. After finishing, choose your old, cleared file. You will then be able to start again with selected items and elements kept. This is a huge help in case you did miss some of the sidequests and true ending on your first run. After choosing to start again, you have the option of keeping your Adventurer’s Journal, levels, skills and their levels, three empty bottles, map data with chests and gathering spots on it, your equipment, and any crafting items you have collected. You can choose one, all, or some of these, which is a huge help.
Which brings us to Inferno mode. This is the highest possible difficulty level and is available in the PlayStation 4 and upcoming PC version of the game. It is quite brutal. Enemies are stronger and have better AI that ensures they will hunt you down. It also becomes more difficult to recover when in the field. For example, when you use something in one of your bottles, the potion and bottle are both gone. There are also strict limits on how many kinds of foods and healing items you can hold. It is very demanding.
There is a lot to do, and Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana makes it easy to do it. If you work hard, you can accomplish all your goals in one run, seeing Dana’s PlayStation 4 and PC-exclusive storyline and earning the best possible ending. But in case you don’t, it is not hard to go back and try again. The new game plus option lets you go through it all again with the ability to choose what does or doesn’t come with you again. You have plenty of time and opportunities to see everything if you are patient.
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is available for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. The PC version has been delayed and does not yet have a release date.
