Ys VIII- Fun but somewhat disappointing
So here's the thing, this is the game that made me interested in the series and made me go back and play all the ones on steam in release order. All of that being said, this is probably the Ys game I had the least amount of fun with.
Don't get me wrong, this is still a Ys game, so at the very least it's still a decent to solid ARPG. However as a fan of this series and JRPGs in general, the game kinda falls flat for me in several areas.
Your party members honestly kinda suck for the most part. The island cast is pretty colorful and varied, but it seems like we just get the most uninteresting, generic goobers to work with. With the main party however, I did end up liking Hummel a lot, and the sixth character is honestly very neat, but the others never really grew on me.
Story is also kinda whatever. It starts out interesting but the pacing kills it, and it basically loses sight of what made it intriguing by the end game. This in itself wouldn't be much of an issue, since Ys games aren't exactly known for their stories, if there wasn't such an emphasis on the cutscenes. It also gets obnoxious at points, because they interrupt you every 10 seconds of walking in story areas.
Gameplay is also at this point beginning to feel old, even though this is only the third party based game. Outside of as I said, party members being very uninteresting this time around, the same flaws from the previous games apply, you can just spam your specials if you don't wanna engage with the combat and call it a day.
Side quests are usually pretty meh as well, even if they help you learn more about the infinitely more interesting castaways, and the raids and hunts honestly suck big time.
Finally the length of the game feels too long. 40-50 hours for a game like this is just not ideal imo. There is not enough depth, in either writing or gameplay, to sustain a game like this for that long.
All of this being said, Ys VIII isn't a bad game, there are elements here I'm sure some will appreciate and like. For instance, the music is still great, and the moment to moment to gameplay if you don't rely on your specials can feel fun. Just temper your expectations for this game going on, since I heavily disagree on this game being the best of the series.
TL;DR: Game alright despite a lot of issues. I miss my solo Adol games.
