Ys 8: Lacrimosa of Dana is one of the best games in the series. It has a stellar soundtrack, engaging gameplay, and wonderful character writing. With 6 playable characters to choose from, it can be difficult to decide which to have in your party as you explore the Isle of Seiren. They each have something special they bring to the party, between their gameplay mechanics and their stories. Let’s take a look at the best party members in Ys 8: Lacrimosa of Dana.
Adol Christin
Adol is the main protagonist of the Ys series, and that continues to be true in Ys 8: Lacrimosa of Dana. Also like in other Ys games, Adol’s attack type is Slash, thanks to him being a swordsman. He’s 21 years old in Lacrimosa of Dana, having gone on 6 adventures before this one – including the one depicted in Ys 10: Nordics which has its English localization releasing next month.
The game opens with Adol and Dogi working on board the Lombardia, a passenger ship, after leaving the setting of Ys 5. Barbaros, the Lombardia’s captain, tells Adol about the mysterious Isle of Seiren. It’s said to be cursed, with every ship nearing its waters sinking. Nobody has been able to safely land on the island and live to tell the tale. Of course, with Adol being on board the Lombardia, its passengers and crew soon find themselves stranded on the Isle of Seiren after a shipwreck. It falls to Adol to find and rescue the other castaways while uncovering the mysteries of Seiren.
Hummel Trabaldo
Hummel is a later addition to the party, often joining when his and Adol’s goals align and leaving when they no longer do. For the better part of the game’s story, he’s a mysterious character. What are his motives? Why was he on the now-sunken Lombardia? At the start, he’s only willing to share his name and his occupation: a transporter. Everything else is something he keeps close to his chest, though he does slowly warm up to the party.
Of the attack-type trio, Hummel’s skills (like Laxia’s) are of the Pierce type. However, where Laxia uses a rapier, Hummel uses a rifle with a bayonet. This is a revolutionary weapon in the world of the Ys series, something Laxia calls a “handheld cannon”. Longer-ranged attacks are, of course, a great boon on the Isle of Seiren. His normal attack can vary between stabbing at enemies with his rifle’s bayonet or shooting at them from a short distance. The skills he can learn throughout the game are all variations on a theme of him shooting at enemies, with assorted effects added in.
Dana Iclucia
What list of Ys 8‘s best playable characters would be complete without Dana herself? Dana is Ys 8‘s second protagonist alongside Adol, though her connection to Adol is a mystery for the first half of the game. Adol’s party will set up camp for the night in multiple places across Seiren. During some of those nights, Adol will dream of a strange blue-haired woman named Dana. But who exactly is Dana, and why is Adol dreaming about her?
Dana, like Adol, uses swords when she attacks. However, her weapon of choice is a pair of crescent blades. She also has access to magical skills using something known as Essence. Uniquely, at some points in the game, Dana unlocks the ability to change into a different form which also changes her attack type. This ability allows her to solve some puzzles, as well as strategize around some enemies and bosses, culminating in one of the game’s coolest boss fights.
Honorable Mentions
Laxia von Roswell
Laxia is the second party member, joining Adol not long after he wakes up on the shore of the Isle of Seiren. She takes a while to warm up to Adol, having been born to a noble family in Garman. Like many of the other castaways, it’s initially a mystery as to why she was on board the Lombardia. There’s another mystery tied to Laxia: she seems to recognize some of the strange monsters that can be found on Seiren. Does she know something about them that the rest of the castaways don’t?
Sahad Nautilus
Sahad is the third party member, rounding out the group with the third attack type, Strike. He attacks with a comically large anchor that he found on the beach, which is fitting given that he is a fisherman from Greek. Of the castaways, he’s one of the few who knew about Seiren before finding himself stranded on the island. His life of fishing has given him a healthy respect for the sea, something he shares with Adol.
Though in the early portion of the game, he’s often portrayed in a comedic light, in truth Sahad is a very intelligent man. He shares stories of his wife and daughter, and it’s through Sahad’s emotional honesty that Laxia comes to warm up to him and the other castaways over the course of the story of Lacrimosa of Dana.
Final Thoughts
Like many of the other Ys games, Ys 8: Lacrimosa of Dana has many wonderful characters that you can play as while adventuring through the Isle of Seiren. Each member of the party goes through some kind of character arc across the game’s story, something they have in common with most of the secondary and even tertiary supporting cast. The interactions between the different characters make up a lot of the emotional heart of Lacrimosa of Dana‘s story, something that makes this entry in the series truly special.
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