Japanese console games getting mobile versions aren’t really something shocking these days but certain games seeing mobile versions continue to blow me away. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA is the latest (well until Ys IX releases this year on PS4 in Japan) in the fantastic Ys series from Nihon Falcom. If you’ve never heard of this franchise before, you can check out two games on iOS and Android in the form of Ys Chronicles 1 ($4.99) and Ys Chronicles II ($4.99) from DotEmu. These are ports of the PSP release that had both games in a single collection. Watch the original English PlayStation trailer below:
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA was released on PS Vita in Japan and was followed by a PS4 port. In USA and Europe, NIS America (who localised the Danganronpa series) released it on both PS4 and PS Vita and followed those versions by a PC port and a Nintendo Switch release. This entry is one of my favourite action RPGs ever and I can’t wait to check it out again (I’ve bought this game way too many times) when it hits iOS and Android. Today, Nihon Falcom announced that Linekong Entertainment Technology will be publishing Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA on iOS and Android. The official announcement (in Japanese) mentions a worldwide release so I’m hyped. One of the highlights for not just this game but Falcom games in general is a fantastic soundtrack. One of the standout tracks is below:
As of now, no other details are available for this release. Hopefully this is a good port because it ran pretty decently on PS Vita but if you have access to a PS4, I’d recommend that as the best version of the game followed by the Nintendo Switch port. It has sold over half a million copies across all platforms so far worldwide. I was hoping DotEmu would release another PSP port on iOS since I want more people to experience one of my favourite gaming franchises but getting a port of the newest entry is something I will happily accept. Have you played this before on any other platform or are you looking forward to playing more Ys on iOS and Android after the two ports that arrived a while ago? Check out the official English website of the console version here.
Update: Updated availability portion to reflect worldwide as mentioned in the announcement.
