Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA is coming to Switch 2 at 120 FPS

NIS America and Nihon Falcom are bringing Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA to Nintendo Switch 2 on February 25, 2027. This new port pushes performance up to 120 FPS, adds local and online co-op multiplayer through GameShare and GameChat, and introduces Spanish text support to the game for the first time.

This is easily one of the best action RPGs ever made. If you haven't played this game, play this game, because you don't need to play any of the other Ys entries before jumping in. Series protagonist Adol Christin washes ashore on the cursed Isle of Seiren after a shipwreck, and the story functions as a completely standalone adventure where you rescue fellow castaways, build up a survival village, and figure out why Adol keeps dreaming about a blue-haired maiden named Dana.

Quadrupling the original Switch framerate

Nihon Falcom originally built Ys VIII for the PlayStation Vita in Japan back in July 2016 before porting it to PlayStation 4 in 2017 and PC and the original Nintendo Switch in 2018. A PlayStation 5 version followed in November 2022. That 2018 Switch port got the whole adventure onto a handheld cartridge, yet it was stuck targeting 30 FPS with noticeable resolution drops whenever the screen filled up with prehistoric monsters.

Jumping from a shaky 30 FPS on the original Switch to 120 FPS on Switch 2 is a massive upgrade for a combat system built entirely around split-second Flash Guard parries and Flash Move dodges. The combat moves fast. You swap on the fly between a three-person party to exploit enemy weapon weaknesses (Slash, Strike, and Pierce), and having four times the frames should make timing those dodges against bosses like the flaming-winged Giasburn feel much sharper.

Two players on one island

The more surprising addition here is multiplayer. Using the Switch 2's GameShare functionality, a second player can drop in locally or online via GameChat to run around the Isle of Seiren together.

Cooperative play isn't completely unprecedented for this title, since the PC port quietly picked up an experimental local co-op patch a few years after its launch, though that remained absent from the console editions. Bringing official co-op to Switch 2 with online GameShare support makes a lot of sense when you always have two AI companions trailing behind Adol anyway. I'm curious whether the second player is tethered to the host's screen during exploration or if the split-screen presentation shown in the footage lets both players wander into separate zones of the island.

If you don't want to wait until February 25, 2027, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA is already available on PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, and the original Nintendo Switch. For anyone holding out for a handheld version that doesn't compromise on framerate, next February's release looks like the way to play it.