There's so much Ys VIII did right for me, personally, that it's hard for me to find fault even where it's due. Which is not me saying not to bring it up, just... gushing, I guess.
The story, bonkers as it is, strikes a few particular topics that interest me all at once. Blacking out possible spoiler content: I love stories that involve lost, ancient civilizations. It's one of the reasons Ys appeals to me in the first place. I also have an interest in what I think of as pre-cataclysmic stories, which is what Dana's past sections are all about: Disaster is coming, we can't prevent it, we probably can't survive it, so what do we do? And I have an interest, too, in the idea of an endless cycle of history, the notion that certain huge and catastrophic events can and do recur, that the slate is periodically wiped clean and the world starts afresh, with just the barest suggestion of something older surviving, niggling little hints for which there is not enough context even to hope for interpretation or understanding. These objects simply stand as mute and inscrutable monuments to their makers, defying all explanation.
So when Ys VIII puts all this together, of course I'm going to be there for it. Exploring ancient ruins is du rigeur for the series, but getting to see the ancient civilization that made them firsthand -- and not through cutscenes, but actual play of the game! -- is something that I don't think has really been done before in the series. Then we find out that this has all happened before, that the cataclysm we're witnessing is not unique, though no less heart-wrenching for all that. In a way, it puts me in mind of Mass Effect, where we find that the setting-wide extinction event that initially informs so much of the story is not a one-off thing, but rather the tip of the iceberg, a question that hints at a much vaster mystery and a much greater problem. The amount of time over which it's suggested this process has been occurring is staggering in its cosmic scale. Dana makes for an odd Javik analogue in this comparison, but she at least has a more pleasant personality, and a more sympathetic perspective.
Even when Ys VIII's story clanks a bit here and there, it's hard for me to care because it's tweaking those sections of the story-focused part of my brain that feel starved for their favorite content. I don't often run across stories like this, and there's a particular "feel" that's important, which may not be present even in the stories that superficially address these topics. And here Ys VIII takes that ball and just runs with it, and isn't afraid to be goofy and dumb about it here and there, in the name of being fun and entertaining, and it's just wonderful.
I love it.
I think I had a point to make at some point in all of this, but it turned into me just gushing for a few minutes. My apologies for the total absence of a point in any of this.