Falcom has released new Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana information and screenshots detailing castaway villagers Kilgore, Kahran, and Alison, as well as the game’s Counter-Attack Battles system. All of this was initially introduced in Dengeki PlayStation last month.

Get the information below.

■ Characters

Kilgore (voiced by Daisuke Kishio)

“The Isle of Seiren… I don’t expect that the castaways’ survival on this island will be easy.”

32 years-old. A gentle and polite clinician rich in knowledge and experience. He is unfazed even in unforeseen circumstances, has calm judgment, and after drifting ashore, treated the injured Kahran while wandering about The Isle of Seiren looking for other people.

He opens a small clinic in the Drifting Village. In addition to providing medical examinations for the castaways using of his knowledge and skills in medicine, he’ll also become reliable in formulating medicine for Adol and his party members.

Kahran (voiced by Naoki Tatsuta)

“Gah, why does someone of my high honor as noble of the empire have the suffer like this?!”

52 years-old. An arrogant, always domineering noble from the Romun Empire. He is a selfish hedonist without regard for his position or status, and his arrogant behavior doesn’t change when he drifts ashore The Isle of Seiren, as he makes no attempt to cooperate with the other castaways.

Not only does he cause trouble between the inhabitants of the Drifting Village, he even brings about trouble during the “Counter-Attack Battles” to protect the village…

Alison (voiced by Yuki Nagaku)

“Where on earth am I?… Oh, where have you gone?…”

A woman and tailor with a clean and lovely atmosphere about her. She boarded the Lombardia passenger liner with her husband, but worries about him since she was he was separated from her and went missing in the shipwreck.

She joins the drifting village and makes the best use of her abilities to work with the castaways as a tailor, but since she is weak by nature, she cannot cope with the island environment and can sometimes look off color.

■ System

Counter-Attack Battles

As you progress the main story, the beasts of The Isle of Seiren will launch an raid on the Drifting Village, the base of the castaways. At these times, by making full use of the castaways’ power and the defense equipment you’ve installed in the Drifting Village, you can concentrate your efforts to stand against the beasts in special battles known as a “Counter-Attack Battles.”

—(1) A Counter-Attack Battle Breaks Out

While you’re exploring the island, Little Paro will inform you that “beasts have gathered around the Drifting Village.” At this time, by returning to the Drifting Village, you can defend the base from an enemy attack together with the castaways.

—(2) The Counter-Attack Battle Begins

A group battle where enemy beasts rush onto your base begins. For the player, it is similar to a standard battle in that you’ll control Adol and the other playable characters while fighting against hordes of enemies approaching the base.

While in standard battles you’ll get a game over if your HP is lessened to 0, in the case of a Counter-Attack Battle, you’ll only fail if the enemy destroys your last line of defense, the “Defense Fortress,” in the depths of the battle area.

In addition to decoys that can disrupt enemy actions in the Counter-Attack Battle area, you can develop and strengthen the Drifting Village to take on Counter-Attack Battles more advantageously.

While Adol and his party are fighting, Dogi will lead his own “Dogi Side” team to protect a different entrance to the Drifting Village. Dogi Side fights automatically and its results are logged as scores for each castaway, which will also affect the stage result after the battle ends.

—(3) Counter-Attack Battle Results

After a Counter-Attack Battle ends, you’ll get a score and rank based on the battle results. If your rank is high, you can earn a variety of bonus items, including super rare materials.

—Counter-Attack Battles are Optional

Participation in Counter-Attack Battles are optional. You can choose to leave Drifting Village defense to Dogi Side and continue exploring the island as you would normally, or you can participate in the battles to achieve a high score. It’s all up to the player.

—Replaying a Counter-Attack Battle

After a Counter-Attack Battle ends, you can choose to replay it in the form of an “Pracice Battle” in order to try and obtain a higher rank and score.

—Battle Progress Gauge

During a Counter-Attack Battle, a “Battle Progress Gauge” indicating Adol Side’s “Dominance” in battle is displayed on-screen. Since you’ll recover more HP and SP if the gauge is higher, it is important to win through the waves of battles and maintain Dominance.

—Castaway Support Skills

Outside of party members, castaways also have their own support skills that automatically kick in during Counter-Attack Battles. However, some of the castaways have skills that will cause a disadvantage…

Here are a couple of examples:

“Ultimate Blow” (Dogi) – Dogi rushes the battle area and deals damage to all enemies with his prideful fist. This also indces a “Break” state that eliminates the enemies’ weakness attribute, allowing all three attack attributes to deal big damage.

(Dogi) – Dogi rushes the battle area and deals damage to all enemies with his prideful fist. This also indces a “Break” state that eliminates the enemies’ weakness attribute, allowing all three attack attributes to deal big damage. “Arrogant Confusion” (Lord Kahran) – Causes a panic on the battlefield and gives strength to the enemies attacking the base, increasing their attack power significantly for a certain period of time.

—Strengthening the Drifting Village

In addition to creating weapons, armor, and accessories, you can use the materials you obtain on the island to strengthen the Drifting Village’s defense equipment.

By increasing the stamina of your “Defense Fortress” (your final line of defense), installing “Slingshots” to damage incoming enemies, and so on, you can take on Counter-Attack Battles more advantageously.