Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA/Gameplay

Party
Up to three characters can form a party and only one can be controlled at a time. Press to switch characters. The other two characters will either be offensive or defensive. Press to toggle their behavior. The party formation can be changed by pressing. Standby party members will still earn EXP. There are two possible effects for active party members depending on their attack type.
 * Same damage type - damage dealt increases by &times;1.1
 * Different damage types - rare item drop rate increases

Equipment
Each party member can equip one armor, one armlet, and two accessories. In addition, a costume and two attachments can be equipped. They only change the appearance, not stats. Weapons are automatically equipped and can only be enhanced or reforged into a new weapon.

Battle

 * Jump attack : Attack while ascending
 * Dive attack : Attack while descending

Damage Types
There are three damage types: slash, pierce, and strike. Each party member has a fixed damage type and some monsters are weak to specific types. In general, slash is effective against soft enemies, pierce is effective against aerial enemies, and strike is effective against armored enemies. Attacking with the wrong type will lower the damage. If you keep attacking monsters with the type they are weak to, you may break them. Breaking them will drop an item, increase the rare drop rate, and increase the damage from all damage types.

Skills
Each party member has skills that cost SP to use. The SP gauge is the blue circular bar. Each skill gains EXP when used and can level up to a maximum of 3. Skills need to be equipped. When a skill is used, the other party members will also use a skill.

EXTRA skills are powerful attacks that require a full EXTRA gauge to use. The EXTRA gauge is a the yellow circle that fills slowly over time and when skills hit. Hold and press  to unleash the attack.

Advanced Tactics

 * Flash Move : Evade an attack at the right moment by pressing . Gain temporary invincibility and increased mobility.
 * Flash Guard : Block an attack at the right moment by pressing . Gain temporary invincibility, SP and EXTRA gauge will fill, and all attacks will be critical hits for a short time.

Status Effects
Status effects appear when their gauge is full from certain attacks. They will slowly go away after some time has elapsed or they can be treated with medicine. Some accessories resist status effects by slowing the gauge or outright nullify the effect. Paralysis and Burn can be healed quicker by constantly moving.
 * Poison : Lose HP over a short duration
 * Paralysis : Attack & jump disabled, lowers speed
 * Darkness : Blurs vision
 * Freeze : Disables all actions
 * Burn : Lose HP rapidly
 * Bleeding : Suffer high damage, dash disabled, lowers defense and speed