preta

I'd recommend playing I and II or Ark of Napishtim next, personally, and then Origin after both of those.

That's generally regarded as one of the worse versions of Ys I and II. Ys I and II Chronicles (Steam, GOG, PSP) is widely regarded as the best, which I agree with.

That's putting it mildly. Ark of Napishtim, Oath in Felghana, and Origin in particular could run on a toaster. They came out in 2003, 2005 and 2006 and were not remotely graphically intensive even for the time.

To clarify, the particular order I'd recommend is I and II Chronicles > Ark of Napishtim (VI) > Oath in Felghana > Origin > Seven > Memories of Celceta > Lacrimosa of Dana (VIII). I didn't include V because there's been a fair bit of hinting from Falcom that a remake may be coming at some point - and it definitely does need one. My playthrough of 8, including postgame content, took me 53 hours, which is much, much longer than average for the series - most of the games are no more than 20. There are actually four versions of Ys IV - Mask of the Sun for SNES, The Dawn of Ys for PC-Engine, Mask of the Sun -A New Theory- for PS2, and Memories of Celceta for Vita/PC. Memories of Celceta is the modern, canon one, but The Dawn of Ys also has its own unique charms and is still worth playing today.

VIII is very much an evolution of the Ys Seven/Celceta formula, but the reintroduction of jumping and verticality in level design does a lot to make it feel more like Felghana/Origin than those two games. I would definitely give it a try. Also, take what Digital Emelas says with a grain of salt, particularly when it comes to play order. That site authoritatively makes a lot of statements that the vast majority of the Ys fanbase would disagree with - the generally accepted best play order is release order, but definitely not chronological order. At the very least, play I and II before Origin. Ark of Napishtim is also frequently referenced in games made later, so his suggestion to play it after those games is most baffling. For the most part, though, the main plots are standalone. VIII's, in particular, is actually one of the most standalone, and it's a perfectly good starting point.

This isn't possible. You can't technically solo the game with anyone on your first playthrough - you don't unlock the ability to decrease party size below 3 until the postgame/NG+. That said, a substantial portion of the game has you playing as Dana solo anyway.

I'm expecting a reveal in the Direct and a Japanese release probably somewhere between August and November.