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Dragon Warrior VIII Details Revealed

Posted by simoniker on from the barrels-and-dressers-oh-my dept.

Thanks to GamePro for their article discussing new details about Square Enix's long-awaited Dragon Quest VIII, as revealed in a recent issue of Japanese magazine Shonen Jump. According to the article, this latest in the massively selling Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior series, due for Japanese PS2 in 2004, will have battles "..rendered in full 3D, a marked departure from the static fight screens in the last seven games. Despite this new technology, though, the Dragon Quest-iness of the game will remain untouched - early screenshots show the hero picking up barrels and peering into random dressers for items." Although new in-game shots aren't yet online, the single previously released screenshot is very reminiscent of external developer Level 5's other signature titles such as Dark Cloud 2 and the forthcoming Xbox MMORPG, True Fantasy Live Online.

5 of 25 comments (clear)

  1. Breaking from tradition by Alaric42 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'll be curious to see if there's a fallout in Japan over the lack of the first-person battle system that's appeared in every other title, given that tradition is pretty much the reason DQ7 appeared as it did, complete with old sound effects and all. Personally, I prefer the old way; the screenshots seem to be showing battle animations that would be quite a bit more lengthy than the ones in previous games, and I've always liked the brisk pace of DQ's battle engine.

  2. Metal Slime is Dodging! by August_zero · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I loved Dragon Warrior 7, I may be the only person in America that loved that game but I did. It's just so ugly, the psuedo-3d engine they used looked far worse than the game would have looked if they had just stuck to a 2d engine. The DW series has never been about eye-candy, I understand this, but still...

    While the Final Fantasys have gotten more about CGI, and intricate stories full of angst ridden characters with goofy clothes and bad hair cuts, DW has stayed closer to its fantasy roots and offered good stories, great gameplay, and an overall deeper experience in each outing.

    I would love for #8 to come state side, hopefully with a prettier outside so more people will look inside.

    --
    On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?
    1. Re:Metal Slime is Dodging! by Alaric42 · · Score: 2, Informative

      In my experience, the people who disliked DQ7 (except for the complete graphics whores), just didn't get the game while they were playing through it. The way the game's structured, you have to actively put together the storyline--It's not a bunch of fractured mini-stories, but you don't really figure out a lot of the islands' interconnections until late in the game. The people I've pointed that out to have mostly gone and replayed the game and gotten a lot more enjoyment out of it.

      There's also the second issue of DQ being gone from North American shores for so long. Not only did this make it difficult from a marketing standpoint, especially given the meager budget EoA was given, but people seemed to be approaching the game like they would the original Dragon Quest: mindless leveling. The game doesn't require it--it's not that hard to beat the game with the hero only halfway through his first intermediate class--but if you think it does, and spend a ton of time doing that, you'll tend to forget those little interconnections mentioned above, and get tired of the game, which is pretty long by itself even if you don't spend an extra 20 hours walking in circles (or using Whistle if you were smart enough to be a Shepherd. Good ol' Stampede).

  3. Medieval by Metroid72 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Do you guys think it's a good idea to keep things medieval as the previous installments?
    Sure it's kool to kill slimes, bables, and dragons, gamble, and get lost in dungeons - The formula works, but..
    Do we really need a new 3D update?
    Maybe combining 3D with a futuristic Toriyama conceived world will give it a new life
    I personally think that DW/DQ is the quintisential RPG, the original DW was challenging, long and the fact that you had to use your imagination made it more enjoyable.
    Who wasn't excited when they were strong enough to face dragonlord? or when you encountered Golem?
    What about in DW2 when you found the Mirror of RA? or in DW3 when you found the old DW1 land and the traditional tune started playing?
    DW has always been technologically less advanced than FF, but IMO, I think it was much better.

  4. Dragon Quest VIII Pictures by twootwoot · · Score: 5, Informative

    Hi, I maintain a Dragon Quest-related news website. Yes, this is a plug. But anyways here are some of DQVIII pictures. Gamefront's scanned one of the images. Also the Japanese website, Quiter has posted several images.