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Review: Dragon Quest VIII
- Title: Dragon Quest VIII
- Developer: Level 5
- Publisher: Square Enix
- System:PS2
- Score:9/10
Dragon Quest's focus is on entertaining and enjoyable gameplay, and so for the most part the game's plot can be forgiven for being fairly weak. The game's subtitle, "Journey of the Cursed King", is almost everything you need to know to understand what's going on. You, an unnamed heroic adventurer, are on the hunt for a power-hungry sorcerer. The spellcaster has stolen a potent magical artifact, and pair of royals present when the artifact was stolen are turned into a frog-demon thing and a horse. They hook up with you and your buddy Yangus (a burly fighter-type), in hopes of finding the spellcaster and reversing the magical effect that imprisons them. Along the way you encounter some typical RPG stereotypes (like the scantily clad mage Jessica), but for the most part that's the hook that drives the story. While this doesn't sound like much to go on, the NPC characterizations are so well-written and over-the-top that it's hard not to like them.
Really, it's surprisingly hard not to like everything about this game. Gameplay-wise, the latest installment of the Dragon Quest series is an unapologetic blast from the past. The game features menu-driven turn-based combat, endless hours of gameplay, a random encounter strewn overworld map, and plenty of slimes. You'd think this would tire a veteran RPG player, but the quality of the game's presentation and the obvious effort the designers put into the game's systems is inspiring. The overworld map, a tired warhorse in the gaming world, is a beautifully rendered naturescape. Beautiful glens, soaring caverns, and imposing ruins all lie hidden within the gameworld. The mini-map, a constant companion in most games, is blissfully absent. Without any easy-access artificial assistance, the temptation to explore is overwhelming, and can lead to some interesting hard-to-find creatures and treasures.
This sense of exploration is only broken by the occasional encounter with wandering monsters. The pace of encounters is well spaced out, to ensure that you won't have to fight through several encounters just to proceed a short way down a trail. The combat is a traditional RPG line-up, with enemies on one side and heroes on the other. Players navigate an intuitive menu to instruct their characters in who and how to fight, but attacks are far from the bland or ordinary. Both monsters and heroes have an array of visually interesting attacks and spells to take out opposing forces. Giant tongues seem to be a weapon of choice for the enemies, who have an array of quirky appearances and behaviors. Besides the title-identifying slimes, there are a bevy of beasts and monsters to face down. Some of the early beasts actually forgo their turns to calmly lick their fur. This variety of choice, animation, and behavior ensures that even the most jaded RPG fan is unlikely to get bored with combat. Trying to one-button push your way through combat, if you do start to glaze over, will teach you the error of your ways quickly. The challenge level here is high, and you can expect to wipe more than once at low levels. The tenacity exhibited by a gang of cute little kitty cats can easily end in tragedy.
That gang of cats, like everything else in the game, have distinct sensibilities conveyed by their unique visual design. The whole title has a beautiful cell-shaded look, and an anime quality that brings the personality of each beast and NPC to the fore. Dragon Ball Z designer Akira Toriyama helmed the look of this title, and the result is a naturalistic landscape and highly distinctive characters. The audio environment is stirring as well. Adventuring music takes center stage, with the occasional more thoughtful piece thrown in to highlight some of the game's quieter moments. Despite the tissue-paper plot, the voice acting is top-notch. The laughable whining and cowardice of the King and Yangus's thick brogue should set the standard for RPG cohorts in future titles. The dialogue's localization is also tremendous, with some jokes managing to be bitingly clever. It's hard not to appreciate the attention to detail spent here, as the inordinate amount of time you'll spend with these characters almost requires a sense of connection and empathy. While they may not make you cry, you'll definitely enjoy spending time with these likable non-people.
Dragon Quest VIII is not an evolution in the genre, nor is it likely to convert a dyed-in-the-wool anti-RPG nut. It's a challenging old-school game that appeals directly to traditional fans, and does so with personality, levity, and a lot of style. The hack and slash, turn-based combat system has never been so lovingly displayed as it is in this title. If you ever find yourself pining for those long-past grind sessions, gaining levels outside of Elfland by slaying ogres, this is a game you simply must play.
I dunno, the characters looked a little close to Dragon Ball Z characters to me...
How can you lose? This game proves to be a traditional RPG style game that I grew up on plus the modern graphics, control and AI that provides a better challenge and experience. And plus you get a playable demo of the next FF in the franchise. If you don't buy it, you're a nazi.
Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.
HELLO WORLD
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K-BYE
I must say that I've seen 2D graphics that looked better than these 3D graphics which look like 2D graphics...
But Dragon Quest did never let me down!
I haven't played games in years, but I looked at the screen shots out of curiousity. The grass looks blurry to me, like it's got major motion blur. Is this normal for these new fangled 3d games? Maybe it's just me but it looks really strange.
"Despite the tissue-paper plot, the voice acting is top-notch. The laughable whining and cowardice of the King and Yangus's thick brogue should set the standard for RPG cohorts in future titles."
Just a fair warning: The voice acting is very over the top in a cartoonish way. If "top-notch voice acting" means realistic and dramatic to you, you'll be sorely disappointed with the voice acting in DQVIII. The accents and the content of the dialog is so silly and uninteresting, that I ended up skipping story sequences (a major RPG sin in my opinion) after a dozen hours of the same crap. You've been warned.
Great game otherwise.
A B A C A B B
This is an excellent review, thanks. If I had a PS2, this would have confirmed my purchase.
Square Enix, the company that founded the genre, spits in the eye of progress with Dragon Quest VIII.
You know, just because people have come up with new gameplay mechanics doesn't mean we should abandon the old ones. It's about time some tried and true turn based RPG came back on the market. The game market has grown, and there's room for the old style and the new style out there. I think it's fair to say that the old turn based style games offer different types of strategy than the newer real time games, and I was getting a little tired of every new RPG testing my reflexes and jacking up the pace. Those are good games, but sometimes you want to slow down and relax a bit, or add in the increased complexity that having turns allows.
If somebody came up with a real-time version of a game like chess that was sufficiently fun that it became popular, I bet people would still play the old version too. Why should video games be any different. While they're at it, let's get some good old style 2D (the environments, not the graphics nescessarily) platformers back out there for non-handheld systems. Perhaps something that uses the Symphony of the Night engine. Maybe the Revolution will bring some of these types of games back.
This is the first game since Final Fantasy VII that I was unable to put down from the moment I got it. It's an excellent RPG all round.
The game really is all the reviewer says. It has an old school charm that I find irresistable. The first time I found cheerfully floating Drakies, I laughed out loud, it was too perfect. People may be skeptical of the cell shaded look, but it works oddly well for this title. It fits the lighthearted gameplay and makes me nostalgic for the blocky sprites of the old NES games.
And lest we forget, Jessica is rather, err, bouncy... o.o
Government's view of the economy: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving,regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it.
or if it's because it has a refreshingly simple character system. You have a couple of easily understandable stats, when you level you have 5 different abilities you can choose from 4 weapons, and one unique ability per character, and the story isn't some over the top ridiculously unable to be understood thing. There's no sphere grid system to confuse people. There aren't 20 different stats to try and understand. It's just straight forward, and yet still deep and entertaining. The characters are great, and there's only four, so you don't have to worry about missing out on plotline for a character, or keeping everyone's level equal. Really the only complaint I have about it is the fact that there is a bunch of running around and fighting in order to level, just in order to beat the next dungeon.
And that's not a Dragon Quest/Warrior game - that was Final Fantasy!
The better analogy would have been fighting Wyverns in a swamp while carrying Princess Gwaelin back to King Lorik...
So, Which consoles is this available for?
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
After the first hour or two, does anyone really notice the eye-candy graphics? If not, why not just skip that part alltogether and play a MUD for free?
Endless zombie gore
pales before the epic thrill
of asterisk spam
-A haiku for MUDs.
Trying to use sarcasm in text-based forums does not work.
Of course the game follows the tradition DW formats (battle commands, slimes, etc). It just goes to show that one cannot improve perfection.
I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
I just get bored to DEATH. Wander around, find objects, fight monsters to build stats. Yay.
The writing in EVERY RPG I've ever played has been laughably bad. Cliche upon cliche. Juvenile humor. Non-sensical plots.
I always felt like more or a "role player" when I was playing the LucasArts or Sierra games.
I thought I noticed the handiwork of Akira Toriyama.
I did a little research and he designed the monsters and characters
"The unicode stuff in the latest version is working fabulously well. My russian mafia friends are ecstatic."
may-be you should go back to your stupid video games while your job goes to some more deserving and hardworking people
what else can you mental midgets do but giggle and sneer?
now go blame Bush for all your problems
Is this the first American-released game to have the puff-puff girl? I don't remember one in 7.
networking test. theIre are some FrreBSD went out
I bought DQVIII the day it came out, and have never regretted doing so. The graphics are beautiful, the plotline is engrossing, the characters are lovable, and the environment is believable. The only complaint I have is that some of the songs sound like they were recorded in an echo chamber. Apart from that, I love it.
I am scientifically inaccurate.
If memory serves, Toriyama's done the design on all of the DQ titles... which was vastly more palatable back in the 8-bit days, when you couldn't tell how atrocious his "distinctive" character design was. He's also responsible for the aesthetic of Chrono Trigger - a game that plays great but in my opinion looks absolutely horrible: his grotesque "anatomy" and facial design seriously hampered my enjoyment of the title.
The lesson here is that a "distinctive" look and feel can alienate gamers as well as attract them - I won't play or watch anything modern that Toriyama's involved with simply because I just can't stand to look at it.
Doh! Pardon me while I commit ritual Sepuku for the sin of not reading TFA. :(
"The unicode stuff in the latest version is working fabulously well. My russian mafia friends are ecstatic."
The puff-puff girl can be found in Dragon Warrior I & II for GBC
I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
I know a friend who instead of listening to normal music, listens to old C64 music. I wouldn't mind coding all do to the songs to the Legend of Zelda. Where can I find this? I also remember some friend of mines playing some punk rock mix of the super mario brothers music.
Role playing games have traditionally offered some amazingly subtle and beautiful challenges. Like, negotiating in a free market for the things you want. Now that is a skill that a lot of people use in real life. Fast-twitch trigger-happy shoot-anything-that-moves may be useful to some people in real life, but not me!
Another challenge in RPG's has been learning the rules. With complicated ranking mechanisms involving many variables, and huge maps with dungeons-inside-dungeons, it rivals the complexity of real life. (When's the last time you tried to use public transportation? The kill-or-be-killed skills a la Halo won't help you get on the metro.)
I could go on, but basically, that's the idea. By the way, I love Dragon Quest!
"The U.S. first saw the series on the Nintendo Entertainment System as Dragon Warrior, and some of the most hardcore elements were dumbed down for our squishy American palates."
You seem to be confusing this with the Final Fantasy series. The only changes made to the first Dragon Warrior was an improvement in graphics to make it look as pretty as Dragon Quest II ("ZOMG, I can face in four directions! Look, a shoreline!"). Later games had you dragging along ghosts instead of coffins when somebody died, but Enix didn't pull any of that EasyType crap on us like Squaresoft.
Which is why it didn't sell. Dragon Quest never apologized for being Dragon Quest.
If so, have you considered the advantages of finding a slightly less prominent location from which to launch your communiques?
As others have noted, this more FF1 than DQ1. Additionally, you didn't fight ogres outside elfland; you go to the top of the peninsula just northeast of Pravoka. Due to the map design and the way the monster distribution is laid out in a grid across the map, in these two squares you find monsters from across the next continent. With decent buff skills, and the fact the Pravoka area is very early in the game, you can gain levels very quickly here.
(The Dawn of Souls port for the GBA makes this even more trivial with the addition of MP instead of static spell counts. I was able to complete the game in barely 13 hours with 999999 gold, level 60+ characters, and all the items, using this method followed by harvesting the dungeons out of order for items and exp.)
In Dragon Warrior, you could gain levels very quickly by fighting Metal Slimes, which gave tons of exp and had very little HP... but were very hard to hit.
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
...and the best arguement why many "old school" ideas should be left at home. DQ8 is simply not challenging because they embraced many old school concepts instead of washing their hands of it or improving upon them.
DQ8 combat engine is simplistic. I mean dirt simple to the point you can predict with "in your head math" whether you can win the fight or should flee before damage is even exchanged. This leaves a system where the only way one can challenge the player is by trying to use "Surprise! Your Dead!" rare super attacks or the equally rare chance that given 4 targets, the size of your party, they will all chose to hit just one. Neither of these senarios features much intelgence nor does it dictate any strategy or stance player should take (beyond "overwhelming forces"). In any event, you are left with no strategy to play with. No tactics to leverage. No action to minimize risks or maximize bonuses. Simply put: there are no real decisions in DQ8. You either determin in the first round if you can win or leave.
DQ8 tries to promote mindless "grinding". This sort of aimless wandering around hoping for random encounters is an artifact any level based system which DQ8 is strongly tied into. Nominally, grinding happens when a player "lucks out" or out flanks the game to arrive a place the game didn't content on seeing at this particular time or level. The problem with DQ8 and their guerilla style strategy is that by the time you disembark a city, travel to the dungeon entrance, work your way to the bottom of a dungeon, spending resources and energy along the way to do so, it is too late to show the player "Oops, you should have been a higher level!" Grinding should be tuned and supressed as much as possible. Tasked based quest systems give much more satisfaction than vague "see you when you get there" systems DQ8 uses.
Randomly wandering around, randonly bumping into creatures that may randomly kill you off just isn't fun. I seriously question they were fun back in the "old school" days too (I don't ever seem to remember thinking "oh joy! another random encounter" in any console RPG). We now have the knowledge and technology to actually instill some more complex logic and real challenges into games instead of relying on random acts of "fickle fate" to try to trip up players. If I wanted to play a game that featued such randomness, I would rather play poker.
DQ8 is a great looking game. The plot is sometimes amusing even if it is cheesey RPG fare. The music is a bit repetive but otherwise is awesome. I even like the touch that the SFX are old school. It is the wet dream of a designer who lived 20+ years ago who thought this is how these games should look like. The problem is we are play this game now instead of then and are left wonder "Why is this fun?"
This game has great graphics and sound, but while the gameplay is simple, it is very, very tedious due to the NONFUCKINGSTOP random battles. You reach a certain point when killing a slime isn't worth any valuable xp, yet every couple of steps another battle. Give me a fucking break.
Ben: You know what might look better on your nose? Quohog: What? Ben: [grabs Quohog's nose ring and slams him down on to the bar] THE BAR.
"In the game of life, someone always has to lose. To me, if life were fair, that someone would always be Oklahoma." -DKR
After playing this game for 50 hours, I can only say this: COR BLIMEY!
(I just wish I knew what it meant)
Actually, around the time you're powering up to buy out Elfland, there IS a section where you can fight giants! It makes gathering the gold for level 3-4 spells, new equipment, and enough heals to get the crown from the wizards in the swamp a LOT faster. Although it's true--before I knew about this, I always fought the standard creeps & ogres endlessly, unless I went hunting for those pirate things that started with a K that dropped 120 gold each (sharks weren't bad, either).
You have to go east from Elfland, and around the corner northwards until you get stuck just south of a river that splits this section off from the town where you get the boat. Or maybe I'm wrong and there's a port down there you have to sail to, but I know it's cut off from the port town and it's just south of a river. There are about 2-4 squares of ground at the furthest north point which have monsters like those near the town with the circle of sages & the silver gear.
Anyhow, it's a LOT faster (and far more dangerous...) way to get through. The sleep spell from your black mage is almost certainly required to keep giants from pounding you into oblivion. With an emulator, it becomes rather cheap, because you can SLEP the set of four giants, pound on them with level 2 spells, and have half of them dead before they even get to retalliate. Your fighter(s) can probably take a hit or two off of them, but your mages will quickly die if you let them face giants at the level 7-8 you probably are when first getting down there...
I'm "only" 25 hours into the game, but I've experienced everything the reviewer has and much much more.
;D
Despite the paper-thin plot (as it appears to me currently, at least) the game is challenging, and encourages the players to utilize tactics other than "button mashing" to get through battles.
The monsters are detailed and adorable, and the Bestiary feature allows you to look at monsters you've already fought and reply their battle animations as many times as you'd like if you just can't get enough.
The voice acting and the localization effort are top-notch. I can't remember feeling sorry for a character in recent memory except while playing DragonQuest VIII. Additionally, some of the jokes are incredible.
I'm glad I bought this game, and I am extremely happy that one of my favorite console RPG series is pulling in such stellar reviews in America. I look forward to many copies being sold so the game is re-released as part of the Greatest Hits series in 6-12 months.
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You can turn the voice acting off. The Japanese version had no voice acting at all, and was a bit better off because of that. Just turn the Voice setting to 0 in the menu and you'll not miss out on anything else. The only difference is that the prerendered cutscenes have voice encoded into them, but there are only a handful in the game anyhow.
The graphics are alright, the sound is so-so. The worst part? Storyline and no progression of character development. You litterally have to grind for hours trying to enter the first dungeon. Why do you need to go in there? Because you're forced to help some chick in the first town. You don't learn any background into many more hours into the game, you're just doing what you're told to. I wouldn't recommend playing this game at all.
Hell yes. I miss taking down that speedy Worluk
If it requires anything less than a full keyboard for control, (re: Ultimas II-V,) it's just not worth playing. ;)
I have been a huge fan of the Dragon Quest/Warrior series since the first game. I was rather worried that the 3D style would seriously take away from the original feel of the past games. I'm old school and therefore like 2D better. I did play DW 7, and while that was "kinda" 3D-ish, it's not like this one. Thankfully, the charm remains.
Now as far as level grinding goes, I've never had to spend any serious time leveling with the exception of DW 1. I don't know if spending 2 hours with no breaks just to go up one level is considered "grinding", but it sure felt like it.
In the end, I'm really happy with the game. I even got the PS2 Slime controller for it. I'm a fanboy.
Akira Toriyama has done the character design and artwork for every Dragon Quest game in the series.
:)
Yuji Horii has done the storyline and scenarios for every game in the series.
Koichi Sugiyama has done the music for every game in the series.
They, combined, are the "DQ Team", and are responsible for the entire series, having come together to create it after enjoying Wizardry and Ultima, but thinking they were too complex for the mainstream.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Quest
In addition Toriyama and Horii did quite a bit of work on Chrono Trigger -- Toriyama did the art and designs, Horii did the storyline and scenarios, and several experts from the original Final Fantasy team did the battle engine, music, etc.
That's why CT was so great -- it was basically a new spin on the Dragon Warrior series of games.
Bewarned, even though DQ8 is arguably the easiest game in the DQ series, it's still leaps and bounds above the difficulty arc of modern Final Fantasy games. If you've never played a DQ game before you're in for a treat, but you *will* die a few times.
I vaguely remember it being Dragon Quest in Japan and a few titles from that series made it to the US as the Dragon Warrior series.
I loved those Dragon Warrior games.
but is it coming to england?
First I've heard of it. That is the game, not its mind-numbing popularity.
"Waste not one watt!" - CZ
I used to love the old Dragon Warriors on the NES, DW 1-4 but after seeing the screenshots here and in other reviews and magazines, I just dont feel like there's much to build on. To me it seems like a mix between the old cartoonish arcade game Dragon Quest from the mid 80s as well as Shining in the Darkness on the Sega Genesis... am I wrong and should give it a chance?
Dragon Quest is probably an acquired taste. The original Dragon Warrior on the NES was my introduction to the genre and as such, has set the standard for me as far as what I expect from a console fantasy RPG. Fancy graphics are a plus but mean nothing without good game play.
The great thing about Dragon Quest is that it gives the option of exploration as well as the incentive -- something that is largely absent in most "modern" RPGs I've played. Most other so-called RPGs restrict you to the story. You don't have options to search or work for better equipment and abilities, you're given them when the story dictates it.
They always follow the same formula: story, dungeon, next town/location, buy the next weapon/armor upgrade (which doesn't actually do anything for you but was just put in to make it feel more role-playing), repeat. Anyone who plays these games is going to play every scenario under the exact same constraints as everyone else because of the strict linear gameplay and lack of options for customization. Two different people playing Dragon Quest can be at the same scenario with completely different equipment, levels, skills and abilities depending on how they played the game. Dragon Quest gives you choices, perhaps at the expense of an epic storyline, but it makes the gameplay very enjoyable. If you'd rather watch an interactive movie, might I suggest a post-SNES Final Fantasy game.
As usual, Zonk's got no clue what he's talking about. DQ 1-4 and 7-8 were all released here - that's 75% of the series. That's hardly "largely absent". Heck, it compares well to Final Fantasy - 2, 3, and 5 only came out within the past few years.
-Erwos
Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
The monster encouter rate for monsters too weak to damage (or help) your party is much too high. Those monsters should stay away unless called (And yes, you can call them.)
The monster treasure drop rate is WAY too low. And the skill you can get to increase it doesn't help much.
The voice acting is... well it's terrible. They should have not had voice acting and used the extra time and money to put more stuff in the world and increase interaction with NPCs (A la Morriwind.)
Occasionally the writing was heavyhanded in a very typical RPG and Anime way. It's that whole "Oh look the bad guy is gearing up to cast a spell that will destroy my party, I'll just stand here with my thumb up my ass and let him" mentality. NO! Put an arrow in him before he can launch his attack! Or "We just beat down the big bad boss without breaking a sweat, but the next scene is of us all gasping for breath while he attacks again/does a move that makes him stronger/limps off to lick his wounds" wtf?!
All in all it's a reasonably fun game that will keep you busy for a while, but I'm still holding out for the next Morrwind game.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
For those slightly more lazy but just as ignorant as me: Godwin's Law
While I loved Dragon Quest VIII, and it's upbeat tone and magical feel, Digital Devil Saga takes the crown for RPG of the Year for 2005.
"Square Enix, the company that founded the genre"?!?!?!
BS, BS and more BS. The CRPG genre was well established before Square or Enix were even founded as companies. Heck Ultima III (Richard Garrot's forth CRPG) had already been released before those companies came into being, Ultima IV was out before the first Dragon Quest, and Ultima 5 was out before the first Dragon Warrior Game.
Dragon Warrior was a dumbed down newbie to a mature and established CRPG genre when it was released.
...and I have to say I'm thoroughly pleased. Square-Enix games haven't been pulling me in lately. I don't know why but IMO lately their games have just been losing there magic. I'm glad that this game sticks to its old roots.
The FF XII demo on the other hand blows. Taking crappy MMO gameplay and trying to turn into a single RPG will not get you anywhere. Unless some major improvements occur with the battle system and the AI before release it will probably be a rental only for me.
http://kungfuchess.com/
**possibly a spoiler, but if this scenario wasn't obvious to you before, YOU'RE PLAYING THE WRONG GENRE OF GAME** That's what I said first time I fought Dhoulmagus. Still haven't beaten him...
(FF1, for those who missed out)
Mark of the Coder fades from you. You perform Opening on World of Warcraft. Warcraft crits GPA for 4. GPA dies.
Unless you're blind of course. Then you don't. You can still appreciate Yangus' English accent however.
As for MUDs, to each their own. I find them tremendously boring.
The article states "founded".
Clearly you do not know what that word means.
GameFAQs doesn't mention a European release.. Say it isn't so. I've read so much about the Dragon Force series, and I want to see what the big deal is for myself.
Old school would be Wizardry, or Ultima. Japanese games are not old school. Preschool, maybe. And no, I'm not forgetting the text games; they are in a different genre (adventure games, like Myst or King's Quest).
You want old school? You got it.
As a guy who grew up with the Dragon Warrior series and a hardcore RPG fan, I'd have to say the animeish artwork is a major turn off. The cartoonish look of the game sends me into seizures reliving my zelda artwork experiences. Being constantly reminded of DBZ makes me want to gauge my eyes out with a spork.
I don't know why people are so in love with this (imho) stupid artwork scheme. It's only traditional if you've lived in Japan and are a fan of the Dragon Quest series that birthed the US Dragon Warrior series.
If you want to see something traditional, then make a Dragon Warrior game with a modern engine. Step away from the cartoonish anime style and towards some more realism, keeping the gameplay and story arcs more or less intact. Game developers need to stop treating their player base like a bunch of fucking stupid children.
rox the sox off a blue ox!!! Everyone else, such as Final Fantasy, stole the battle system from this game to use in their own game. If your looking for a good introduction to adventures, Dragon Quest is THE game.
Hi:
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A plain old quest with *some* fighting, mystery solving, character interaction and stuff. I don't want to spend billions of hours in an on-line commuity dealing with fuckwits at a distance. Just give me a quest game for Chrissakes.
I played through the original Dragon Warrior in about 4 hours and didn't die even once. HP is at address 00C5, MP is at 00C6, attack power is at 00CC, and your equipment is at 00BE. If you want to shorten your quest to 4 hours like I did, you'll have to step up your experience a few times. Experience is at 00BA and 00BB.
That said, the game sucked ass, and would have been worse if I had played it the "right way". I've tried getting into DW2, 3, and 4, but they never held my interest past the first 10 minutes or so. Final Fantasy has kept my interest enough to keep me buying, until I realized that from here on, they're all gonna suck as bad as FF7. Long live FF3(US), king of RPG's!
Let the flamewar commence!
As a long term Dragon Warrior/Quest vetern, I couldn't help but be excited at the news of this latest title. To date, only Dragon Warrior III (Oddly enough, never sat down to play through it) and VII (Last dungeon but haven't had the time, accursed Computer Science major and DnD taking the priority all the time) remain undefeated by me. I love that the series is remaining true to its core with this latest installment and I will be delving into this excellent game in just a few days once finals are completed. I can feel my spine tingling already from the opening theme...
Now...for the downside... Ever since this game was released, I have been surrounded with "graphics junkies" who refuse to remain silent about the game. These are the same people who refused to touch Dragon Warrior VII because of its old school feel and who still voice that Star Ocean 3 was the best game ever (How anyone can claim that after the second disc and the supposed "coolest biggest plot twist ever" is beyond me). My first RPG was Ultima III and I grew up on the original Final Fantasy, I still play games of this era as well as the current...needless to say I have my share of conflicts with the Final Fantasy VII crowd. Story and gameplay are of a bit more value to me than the latest gimmick and greatest graphics.
Now...I admit that I have no claim to making said "graphics junkies" remain silent but as a fairly old schooler I do have the right to grumble and complain about them. It's like casting pearls before swine.
It's the same grumbling I claimed when Lord of the Rings went popular. It's annoying enough to have a girl convinced that Strider and Boromir are the same person, it's more annoying to have said girl argue that you (Who happens to have read the trilogy at least four times before hand...not to mention the Hobbit, and the Silmarillion) are in the wrong. I don't look forward to this phenomena in regards to Dragon Warrior. I should have know that someday the most popular RPG in Japan would somehow surge into popular culture here... Is nothing safe?
Well...at the least...I think Akira Kurosawa and StarTropics should be safe for awhile...and I'll always have Secret of Evermore....
StarTropics and Evermore will be safe for a LONG time. Both were developed in the US for American audiences. Therefore, being associated with either of them is akin to having the plague. A shame, since both were amazing titles, and Secret of Evermore's alchemy system had a lot of potential.
They removed the most of the sexual components. Remember the bath in the town of Kol? There was a puff-puff girl there that got filtered out, and so was the one in DW2. But they slipped back in on the GBC version....
I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
This is a Saturday Morning story for an RPG, which makes you feel kind of nostalgic actually, especially if you've been playing RPGs for a while and are used to the old school such as Dragon Warrior or Final Fantasy where you'd have to find a bard's lute so he could play, or a witch's broom, or whatever. I mean not every single element had to be an intricate puzzle piece so that the story barely makes any sense in the end.
But I agree with you on the point that the actual gameplay is there, and is great. There's leveling up, random battles, TONS of monsters, items, sidequests, etc. It is an RPG that concentrates on doing what RPGs are good at. Everything that is a classic quality of an RPG and has been perfected over time is present in this game. This game is not a new experimental RPG that is supposed to break out of the box and grab you, it is rather a fine-tuned implementation of what has been already established in the genre.
But personally I wouldn't change the story a bit, it keeps you interested, is soaked in the lore that has been built up since the original, and serves to keep the gameplay going. I think if they tried to make it any more complex or realistic you might actually be bored instead of entertained and really have a reason to skip them. As it is now they are fine.
Twinstiq, game news
Thats all I'm saying.
I felt like this was the first challenging RPG I've played in a long time, something sorely lacking from any FF "Push the Action button until you win" title. Random encounters may not be enjoyed by all but they are the mechanism that depletes your resources before the big boss fight...adding challenge when you cannot just throw up a tent or reach into a ridiculously giant backpack full of 9,999 mana items to recharge on the road. Also for challenge, try fighting Dhoulmagus before level 30 without min/maxing before anyone has a party heal. I am actually starting over after completing half the game because I chose to play the game for pure enjoyment with zero minmaxing, zero fighting metal slimes, etc. (I just put skill points into whatever weapon I liked the best at the time). When I got to Dhoulmagus I felt like I was getting wrecked too badly so if I *have* to min/max to beat a game well I feel like there is definitely a challenge element there missing from other titles.
I was very pleased with the minigames that are actually involved with the core gameplay (alchemy pot & monster arena). They are a variant of the core gameplay mechanic, you can work on them while pursuing the main quest, and even the beginning and midlevel rewards from them immediately benefit your game (Gambling has this trait as well). I could compare this to FFX's blitzball which took you completely out of the main game and consisted of very slow grinding up until the very end in which you got a few bonus items if I recall correctly.
Graphically, I am getting very tired of dark PS2 graphics in games such as FF, the newest Castlevania, Devil May Cry, etc. that look like they were watercolor concept art scanned in with an 80's scanner. The shadowy, overly busy details of the background in those games just serves to make everything a nondescript blur, leading to a "Where's Waldo?" effect on your character. DQ VII was a wonderful contrast to this tired PS2 style with each item singularly rendered and seemingly hand placed...leading to environments that truly are lush in detail but can also be rotated in a full three dimensions around the excellent design of the cel characters. Note also that all cinemas are rendered within the game engine, which makes for much better immersion than one of FF's CGI extravangazas that just make their in-game renders look like crap by comparison.
Attacks are graphically represented according to their power level which was very nice to see after FF's overblown Wrath of God animation summons that take 30 seconds to execute and end up hitting for 200 damage, not to mention you acquire them at the same time as your copper sword equivalent in many cases.
Character development was very customizable without needless complexity added for graphical flash (FFX Sphere Grid anyone?), and the characters handle very differently from each other. They don't end up as practically the same character as in many FF titles with everyone knowing all the same skills.
I also appreciated the lighthearted fairy tale quality of this story, something which I find sorely lacking in many modern titles. (Think Prince of Persia for PS2 versus the later ones and any character like Dante or Lulu) I don't need to be the Ultimate Darky Dark Shinma of AntiHeroic Darkness to satisfy my testosterone in games anymore. The stories have a simple human element which is totally natural and believable, and they really detail each character before they just appear in the party. The voice acting is not only plentiful, but superb. There is the occasional wrong inflection or amateur in there reading, but overall top-notch.
By the way, I absolutely loathe Dragonball Z and its art but the egghead foreheads and dracula hairstyles of DBZ seem to have been toned down for this game. So if you are a DBZ hater like me don't let that stop you from checking this title out!
The hardest part of designing a game is creating moods. We use sound and visuals and story to place players into moods that help make the game enjoyable.
Excellent examples of moods are:
NES: Legend of Zela, alone and exploring an unknown world
PS: Persona, Mysterious and spooky
None of the DQ series really ever gave a mood that I could relate to. Ultima on the other hand, Garriot had an knack for moods in those games, largely after Exodus using the Virtues as a moral backdrop to drive the moods. Sadly JPRG's (Japanese RPG) largely are lost in translation and the ability for players to relate to the content. Where did all the North American RPG developers go?
-=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
Well, if you're emulating, get a good translation of DQ6 (The plot of 5 wasn't as good). Otherwise try and find DQ7 for the PSX. Although I tend to agree with you about FF.
He effected a bored affect.
If I recall correctly, Dragon Quest I was the second console RPG (the first being some obscure Atari 2600 attempt that required a special peripheral) and was the first successful console RPG. As such, yes it is a genre founder, that of console RPG's-- back then consoles were considered very different then computers (and were).
As a testiment to its popularity over time, Dragon Quest has the strange distinction in Japan as being the only game series that may not be legally released on a weekday unless that day is a holiday!
The game lacks any substance whatsoever. It's just pretty. The story is so weak that its virtually nonexistent, and the classic dragon warrior menus and spell names have been completely changed. There is also no challenge. All you do is follow the path to the town, do some stuff and then follow the path to the next town. Do youself a favor and rent the game before you buy it to see if you are really going to like it. Dragon Warrior 7 was 100 times better even though it had only snes graphics.