Dragon Quest 8 - the first old school

nitzmoff

In the wake of all this next gen blargity blarg I decided to pick up the new Dragon Quest (formerly the Dragon Warrior franchise stateside). It's very good.

It's essentially an NES rpg in gameplay with one of the best presentations I've ever seen in a game. The Toriyama art has never been stronger and the gameplay, while repetitive is gradually addictive.

If you're a fan of the real old school in JRPG's, pick this one up. It's their swan song.

KDR_11k

It supposedly contains a lot of grind, can you confirm that? If that's true I'll stay far away, level grinding isn't my idea of what a ROLE playing game should be about.

JKim3

Man, I couldn't get past how boring it was. I'll admit, I only played for a couple hours, but I didn't care enough to invest the time into what was so mind-numbingly boring. Sure, the story may be great later on (one of my main reasons I play through RPGs), but the graphics completely lacked style. Sure, it looks very cool in screenshots, but when it moves, it's boring.

I really hate that extra step they put into searching barrels and jars for items. I'm guessing you have to spend 2 seconds picking it up and then 2 more to drop and break it for puzzle reasons, but that was a very poor choice to have that a requirement for the objects that weren't for puzzles.

I know they were going for an oldskool feeling, but I just don't have the taste for that anymore.

However, I kind of enjoyed the FF12 demo. The Belias super-attack was pretty cool looking.

seantree

meh, bought DQ8 and Magna Carta on the same dayu and just sold them both on ebay. only bought DQ8 for the FF demo though. I did play a few minutes of it until I realized that they were gonna force me to lvl up before I could make it through the first dungeon I always thought the first encounters etc.. were meant to assist the player with gaining those first few lvls and get aquainted with the game. As for Magna Carta, I thought it looked great and was drawn in by the fact that it was Atlus bringing it here and I love the characters designers work. This game was another let down. The battle system was cool, but I just could not get past the damn loading times. Perhaps MC2 will resolve this. Anyway, I'm off for some more Mario Kart DS. That's probably the best 35 bucks I've ever spent on a game. Oh, as for the FF12 demo, I was put off at first but then on the 2nd play I loved it. I'm hoping for good stuff from this one.

nitzmoff

Oh yes, there will be grinding. Again, this is a nostalgic romp. Although JKim, I couldn't disagree more with you about the graphics. They are nothing but style. It's why this game is so appealing to me. Lots of time it feels like your playing a cartoon.

Again though, it's absolutely nothing revolutionary. It's a glitzy recreation of what I lost so many hours to as a kid. I'm fine with that.

Slayerjerman

I dont think anyone is more of a DW/DQ fan than I... After working on DW7, i was worried DQ8 was going to be a huge pile of crap...*phew* I am glad i was so wrong - DQ8 fucking rocks. The visual style is great and the overall feel is dead on.

Cons:
Loading times are slowish, battles are kinda slowish, entering and exiting combat is slow as the load times drag down the gameplay...found myself needing a break from the loading times and level grinding after only an hour and a half...World is gianormous and easy to get lost in...

i'd easily give it a hearty 7.5/10, even 8/10 if the loading times were faster.

seantree

I will agree on the production quality being tops in DQ8. I usually do not mind grinding, but when the grind involves the load times as stated above it becomes more tedious than fun. It's a solid title but I'm assuming the non existent load times on the DS has spoiled me lately(not comparing the games just stating that I've been playing nothing but DS lately.) making my tolerance for any sort of delay in gameplay minimal. That, and my many hours of grinding in WoW probably hurt me also. oh well, have fun with it. seems like a great game. I'm sure I'll eventually give it a go, but I need to work on my patience

malcolm

I am fucking hating this game! Could Enix make this game any more frustrating, the first boss destroyed me in two turns! And there is no save point before a boss so now I have to start over from town and lose progress. This game plays exactly like the original dragon warrior on nes, if you enjoy walking in a circle leveling your character for hours before you can fight the first boss this game is definately for you!

nitzmoff

The first part is a bit rough, but it does get much smoother after that first boss. However, the game, much like the old NES versions, is very unforgiving. You have to remember all the old rules like not to cross bridges unprepared as stronger encounters reside on the otherside.

Personally, between it being a holiday weekend and my having oodles of free time before I start my new job, this little game is just what I need. Feels like I'm in the fourth grade all over again.

Slayerjerman

Thats the problem with kids these days, expecting a quicksave/quickload feature or a save point every 3 inches..

Im a good 13 hours into this, level 23 and having a blast. Just spent the extra 10~15 mins for an extra level or 2 and you are set. (FYI - im using my main hero with the boomerang skills and its a cakewalk)

One thing I do dislike at the moment is the alchemy pot...another damn gimmick to make the gameplay longer..so frustrating finding recipes and the proper ingrediants ;(

nitzmoff

Slayer-

http://www.dragonquest8.org/content/alchemy/

Use the find on page function of whatever browser you use for the item in question. Huge time saver.

KDR_11k

Thats the problem with kids these days, expecting a quicksave/quickload feature or a save point every 3 inches..

A savepoint every 10-15 minutes is sufficient, any longer and I'm tempted to stop playing if I die before reaching a savepoint. Playing parts you've played before again isn't fun.