Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

"Dragon Quest VIII, as a modern day manifestation of a classic NES era style RPG, is a game I can enthusiastically recommend to most RPG fans."

INTRODUCTION

As some of you may already know, Dragon Quest VIII is a game that many fans praise for being old school. Being the eighth (gasp) installment in a classic RPG series, this isn't much of a surprise. Dragon Quest VIII stays true to the formula that has made it so successful in Japan. In fact, Dragon Quest VIII became so successful in Japan that they made it illegal for Enix (now known as Square-Enix) to release new Dragon Quest games on weekdays because so many people were skipping work/school to get these games. Sadly, the Dragon Quest series has never done that well over here in North America. In fact, due to issues with a certain D&D game sharing the same title, they had to change the series name to Dragon Warrior. Enix temporarily gave up on Dragon Warrior and didn't release Dragon Warrior V or VI here in North America, however they returned in the Playstation era with Dragon Warrior VII. This game flopped in sales sadly, not because of the actual game play (which was actually very good) but because of the graphics. People in North America just were not buying the whole 2D character sprite thing, especially when there was many other RPGs to choose from that were completely 3D (sadly a very important factor in many gamers' buying decisions at the time).

Enix knew they had to take a step forward in the PS2 era, and establish a large fan base in North America. I think this is one reason why they decided to make Dragon Quest VIII fully 3D. Many hardcore fans of the series were skeptical after seeing so many classic games get marred in the transition from 2D to 3D *cough* CASTLEVANIA *cough*. Well Dragon Quest VIII is finally here in North America, without the Dragon Warrior title many North American gamers may recognize, and so far it has been a complete success. Now that we got some of the history out of the way, let's move on to the actual analysis of the game.

GRAPHICS 10/10

You really can't get much better than this when it comes to cel-shaded graphics. The character animations are perfect, the frame rate never dips, the environments are beautiful and enormous, and the towns are detailed and unique. Most importantly, however, is how great the graphics are at corresponding to the theme of the game. This game is supposed to be a light hearted journey filled with adventure, and the graphics represent that perfectly.

The battle graphics are just as gorgeous as the radiating graphics executed in the towns and over world. The enemies are designed to not only fit the theme of the game, but also fit with the mood of the series as a whole. It's wonderful to see classic enemies such as the celebrated “Slime” come to life in full 3D. Old enemies of the Dragon Quest series are revived and given new glory, while new enemies make their appearance and astonish fans of the series as well as casual gamers.

SOUND/MUSIC 9/10

The music in this game is great, however it's somewhat repetitive. The more important stuff such as the battle themes and the town themes are done well, however most of the other music isn't anything memorable; most importantly though, the music of Dragon Quest VIII stays true to the Dragon Quest theme. One new feature of the North American version of this game is that the synthesized music has been replaced with orchestrated music. This is both good and bad, as players of the Japanese version claim that this is the culprit for the added half-second it takes to load areas, a small price to pay for most fans of the series.

The sound effects get the job done, but aren't anything extraordinary. Fans of the series will immediately recognize some of the sound effects, as they are the same as those used in past Dragon Quest games. For example, the high pitched “beep” used in the first Dragon Quest (and all Dragon Quest games that I know of) that accompanies the dodging of an attack remains in Dragon Quest VIII. This creates a pretty neat and nostalgic effect. This is definitely a plus for fans of the series, although people new to the series might find it annoying.

GAME PLAY 9/10

This is where this game gets all of its praise for being “old school.” Dragon Quest VIII plays almost exactly like the old NES era RPGs. Dragon Quest VIII presents you with a typical turn based battle system, in which each combatant has their own set of skills and spells at their disposal. This game doesn't stray very far from the formula that made its predecessors so successful. This can be a good and bad thing. Fans of the series will probably be glad that the recipe that made the first Dragon Quest games so much fun wasn't messed with, however new-age RPG fans who are used to the unique and fresh battle systems we've seen in games such as Shadow Hearts and Magna Carta will probably find this battle system repetitive, and quite frankly, stale.

The one small twist that makes combat slightly different from other Dragon Quest games is that the “Class” system, in which your character would pick a “job” such as Priest (healer) or Knight (fighter), has been replaced with a skills system. Every time one of your characters level up that character can gain skill points that you can distribute into certain skills. Some of these skills are your standard stuff (Swordsmanship, Axe wielding, etc.), while others are more unique. Each character will have a unique skill that kind of goes along with their personality. For example, the main character has a skill called Courage, and putting skill points into Courage will allow the main character to learn exclusive moves and spells. While another character will have a Sex Appeal skill, in which she'll learn special skills that use her “sexiness” to distract and charm enemies.

While the combat may be fun, it's not what gives Dragon Quest VIII its charm. The real fun in Dragon Quest VIII is exploring the gigantic world. I've never seen a world map larger than Dragon Quest VIII's, and there are so many things to discover that at times it can be overwhelming. There's a myriad of side quests to keep you busy which is always a plus in RPGs. One gripe some people may have with this game (and the reason I don't give this game a 10/10 in this category) is that it can get monotonous at times. While you're constantly finding new places as you progress through the main story, the battles and overall objectives of the game can get repetitive. You're basically just chasing the “evil force” around the world for a majority of the game, and that turns off some gamers. This personally didn't bother me however, because I was so enthralled with the story and world of the game.

As for difficulty, this game isn't very difficult however there are some tough segments of the game, and you will most likely have to set some time aside to level up your characters before tackling the more challenging boss battles.

STORY 8/10

The story in Dragon Quest VIII isn't exactly original. In fact, it's pretty much the same thing story we've seen in many classic RPGs, with different settings and characters.

It starts off with you (the hero) doing your job as a castle guard when suddenly everything around you starts to go nuts. An evil and powerful jester named Dhoulmagus has broken into the castle and taken the ancient treasure that the castle has guarded for ages. The treasure is a staff that grants tremendous power to the user, and with that power Dhoulmagus turns the king into a monster and the princess into a horse. He then casts a curse upon the castle, freezing all the castle's inhabitants in time. You are the only survivor, the only one who miraculously resisted the curse. You are the only one that can hunt Dhoulmagus down and save your kingdom.

As you can probably see from the formulaic introduction, the story is nothing unique, and although there are plot twists, they are predictable. So why do I give this game a fairly high score in the story category? Well although this game may not have a deep story, the characters are very well developed and the overall setting of the game is very absorbing because of the greatly detailed environments. The characters are likable, and even the random NPCs in the towns have cool stuff to say. There's just so much detail when it comes to characters, it seems like at least 75% of the NPCs in town are doing something unique. It really makes the world come alive.

VALUE 10/10

This is one of the most important categories to me because I don't like to spend that much money on video games. When I get a $50 game, I want to make sure I get at least 40 hours out of it. Well this game went ahead and doubled my expectations. Yep, I got 80 hours out of this game (in one play through) and I plan to play through it again in the future. This game has a main quest with an approximate length of 60 hours. There are many side quests that add even more length to the game. Beating the main quest just opens up even more side quests. Unless you like this game a lot though (like me) you really don't have another reason to play through the entire game again. There's no “New Game+” mode or “unlockables” to earn for beating the game multiple times.

CONCLUSION 9/10

I recommend this game to anyone who's played an NES era RPG and enjoyed it. This game is basically a 3D incarnation of an NES era RPG. If you're into RPGs but don't really like old school games, I'd recommend renting this game first or finding a demo, you still might enjoy this game. If you're not an RPG fan, then, well, if you've never tried an RPG before this game isn't a bad first RPG, so I recommend renting it and seeing if you like it. Overall, Dragon Quest VIII is an excellent game, however it may not appeal to everyone.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/26/05