Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

"Charming and traditional once again"

Dragon Quest VIII marks the entrance of the series into the Playstation 2. It's also the first game in the series with completely revamped visuals (now fully 3D and nicely cel-shaded). And…it's the first game in the series to be titled Dragon Quest in the United States (it was “Dragon Warrior” before). Dragon Quest VIII is essentially an old-school styled RPG with modern graphics.

Like the games before it, the overall storyline in this is neither too complex nor layered. The story being told is romantic and charming, with the occasional somber moment here and there. I found the main cast of characters quite likeable. The hero is mute as always, handy with knightly swords and carries a pet mouse in his pocket. Yangus, the tough but warm-hearted guy of the group, packs a battleaxe and speaks with a slangy dialect. Jessica's the busty, vital lady mage who also knows how to lash a whip. Angelo's the refined, pretty boy womanizer who wears a rapier on his belt. Ultimately the story has you, the hero and your companions saving the world from evil forces that threaten to destroy it.

This game is among the prettiest looking games on the Playstation 2. The cel-shading engine created by Level-5 is absolutely remarkable. Akira Toriyama's colorful character designs were transferred to in-game models without fail. The over world is huge and lush, the most grand landscapes and oceans I've seen for a console RPG. Towns are extremely detailed and beautiful (especially at night). Animation flows like water and with the cel-shaded visuals, it really feels like you're playing a cartoon. Battle animations are spectacular; this game displayed some of the most impressive looking spells and attacks I have ever seen in a video game. At times, characters and monsters display some of the most hilarious behaviors during battle (ex: a monkey scratching its ass, Yangus dancing around merrily).

Dragon Quest VIII retains many of the series game play traits and introduces some new things. One of which is that the battles are no longer in 100% first person view. The battles start out like normal, a full view of all the enemies. Your characters are actually seen attacking or casting spells when it's their turn to do so. And the battles are random encounters as always of course. Tension, a skill known as Psyche Up in the previous games, it's now battle option. Everytime a character tensions, he/she gets stronger and stronger. If a character attacks after psyching up, his/her tension returns to normal. When the state of high tension is reached, it makes the character turn a bright purple (i.e.the ‘Super Saiyan' form everyone's been talking about) and attack power is greatly heightened. Other than that, the actual battle system itself is relatively unchanged from the previous installments.

As always leveling up prior to entering a new area is a necessity as this game can get difficult if training is neglected. There are also many treasure chests strewn throughout the overworld for you to open, some require keys and some don't.

Dungeons are standard like the games of past, with treasures to find, plenty of monsters to fight, puzzles to solve and usually with a boss idly waiting for you in the end. Puzzles were very easy and can be done without any guidance. Bosses are fairly easy in the beginning, but bosses later on can get really tough. Some good old-fashioned leveling up always nullifies the difficulty of the bosses.

The world of Dragon Quest VIII is among the biggest I ever played in. There's much exploration to be done and many hours would be spent doing so.

The Day/Night feature is also present, like in the newer Zelda games and Dark Cloud 2. Certain events can only be witnessed or triggered when it's nighttime and more vicious monsters pop out to attack you as well.

Character classes and jobs are gone in favor of a new skill learning system. Every time a character is goes up in level he/she receives a certain amount of points (350 points in total, from level 1-99). You can distribute those points into a skill a character has such as sword, spear whip, axe or bow. The more points you put into those skills, the stronger the skill becomes and the character learns a new ability (ex: Flame Slash, Zing) or gains a trait (ex: Sword attack power rises by 25, chances of landing a critical hit with a bow rises, etc.). Sometimes maxing out two certain skills can get you a special skill (ex: maxing out Sword and Courage can get you Gigagash). Each skill takes 99 points to max out.

The biggest addition to game play is the alchemy pot. You can mix 2 (later on 3) items to make a new, sometimes better item (ex: Herb + Herb = Strong Medicine, Iron Nail + Boomerang = Reinforced Boomerang). The time it takes for the item to be completed from mixing is measured by the miles you have traveled (in other words, how many steps you take). Some of the best equipment in the game can only be acquired from the alchemy

The Monster Arena makes a return in this game. You pit a team of three monsters up against another team of three in the arena for three battles straight. You have no control over what actions your monsters take. After a certain event in the game, you can seek out Notorious monsters throughout the world to join your monster team (Dragon Quest actually started this monster catching idea before Pokemon was even conceived). Notorious monsters are easily identified, as they don't appear in random battles and actually appear on the over world as a person would. There are 6 classes in the Monster Arena. Each class is more difficult than the last one. And nifty prizes await you each time you win a class for the first time.

Casinos are also back. Two are in the game, and both are quick and risky ways to make money. Some of the best equipment in the game are also prizes that can be only won at the casino so you'd want to try your luck.

Mini Medals (Tiny Medals in the previous games) return and as always there's a crap load of them strewn throughout the world for you to find. You find them in treasure chests, barrels, pots, drawers all over the place. You can trade them in at a certain place and reap some nice rewards.

One thing I noticed was the name changes in spells and monsters (ex: Metaly to Metal Slime, Vivify to Zing, etc.). At first I was a bit ticked off about these name changes, but I eventually didn't care and if you're a DQ/DW fan still angry about this trivial matter, you shouldn't be.

Dragon Quest VIII is also the first in the series to feature voice acting. I'm glad that the voice actors were English rather than American, as they suited the game better. This game had the best dubbing I ever heard in a Japanese RPG, it's flipping great. Each voice actor portrayed his/her character extremely well. Especially notable are the voices for Yangus, Morrie, Jessica, Angelo and King Trode.

Koichi Sugiyama's music is fully orchestrated for the US release of the game. Disappointingly, very few of his tracks were really ear-catching. The only song I found somewhat nice is the over world theme which is pretty atmospheric and catchy at the same time. Familiar tracks such as the main theme and the continue/new game menu song are heard once more. Sound effects are nice, now devoid of 16-bit quality and have been completely modernized which is a good thing.

An average gamer would be able to finish in a quick playthrough in a 50-60 hours, the length of an average Japanese RPG. If you were to dabble a bit more in the game such as trying your luck at the casino, or playing with the alchemy pot, you'll probably finish in 70-80 hours. For 100% completion, this game would rival Dragon Warrior VII in length.

Long-time fans of the Dragon Warrior/Quest series should buy this without any question. This game is a nice addition to any series newcomer's game library. Anyone who is not fond of this style of gameplay should steer clear from it as it's chock-full of it.

All in all, Dragon Quest was a great gaming experience. Not spectactular, but great and definitely no horrible.

Pros:

+Beautiful visuals and animation
+Likeable characters
+Good old fashioned RPG gameplay
+Once the story gets moving, it's easier to get drawn in
+Alchemy pot is a nice addition
+A huge world to explore
+Great voice-overs

Cons:

-Average soundtrack
-Dungeons pose little challenge
-New skill system is a bit “meh”
-This game is NOT the ideal game for some people

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/05/06, Updated 02/10/06