Article - Best RPG of last generation... DQ8?

[Akanbe-]

I'm somewhat surprised to see so many people mention Dragon Quest 8.  I have never played this game other than watching a friend complete the first cave (then get lost in the town) and a different friend fight some giant fish on a ship. I think one of the reasons why I never bought it was because I heard the game was around 80 hours and I felt like I would never finish a standard-fare RPG that was that long.  However, this game is incredibly cheap on Amazon and after I finish Star Ocean, I'm highly considering whipping out the PS2 because I can't think of anything else RPG wise coming up until I buy a PS3.

Is this game really that good?  I played Dragon Quest 4 and while I enjoyed it, I think I enjoyed the old-school aspect of it more than anything.  Is there really anything that Dragon Quest 8 does to differentiate itself from Dragon Quest 4?  Anyone care to sell me on the game?

[magusgs]

If you like old-school RPG's, you'll probably like Dragon Quest 8 (having liked a previous game in the series never hurts either).  That said, I didn't really think it was anything special, although it kept me entertained for its duration.  It was a cartoony, traditional-style RPG that reminded me of a SNES game with a fresh coat of paint.  Dark Cloud 2 is another similar game that people raved over and didn't strike me as anything special.  Like anything else it's just a certain taste, I guess.

[Eusis]

I think the biggest reason I liked DQVIII was that it was closer to how I imagined JRPGs would become after seeing those first screenshots of Skies of Arcadia. It's kind of like an alternative evolution of the JRPG, working on a more fully realized world to explore rather than concentrating on being movie/anime like and presenting the game world in such a fashion (fixed, cinematic camera angles). Anyways, with how cheap it is I'd say it's worth a shot, even if it takes forever to complete wouldn't you arguably get your money's worth after just 20-ish?

[Akanbe-]

@magusgs - personally I adored Dark Cloud 2.  It had more to do with the crafting system and the dungeons/battles though than anything else.

@Eusis - A gigantic world does sound interesting.  You're right about getting my money's worth.  I didn't take a long look but it was selling for 7-10 dollars plus shipping.  Assuming those are in decent shape, absolutely.  If I get an hour for every dollar I spend, I'm usually happy.

[magusgs]

I think the biggest reason I liked DQVIII was that it was closer to how I imagined JRPGs would become after seeing those first screenshots of Skies of Arcadia. It's kind of like an alternative evolution of the JRPG, working on a more fully realized world to explore rather than concentrating on being movie/anime like and presenting the game world in such a fashion (fixed, cinematic camera angles). Anyways, with how cheap it is I'd say it's worth a shot, even if it takes forever to complete wouldn't you arguably get your money's worth after just 20-ish?

One of my problems is I'm a completionist.  Give me too much to do and I get irritated, because I feel compelled to do it all whether I want to or not.  Dragon Quest VIII had a lot to do, but it was manageable at least.  Final Fantasy games drive me nuts, particularly due to their habit of including irrationally hidden extras and missable content.  I gave up on XII in disgust when I realized I'd missed out on the Genji steals in the first Gilgamesh fight and had just overwritten my save file (hurray for allowing multiple steals without making the player aware of it).

[Aeolus]

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[SonicDeathMonkey]

I love DQ8... hands down one of my favorite RPGs of all time.... I really love the simplicity and traditionalism of it, and the graphics are just amazing... just enough sidequests and such to keep you busy... to me, it's really the perfect RPG.

[jphussey]

Read some of my reviews on the site. If you tend to agree with them, you will be Obsessed with DQVIII.

If you don't think I know what I'm talking about, then you're probably served with something else...

JP

[Raze]

DQ8 was so old that it was new. Most games tone down the fantasy and fairy tale elements to them these days and what there is is taken for granted. Magic isn't magical. In DQ8, it is.

And then they really polished things, visually on level 5s parts by making everything look great and having the monsters really come alive and audibly on the localization's part, adding the orchestrated score and the fitting British voice acting. And of course you've got a good game on top of that so it all adds up to the total package.

[D-Rider]

I hate all the Dragon Quest games...except for number eight.  There's just something about it, man.  I'm not even sure I can enunciate what I like about it.  It's a solid package from beginning to end.  It's just way too long for its own good; I blow through games far faster than most people, but it took me a good sixty hours to beat it.  As such, I'll probably never play it all the way through again, but I certainly don't regret going through it once. :P

[Lard]

I'm in the minority here then. I thought it was dull as dishwater and more generic than a Tales game.

The only game I hated more than DQ8 was Radiata Stories. Dull, dull, dull.

[Saviour]

The only thing I liked about DQVIII from what I played was the battle system and exploration.  It felt like a grand world up to the point I played it, but that's all I liked.  Characters seem to be ripped straight from a Saturday morning cartoon and so was the story, the British accent voice acting didn't help matters either since it made the game seem like a joke.  Uhhh... enemy monsters reminded me of Spongebob rejects each having large circle eyes.  If it had a makeover that was more serious, I would have really liked it the actual game system.  Not my cup of tea.

[Wild Armor]

Radiata Stories reminded me of a bad comedy sitcom.
Dark Cloud 2 had great music, kept me interested, and I'm a fool when it comes to cel-shaded games.

I never played any Dragon Quest game, only Dragon Warrior Monster for the Game Boy. I want to give DQ8 a try, but I just get a bad vibe when I hear the name.

[Lord Scottish]

Of the three DQ games I've played (III, VII, VIII) I actually like VIII the least. Don't get me wrong, I like VIII just fine, but I love the other two - VII in particular is probably among my top 5 RPGs of all time.

Contradicting something that was said earlier in this thread, I think VIII's battles do drag a bit compared to previous DQs.

[Robert Boyd]

Of the three DQ games I've played (III, VII, VIII) I actually like VIII the least. Don't get me wrong, I like VIII just fine, but I love the other two - VII in particular is probably among my top 5 RPGs of all time.

And here I thought DQ7 was universally considered to be the worst game in the series.  My mistake.