First of all, let’s be clear: this particular port doesn’t really deserve a 5/5 rating. We all know that, graphically, it’s quite lacking when compared to the original release on PS2, and the western release was plagued with a MIDI soundtrack, that doesn’t even come close to how the orchestrated version sounds and feels. Voices are also a bit compressed, and the strictly text-based menu navigation can be a bit confusing at times.
That being said… the game itself blew away every one of my expectations, and even if not as beautiful as the original, it’s still absolutely gorgeous on a 3DS screen, and how it plays makes you forget about how much was lost in the visuals department. Having that huge, open world to explore right in my hands was something else by itself.
I always knew DQ8 was going to be good once I got to it, I just wasn’t expecting to fall in love for it. It was the first time I felt the need to grind every character up to lv. 99 in a JRPG not only because I wanted to do every post-game challenge (which I ended up doing), but also to extend my playtime, since I simply didn’t want the game to end.
Yeah, this is a Dragon Quest game, and it definitely feels like one. The story is nothing that fancy, the gameplay mechanics are quite simplistic and very straightforward, and you will be doing exactly what you would expect from a typical JRPG experience. What makes it that good, then?
How it’s executed.
Even with a simple story, the game presents you with an absolutely lovely cast of characters, and the pacing was just perfect, IMO.
The game still follows the classic DQ structure, with linearity in the first part and complete open-world freedom (mostly) once you get the ship. But, after playing the first 5 games in the franchise, I don’t really know how to pinpoint how special is the portrayal of the events in this particular one, since they all felt so natural to me that I lost awareness to it, I guess.
I can safely say, though, that the characters themselves play a huge part in it, and the voice acting contributed in getting to know and love each one of them, even the bad guys.
Mechanically, still very simple. I saw people here bashing on the combat, calling it shitty and shallow. Well, if one’s willing to dive into a DQ game, one should be aware of how this series are about keeping traditions alive.
I, for example, am a huge fan of complex, deep and punishing combat in JRPGs. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne still has my favourite combat in any JRPG I’ve ever played. But Dragon Quest is all about familiarity, simplicity, and there’s an undeniable charm in it. I also don’t think it’s appropriate to simply label it as shallow, since there’s a lot of variety in combat especially in the late game, even more with the skill points and tension mechanic present in this one, that has a huge impact in battle strategy, especially on bosses.
DQ8 has it all and, combined to how the game feels, looks and sounds, you have one of the finest examples of how a JRPG should aim to be in its core: fun in every aspect of it.
Do yourself a favour, though, and, after hacking your 3DS (which, come on, you should’ve already done that), apply a mod to restore the orchestral soundtrack back into the game.
Koichi Sugiyama’s compositions are very simple, but his work in DQ8 has to be one of the most consistently good throughout the entire franchise, and the orchestral arrangement DOES make a big impact on how every bit of it feels. It wouldn’t be so soothing to explore the overworld if it wasn’t for the music.
Speaking of the overworld, it was another of the triumphs of this game. While traditional JRPGs (even ones in the PS2 era) present overworlds as a static hub to get to towns and dungeons, a huge part of DQ8 comes with it’s overworld and how much it encourages exploration. Having that huge 3D map to explore, full of landscapes, treasure chests and (in this 3DS version) Akira Toriyama’s monsters roaming everywhere made it, to me, a much more enjoyable experience than just having a top-down view map to move between towns.
The main campaign of this game is fun, with a lovely pacing, but the post-game content (the Dragovian Trials and Memories Lane) are where the meat of the gameplay are, and if you felt that the game was too simple or too easy, do yourself a favour and face these challenges. They are worth it, and the true ending you can get after them is just a bonus.
Then, you have all that and the many exclusive extras of this version, all neatly packed up in a handheld experience. It’s hard to get much better than this in my experience.
DQ8 was a worthwhile experience through and through. Not me favourite, but certainly amongst my favourite JRPGs ever, and I think everyone should try it.
That being said… the game itself blew away every one of my expectations, and even if not as beautiful as the original, it’s still absolutely gorgeous on a 3DS screen, and how it plays makes you forget about how much was lost in the visuals department. Having that huge, open world to explore right in my hands was something else by itself.
I always knew DQ8 was going to be good once I got to it, I just wasn’t expecting to fall in love for it. It was the first time I felt the need to grind every character up to lv. 99 in a JRPG not only because I wanted to do every post-game challenge (which I ended up doing), but also to extend my playtime, since I simply didn’t want the game to end.
Yeah, this is a Dragon Quest game, and it definitely feels like one. The story is nothing that fancy, the gameplay mechanics are quite simplistic and very straightforward, and you will be doing exactly what you would expect from a typical JRPG experience. What makes it that good, then?
How it’s executed.
Even with a simple story, the game presents you with an absolutely lovely cast of characters, and the pacing was just perfect, IMO.
The game still follows the classic DQ structure, with linearity in the first part and complete open-world freedom (mostly) once you get the ship. But, after playing the first 5 games in the franchise, I don’t really know how to pinpoint how special is the portrayal of the events in this particular one, since they all felt so natural to me that I lost awareness to it, I guess.
I can safely say, though, that the characters themselves play a huge part in it, and the voice acting contributed in getting to know and love each one of them, even the bad guys.
Mechanically, still very simple. I saw people here bashing on the combat, calling it shitty and shallow. Well, if one’s willing to dive into a DQ game, one should be aware of how this series are about keeping traditions alive.
I, for example, am a huge fan of complex, deep and punishing combat in JRPGs. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne still has my favourite combat in any JRPG I’ve ever played. But Dragon Quest is all about familiarity, simplicity, and there’s an undeniable charm in it. I also don’t think it’s appropriate to simply label it as shallow, since there’s a lot of variety in combat especially in the late game, even more with the skill points and tension mechanic present in this one, that has a huge impact in battle strategy, especially on bosses.
DQ8 has it all and, combined to how the game feels, looks and sounds, you have one of the finest examples of how a JRPG should aim to be in its core: fun in every aspect of it.
Do yourself a favour, though, and, after hacking your 3DS (which, come on, you should’ve already done that), apply a mod to restore the orchestral soundtrack back into the game.
Koichi Sugiyama’s compositions are very simple, but his work in DQ8 has to be one of the most consistently good throughout the entire franchise, and the orchestral arrangement DOES make a big impact on how every bit of it feels. It wouldn’t be so soothing to explore the overworld if it wasn’t for the music.
Speaking of the overworld, it was another of the triumphs of this game. While traditional JRPGs (even ones in the PS2 era) present overworlds as a static hub to get to towns and dungeons, a huge part of DQ8 comes with it’s overworld and how much it encourages exploration. Having that huge 3D map to explore, full of landscapes, treasure chests and (in this 3DS version) Akira Toriyama’s monsters roaming everywhere made it, to me, a much more enjoyable experience than just having a top-down view map to move between towns.
The main campaign of this game is fun, with a lovely pacing, but the post-game content (the Dragovian Trials and Memories Lane) are where the meat of the gameplay are, and if you felt that the game was too simple or too easy, do yourself a favour and face these challenges. They are worth it, and the true ending you can get after them is just a bonus.
Then, you have all that and the many exclusive extras of this version, all neatly packed up in a handheld experience. It’s hard to get much better than this in my experience.
DQ8 was a worthwhile experience through and through. Not me favourite, but certainly amongst my favourite JRPGs ever, and I think everyone should try it.