Dragon Quest VIII

[Kamiko]

Was this game any good?
I'm mainly buying it for the FF XII download involved in the process but I don't want a sucky game...

[Necronopticous]

Yes, it's surprisingly good.

It is a little convoluted at some points but beside that it is definately the most accessible and generally enjoyable game in the series in my opinion. Beautiful graphics and Akira Toriyama's awesome character designs don't hurt, either.

[Kamiko]

Thank you very much! Glad I didn't waste money then!

[crazymoronx]

I don't see how a Dragon Quest game was "surprisingly" good... if anything it's expected to be great.

Anyway.. I haven't played the whole thing, but so far it's great.

It has issues though, don't be fooled.

Unskipable text. This might not seem like much, but you try bringing a couple people back to life, making stuff in the alchemy pot, and saving your game, and you'll quickly be frustrated.

Loading times can be a pain at times. Especially when boarding the ship.

Other than those minor points, it's great so far.

[RSL]

Kamiko, I really enjoy the game. I have to warn you about a few things though. It's quite a bit harder than your average final fantasy game. There are times where you're going to have to stop and just level up for quite some time. Levelling up takes quite awhile and is essential to progressing in the game. Also, it is essential to get all the best equipment each time you have the opportunity. However, you rarely if ever had enough gold on you to upgrade everyone, even if you sell all the old stuff (and a lot of times, you don't want to sell the stuff because you can use it in the alchemy pot.)

I think it's a great, great game, but it's definitely an "old-school" RPG. I think that is one of the things that makes this game great, but some people can be turned off by that.

For the record, I bought the game because of the game, not the demo that came with it. I tried the demo and I absolutely hated it. I mailed it off to rubah so she could try it out. She seemed to like it. So it really all depends on personal taste.

[Havoc]

Is DQVIII better if you have the Slime Controller with it?

[RSL]

I doubt it really matters what controller you use.

[The Man]

The slime controller is so tempting. I'd rather use my money on games I haven't already played, though.

I have this, but my friend still has my PS2. I'll probably get it back next week. Looking forward to it lots; I haven't heard from anyone who's been disappointed yet.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Kurt Kalata has you covered.

[The Man]

haha. I can't say I agree with most of his points, though; the main reason RPGs have been getting marked down lately in reviews is because their story/character development/battle system/everything but the graphics sucks. People who mark RPGs down because they have to level up probably don't really like playing RPGs.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

For the record, I love a good RPG but despise leveling up. More accurately, I despise the (chiefly Japanese) mindset that grinding for hours to improve numbers on a status display is somehow fun in and of itself.

[The Man]

Ehh. I find that my enjoyment of leveling up is directly proportional to how much I like the characters/battle system.

[RSL]

I don't mind levelling up to a point. Sometimes it feels a bit excessive in this game.

[The Last Ancient]

I thought it started off great, interesting characters and stories, and got lost and never found itself again.

[Kamiko]

I'm a bit of a graphics addict so that's why I was worried in the first place.