Traditional RPG greatness, and a definite must play.
Dragon Quest was published by developer Enix back in the day, and all of them were received well by the Japanese gamers who played it. It's still like that today. Dragon Quest is extremely popular in Japan, whereas Final Fantasy is very popular in the U.S. However, these RPG powerhouses joined together to form SquareEnix. This is the latest Dragon Quest game to be released, and now I'll explain it's the best RPG on the PS2 yet.
First off, the graphics are extremely impressive. All the character and monster designs were designed by Akira Toriyama (the creator of Dragon Ball), with incredible results. Besides the characters, the world of Dragon Quest is absolutely huge, and luckily you don't just get a map where it shows you the exact location of where you need to go. In other words, this game is meant for exploration, and some of the places you will go are extremely detailed, and look gorgeous. All in all, the cel shaded graphics are extremely well done, and makes this one of the best looking games on the PS2 yet.
One of the problems with games is the music, and the voices of some of the characters. Luckily, neither of these issues are a problem in this game. Almost all of the people in this game have a British accent, but all of it sounds good and appropriate to the action at hand. Also, the music in this game is just fantastic, and really sets the mood in some places. For instance, eventually you will gain an item which allows you to ride a sabretooth, and when you get on one, the music will change to a faster pace, and gives a sense of adrenaline. Overall, it's great in this area as well.
Now, for the story. Basically, a jester goes into a castle and steals a scepter, which is never supposed to leave the castle. Afterwards the castle is left in thorns, and everyone has been transformed. Except you, the hero. Basically, you, the king, and a man named Yangus set off on an adventure to defeat the evil jester and return the king and princess to their former selves. Overall, the story isn't incredibly well done, but it's good enough that it'll make you want to go through the whole game. Now, to the reason to play any game, the gameplay. Now this is huge, because there are a lot of things to do in this game. First I'll explain the battles. This is an extremely traditional battle system, with a few twists. First off, you can set tactics for your companions, so you don't have to control them, or you can just do everything manually. In battle, you have the option to fight, flee, or intimidate your opponent (a technique that may make them flee). When you fight, you get the option to attack using your normal technique, use an item (like giving cheese to your mouse, which can make him spit fire or spit ice. Or you can heal your characters with medicine. You can use magic as well, which can range from healing spells, defensive spells, or of course, spells that will damage your opponents. Perhaps the best feature is the ability to psyche up, which increases your tension. When you increase your tension, it will make you do more damage, and in the process, make you look like a badass (in particular, your hero, who looks like a super saiyan). Finally, you have skills, which can be used to do more damage to your opponents, or to seduce them (Jessica's sex appeal makes them skip turns, which is hilarious at first, watching them have hearts all around them). They are very useful, at should be used a lot. This games wants you to try using different techniques against different enemies, and see what is the most effective.
There are also different mini games, like gambling, getting monsters for your monster team, which can be used at the monster arena, and a large variety of side quests make this a huge game. There is a huge sidequest where you find mini medals, who you give to Princess Minnie, whom then gives you useful items that make your quest even easier. Things like these make this already large game into something much bigger, and in turn, much more entertaining adventure.
There is a lot of replayability in this game. All of the things I listed above, not to mention even more things to be discovered throughout the adventure. Seriously, this game can take over ninety hours to complete, which is extremely long compared to most games. Leveling up can take an extremely long time, which right there takes up most of the time. All in all, this game will take you an extremely long time to complete, and even longer if you go through all the mini games and side quests, and with that comes very good replayability. If you love RPGs, and want a great game for your Playstation 2, then look no further. This is an example of near perfection, and should not be missed. If you don't own it right now, then go to your nearest store and pick it up. If you don't, you'll miss out on the best RPG for the Playstation 2 yet.