When someone mentions Dragon Quest, what's likely to come to mind for many gamers is cute blue slimes, old school game mechanics and tons of grinding and random battles. And while Dragon Quest VIII has all of these things (the random battles are quite reasonable however), there is so much more to it. This is an old school experience gracefully wrapped up in exquisite and modern product values, which results in an unforgettable adventure through an unforgettable world. You might have played this kind of uncompromisingly old school RPG before, but if you're new to Dragon Quest VIII like I was, you've never played one this beautiful.
The story itself is pretty basic and predictable. You are the usual nameless hero and your job is to track down an evil jester named Dholmagus in order to defeat him and lift a curse placed on your employer, King Trode. This curse has turned him into an ugly green monster and has also turned his daughter into a horse. Along the way, you encounter some extremely endearing companions, like the rough-around-the-edges Yangus, the strong-willed Jessica, and the ladykiller Angelo. All of these characters are quite likeable and have rock solid motivations for joining you on your quest. I found it slightly disappointing that there were times when certain companions would seem to fade into the background for awhile, but all in all, these characters were really vividly drawn, in large part due to extremely sharp writing that is also extended to NPCs. You will meet many animated characters along your journey and though some of them are annoying enough to deserve bodily injury, all of them are vivid and fun, whether the fun comes from liking them or despising them.
There are many times when it seems that not much is happening in the story, but it really picks up pace towards the end, resulting in an exciting finale, and although it may sometimes seem like the overarching storyline is not moving much, the game always provides the player with fun side stories, some of which I found more interesting than the overall storyline. There are also many beautiful and emotionally poetic moments buried within what, on the surface, seems to be a stock adventure story. I was surprised by how artistic the side plots could sometimes be.
Although the story doesn't always excite, Dragon Quest VIII still has marvelous pacing. The game is not open world by any means, but exploration and curiosity is encouraged and often rewarded, and the game is not always a matter of journeying from point A to point B since you'll often have to figure out what to do (in a good way). Plus, the developers have made a concerted effort to make the dungeons interesting and varied. These dungeons are not simply a collection of rooms and pathways. There is an element of puzzle solving here that gives the dungeons some appreciated variation. And while the puzzles are not on the level of Zelda, they work perfectly for the game. In fact, putting in puzzles as complex as that of Zelda would get pretty annoying with random encounters thrown into the mix. In short, the developers hit a sweet spot with the dungeons. You have to use your head a little bit, but they are easy to get through and are always fun rather than frustrating. I don't think I encountered a single dungeon that annoyed me.
Part of the reason the dungeons were so pleasant to trek through was the reasonableness of the random encounters. There are random encounters in this game, but they are extremely spaced out. You will be able to trek quite a distance before the game interrupts you. And while the dungeons seem to have more frequent random encounters than the overworld, they are not going to annoy you at any point in the game. So if random encounters are preventing you from purchasing this game, don't worry about it. You will be surprised at how reasonable they are. Plus, at a certain level, you obtain the spell "holy protection", which will ward off low-level monsters at an a very low MP cost.
Dragon Quest VIII's single strongest aspect is the sense of adventure that it evokes in the player. This is in large part owing to the breathtaking overworld. Towns are interesting (especially due to the NPCs) and fun to explore (and loot), but it is the overworld that has the rolling hills, seeming to stretch for miles, the imposing deserts, the cascading mountains, the abundance of unique landmarks and secret coves in which to find treasure. There are games with bigger worlds (though this is definitely one of the larger RPG worlds out there), but there is something about this game's brand of adventuring that stands out as incredibly unique. Not only is there tons to explore, but it seems like there is always a memorable moment in Dragon Quest VIII's breathtaking world, whether it be setting out to sea in your newly-acquired ship, getting unexpectedly warped to another dimension, finding a strange location off the beaten path, meeting an odd fellow traveler, getting owned by a pack of strong monsters that you unwittingly ran into, flying for the first time, etc. And though Dragon Quest VIII is not the only RPG that does these things, few RPGs do it with the same awareness of what it truly means to feel like you're on an epic quest.
The old school nature of the gameplay mostly works to the game's benefit, but I felt that it took way too long to grind for levels and money, which slowed the game down too much at certain points since you'll have to grind to defeat certain bosses. While it shouldn't be extremely easy to acquire new levels, it seemed that in Dragon Quest VIII, the characters leveled up uncommonly slowly and the monsters dropped so little money that you would inevitably be broke once you bought new equipment in town. Many times I couldn't even afford the new weapons and I would have to go out and grind for the money, which was not particularly fun even it is does give you a feeling of accomplishment once you do acquire the new item. I think it would have greatly benefited the game to speed up the grinding, even if some Dragon Quest fans cried foul.
That being said, there are ways to get fast experience and money, but these carry with them their own series of annoyances.
Another old school staple that some people might not particularly like is that you can only save, resurrect characters that have died, and check the experience needed to reach the next level at churches. However, I didn't find this to be a problem. The dungeons are fairly short, so you won't really need to save inside of them, and churches are everywhere. Not to mention that the game gives you a handy zoom spell (making chimera wings all but useless) that allows you to go to any town you've visited before instantly. Similarly, you can warp outside of a dungeon immediately with the spell "evac". With these spells in your arsenal, travel is made extremely convenient.
The battle system is also old school, but there is nothing to complain about here. It is an extremely simple turn-based system, but I thought it was perfectly executed, and it deepens considerably as you acquire new skills (and there ALOT of skills to acquire in this game). Between regular attacks, abilities (which are your special techniques; some of these have extremely useful effects) and magic (both offensive and defensive), you'll have a ton of methods to dispatch your enemies and a ton of strategies available to you. Furthermore, there is a new addition called "tension" that I found to be the most enjoyable component of the battle system. Basically, you can sacrifice a turn to "psyche up." Pysching up raises your tension, which in turn raises your attack power. If you psyche up for four rounds without getting your tension defused (enemies can defuse your tension), you will dish out an extreme amount of damage, especially if you psych up to the highest level. You will be surprised at just how much your damage output is increased by psyching up (and the damage you do at earlier tension levels is not too shabby either). It is extremely useful against bosses, some of which can go down in a few hits if your tension level is high enough. I actually wish there were more RPGs out there with a system like this. It was great fun to get my tension to the highest level and watch my enemies get absolutely devastated by my attacks.
The customization system is pretty simple but it is still quite robust. When you reach a new level, you are given the option to allocate a number of skill points to certain weapon categories. Each characters have about five weapon types they can use (including their fists) and you can distribute the points to the weapon types to increase your character's proficiency with the type of weapon you'd like to specialize in. So if you want the hero to use swords rather than lances (or axes rather than clubs with Yangus), you would allocate the lion's share of your points to swords, increasing your strength with that particular weapon type as well as learning abilities related that weapon type. Although you can distribute the points evenly, it is in your best interest to focus on one. In addition, there is one category that doesn't involve weapons and focuses instead on a character trait. For example, the hero has courage (which will give him spells and abilities related to courage), Yangus has humanity, Jessica has sex appeal (which will give you some rather provocative moves to charm enemies with), and Angelo has charisma. You'll want to level up these categories along with your preferred weapon to acquire some of the game's most useful skills. I found that this system allowed for some freedom in customization without becoming tiresome to manage.
It is not an exaggeration to say that Dragon Quest VIII has some of the best visuals you're going to find on the PS2. Draw distances are impressive, colors are vibrant, the art design is extremely inspired and fun to look at, monster and character designs are absolutely superb, and the environments have more detail than their simple appearances attest to. Part of the fun of RPGs is immersing oneself in the environment and the beautifully-colored storybook aesthetic of Dragon Quest VIII makes trekking through its vast world a delightful experience. Dragon Quest VII was slammed for underachieveing in regards to its visuals, so if the developers were making up for that with this title, they've done that and then some. Dragon Quest VIII is a stunning visual package as well as a stunning audio package. Sounds effects are well done, but it's the orchestrated music that is truly striking. Not only it is beautiful and relaxing, but it contributes to that uniquely Dragon Quest VIII sense of adventure. Listening to the music swell as you eyeball the rolling hills in the distance is quite an experience.
Dragon Quest VIII is a long game (my playthrough clocked in at 75 hours) that might exhaust you with its excessive grinding, but it is worth it, not just because of the satisfying ending, but because some tedious grinding is a small price to pay for having had the pleasure to undertake such a thrilling and beautiful journey.
GAMEPLAY-4.5/5
DESIGN-4.5/5
STORY-3.5/5
VISUALS-5/5
PLAYABILTY-4.5/5
VALUE-5/5