Old School, Old School, Old School, Dragon Quest series does not often let me down, and that rule holds true wit
All of the stuff that newer RPG gamers got used to after FInal Fantasy VII for the most part do not apply here. You are stuck with the party you are given, but at the same time handed free reign over how you decide to grow each party member based on unique skillsets each one can learn.
The Storyline in its most basic form is fairly straightforward, chase evil Wizard who has world domination on his mind, enjoy a few chance encounters with him along the way till you finally have the gear to take this guy on. With that said the simple story is what makes it as good as it is, no evil twin brothers or character turns to follow, the story allows you to focus on your four party members (as well as King Trodd) and how their own stories develop which makes for a fairly deep experience.
Generally the game itself is much like your standard run of the mill RPG, you have your equipment (ie weapons, Armour, Shield, Helmet, Ring) one thing that some gamers may find interesting is how hard gold is to come across, the game generally forces you to fight many random battles to gain gold and indirectly forces you to build your character up, because many of the earlier bosses simply handed me my hat off the mark, so be ready and with a done of strong herbs on hand when you walk into any battle.
Gameplay 9/10
The Game in itself if a joy to play, the characters are all interesting with their own backstories which you learn more and more about the more you play into the game. The general storyline is more then enough to keep most gamers content in regards to the reason why they are getting Key X for Person Y, and the control setup is very straightforward and easy to learn. Leveling up can often be a chore but no more so then other games in the genre and I also find that the game often sort of leaves you to fogure out what to do next, when one aspect of the story closes you just sort of have to assume that you should be moving along the path and hoping that the next town gives you a task to do that furthers the storyline.
Graphics 8/10
Its an RPG, and more then anthing Graphics do not make the game, the whole world along with all the characters are done in sort of a cute cartoony sort of manner as well as many of the enemies you will face each having their own interesting animations and qwurks. I just find that even though it is Dragon Warrior tradition to have a million different types of "Smiles" after a while you have to take into consideration that we are now in 2006, and maybe those classic repeated characters should be sublimented with a few more new monsters. With that said where is the Red Smile???
Sound 9/10
Very nice Score, battle music is good and very back to basics, suits the battles to a T, Each Area has its own music and generally I was impressed on mass.
Value 10/10
The game itself will land more gamers in the 35-40 hours ballpark, but if you take your time play withj the alcamey pot, do side quests collect mini-coins as part of the game you will find that you can easily tack ten hours onto the game and not find it "filler"
Overall the gaming experience is a must play for any RPG fan who owns a PS2, its been a while since we have had a quality RPG and this one will fill the void for a while!
-Z