Dragon Quest 8 review

D

Deepak

B3D Yoddha
Veteran
http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/rpg/dragonwarrior8/review.html

Gamespot gives it 9.0 which is very good IMO.

Gameplay 8
Graphics 9
Sound 9
Value 9
Tilt 10

Dragon Quest VIII is a charming classic-style RPG that doesn't stint on difficulty, graphical beauty, or fun.

The Good: Simple but engaging story; variety of charming and amusing people and creatures to meet; gorgeous world and visuals; wonderful music and great voice work really bring everything together.
The Bad: Tough random battles may try your patience; not as much story structure as other modern role-playing games.
 
I love the visuals in this game. Apart from some AA I don't know that there'll be much possible improvement with better graphics hardware.
 
Screw Final Fantasy's melodrama, forget about Xenogears pseudo-intellectualism, Valkyrie what, no, the best PSone RPG (If you do not count Grandia port, that is) is DQVII!

It was a pure "let's just go on an adventure and discover some stuff" kind of game, the graphics were utter crap, but the game experience was flawless, no loadings, fast paced battle system, large amount of classes to choose from, tons of cities and NPCs, truly surprising scenario events, no useless talks, no boring cutscenes, only gameplay.

If DQVIII is half as great as DQVII, then I already know what will be my PS2 GOTY (And maybe, my GOTY period, if it's as fun as the seven and boast some good graphics, this time).
c0_re said:
Is there somthing I'm missing my cell phone has graphics like that. Whats going on?
Click to expand...
Your cellphone can do 3D graphics like that? Well, that's cool...
 
Level 5 = guaranteed awesomeness. Although I'm looking forward to DQ8 for sure, Rogue Galaxy is off the charts on my personal hype list. Too bad both of those probably won't appear in Europe for another 10 years.
 
Vysez - so true on DQVII. Though don't sell Valkyrie Profile short. ;)

Anyway DQVIII is one of the few games I'm currently looking forward to at the present time.
 
c0_re said:
ok guys I'm sorry but how can you give a game thats looks like this a 9 in graphics?

http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/images/2005/317/reviews/583527_20051114_screen002.jpg


Is there somthing I'm missing my cell phone has graphics like that. Whats going on?
Click to expand...

Thats kinda cherry picking screens. What you have to realize about the DQ series is that each installment is a throwback to past Dragon Quest games. But as DrPepper stated, you should check out the game in motion, its nice and smooth :D
 
xbdestroya said:
Though don't sell Valkyrie Profile short. ;)
Click to expand...

oh god, i'm an admitted Valkyre Profile ****** :lol I love that game so much, i'm actually playing it on my PC and Laptop (on the go) on an emulator.

xbdestroya said:
Though don't sell Valkyrie Profile short. ;)
Click to expand...

oh god, i'm an admitted Valkyre Profile f*anboy :LOL: I love that game so much, i'm actually playing it on my PC and Laptop (on the go) on an emulator.
 
My personal expectations/hype for Rogue Galaxy are also off the charts... I CANNOT WAIT for that games. The only game I'm currently anticipating more is FFXII because I'm a FF nut.

Dark Cloud 2 was extremely impressive in a variety of ways, and I expect DQVIII to be the same (picking it up tomorrow).

Rogue Galaxy has the best cel-shading I've ever seen, has zero load times, and is going to be one of the largest RPGs (game world, etc) ever.
 
c0_re said:
ok guys I'm sorry but how can you give a game thats looks like this a 9 in graphics?

http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/images/2005/317/reviews/583527_20051114_screen002.jpg

Is there somthing I'm missing my cell phone has graphics like that. Whats going on?
Click to expand...
These are fully 3D graphics. Every screen-shot looks like a 2D cartoon, but it's a 3D world animated as such. The outlining and shading perfectly suits the art-style. As I say, I don't see that much can improved in future in trying to recreate a 2D cartoon look. Some gobs of AA would be nice and the usual improvements in model resolution, shadow resolution etc. , but in rendering and style I'm not seeing room for improvement. You need to check out some movies (IGN has plenty of short clips to choose from) and see how it's like watching a Saturday morning cartoon, only with better quality!
 
Shifty Geezer said:
These are fully 3D graphics. Every screen-shot looks like a 2D cartoon, but it's a 3D world animated as such. The outlining and shading perfectly suits the art-style. As I say, I don't see that much can improved in future in trying to recreate a 2D cartoon look. Some gobs of AA would be nice and the usual improvements in model resolution, shadow resolution etc. , but in rendering and style I'm not seeing room for improvement. You need to check out some movies (IGN has plenty of short clips to choose from) and see how it's like watching a Saturday morning cartoon, only with better quality!
Click to expand...

Shifty, check out that high quality Rogue Galaxy trailer if you get the chance. The CG cut scenes are kind of what I expect next-gen cel shading to look like, especially the character models. The in-game cel-shading of RG is terrific as well. Level 5 have some kind of talent thats for sure.

DQ8 sounds like a ton of fun. First RPG Im gonna pick up in a long time.
 
Shifty Geezer said:
These are fully 3D graphics. Every screen-shot looks like a 2D cartoon, but it's a 3D world animated as such. The outlining and shading perfectly suits the art-style. As I say, I don't see that much can improved in future in trying to recreate a 2D cartoon look. Some gobs of AA would be nice and the usual improvements in model resolution, shadow resolution etc. , but in rendering and style I'm not seeing room for improvement. You need to check out some movies (IGN has plenty of short clips to choose from) and see how it's like watching a Saturday morning cartoon, only with better quality!
Click to expand...



OK thanks that explains it it's the art direction, sounds like a cool game either way just not my thing with so much other crap comming out in the next 2 weeks.
 
It's strange, but I like that design too. I'd have to get it in my hands to confirm that notion, though.
 
I've got about 15 hours into this game and for those that loved the classic console RPGs, you'll love this. Level 5 continues to produce fantastic games and this one is quickly becoming one of my favorite RPGs.

The only negative is the voice acting for King Trode (the little green guy) is absolutely horrible. It sounds like a 24 year old broadway actor trying to play "old geezer". The rest of the voice actors do a fine job and the orchestral score is beautiful.

(Also, random battles get tedious, but that goes without saying in these kinds of games.)

.Sis
 
I'm about 8 hours into the game, and it's really getting very good. Good story so far, and the world is very nice. Very beautiful game, especially the characters.
 
I'm enjoying this game immensely as well. The music is amazing! The overworld theme is possibly the best one since Final Fantasy VII. I think a huge part of what makes an RPG special is its music. My only complaint so far is that the random battles get boring after a while. At least they go by fairly quickly, and some of the enemies are hilarious. Overall, DQ VIII might be the first great RPG of this console generation. I'm about as pleased with DQ VIII as I am disappointed with the FF XII demo, and that's saying a lot. . .
 
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