 |
HP Review
by Emily Schneider
Pretty classic
- Graphics: 10/10
- Sound: 8/10
- Gameplay: 9/10
- Replay Value: 8/10
- Overall: 9/10
The Short Bark:
Dragon Quest VIII combines a seamless presentation with classic role-playing gameplay and story to create an experience RPG fans won't soon forget.
The Full Bite:
The world of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King is one filled with breath-taking environments, interesting characters, and an engaging storyline. With over 30 hours of gameplay, this is a game no RPG fan should miss out on.
The story begins as an evil power hungry jester, Dhoulmagus, has stolen a magical scepter from the kingdom of Trodain and, in the process, curses the king into becoming a toad-like monster, the princess into a horse, and the people of the castle from moving - as if frozen in time. Players take control of the hero, a palace guard who was the only person to survive the curse unscathed.
From this point, the hero, along with the cursed king and princess, set off on a journey to find Dhoulmagus in order to reverse the curse upon the kingdom. Along the way, the trio will meet up with Yangus, Jessica, and Angelo. These three new comrades all have their own personal reasons for joining the cause of stopping Dhoulmagus from creating any more damage and trying to reverse the evil he has done.
The game uses a classic turn-based battle system, where encounters are random while wandering around in the wilderness or dungeon. The battle system itself is pretty simplistic in design, utilizing basic commands such as attacking, casting spells, using items and defending. Dragon Quest VIII also implements a novel command called "psyche up," which raise a character's tension level and cause a power up.
As players level up, they are given the option of spending skill points on four different weapons, which will in turn become stronger and unlock new abilities to use while that weapon is equipped. Players can also spend the skill points on a fifth option that varies from character to character. For example, Yangus's final option, humanity, allows him to learn an assortment of spells and abilities that will help his friends in times of need.
The alchemy pot is an interesting and very useful item carried around on your journey. By combining items in the alchemy pot, you can create new and better armor, weapons, and accessories that you would not otherwise be able to buy in the shops. However, the merger is not instantaneous and you'll have to wait a little while for the pot to complete its task, but the rewards are worth the wait.
The only minor problem I have with Dragon Quest VIII is the way the game saves. Only at a church in town are you able to save your game. Moreover, when all of your characters have died after being in a battle, instead of the game being over you are sent back to the church and half your money is gone, but you keep all the experience that you have gained. As nice as it is to keep those experience points, I just wished there were more save points scattered throughout the game so that when my party did die, such as in a boss fight, I wouldn't have to do the whole dungeon over again and lose half of my hard earned money.
All in all, Dragon Quest VIII is a visually stunning and highly enjoyable role-playing game. Although the game does not bring anything really new or innovative to the genre, the classic formula is well made and worth your time, regardless of whether you have played previous games in the Dragon Quest series or not.
|
|
