RPG Diary

Dragon Quest VIII

Honestly, I have been disappointed with the Dragon Quest series so far, and the previous one was one of my least favorite RPGs in general. Perhaps I should just abandon the series already, but I'm cautiously optimistic because this particular game appears to be very popular online. This was the first Dragon Quest game made after the Square Enix merger, and there's a new developer too, so I'm hoping things are different this time.

Title	Dragon Quest VIII
Year	2004 (US 2005 )
System	PS2
Developer	Level-5
Publisher	Square Enix

The first thing I immediately noticed was how good this game looks. Unlike the awkward 2D/3D combination of the previous game, Dragon Quest VIII is fully 3D and Akira Toriyama's art really stands out with the cel shading. And while it is a very minor detail, I also liked finally seeing the party characters during battle. Finally, the full voice acting (apparently absent in the original Japanese version!) makes the game feel more modern — or at least from beyond the 16-bit era.

Dragon Quest games tend to feature a bunch of small independent stories in every new town, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a strong central narrative this time. The main villain is introduced immediately and their actions during the game gave me kept my interest to keep playing, which is a big improvement over most of the previous games. There are also very few side quests to derail the main story, which helps keep the story moving at a good pace.

I was very happy to see that the grind-heavy job system from the previous two games was replaced by a skill system. Skill points are earned by leveling up which (somewhat) eliminates the need for extra grinding, but instead means there is a limited amount of skill points. Unfortunately, I had some anxiety about spending skill points since the game does not allow reassigning them. Worse, the game does not even really explain what or when skills are learned, so I needed a guide to ensure I got the most important skills (e.g. metal slime hunting skills). However, even though there are clearly better skills, the game seems managable regardless of skill choices.

Ultimately, Dragon Quest VIII was kind of like a "comfort food" RPG for me — there is nothing particularly unique or new about it, but I did enjoy it greatly. It was a successful transition to full 3D, while still maintaining the nostalgic feel of 90's RPGs. It is undoubtedly my favorite Dragon Quest game so far.

After completing a game, I add it to my overall enjoyment ranking which orders the games I've completed from those I most enjoyed to those I least enjoyed. I found Dragon Quest VIII consistently entertaining from start to finish, even if there was nothing particularly unique about it. I'll go so far as to put it above Final Fantasy VI which starts off amazing but loses my interest in the end.