The Shrine

I hinted at this thread in another thread, so let's just get into it.

DQ8 is wonderful. I'm about 6 or 7 hours in. I actually went to the store with the intention of buying DS and two games, but I saw DQ8 for $14, and I figured I could put off a bigger purchase for a bit longer.

I feel stupid for waiting so long to play this game. It's old school in design, but it has modern production value. Even if you're not innovating, there's something to be said for doing something extremely well, which DQ8 does. The plot is not actually what draws me into RPGs. I like exploring and experiencing a new world. The better the designers are able to get me to suspend disbelief and buy the game world as real, the more I like the game. The only other game I've played that does this as well as DQ8 is FF12.

The game is gorgeous, the world is fun to explore, battles are fast paced, and it doesn't take itself too seriously. The plot so far is standard fare, but it's entertaining because what the characters say is amusing.

Something I'm surprised by is the battle system. Each character is fixed in that they can only learn certain abilities, but you choose which subset of those abilities they will learn. I'll see later on how well this works, but I think it has potential to be middle ground between a system where your characters become identical, and a system where you have no influence over how they progress.

I'm looking forward to the point when you're making million and millions of dollars and can get involved in discussions of games that are not ancient.

That said! Fea bought DQ8 for me for my birthday a couple of years back. I played six or seven hours of it, put it aside for later, and never picked it back up again. (I don't think I was in the mood for a straight JRPG at the time.)

I feel like playing it again now, though! Once I'm through Yakuza 2 and Viva Pinata I'll start on it again.

Kupek wrote:Even if you're not innovating, there's something to be said for doing something extremely well, which DQ8 does.

I completely agree. There's nothing wrong with evolutionary gameplay or even very little changes but an excellent package. I've been arguing the same point for years.

I think that's why this game was so popular at the end of the day. It was exactly what fans of DQ and old school RPGs wanted and it did it extremely well from what I hear from basically everyone who's played it

Finally beat it. I put about 93 hours into it, which is much, much more than I thought I would. That's more time than I put into FF12. It's a charming, well polished game.

I lost my damn copy halfway through the game and sold my PS2 before I could buy another. It's one of the games I've been wishing I could finish. As you've noted, it is a well-written, well-animated, and thoroughly entertaining experience.

I picked up DQVIII and went through it a couple of times shortly after it's release. Excellent game and I'd recommend it to anyone.

Make sure you play through the extra little bit that opens up after your first clear.

I did, actually, and I was surprised that you had to beat the game in order to open that up - it's important story for the hero. And, of course, it makes the ending a bit more satisfying. (Although, really, the tone remained the same.)

And you went through the game a couple of times shortly after its release? Literally two, or more than that? It's one hell of a time investment - although given that, it never felt like a drag. They somehow managed to make an enormously long game feel like it has a brisk pace.

Yea, I beat the game a couple years back. I played it for like a month and then didn't touch it for quite some time.

When I went back, however, I managed to finish all of the extra content after the end boss. It was a fun game... yet it felt... of? I don't know. Just too much of the same thign over and over.

Monster arena was fun tho.