Developer - Level 5 Publisher - Square Enix Platform - PlayStation 2 Release date - JP 27/11/2004 - NA 15/11/2005 - EU 13/04/2005 Genre - RPG Mode - Single player Rating - PEGI: 12+ My favourite PS2 game of all time. Yes, not a Final Fantasy, GTA, or whatever. It's an RPG that looks like it's childish, but it's actually a mature people game, if you can call it that. It's an RPG that's situated in the middle age, with Swordsmen, Jesters, Wizards and Witches, Evildoers and everything that makes a good RPG, including a great storyline. I was eager on doing a review about my favourite game, and here it is. I hope you like it. The game starts with a small clip, with people traveling on wide, beautiful, green fields. As you can suppose, those are the main characters of the game, including some more you'll meet along the game. Actually, that party is quite odd: a green small ogre, a beautiful horse, a fat short bandit and a young strong soldier. And guess what? The green creature is a king, named Trode, transformed by a powerful curse; the horse is his daughter, a princess, named Medea, also transformed by the same curse; the bandit is a man you found while traveling, that was actually trying to rob you. His name is Yangus; and you are the soldier, a man who serves the king in his kingdom, and you have the name you want. This great kingdom named Trodain was the target of a robbery. The thief was a jester, called Dhoulmagus, who aimed at the most powerful scepter in the entire world. Also, this scepter contained the soul of the Dark Lord Rhapthorne, which was sealed inside the scepter in the past by 7 mages. Anyway, the scepter was stolen by that jester, and it's power drove Dhoulmagus to madness. He was being controlled by the soul of Rhapthorne, and so unleashed the power of the hidden scepter. Then, a devastating curse was thrown on the castle, and every one inside the castle was driven into a deep sleep, and into paralysis. Every single one, except three people: the king Trode and Medea, who were inside a protective circle that didn't allow the scepter to be used, and you. But why you? Because you're special (where have I heard his before?). you cannot be affected by curses; not only this one, but any curse. This is rather strange, because along the game you'll see your friends getting cursed, but you'll just stay the same. Dhoulmagus, the man you seek in the game. After that short clip mentioned before, you'll get to a city, which just happens to be the biggest and most beautiful city in the entire game: Farebury. Not long after you get there, you'll notice that a man has been killed. And, what a pity!, it was the man you were after! And the man who killed him was the very same that stole the scepter and turned your king and his daughter into those shameful ''things'', Dhoulmagus. The first town, Farebury, in a beautiful sunset. Now, your quest really begins. You are going after Dhoulmagus, and punish him for all his murders and sins. And, of course, you've got a long way to run. You have more than one hundred hours of gaming waiting for you, thousands of battles, hundreds of creatures and dozens of places, including dungeons, caves, cities and citadels, everything put into a wide open space. Of course, you can't expect to go through all this on your own! Along the game, you'll get more people into your party, and, if you want, you can even get monsters to battle on your side! Not long after you start, you'll meet this beautiful young witch, Jessica, expert on battle spells, who wants to kill Dhoulmagus for the sake of her elder adored brother. She is a determined wise girl, who can handle many kinds of staves, whips and knives, and, eventually, swords. Although not very physically powerful, she can use her army of battle spells to battle monsters. Later, you'll also have contact with a young, and very handsome Templar, named Angelo, who served the Maella Abbey. He was a baby found abandoned, and he was taken to the abbey by the Abbot Francesco, where his brother Marcello also lived. Since young, he lived in there and he was raised by the abbot, and he created a very special bond with him. However, his brother never liked much of him, for a reason you'll figure out later. And this young Templar joined your party for a very particular reason: Dhoulmagus killed the abbot that raised Angelo, that's why he wants to kill him and avenge the abbot's death. However, this Templar is one of the most useful characters in the game. He can use bows, swords and staves, but he also has much knowledge on healing spells, unlike Jessica. Your entire party, amazed with something. Credits to fanfiction for this one. And further in the game, you'll meet a man who has a MONSTER PIT! His name is Morrie, and when you accomplish some errands he asks you, you can even form your own monster team! This team can be summoned in any battle, at any point, and you can recruit monsters by battling creatures that appear specifically in the field, like characters, walking around. You just have to battle them and defeat them; then, they'll ask you if they can join your monster team. Your own battle team can be summoned at any time! One of the things that i like the most is the Battle System. It's a new old school RPG, that features the same system as Pokemon and Final Fantasy, etc. A turn shifted battle system. It's one of the things essential for a great RPG. The battles are always exciting and they'll keep you on the edge of your seat. Because even if you are more than your enemy, they usually are stronger. However, there are many options in the battle menu: Fight allows you to battle your opponent; inside this menu, there are several other options, like Item, where you can select the items your personage carries, and either use them or equip them, or Abilities, in which you can use the abilities your character has learned while leveling up, or even Psych up, that raises your tension to the next level, 5/25/50/100, and it greatly increases your power level for one move. Besides this menu, there are others, like Flee, which allows you to run away, Tactics, that lets you select what the other characters besides you do, since Follow Orders to Show No Mercy, going through Focus On Healing, etc. I leave them for you to explore and understand. This is what can happen if you psych up to the max! In this game, there are many places. You'll visit many towns, each with it's own people (whose speech in the night is different from the day) and their own places, like casinos and pubs; you'll explore deep caves, dungeons, and high mountains, and you'll even get to go to surreal realms! And to these many places, there are many ways of moving. The most basic is walking, obviously, but further in the game you'll get some more special ways of traveling. You can ride a tiger by calling them with a bell, or you can go and sail a bit with a legendary old boat. But the fastest and most exciting way of traveling is, of course, flying! Yes, you can even fly! After you help a God Bird, you'll get a gem that enables you to fly around the world, and get to the otherwise unaccessible locals. The view when flying is amazing, isn't it? Of course, you are nothing if you don't have equipment. In DQVIII, there are tons of both offensive and defensive equipment. In the offensive equipment, we have weapons, split into swords, spears, axes, staves, knives, whips, bows, etc. Each of them gives you a certain amount of Attack Points, and also some of them have special effects, like double hitting, or instant killing. While battling, your characters gain experience, and will evolve. Every time they gain a new level, a certain amount of skill points are given to that character. Those points can be distributed by the kinds of weapons they use, plus fisticuffs and a certain personal skill, like Courage, in you, Sex Appeal in Jessica, Charisma in Angelo and Humanity in Yangus. With the weapons, you level them up, and you can use the abilities you learn while leveling them. And the specific category gives you some other kind of abilities: spells, intimidating moves, immobilizing moves, etc. Then, in the defensive equipment, you have helmets, armour and accessories. You can use them all at the same time, one of each, and each gives you more Defense Points. Also, like Weapons, these also have special abilities, like raising stats, or protecting against something in special (i.e. spells, etc.). And one of the things i like the most: the Alchemy Pot! This pot is used to mix up items, from herbs to swords, going through bracelets and tails. After a certain amount of steps that each cook requires, a new item appears! This new item is more powerful than the previous ones, and much more valuable. If you don't want them, you can always sell them at a quite higher price. You can fuse items that seem useless, like a Rusty Old Sword, and a piece of rare Orichalcum, to get the second most powerful sword in the entire game! It's always something new, and thrilling. Well, I think that's enough about the game, onto the analysis! Presentation - 10/10: Well polished, big, and a somewhat difficult game, suitable for all ages. The constant humor is addicting, and it took me more than 100 hours. Perfect for anyone who enjoys RPGs. Graphics - 10/10: These are the second best graphics I've ever seen on a PS2, only beaten by God of War. They are sharp, polished, and detailed. And they're very looked like Dragon Ball graphics, because the illustrator is the same. Sound - 10/10: Well, this game has the best soundtrack I've seen. Excellent sound effects, even better dialogs, and a great soundtrack, performed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, that fit perfectly into every scenario. Gameplay - 9/10: The controls are easy to learn, simple for new players and attractive for experts. But the adventure advances very slowly at times. Lasting Appeal - 10/10: The game has many hidden things, many bonuses, and things that can only be achieved in one particular way, like casinos, or exclusive exchanges. It even has two endings, and a super hard super special boss in the end! Total - 49/50: Just the kind of game that makes the PS2 even better.
Re: [PS2] Dragon Quest VIII - jin_kazama thanks, and don't worry, i'll make it easier. PICK ME, PICK ME!!
Re: [PS2] Dragon Quest VIII - jin_kazama Nice review, never played this game lol. He looks remarkably like Gohan in the second to last pic lol.
Re: [PS2] Dragon Quest VIII - jin_kazama This be a popular place nowadays. The only bad thing is that it didn't have a total score, but it's not very hard to figure it out for those who can type even incoherent messages. Ahem; nice review, hope to see more from you in da future. I thought the same. And just had to say, "Hero's tension increases by OVAH NIIIINE THOUUUU-ZAAAAAAAAND!"
Re: [PS2] Dragon Quest VIII - jin_kazama his power level is over 9000! I was never a DQ fan, but this review seems to make it an okay game
Re: [PS2] Dragon Quest VIII - jin_kazama I have played this game many times on my PS2 and I love this game. You have entirely taken out the best things the game could give and the review is just execellent.
Re: [PS2] Dragon Quest VIII - jin_kazama I'm glad you all like it. I'm going to do a new one, about MGS 3. ;D
Re: [PS2] Dragon Quest VIII - jin_kazama I have this game and I like it a lot. The only thing I change though is that the last boss wasnt soo fat. it scared me
