Genre: RPG
Year: 2004
Developed by: Level-5
Published by: Square Enix
Platforms: PS2, 3DS
#176
Feeling Like: M-M-MY MEDEA!
For a guy who loves lengthy, weeby Japanese Role Playing Games, I sure did skip the landmark franchise that basically created the genre. Not RPGs as a whole, mind you. Reading through A Guide to Japanese Role Playing Games made me realize how many times the West influenced Japan and then back again several times.
I’m talking about the classic turn based system used to tell a story of adventurers looking to save the world. The games usually contained a gargantuan amount of text compared to other genres, a massive landscape to explore, a varied soundtrack ranging from melancholic tones to heart pumping rock riffs, a plot that contained twist after twist, and an end boss that usually ended up being a vengeful god, or a space dragon. Sometimes both.
Well, that all started with Dragon Quest, at least for consoles. And I only ever touched Dragon Quest 8.
It was quite a change for the series. You would actually see your characters perform in battle, the camera would switch angles to make attacks appear more dynamic, cut scenes were fully voice acted and the graphics got a major upgrade. It was easily the most newbie friendly Dragon Quest; quality of life additions like a map for a dungeon (what a concept!) and a mildly reduced difficulty (hard to believe) opened the door for many fair weather fans, or curious gamers like myself.
Right off the bat, the humor and protagonists were endearing to me. King Trode and the Princess Medea have been turned into a toad and horse by the kingdom’s court jester, Dhoulmagus. King Trode wouldn’t be the first, or last, royal transformed into a tiny creature but he has to be the funniest sounding. His accent is hilarious, he is CONSTANTLY berating you, crying to the heavens or bemoaning the fact that his beautiful daughter was cursed forever and why aren’t working on resolving this? Why are we going here, why are we going there? Hilarious. I would frequently just shout “MY…MY….MY MEDEA!” on King St. only for Randy or Dave to roll their eyes with me. Henry is his early 20s really was a bit much.
Everything else was traditional, comfortable JRPG fare. Towns have denizens to to discuss recent ongoings and possibly get a hint or two. Merchants have weapons, armor and items to purchase. Architecture is unique to that particular city’s theme, and now you could explore most of them without loading screens! Battles were tough, this may be one of the easier Dragon Quests but don’t think for a second you’re going to breeze through it. Grinding is required, the difficulty spike on bosses can be brutally difficult. When you get to aforementioned towns, you will not be able to afford every new shiny piece of armor without putting the work in. I mean, maybe you will, maybe I just played the game incorrect but there aren’t any shortcuts to leveling up and getting stronger. It’d be like trying to speed run a book.
So it’s not for everybody. There’s a reason this genre hovers around niche – the time investment is enormous. Howlongtobeat.com has Dragon Quest 8 at 62 hours to complete the Main Story, 80 for Main Story & Extras and in a game like this, it’s going to be very difficult to avoid the sides and desserts. To say “no” to a team of monsters or golems to fight alongside you, or cooking every combination of items you can think of with the alchemy system is to completely ignore the point of a game like Dragon Quest 8. You are here to help cure the land, make King Trode and Medea human again, banish evil and save the world. You think you can do all that in a measly 20 hours?
I’m just the kind of guy that gets a kick out of spending an unusual amount of time doing battle after battle, only to afford a new sword that gives me a few more digits of damage against an enemy I can already defeat easily. Tangible progression of power is always nice. Sure, the best games will help you grow and learn so you don’t even need a better whip to take down a boss. But a guy who writes on a blog called the 500 must like numbers, lists, rankings, etc. and that’s generally the meat of JRPGs. Numbers, baby. Numbers.
The soundtrack is wonderful as well, Heavenly Flight being one of my favorites. I’m always drawn to somber, ennui songs. Ones that perhaps remind you how small you are, how much further you have to go, but you also can’t quit now. Memories of an Ancient Ocean is a sweeping, otherworldly marvel, it’s difficult to believe it sounded like this on a PlayStation 2…but it did! This was also the first Dragon Quest with an orchestral soundtrack instead of just MIDI tracks. I wish Dragon Quest 11 had quality tunes like these, otherwise I wouldn’t have dropped it midway through.
There’s a reason Dragon Quest 8 is spoken of fondly. It was one of the few Dragon Quest games that was released simultaneously with the Japan launch. The voice acting was an addition to the English version that the Japanese version didn’t have. The cast are wonderful, and the voices really add some spice to the adventure. Hearing Yangus and King Trode go at it never failed to amuse. There’s enough adventure, dungeons and secrets to find here to last players dozens of hours, depending on their appetite for completion. The sprites against a 2d backdrop in Dragon Quest 7 are replaced here with a brimming, fully 3D engine and the game still looks gorgeous today.
It’s still to date the only Dragon Quest game I’ve completed, but looking back on it, it’s easy to see why.
The 500 