| Developer: | Level-5 | | | Release Date: | 2006 EU (2004 JP, 2005 NA) |
| | Systems: | PS2, Mobile, 3DS |
This week on Super Adventures, I'm playing another Dragon Quest game! In fact this was the very first main Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior game released here in the UK where I am, so that's why it's just called 'Dragon Quest' up there. (The first game in the series released in Europe was Dragon Warrior Monsters in 1999 if you're curious).
To everyone else though this is Dragon Quest VIII, the eighth game in the legendary RPG series... though it is the first to be made by Level-5. The original five Dragon Quest games were by Chunsoft, then Heartbeat took over for six and seven, and now Level-5 has become the third developer to take the reigns. Like the last two games it came out pretty late in its console's life (JRPGs take a while to cook I guess), but at least it wasn't last gen on arrival this time! Well, except for when it finally arrived in Europe two years later.
I've been playing games from 'top 10' lists this year, and I found Dragon Quest 8 at #4 in Metacritic's top 10 PS2 RPGs list, between Persona 3 FES and Persona 4 (the number 1 game is Final Fantasy XII if you're curious). DQ8 and I have never really gotten on, I got frustrated early on by its combination of unskippable cutscenes and 'guess what NPC you have to talk to' gameplay, but I figured that if everyone else likes it so much I should probably give it another shot. And by 'shot' I mean I'm probably going to be stuck here playing it for five hours or more. But if it hasn't won me over by then, it's a lost cause.
This is supposed to look like real time in-game graphics, but those nasty compression artefacts kind of give away it's just a video. Well, unless they've added a fake MPEG compression filter to go with the cel-shading filter. Oh man, some indie dev with PS2 nostalgia's going to do that at some point aren't they?
Okay I'll start a new game then, and I'll leave it set to 4:3. The game's given me the option to play in widescreen instead, but when I think PS2 I also think boxy CRT TVs (they were very good at hiding MPEG artefacts).
A sceptre spoke of in lore...The guy who stole the sceptre teleports into the sky like Mega Man, but we don't see what happened to any of the others. Cut to: a little mouse with a mohawk wandering through some grass.
And sealed away since days of yore,
Unleashes its forbidden power,
And heralds Trodain's darkest hour.
Your quest has begun!
Turns out the game has voices, though not for poor Hero, as he's just as silent as every other Dragon Quest protagonist. He's got his own personality and a pet mouse and a secret backstory but I guess giving him dialogue would've been a step too far!
I like Yangus's voice actor though. He can say "Oy! Guv!" and make it sound entirely natural. He thinks we should head into town before it gets dark and the Hero's not about to argue with him, because he can't talk. I was curious about what the original Japanese voices were like, so I checked and there apparently aren't any; the game was originally silent. The faces are still just as expressive in the Japanese release though.
I didn't get to walk far in third-person view either, as I only took a few steps before I got dragged into another cutscene. This one was about Yangus and another guy who looks like he's a cross between a troll and a toad (called Trode) having a bit of an argument... before realising that they've misplaced their princess.
Then suddenly slimes leap out of the trees!
Look at those cute little guys! You can't see how they're wobbling about as this is just a screenshot, but they're a lot more animated than the enemies in the previous game, which only moved during attacks.
The battle interface isn't all that different though. There's a new 'Psyche Up' option, I can 'Intimidate' as well as trying to flee, and I can see my max HP and MP now, but otherwise this is very traditional. I select attack, I choose an enemy, I do the same for Yangus, then heroes and enemies each get to make their chosen move.
Up to this point the Dragon Quest games have kept the camera firmly locked during battles so all you can see are the enemies (mostly because the first 6 of them are NES/SNES games), but this one's got a dynamic Final Fantasy-style camera that shows the characters carrying out attacks and it's way more interesting to look at. Attacks play out just as quickly as they did in the older games though, maybe even quicker, so the game hasn't sacrificed anything.
Yangus and I took care of the slimes with a smack or two each, then collected our spoils: 3 experience points each, 3 gold coins, plus a medicinal herb! We also got the classic Dragon Quest victory jingle, which is more like a victory tone right out of a Famicom. I think Final Fantasy wins when it comes to victory themes.
The game's giving players hints along the way instead of boring them with tons of backstory before they're invested. Like we can infer that this guy is probably a king, and that the two of them didn't always look like this. I can also infer that I won't get the bring the horse into combat as my third character, sadly.
I suppose it wants to show off (and reassure people) that the original creators are still there. The series was passed along to a new developer for the second time here, but Yuji Horii's still credited for scenario and game design, Koichi Sugiyama is back providing the soundtrack and Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama brought his art style to the series yet again.
I never used to be that keen on Toriyama's style, but I think it must have grown on me in the meantime as I've got no problem with Yangus and friends. I think it helps that it hasn't been long since I played Dragon Quest VII and this is way more cinematic and expressive by comparison. Though no one in the group seems all that bothered by the fact that the town they're headed for is currently smoking.
We're not just here in town to get a roof over our heads for the night, we're also looking for a guy called Rylus. Master Rylus was the guy who trained Dhoulmagus and Dhoulmagus is the one who turned the king and his daughter into their current sub-optimal forums with his dastardly magics. So our quest is to track down Dhoulmagus and lift the curse, and I guess Rylus is going to tell us where he is? Trode is a bit vague on that.
Alright, the game's finally let me loose to run around the town! I can go everywhere now and I'm going to have to, as I've been given no clue where to start looking. This is very typical for Dragon Quest as well. It'd help if the hero was able to actually tell people what he's after instead of being stuck listening to whatever the NPCs want to say. Oh hang on, turns out that there's no voices outside of cutscenes, so he's actually just reading their dialogue.
Trouble is he didn't tell me where the pub is! It was a lot easier to find buildings in the old games, with the camera looking down from above.
That's a nice shadow by the way, though it's spoiled a bit by the wall next to him not having one have one. The building doesn't have a cross symbol on it either, as they've changed the church's holy symbol to a trident shape this time around. I can usually save in churches, but the priest's having a break so that's not an option yet. The game really wants me to stay on track.
I met a bunny girl waitress here who liked my mouse and then overheard a conversation between the bartender and a guy called Kalderasha. Turns out that the guy I'm here to find is dead. That smoke I saw when I was headed to town, that was his house. I couldn't stay and chat with Kalderasha though as a guy burst in to tell everyone about the monster in town. So I guess they've noticed King Trode then.
There's a was a bloke inexplicably blocking the stairs back down to the entrance, but I eventually found another way around just in time to catch the townsfolk pelting poor Trode with rocks! I guess they're all after that sweet XP. Princess Medea stepped in to shield him for a bit and then we all made a hasty exit. So this was all a total disaster then.
Except not quite, as a girl called Valentina came out to see us, saying that she's Kalderasha's daughter and I should go find her in the house next to the well at the far end of town. Well, there's nothing stopping the hero and Yangus going back inside so it seems like we should hear her out.
That controller help image earlier forgot to mention that I've got a button that lets me chat to my party members about what to do next. I'm used to all this walking back and forth from the other Dragon Quest games, but clear instructions on what to do next are a new twist on the formula. It's like the game wants me to get on with the story instead of wandering around talking to every NPC!
Shame Yangus doesn't want to tell me where the well is. Oh right, I remember now! It's where I found that guy who told me to go to the pub... wherever that was.
The game still has separate inventories for each character like the earlier games and their equipped gear still takes up a fair amount of their limited slots, so that hasn't changed much. But this pretty inventory screen is all new. It's taken 18 years and 8 games but they've finally dropped the classic command box for something a bit slicker.
This menu's been kind enough to give me all the information I need to know about whether gear is better or worse than what I have equipped, but moving stuff between inventories isn't quite as fast as in something like a Baldur's Gate game. Especially as healing herbs take up a slot each and have to be moved individually. Definite room for improvement.
Fortunately she's powerful enough herself to foresee that I'll find the crystal ball in the cave under the waterfall to the south of town. She just gave me the exact location for it, so I won't have to go wandering around. This is not like Dragon Quest VII at all.
I also need to look for some barrels to throw, because they often have some good stuff inside them. You can smash them right in front of their owner all over their floor, no one cares. And I do need this stuff if I'm going to afford the gear I need for this ball recovery expedition.
The menus look pretty good in this and they're a nice change from the earlier games. It's great that Dragon Quest was actually making some concessions to the fact that it was 2004. Except, this isn't actually how the game looked in 2004...
 |
| Japanese version |
Though this version of the screen is transparent enough to let you see that the weapon shop owner looks like someone who'd kick my ass in Golden Axe.
Alright I think I'm done with this town for now. I've got my quest, I've stared at things I can't afford in the shops, I've saved at the church, so it's time to finally head out into the world.
I turned around but I only made it a few more steps before I was ambushed by these creeps:
I don't have any magic or abilities yet so it seems like I might as well just keep pressing the button and let my two characters attack each turn.
A SHORT WALK LATER
Alright I'm at the waterfall cave. I hit a few more random encounters along the way, but they didn't take too long. They worked out to last about 35 seconds per fight, which is a lot less than the 60 seconds I was averaging in Dragon Quest 7. Though I only managed 50 seconds of running during that time, so that's one fight every 12.5 seconds. This means that so far exploring the overworld has been one quarter running around and three quarters fighting.
I got a level up at least, though the levelling seems as hands off as ever. A message box informed me that a few of my stats had increased by one, that was it.
I'm going to need more of those medicinal herbs if I want to make it any further though, because my health isn't great right now. Monsters drop them sometimes after a fight but not quite often enough to keep my health topped off.
Hang on... maybe I do have a map for outside, I never tried it. Maybe I've got a map in towns as well! Damn, that would've saved me a lot of time earlier when I was hunting for that pub and the well.
At some point I'm going to have to turn around and head back to town to buy more supplies as there's no way I'm going to make it through here and survive a boss fight on my first trip. But the further I go, the more loot, cash and XP I make, so I have to decide when it's too risky to keep pressing forwards. I think I'll stick with it a bit longer.
Hey I just levelled up and earned the Heal spell! This is going to make all the difference, as it means I can spend 2 MP to restore my health instead of using a medicinal herb. Though I don't actually have any MP at the moment and I never have; levelling up only raised my max, it didn't give me a free refill. Alright I'm heading back to town to sleep then.
I've started to realise something though: this battle music sounds like it belongs in a spy movie from the 60s. The town music's a bit like that as well now that I think about it. The game doesn't really sound like any other RPG I've played that's for sure.
I survived all the way back to town and went straight for the church to save my game. I've been playing for 68 minutes if you're curious, so I was only out fighting Candy cats and Mischievous moles for 26 minutes on that trip. Also I've gotten a pitiful 174 gold after all that work, so I won't be getting the good sword just yet. Especially seeing as I have to stock up on herbs and pay for a night at the inn.
I went to bed and then this cutscene came up showing King Trode hammering away at something mysterious in his cart. He's got a secret project.
It's going to stay a secret though as nothing was said about it the next morning and I headed back out to the waterfall cave. It's all getting a bit routine now.
I'm going to invest all my points in 'Axes', that seems like a pretty safe bet. Sure he uses a club right now and the town doesn't sell any, but someday I'll find an axe and when I do he'll be formidable.
EIGHT MINUTES LATER, BACK IN THE WATERFALL CAVE
Couldn't it have just let me breeze through one dungeon without going all Dragon Quest on me and expecting me to grind a bit? It wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't so many bloody random battles. I mean it's not Breath of Fire II bad with the encounter rate, but I feel like I'd be enjoying this a lot more if they'd dialled down the frequency of fights and increased the rewards to compensate.
Okay, I made the journey back to town again. I've now been fighting monsters for 52 minutes and I'm level 5, with enough cash to buy a few antidotes and get back out there. I'm ready to get this cave finished... or at least get a little further this time.
This was another Yes/No question, so I told him that yes I realise that I have to fight him. He was shocked by my bravery and just let me through. So that was nice!
I also met a slime in here who told me about a chest containing a copper sword, so it's a good thing I never did get around to blowing all my savings on one. It's also cool that the monsters aren't all enemies and our team only fights them when it absolutely has to. Makes me feel less bad about this ridiculous kill count I'm racking up.
SOON, AT THE END OF THE WATERFALL CAVE
This fish monster has a really annoying voice and his tendency to get his words mixed up is even more annoying, but I didn't want to just lie to him, so I told him that it wasn't actually my crystal ball. He accepted that as the truth and then left me alone! That didn't get me the ball though, so I came back and said yes and now we're fighting.
I eventually beat Geyzer on my first try, which came as a big surprise to me as he was hitting really hard and I'm almost out of herbs, and he suddenly started talking about Hero's backstory. He's heard rumours that Trodain castle was overrun with thorns, with only one survivor... and he's pretty sure he's looking right at him.
Geyzer explains that he wanted to beat up the owner of the ball to punish them for dropping it on his head and giving him actual brain damage, but now he knows I'm not him he just wants me to pass along a message: "DON'T THROW THINGS IN THE FALLWATER!" Man, the poor guy, I feel really sorry for him.
My resources are pretty much spent at this point, but fortunately I've learned a new spell: Evac. For the cost of a couple of MP I can teleport right out of the dungeon! Though I still have to fight all the enemies outside on the way back to town. Then I can take the ball back to Kalderasha's daughter! I can't wait to be reminded why I'm doing that.
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART TWO
You should celebrate by leaving a comment, maybe even take a guess at what the next game's going to be. Though you'll have to wait two weeks for it this time I'm afraid. Actually my original plan was to disappear for two months, so really you're getting a bonus game next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment