The Dragon Quest series is possibly THE biggest RPG series in Japan, even over Final Fantasy. To such an extent that it's changed national law decreeing a Dragon Quest game cannot be realesed on a work day, to stop half the country skipping off work/school to buy it. And now Number 8, The Journey of the Cursed King, is realesed outside of Japan for the first time in history. The story concerns the Cursed Kingdom of Trodain, covered in thorny vines after a magical sceptre was stolen by Dhoulmagus, an evil Jester. The King himself has been turned into a Yoda-like creature and the Princess into a Horse, and apart from this, the only other survivor is you, a guardsmen who for some reason was unaffected by the curse. You then embark on a quest to defeat Dhoulmagus and remove the curse, but as events proceed the fate of the whole world hangs on your shoulders... This game acts like a throw-back to the old-school RPG's, where you explore towns, buy new equipment and gain quests, then go out and explore a dungeon before battling a boss monster and continuing on your quest. Things are kept similar in the combat system and menus, with a tight set of abilities for each character, each of whom gain a number of 'skill points' everytime they level up, which can then be allocated to a number of areas defined by either weapon class (Sword, Bow, etc.) or a unique class for each character (courage, Humanity, Charisma, etc.), and you learn a new ability at so many points. How you allocate points is up to you, and this system is a lot handier than having to deal with some complicated system a la Final Fantasy. You'll need these skills, cause the battles in this game are far from easy. Random encounters are aplenty, and your foes are good at working together, calling for back-up, healing each other and using negative status effects to whup your ass. Making bad decisions will likely end up with you being very dead, unless you think before pressing X. Your characters can attack normally or use their special abilities, but can also 'pysche up' which increases the damage of their next attack. If you're able to reach 100 tension, your next move can annihilate the entire screen of foes. Each of your party too are suited to unique roles, such as Yangus' pure skull-cracking, Jessica's magic-based assault (as well as using her sex appeal to make monsters stop and stare), Angelo's brand of defensive and offensive spells, and the Hero's well-balanced combat style. Graphically, this game is astounding. The game world is in full 3D, and you can often stand atop a hill and gaze for miles at the lush forests and rolling green fields, or the prisitne oceans when you later gain a ship to go sailing. It really is wonderous to behold. The characters are presented in bold cel-shading colours, and the facial animations are wonderful too, giving the game a light-hearted character. Your enemies are usually far from fearsome too, as they have little animations in battle that are bound to raise a chuckle, and make the combat less monotonous as well. Voice-acting as has been added to the European and American versions, and the decision to use a predominatly British cast is a master stroke. Practically all the voices are done nearly perfectly, especially Yangus who sports an East Lodon accent, further cementing his character as a rough-and-tumble sorts. The other characters are aided in a similar manner, although there are one or two instances when the voice work becomes a little over prententious, but it's only a minor niggle. This all adds up to make Dragon Quest 8 the must-own RPG of 2006. Get it if you haven't allready!
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Even on its eighth iteration, many RPG enthusiasts outside of Japan know next to nothing about Dragon Quest, which is strange considering that this was the first Eastern-Style RPG produced and published and is directly r... Read Full Review
RPG games have become a staple in gaming in the United States thanks in a large part to the popularity of the Final Fantasy series. However, Final Fantasy and RPG games in general owe quite a lot to the classic Dragon Q... Read Full Review
