Does "Final Fantasy" better than "Final Fantasy" can.
The series Dragon Quest, or Dragon Warrior as it is somewhat known as in America, is the combined works of creator Yuji Horii, artist Akira Toriyama, and musical composer Koichi Sugiyama. Together these three men crafted the universe to not only one of the best RPG series of all time, but quite possibly one of the most influential in the gaming industry to date in Japan.
It’s just a shame that it took eight games for their work to finally become popular in the USA.
Dragon Quest VIII is the type of game that will appeal to not only the hardest of hardcore Dragon Quest fans, but for newcomers to the series as well. The story, like previous games in the series, is a relatively light-hearted and colorful tale of good versus evil.
It appears that Dhoulmagus, a seemingly evil court jester, has broken into the Kingdom of Trodain, stolen an infamously rare staff, and turned the King and his daughter into a troll and horse respectively. As an unnamed and relatively mute guard of the Kingdom of Trodain, it is his job to stop Dhoulmagus and return peace to King and country.
Along the way, the nameless hero will befriend three more fighters to join his party, all of which have their own distinct stories and attitudes. Together this four person party will be the world’s last hope in stopping Dhoulmagus from completing his wicked task.
For someone who has never played an RPG, or Role Playing Game, this game is incredibly easy for a gamer to pick up and play. Unlike the Final Fantasy series that continually evolves into a more complicated and confusing mess every new installment, Dragon Quest VIII pays homage to the previous Dragon Quest games by keeping it simple and fun.
One of the simplest things about this game is the good old fashioned, turn based battle system, none of this active time filth that has been flooding the RPG market lately. What that means to all the non-geeks out there is that when in a battle, gamers are given all the time they need to choose what attack or option they want to use. This capitalizes on the strategic nature of the game.
Another great thing about Dragon Quest VIII is how massive this game is. An average RPG runs around 40 hours, however if one so desired this game could hold its own past the 80+ hour mark. There is seriously just that much to do.
Besides the original mission at hand, gamers can collect items to mix into their Alchemy Pot to make brand new items, fill up their monster book by fighting every type of monster in the game, earn rewards for collecting tiny little “mini-medals” throughout the game, play slots, roulette, or bingo at one of the two casinos, or even collect infamous monsters to place on a team to fight in an underground Monster Arena.
If there is one thing to be said about this game, it’s that there is always something to do, even after completing the main mission.
Overall Dragon Quest VIII is one of those exceedingly rare games that will keep gamers coming back for more and more every time. It is a fast-paced adventure that has an addicting story filled to the brim with life and very likeable characters, not to forget an abundance of things to see and do.
Gamers that are at all fond of RPG games should report immediately to their local video game store and pick up this game.