trust me, you will die trying.
i just came off playing KH2, and i'll say that if you don't like to grind out almost every battle until you level up quite extensively, you will not like DQ8. KH2 was almost as linear as it gets, and so is DQ8. DQ8, however, has so much real estate that you can't help but wander off every once in a while. The amount of land can be overwhelming sometimes because some people might treat the game like other games, but that would be a mistake to roam around unprepared. You'll find yourself warping to town quite frequently.
the graphics for dq8 are fantastic: not flashy, yet technically sound. The cell shading is quite easy on the eyes. The battle animations are simple, and the spell effects are varied. The effects are good, but could be better, but i like flashy. I couln't get enough of FFX's insane spells. DQ8 has a simple and efficient presentation.
The music is upbeat and representive of the situations most of the time. I did not care much for the battle theme, and the soundtrack on a whole is forgettable. The battle theme was almost annoying sometimes.
The value of the game merits a 50 dollar price tag, and lucky for us it sports a much lower one. The game will provide easily 100 hrs of gametime. Most of that will be leveling up as you get further into the game. DQ8 has one of the most difficult AND grinding AND boring leveling up schemes. I have 100+ hrs and am only at lv.65.
One other peeve i have about this game is the inability to save easily. You has to work hard just to save: i mean, warp to town, walk to church, speak to priest, go through multiple lines of dialogue, go back to where you were, then continue on your way.
I recommend this game to the higher order of grinders and dungeon crawlers because it takes much dedication to leveling up to beat the game without pulling your hair out from getting beat down many times.
oh yea, the voice acting is excellent most of the time.