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Dragon Quest VIII announced for 3DS

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rhandino

Banned
I think this was a prerelease bullshot:

8b25f72c.jpg


So I tried to go to the same spot in the PS2 version. Please excuse camera shots of my TV:

PS2 (still looks pretty derp):
GuFFZWM.jpg


3DS:
5R5u008.jpg


PS2 (trees seem randomly generated):

i5XGlcg.jpg

kh7QmbW.jpg


3DS:

FT2Nauo.jpg


Also man the PS2 version is slow. Like literally everything I tried to do took a long time. Really hope they improve that. And the frame tearing.

Edit: retook the 2nd PS2 shot to get a better location; also retook the first photo since I got a good angle on it.

leT me report this here so it doesn't get lost on the last page...

Hopefully the framerate is better than the PS2 version, and good at the visible encounters!
...
 
Thanks for the comparison, SheepyGuy!

I'm sure Japan will love this version.

Where are the 'but 3DS unequivocally more powerful than the PS2' people now? Still, portable DQVIII. Tis a beautiful thing.

How much more powerful though? Especially for a port?

DQ8 is an old game and it wasn't programmed to run on the 3DS.
 

Bitanator

Member
I wonder how Slime Hill will work now since you can see the metal slimes.

If enemies on the screen then I'd hope they change the vanish spell to that like in the one in IX. It would be very useful for treasure hunting on place you should not venture into. And getting the skinny on those damn metal bastards

Where are the 'but 3DS unequivocally more powerful than the PS2' people now? Still, portable DQVIII. Tis a beautiful thing.

Maybe making enemies on screen takes away from other things, I don't mind I think it is a fair tradeoff.
 

Ahnez

Member
There were monsters visible on the map in the original PS2 version.

Those were the monsters you could add to your Monster Arena teams

That slime could just be one of those monsters :p
 

Bitanator

Member
There were monsters visible on the map in the original PS2 version.

Those were the monsters you could add to your Monster Arena teams

That slime could just be one of those monsters :p

There are two slimes in that picture though, it probably would explain the lack of other detail. It does not look bad to me, now if only it comes out overseas...
 

sensui-tomo

Member
I don't know where the expectations that it'd look as good as the ps2 version came from, I mean we had Tales of Abyss on the 3ds and the good thing from that was loading screens were reduced (at the cost of graphics and fps i think?) If it comes out i'll still get it due to new content always being a plus.
 

sörine

Banned
I don't know where the expectations that it'd look as good as the ps2 version came from, I mean we had Tales of Abyss on the 3ds and the good thing from that was loading screens were reduced (at the cost of graphics and fps i think?) If it comes out i'll still get it due to new content always being a plus.
There were both visual upgrades and downgrades for TOTA 3D. The major downgrade was the halved framerate in battles (60 to 30). It also used some lower res textures but that wasn't a hardware issue (3DS destroys PS2 in terms of RAM), it was due to Namco cheaping out on card size.

In terms of upgrades there was 3D (which is a sizable resource hog) and a much better overworld framerate. Given the reduced environmental foliage in these DQVIII shots I hope SE is achieving similar tradeoffs here.
 

Meffer

Member
I really hope this gets localized. I really want to play this game but don't want to settle for the iOS version or buy a ps2.
Me too. The time I had playing it on the PS2 was magical. It would be amazing to play this on 3DS. It sold pretty well here when it first came out so I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to. I would be more surprised if they didn't.
 

Ladekabel

Member
I really hope this gets localized. I really want to play this game but don't want to settle for the iOS version or buy a ps2.

Me, too! Missed it back in the day. Always smiled at me when I was in a shop but somehow never pulled the trigger and bought it. Though I still have my PS2 or could emulate it having the game available on the go would be amazing. So please, Nintendo or Square, have mercy with us and localize it.
 

rhandino

Banned
Me too. The time I had playing it on the PS2 was magical. It would be amazing to play this on 3DS. It sold pretty well here when it first came out so I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to. I would be more surprised if they didn't.
I wonder why~

xnez56I.jpg


I't was the reason I bought it, kii!
 

Eolz

Member
Nice comparison shots.
Might be a downgrade in terms of graphics, but might also be really different in terms of gameplay.
Guess emulated PS2 and this version will be the way to go in the future, hope to hear more details soon.
 
Thanks to whoever posted those screenshots and comparisons, we now have a good idea as to how this will turn out.

I'm more inclined to believe that it's based off the iOS/Android versions, sadly. Here are the tell-tale signs:

1) The shadows are mere circles. On PS2 they are more detailed than that.
2) The foliage has been decreased -- this is something I noticed while playing DQVIII on Android (a Moto X) last year, where I took a few comparison shots.
3) Terrain is simpler and a few details are missing, as was the case on iOS/Android. The wooden fences were definitely removed from the iOS/Android version, for example.

Once we get some town screenshots and night screenshots we'll be able to have a better look at the lighting as well. On iOS/Android the lighting is pretty flat, and some details during the evening were removed. For example, windows wouldn't shine a bright yellow at night, they would remain identical to how they looked during the day. Also: the moving sun in the sky -- something that always reminded me of Ocarina of Time -- was completely removed if I remember correctly, as well as the cool lens flare effect you'd get for staring at it.

I'd like to be wrong, but I'd rather aim low than get my hopes up!

---

I wouldn't jump to conclusions and blame the 3DS for any of these visual concessions. It's a capable system for this kind of game, and the iOS/Android port ran like a dog on far, far more powerful hardware, hardware that can easily do the best PS2 has to offer in far higher resolutions at at smoother framerates.

2013's iPhone 5s has an awful lot of processing power. The Apple A7 delivers seven times the single-threaded CPU performance of the PS Vita's Cortex A8 CPU, and the 5s was the first device on the market with a PowerVR Series 6 GPU, a whole generation leap above the Vita's seres 5 GPU which was similar to the iPad 3's.

Yet TOSE's Dragon Quest VIII port looked worse than the PS2 original, and ran at about 20fps :/

Where are the 'but 3DS unequivocally more powerful than the PS2' people now? Still, portable DQVIII. Tis a beautiful thing.

Just saw this. It's just an unfair comparison, really. You're comparing a game made to fit the PS2's architecture and developed on a big budget and by a large team at Level-5 to a quick and easy low budget port that may be running on an engine that doesn't suit 3DS's different hardware makeup (likely by TOSE).

It'd be like claiming that the Vita isn't much more powerful than the Wii off the basis of New Little King's Story and its noticeable framerate drops and lower quality shadows among other things. Different teams, different budgets, different hardware makeups. Ports of bespoke exclusives to similarly-powered hardware don't necessarily turn out well. See: Bayonetta 360 to PS3 as an extreme example. It was basically developed as if it were a 360 exclusive, using that system's strengths. Games which took both the PS3/360's hardware makeup into consideration fared much better, at the expense of losing features which suit either the 360 or the PS3.
 

Scrawnton

Member
I'm an happy with how the game looks on 3ds. Seems like the downgrade hit the amount of trees in the overworld, which is fine to me.
 

Shin-Ra

Junior Member
Looks like they might have decreased the vertical FoV for widescreen (like Jak & Daxter) instead of increasing the horizontal.
 
Looks like they might have decreased the vertical FoV for widescreen (like Jak & Daxter) instead of increasing the horizontal.

That's disappointing. While the iOS/Android port got a lot of flak for apparently squashing the display into portrait, it actually let you see more

EB76A8I.jpg


4q3MfoP.png
 

Lynx_7

Member
I was moderately excited for this(considering it even comes to the west, of course) but after seeing those screenshots I'm actually reconsidering wheter or not I'll buy it. I still have the PS2 version and I was actually replaying it a few months ago, so buying what looks like a somewhat downgraded port seems like a waste of money for me.
If the new story content and performance are enough to justify the purchase then I may reconsider it, but for now I think I'm gonna pass. It'll depend more on the new stuff they add since I never had any issues with how the PS2 version runs anyway.
Also still waiting on VII over here, Enix.
 

Psxphile

Member
Are people more willing to buy an HD port w/ no gameplay changes over a "downgraded" one with what looks like some rather significant changes (new party members is kinda huge, for this game)? Do graphics really have more sway than content?
Find out on the next Geraldo.

Eh, even regarding the topography being downscaled I still want to play this game. Y'know, if it actually gets localized.
 

fester

Banned
At this point I'm still way more worried about it being released in North America than what it looks like. I'll take mobile DQ8 with decent button controls regardless of how it looks - I'm that desperate. :(
 

Scrawnton

Member
Are people more willing to buy an HD port w/ no gameplay changes over a "downgraded" one with what looks like some rather significant changes (new party members is kinda huge, for this game)? Do graphics really have more sway than content?
Find out on the next Geraldo.

Eh, even regarding the topography being downscaled I still want to play this game. Y'know, if it actually gets localized.

nothing in those screenshots are turning me off. I just want a handheld version of dqviii. I am not one to ignore a game because its technically a downgrade graphics wise. Heck, I am enjoying dragon quest iv on ds a long side me playing witcher 3 on ps4.
 

Vanille

Member
Are people more willing to buy an HD port w/ no gameplay changes over a "downgraded" one with what looks like some rather significant changes (new party members is kinda huge, for this game)? Do graphics really have more sway than content?
Find out on the next Geraldo.

Eh, even regarding the topography being downscaled I still want to play this game. Y'know, if it actually gets localized.

I mean, it's not like DQVIII is a game starved for content. I never came close to doing all there was to do in the PS2 version, so yeah, I think HD visuals would be preferable over a few tacked on scenarios.
 

Lynx_7

Member
Are people more willing to buy an HD port w/ no gameplay changes over a "downgraded" one with what looks like some rather significant changes (new party members is kinda huge, for this game)? Do graphics really have more sway than content?
Find out on the next Geraldo.

Eh, even regarding the topography being downscaled I still want to play this game. Y'know, if it actually gets localized.

If I still have a perfectly playable version of the game then yeah, I do expect a newer version to offer significant improvements over the original if I'm expected to buy the same product again. If the differences only goes as far as "it's portable now but looks kind of flat", which is something I don't care much about, then I really have no incentives to spend money on this. An HD version with consistent 30fps and maybe less loading time would at least offer me enough performance and visual improvements to justify a new purchase.
Like I said, whether or not I'll buy this one will depend largely on the quality of the new content they add. Visible enemy encounters would also be a great addition. But if it's just some tacked-in scenarios that don't add much to the experience then I'll pass.

Edit: for a good example of what I think is enough new content to justify purchasing the same game twice, look no further than Atlus. DS Overclocked, DS 2 Record Breaker, P3 Portable, P4 Golden all offer enough new features to make buying them desirable for those who already own the original game.
 

hongcha

Member
Still wishing they had saved this for the next handheld but it doesn't look awful.

I wouldn't be surprised if they pull a FFX on this game and put it on a later handheld or home console a year or two later.

The graphic downgrade is about what I expected. I knew it wasn't going to look nearly as good as the PS2 version. Hopefully the framerate isn't choppy.
 

Foffy

Banned
It appears to be in accord with the DQVII 3DS port, which has a hideous, barren overworld with severe pop-in for the few trees that are scattered about.

Wish I could find out for myself, but I am apparently too baka gaijin to know outright. ):
 

Psxphile

Member
Looks so bland without the treelines :(
Maybe the trees will "pop in" as you venture closer... lol

It feels like a better transition than DQVIII so far.
I'd like a shot of Tales' vast overworld or some other scene where the camera is scaled back to show more of the world for both before making that assumption. Interior shot with character close-up doesn't really compare well with the previous DQ screens. Of course it'll look better.
 

NolbertoS

Member
Just curious as why people are comparing graphics on the DQ series? The DQ series in general has never been about HD, 60 fps graphics and ultra real lighting , shadong and trying to be close to the real world. You want realistic, play GTA V. The DQ series has always been about the story abd gameplay than graphics. I honestly play DQ for the wonderful storyline. Even when DQVII was released as a PS1 game when the PS 2 came out. Japanese gamers and western gamers at that time bought it droves. If you're buying or wanting DQ for the graphics only, than you're liking the series for rhe wrong reasons. One of the main reasons people love this series it its traditional and archaic RPG elements.

Edit: if they remade DQVIII in 16 bit graphics, I'd still buy it.
 
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