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Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King (3DS) |OT| Cor Blimey!

Interestingly I went to Argonia right after I got the ship to get the items there and shop, and the overworld monsters in that region didn't go after me at all. Maybe because I was so underleveled? Hah.



1. There should be guides on Gamefaqs for Roulette that make it so much easier to win.

2. That costume only requires 3 items, not 4. Bunny suit, Bunny headband, Fishnet Stockings.

1. I can't wrap my head around it, tried three different guides. Kept losing all my Tokens. I also don't like how long it takes to load up the board even with what I'm assuming are huge QoL improvements.

2. Could have sworn it needed Silver Platter for some reason, my bad.
 
Don't know if it's the best way but I just quicksave in front of the roulette wheel and fill up the middle portion. You have a 1 in 3 chance of making over 30,000 coins profit per spin. If you fail, reset.
 
Don't know if it's the best way but I just quicksave in front of the roulette wheel and fill up the middle portion. You have a 1/3rd chance of making over 30,000 coins profit per spin. If you fail, reset.
This is what I'm considering trying next. Bingo is a pretty steady return so far and you can do it in the background of watching videos or browsing.

Slots were either nerfed hardcore or there's a 3rd Casino in the endgame.
 
Between this and Berseria, can't really pick. How are the new characters? Red especially interests me.
Could you clarify what you're asking about? How do they look, how are their personalities, how are their voice actors, how are they in battle, or how are they overall? Do you intend to min/max and need their stat growths and skill trees?

I don't have them yet (thanks, Casino), but a great deal about them is known because they were in the original game. They just weren't playable. I can understand why those two characters were chosen as party members in the 3DS version, because they're great. If SE sat me down and asked me to make two NPCs into party members, those are the two I would choose. Again, I can only judge based on the superficial, their combat capabilities are unknown to me.
 

Anteo

Member
Man, having one of your characters dying in the middle of nowhere sucks, I have to drop everything and go back to revive them. Last time it was because of an insane focus fire that started with a crit, could not heal in time to prevent it.

Edit: Also, I think I need to explore a little less, Ive been to places way before the quest made me go there, heck I made it to that thieves town with only 3 characters in my party.
 
Between this and Berseria, can't really pick. How are the new characters? Red especially interests me.

I haven't gotten as far as getting Red and Morrie yet. But I think most impressions on the net say they are really good additions. Both are different from the previously 4 only playable characters.

As for Tales of Berseria, I've liked the Tales series, but not as much as the Dragon Quest series. With that said, my favorite Tales of games are usually the ones that Tales of fans hate the most. Just to give you an idea, I personally liked Tales of Graces f for its battle system, Tales of Zestiria for it's simple story, Tales of Vesperia for its simple story, and Tales of Abyss for its eventual character development. I know most fans love Tales of Symphonia the most and I couldn't stand that game even though I've bought several versions of it over the years.

I'd choose Dragon Quest 8 or 7 over Tales of Berseria if I had a choice. Mainly because Tales of games can be purchased digitally for $20 or even less within a year digitally on PS4 and about as much in stores if there's stock left, whereas Dragon Quest games rarely go down in price or they get out of stock at retailers. You can always wait for Tales to come down in price.
 
Man, having one of your characters dying in the middle of nowhere sucks, I have to drop everything and go back to revive them. Last time it was because of an insane focus fire that started with a crit, could not heal in time to prevent it.

Edit: Also, I think I need to explore a little less, Ive been to places way before the quest made me go there, heck I made it to that thieves town with only 3 characters in my party.

Nothing is wrong with that. It's amazing that the game gives you opportunities like that. I made it to the Thieves Town with only 3 party members, too. Same with the Mystic Spring, I made it there by accident before I was forced to go there. But the Mystic Spring ended up being one of my favorite parts of any videogame, such a great addition that adds to the Hero and his relationship.
 

kenta

Has no PEINS
I just felt like saying I'm really enjoying this game, even more than I enjoyed VII last year. The voice acting in particular is really great

Are waifu wars a thing in DQ? I'm all in on Angelo
 
I just felt like saying I'm really enjoying this game, even more than I enjoyed VII last year. The voice acting in particular is really great

Are waifu wars a thing in DQ? I'm all in on Angelo

Angelo is awesome. If you don't already party chat with your characters while traveling, seriously, do it. IT's part of the fun in every Dragon Quest game. You get to see their personalities so much more. Angelo in particular is really sarcastic and just amusing.
 
I just felt like saying I'm really enjoying this game, even more than I enjoyed VII last year. The voice acting in particular is really great

Are waifu wars a thing in DQ? I'm all in on Angelo

Playing this game made me realize how molasses slow DQVII is (even after the QoL improvements, speaking more so in terms of story and that the vignette in Alltrades Abbey is ridiculous as hell). As much as I love DQVII, I just prefer the way DQVIII plays.
 

Chesskid1

Banned
i was forcing myself to play DQ7 and even then i tapped out after like 12 hours.

DQ8 is still a breathe of fresh air, fun to play, charming, and i can't wait to explore more and see what happens next, i've already at 20+ hours. great game.
 
I just bought this game on Amazon yesterday. I already have the PS2 version but the new characters made me buy it

It's an amazing game ported to a great system. Let us know how you enjoy it and what you think compared to the PS2 version if you played it!

Playing this game made me realize how molasses slow DQVII is (even after the QoL improvements, speaking more so in terms of story and that the vignette in Alltrades Abbey is ridiculous as hell). As much as I love DQVII, I just prefer the way DQVIII plays.

I agree with you, even though I love DQ7, too. But DQ8 is just in a class of its own as far as a well designed and cohesive world is concerned. If I could choose any DQ game to represent the whimsical and light hearted nature of Akira Toriyama's designs...it's DQ8.

i was forcing myself to play DQ7 and even then i tapped out after like 12 hours.

DQ8 is still a breathe of fresh air, fun to play, charming, and i can't wait to explore more and see what happens next, i've already at 20+ hours. great game.

Wow, how far are you? I think you've logged in more hours than I have.
 

GeekyDad

Member
i was forcing myself to play DQ7 and even then i tapped out after like 12 hours.

DQ8 is still a breathe of fresh air, fun to play, charming, and i can't wait to explore more and see what happens next, i've already at 20+ hours. great game.

Came to basically say the same thing, though I put in about 30 hours before throwing in the towel. I've played IV, V, VI and IX before trying VII. After diving into this I remembered just what a great sense of humor this series typically has. This game gets going right out of the gate. It just grabs you instantly. And as naturally funny as it is, it's also surprisingly darker than pretty much any other DQ. The story is really good so far.

Graphics, though...yeesh. I'm sure it looks great on PS2, but on 3DS, it's pretty shaggy. No matter, it's been a ton of fun so far. Very inspired. Great voice work to boot.
 
So when a rare monster occurs after killing X amount of a monster type, you don't need to do that in rapid succession or in a certain time frame, right? If I check my battle log and see I've overall killed over the amount required, I should be good to go?

And I still haven't heard back about either of these...

One thing has been bothering me though. Is there a way to use your weapon as an item (like Jessica and a staff) without having go scroll through your items and click use? It's a pain when I have to do it every battle.

Similarly, is there a way to easily transfer more than one item at a time between the bag and party members?
 
One thing has been bothering me though. Is there a way to use your weapon as an item (like Jessica and a staff) without having go scroll through your items and click use? It's a pain when I have to do it every battle.

Put the item you want to "Use" in the first slot after your equipment and it'll be auto-selected (as in directly under the cursor), otherwise no. Useful for using weak equipment that has a nice effect, like Rune Staff (Kabuff), Cheiron's Bow (Baby Multiheal), etcetera.

Similarly, is there a way to easily transfer more than one item at a time between the bag and party members?

Nope. The X and Y innovation really needed some expansion and critical thinking that it didn't get. A second example: items in the Bag cap out at 999, but you can continue to "buy" more items, throwing away your hard-won Gold/Casino Tokens. Pay attention when you buy things in bulk.

So when a rare monster occurs after killing X amount of a monster type, you don't need to do that in rapid succession or in a certain time frame, right? If I check my battle log and see I've overall killed over the amount required, I should be good to go?

You might need the Codex Challenge in your log for it to spawn initially. After that, it seems to be a bit of luck if it will spawn or not when you Zoom to the area. Otherwise, yes. If you killed 30 and it says so in your Battle Log, you're good to go.
 

rockx4

Member
Really enjoying DQ8 so far. 7 Hours in and DQ8 is definitely more fun than DQ7. I think I was at 15-20 hours in DQ7 before I gave up... could have been less but I don't feel like going back to check. Felt like I was forcing myself to continue the whole time. Between DQ4-9, 7 is the only one that I couldn't get into :\
 
I'm about half/two thirds through DQ7 IF I remember right (at Notagen). I haven't played since I played the PS1 version, about 95% of it on PS2 right after it came out.

It's a very DQ-ish DQ. A little overloaded (class system, immigrant town, monster collecting, monster classes). The additional tablet DLC on 3ds just adds to it even more.

I personally like DQ8 better, but I get a bit annoyed with too much to do. Like Lost Odyssey I feel would have been better without the ring crafting gather-fest, DQ7 would have been better without all the optional collect-o-thons and a lot less monster classes.

The DQ7 vignettes are cool but the re-crawling of dungeons that goes with it gets old too.

DQ8 hits the right scope there IMO.
 

Zetta

Member
After all these year I still find Yangus as one of the best DQ characters. I beat DQ7 and I didn't even laugh as much as I have with DQ8 and I still don't even have the boat lol.
 
If I've already put like 10 points into Swords how much will it mess me up to change over to Spears? Folks seem to dig that quite a bit.
 
If I've already put like 10 points into Swords how much will it mess me up to change over to Spears? Folks seem to dig that quite a bit.

Swords are great as well. Falcon Slash was MVP.

It won't mess you up since getting to lvl 99 makes you able to max atleast 3 weapon tree as I recall
 

epmode

Member
I'm having some trouble with my Hero build. I was reading the thread earlier and wound up putting enough points into Boomerangs to get Power Throw (or whatever lets you hit all enemies at full power). Now I'm not sure where to go.

I think Yangus will be my only character with Thin Air. It may be useful to have it on two characters but I don't want to waste the points on Hero (considering he has Power Throw) and I have better plans for Angelo and Jessica.

In past DQ games, I don't go out of my way to hunt metals so I guess I should switch to Swords? Or would it be better to focus on Courage first? If it matters, I may get involved in the endgame, haven't decided yet.
 

Chesskid1

Banned
Wow, how far are you? I think you've logged in more hours than I have.

i'm not that far at all. im about to reach barccrat or whatever, i'm one of those overgrinder guys.

Came to basically say the same thing, though I put in about 30 hours before throwing in the towel. I've played IV, V, VI and IX before trying VII. After diving into this I remembered just what a great sense of humor this series typically has. This game gets going right out of the gate. It just grabs you instantly. And as naturally funny as it is, it's also surprisingly darker than pretty much any other DQ. The story is really good so far.

Graphics, though...yeesh. I'm sure it looks great on PS2, but on 3DS, it's pretty shaggy. No matter, it's been a ton of fun so far. Very inspired. Great voice work to boot.

jessica and alistar have some great one liners, love them.

i really hope the new PS4 DQ will try to follow the DQ8 formula in well defined characters, it's great!
 
I'm having some trouble with my Hero build. I was reading the thread earlier and wound up putting enough points into Boomerangs to get Power Throw (or whatever lets you hit all enemies at full power). Now I'm not sure where to go.

I think Yangus will be my only character with Thin Air. It may be useful to have it on two characters but I don't want to waste the points on Hero (considering he has Power Throw) and I have better plans for Angelo and Jessica.

In past DQ games, I don't go out of my way to hunt metals so I guess I should switch to Swords? Or would it be better to focus on Courage first? If it matters, I may get involved in the endgame, haven't decided yet.

Builds are generally going to be focused around Swords/Courage or Spears/Courage for the hero.

My own build used to be boomerang to 18, then spear to 59, then courage to 90, then spear to 100, then after that I just messed around as I had everything I wanted.

This time round I figured I'd try going without powerthrow, and it doesn't seem to have made things more difficult - in fact, it made the squid boss ludicrously easy as I had multithrust before I fought him this time.

My current plan is : Spear to 59, then courage to 90, then spear to 100, then after that mess around again.

If you've only just got power throw and not used any other points, the build I used to use for the PS2 would probably work for you, depends if you want to use spears or not. From memory on the PS2, the final sword was stronger then the final spear, but I just preferred the spear skills. Not sure if there are new weapons on the 3DS version. The caveat here is my build is structured to do max damage to metabbles, so if you're not going to be interested in that, the build loses effectiveness a bit. Although I still think Multithrust is one of the best abilities in the game. The alternate swords/courage route used to have the benefit of the strongest weapon (as said, not sure if it's still the case), plus the use of gigagash when you get 100 in both, which is a handy skill. That said, if you're not killing lots of metabbles, I'm not sure if you get to the point where you CAN put 100 in two trees. I've never not gone after metabbles, so I'm not sure what level you end up as in a natural build.

You probably know this, but just in case, remember you can switch weapons in-battle without wasting a turn, so you can alternate between the boomerang for mobs and the spear for serious fights.
 
Yes, Red just joined the party. She joins
at the end of the pirate cove.
I'm halfway done with the running around and gathering treasures right before that part.

I can't seem to get Morrie yet. Or rather I don't have the patience to reset until the RNG is favorable. Guess I will wait until
I can fly
.
 

hemo memo

Gold Member
Why is everything in the bag and not a different menu for weapon/armour/shields/accessory or choose them in the same Equip menu so you don't have to transfer each one you want to equip?
 

LeonSPBR

Member
I'm halfway done with the running around and gathering treasures right before that part.

I can't seem to get Morrie yet. Or rather I don't have the patience to reset until the RNG is favorable. Guess I will wait until
I can fly
.

You get Morrie by
beating the Monster Arena.
Way too hard for me as well. Will wait to be able
to fly as well.
 
You get Morrie by
beating the Monster Arena.
Way too hard for me as well. Will wait to be able
to fly as well.
Yeah, you need
flying to get to the areas with some of the strong monsters
. Why must you be so difficult to recruit, awesome guy? Are you going for the
Golem trio
or another team?

Got Red and thanks to keeping up my Cameron's Codex, I've also got her very va-va-va-voom alternate outfit. Not sure if she has more than one, but it is the most obvious choice so you'll know it when you see it.
 
Man I'm in love with this game. I absolutely adore DQ V but VIII is close behind it. I really hope the ports of VII and VIII sells decently and SE/Nintendo are pleased with the results. Can't thank them enough that they brought both to the west.
 
I have no idea what build to use for Angelo. I'm on track for Swords/Courage for Hero, Axes/Humanity/Fisticuffs for Yangus, and Staves/Sex Appeal for Jessica. Is he better as support or offense? It's made harder in that it seems one of Morrie's abilities makes one of Angelo's kind of obsolete.
 

Arkeband

Banned
"No bonus items are currently on offer"

So nothing yet..

I was wondering how this feature would compare to DQ7's tablet system (which they stopped updating the schedule for on the main site a few weeks after launch), I guess DQ8 is ahead of the curve by just not implementing it at all.
 

redcrayon

Member
After all these year I still find Yangus as one of the best DQ characters. I beat DQ7 and I didn't even laugh as much as I have with DQ8 and I still don't even have the boat lol.
I was just about to post the same thing. First time playing it and I'm only about 8 hours in but he's easily one of my favourite DQ characters, up there with Torneko and Ragnar (and maybe Jessica too at this rate).

Fundamentally decent but short-tempered, self aware enough to know that he isn't pretty but that means he sees the best in others regardless of appearance too. Handy in a scrap, loyal to a fault, funny without making light of tragedy, and in turns both the comic relief and making poignant observations. Uncultured in polite society but comfortable elsewhere, and the game doesn't go the easy route and cast him as thick just because he doesn't talk like the more educated characters and is rough around the edges. I wish more one-note characters in RPGs had that kind of depth, the 'humanity' trait is well chosen. What makes it even better is that while the hero, Jessica and Angelo are comfortable in polite society, the way Yangus looks encourages the player to make assumptions about him as much as the other characters. Great stuff.

The
bar brawl in Simpleton
really made me laugh :)

Party chat between all of them and Trode is great too.

For all the time I spend critiquing and moaning about RPGs on Gaf, it's still such an awesome feeling to find a bunch of characters that make me think 'yeah, I want to tag along with every member of this party for a few dozen hours'. Two of them are cursed, two of them are avenging the brutal murder of decent people (that we see on screen, roping the player into the desire for vengeance) and two of them are doing it out of sheer loyalty or because it's the right thing to do.

It's a very simple plot (follow the evil baddie as he's obviously got something bad in mind and a list of crimes to pay for) but done so, so well. I found DQ late (only started with the DS games as most didn't appear in Europe) but I do love the mix of tragedy, humour and rural life. I remember saying about another DQ game on here that what makes the worlds worth saving is all the side-stories, that people care more about their fishing festival or local scandal and directing travellers to an inn, rather than each town just being an adventurer support service. Trails does that well too.
 
Out of curiosity, can anymore who has more than 4 party members tell me how experience is distributed to members that didn't actively participate in battle?
 
For the items Nintendo said 1 per week, so I'm expecting the first ~24 hours from now and then 1 a week ie same schedule as VIIs Tablets which conveniently completed their first rotation last week.
 
Yeah, you need
flying to get to the areas with some of the strong monsters
. Why must you be so difficult to recruit, awesome guy? Are you going for the
Golem trio
or another team?

Got Red and thanks to keeping up my Cameron's Codex, I've also got her very va-va-va-voom alternate outfit. Not sure if she has more than one, but it is the most obvious choice so you'll know it when you see it.

My Three Golems was the one that carried me in the PS2 game. They also carried me in some boss matches when I sent them in. Can't wait to get them again
 

Linkura

Member
Game just crashed on me when I tried to Zoom from Chateau Felix to Hilltop Hut. Basically the screen went black and I had to do a hard reset on my 3DS. Weee.
 

NSESN

Member
I just arrived in Argonia, i am about to help Medea's fiancée. The Hero is leveling up too fast and Jessica too slow, is that normal?
 

Linkura

Member
Here's a question (and probably not the one you're expecting) for the hardcore lore nerds in regards to a character from Argonia:

Is it ever explained in the game why Prince Charmles is named "Damon" in battle? Is the Royal Family of Argonia one of those where you have a dozen names just for being born? I read all the books and talked to everybody in the town and castle when I arrived and I don't remember it being mentioned.

I just got to this and I think it's some sort of fuck up.
 

The Dude

Member
So for those who work spears in simply for hunting, how do you typically go about it. Hammer spears out and then start sword or you split it and do some sort of ratio?
 
So for those who work spears in simply for hunting, how do you typically go about it. Hammer spears out and then start sword or you split it and do some sort of ratio?

If I go Spears just for hunting metal slimes, then I will go Swords until Falcon Slash, at least, as well as go Courage. Courage is too useful not to have some investment in.
 

The Dude

Member
Can spears match end game and post game content? That'd my only hold back is just haven't ever done spears, but I'm intrigued. I just don't wanna be gimpy for later stuff.
 
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