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Dragon Quest VIII 3DS - review thread

C

cwistofu

Member
KyleCross said:
It's still DQVIII even on 3DS, therefore it's great. But it is still an inferior version in many ways and I take much issue with that being disagreed with and especially with someone calling it the "definitive version."
Click to expand...

I love video games and principle as well but sometimes it's worth it to take a step back.
 
R

Raw64life

Member
I don't hate DQ7 by any means, but it's important that anyone on the fence about DQ8 or anyone who tried DQ7 and wasn't feeling it understands that 8 is WAY more accessible than 7. It's not as hard, it's shorter, and I'd say a lot more straightforward than 7. I also just plain enjoyed it more.

For anyone who has never played a Dragon Quest game before, 7 is probably not the best place to start. Especially if you like what you've seen out of DQ11 so far, 8 is a great place to start.
 
B

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
lucablight said:
I found DQVII to be the much better game (I've only played the original PS1 version of that mind you). DQVIII suffers from the same problem as most level 5 games. Beautiful looking games that lack in depth. The job system was far more fun than the system in DQVIII. In fact I would even say VIII is broken to a degree. I used up all my points near the end of the game and didn't invest in the executioner skill so grinding metal slimes became near impossible. Not to mention DQVII is the far meatier game in terms of content.
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Eh. Not really sure about this. DQ7 was no different from any other entry in terms of loading the player up with an impressive amount of useless skills for each job to the point that you end up scrolling through a multitude of them just to spam the scant few good ones in the mid/late game which was tedious. Not sure where this hidden depth comes from you state. I only also played on PS1, so not sure of any changes on 3DS.

DQ8 does have an over-reliance on Psyche-up for tougher bosses, which can be overcome slightly with certain accessories(that give free psyche at start of battle), but a LOT of the bigger bosses mostly demand spending turns psyching to max and unloading with full tension for big damage which gets a bit tedious as well. A bit more interesting at times when you are literally planning multiple turns out to do so and are reacting to occasional curveballs for healing or status stuff. At least compared to just nuking each turn with the largest spells after buffing. Not sure if the port made any changes to 3DS here, but it was my only minor quibble with DQ8. Adored the rest of the game tremendously, far moreso than 7.
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
Kremzeek said:
Having played and LOVED the PS2 version, my heart breaks to know the orchestrated soundtrack is not with this version- just like the disappointing iPad version.

Is there any chance at all we may still get a PS4 remaster some time ?......
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Speculation here, but they may have run into storage constraints with the music necessitating compression.
 
L

Lothar

Banned
brinstar said:
Oh this sounds pretty great actually.



Maybe some people think more story, features, party members, bosses and dungeons are more important than the audio/visual quality? Not that graphics aren't important or that DQVIII didn't excel at that but reading DQVIII threads sometimes gives me the impression that the only thing people did with the game is look at it.
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Visual/Audio is what it has to offer the most over other DQ games though. It's nothing minor; It made it have the most immersive world and one of the most of any RPG. If it can be hacked to change the music it's not that big of a deal I suppose but I would hate for people experiencing the game for the first time to get a worse looking worse sounding thus less immersive world.
 
Dakhil

Dakhil

Member
Grief.exe said:
Speculation here, but they may have run into storage constraints with the music necessitating compression.
Click to expand...

I don't think that's the case, considering that Dragon Quest VIII is only a little more than 3 GB in size.

I think it has to do with Koichi Sugiyama being stubborn with his music licences.
 
B

boooga

Neo Member
Estimations of DQ8's length often get blown out of proportion. I finished it in 53 hours (though, admittedly, I had played through some of it before and used a walkthrough when I got stuck).

Don't get me wrong—it's a huge game! But for first time players, it'll probably take around 60 hours to finish. Not sure how much the 3DS version will change that.
 
Indelible

Indelible

Member
I absolutely loved this game on PS2, put a good 80 hours into it. Not sure if I want to double dip on the 3DS but it gets my highest recommendation and is still the best game in the series.
 
kunonabi

kunonabi

Member
Some of those censorship changes, not the costume stuff, sound like garbage.

ah well, small price to pay I guess.
 
J

Jonneh3003

Banned
boooga said:
Estimations of DQ8's length often get blown out of proportion. I finished it in 53 hours (though, admittedly, I had played through some of it before and used a walkthrough when I got stuck).

Don't get me wrong—it's a huge game! But for first time players, it'll probably take around 60 hours to finish. Not sure how much the 3DS version will change that.
Click to expand...

I reached the credits in 60 hours on 3DS, I'm sure the faster battle animations shaved off multiple hours.
 
B

brinstar

Member
Lothar said:
Visual/Audio is what it has to offer the most over other DQ games though. It's nothing minor; It made it have the most immersive world and one of the most of any RPG. If it can be hacked to change the music it's not that big of a deal I suppose but I would hate for people experiencing the game for the first time to get a worse looking worse sounding thus less immersive world.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying it's minor. But my point is the graphics may not be what's most important to everyone, which is why I don't think it's outrageous for someone to feel that this is a definitive version. I'll take the added stuff over some toned-down graphics. That's how I feel. And it's not like the PS2 version is going away.

And if someone is buying a RPG to play on their 3DS I think they intrinsically understand that there's going to be some degree of compromise regarding visual/audio immersion.
 
T

tryptobphan

Member
KyleCross said:
I'm going to. I've spoken my mind and no need to go on. At the end of the day, people are playing DQVIII and I should just be happy with that.
Click to expand...

I can totally see your point of view. I am honestly really saddened that it wasn't also on the Vita, which could've handled the presentation a lot better. This is a completely beautiful game that should be remastered for a new generation as well as include the new quality of life additions.

However, I still enjoyed the mobile version so the 3DS version should be even better. I hope Square Enix revisits this again in the future for the PS4 or future consoles.

I would've loved to have this on the Vita alongside my other favorite RPG's of all time: Personal 4 Golden and Final Fantasy 9.
 
M

Mar Nosso

Banned
Not buying this as I never finished it on the PS2. It's a big, gorgeous game with an interesting premise and varied locations. But the constant random battles eventually killed my motivation to keep going as exploration became a chore rather than a pleasure.
 
S

Sterok

Member
How does battling here compare to VII? I've put maybe 20 hours into VII 3DS, and the extremely repetitive and simplistic combat was turning me off, even after I unlocked the class system. I still plan to finish it eventually, but it drained my enthusiasm for the series. I was fine with everything else for the most part though.
 
A

Arkeband

Banned
Mar Nosso said:
Not buying this as I never finished it on the PS2. It's a big, gorgeous game with an interesting premise and varied locations. But the constant random battles eventually killed my motivation to keep going as exploration became a chore rather than a pleasure.
Click to expand...

Did you read that those are gone now? A little confused by this driveby post.
 
Z

Zekes!

Member
I forgot this is so soon. I haven't finished 7 yet but I'll pick this up for sure. I never finished 8 as I felt it got tedious towards the end, but I have all the other DQ DS/3DS remakes aside from 4.
 
R

RareFantasy64

Member
Mar Nosso said:
Not buying this as I never finished it on the PS2. It's a big, gorgeous game with an interesting premise and varied locations. But the constant random battles eventually killed my motivation to keep going as exploration became a chore rather than a pleasure.
Click to expand...
Did you know that enemies are now visible on-screen, allowing you to avoid them and explore at your leisure? And there is a faster speed for battles?
 
X

xevis

Banned
Still playing 7! Oh well, this will look great on my shelf with all the other Dragon Quests I aspire to play one day.
 
S

Sakujou

Banned
i dont want to be rude, but the graphics were handled in a worse way. the 3ds is capable of more, why does the game look so messy?
why is the orchestra-sound missing?
no 3d?

other than that, iam glad that nintendo releases the game over here in europe!
 
Y

Yabberwocky

Member
I'v been wanting to get into Dragon Quest for years, and VIII seems to be a good and popular start! The localization looks great, too. No random encounters is music to my ears.
 
A

Aeana

Member
Mar Nosso said:
Not buying this as I never finished it on the PS2. It's a big, gorgeous game with an interesting premise and varied locations. But the constant random battles eventually killed my motivation to keep going as exploration became a chore rather than a pleasure.
Click to expand...
Okay. But it doesn't have random battles.
I don't think you care, though, and just wanted to let everyone know that you aren't buying it.

Thanks for the update.
 
D

dreamlongdead

Member
3DS owners should certainly buy this if you haven't played the PS2 version. The additional content and mechanical improvements sound amazing, and the downgraded music is only a small drawback.

Personally, I'm already deep in JRPGs. I haven't even played my DQVII copy, so I have no need to double dip on this one.
 
J

jb1234

Member
Jonneh3003 said:
Here's the new midi arrangement of the overworld theme

I started playing the PS2 verison yesterday in order to compare the two games and while the original soundtrack is certainly grand I quite like how much clearer the 3DS version sounds.
Click to expand...

I've heard worse, I guess but those synth strings aren't great. What really hurts it is how mechanical it sounds, each note played with the exact same intensity, without any consideration for phrasing. That's an effect only live musicians can give. So glad I can homebrew this shit out.
 
P

Pancake Mix

Copied someone else's pancake recipe
KyleCross said:
I'm going to. I've spoken my mind and no need to go on. At the end of the day, people are playing DQVIII and I should just be happy with that.
Click to expand...

There's more to whether a game is definitive than visual splendour or whether a live orchestra was used. Everyone comes from their own perspective on how to weigh the pros and cons of a port, there's no objective measure of what makes a version "definitive." There's so much extra content here and lots of minor adjustments that improve the game (like visible encounters and the option to speed up the plethora of enemy encounters).

We're talking an 89 metacritic(so far, though it might hit 90 before it's out) here. People are very pleased with the results. Yangus and Jessica are a treat like always and there's even more of them in this heavily updated version.

Jonneh3003 said:
Here's the new midi arrangement of the overworld theme

I started playing the PS2 verison yesterday in order to compare the two games and while the original soundtrack is certainly grand I quite like how much clearer the 3DS version sounds.
Click to expand...

Wow, that's really good for an arrangement. Much better than the mobile/Western 3DS music in VII.

It helps that VIII is Sugiyama at his finest anyways.
 
N

Naked Snake

Member
Man, I was really excited about this, and the reviews were sounding awesome until I learned that it has no stereoscopic 3D at all. I'm gutted and will probably be skipping this now :(
 
G

Greninja96

Banned
I've never played a Dragon Quest game before, can I start with Dragon Quest 8 and still enjoy it, or should I play the previous games to enjoy this one?
 
S

septicore

Member
Another DQ game for the 3DS and I've barely touched DQ7.

I doubt I can even finish DQ7 any time soon knowing the game is like 100 hours long.
 
J

Jonneh3003

Banned
septicore said:
Another DQ game for the 3DS and I've barely touched DQ7.

I doubt I can even finish DQ7 any time soon knowing the game is like 100 hours long.
Click to expand...

Yeah they released these far too close, I would honestly suggest putting DQ7 on hold and playing through DQ8 first.
 
K

komorebi

Member
Man I loved both 7 and 8 on PS1 and PS2. Just having these games remade on 3DS is like one of the best things ever. I can't wait to get my hands on this remake...haven't played 8 since 2005 (!).
 
T

The_Endgamer

Member
Good scores for a great game! Loved it on PS2. Can't wait to play it again on a portable.

Won't have much time to sink into it though as I'm still working through VII. Will buy a copy day one to support it though :)
 
A

Anoxida

Member
Dmax3901 said:
What do you guys think would be a better experience, emulated PS2 version or the 3DS version?
Click to expand...

3ds has additional content, no random encounters, two more playable characters and instant alchemy. Emu ps2 looks great and has the orchestral soundtrack. It's up to you but no random encounters and instant alchemy (it can take several minutes for some items to complete in ps2 version.. annoying especially since you want to use it a lot) are game changers so 3ds version is superior in my opinion.
 
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