Dragon Quest 8

[blueskied]

also, i saw a demo of that magna carta and....it looked like it moved funny....or something.

Magna Carta is horrible trash. One of the worst RPGs released this generation. I still don't know why they bothered to localise it (perhaps the anime girls with big boobs was a primary reason?), when there are much better games (Tales of Rebirth, Summon Night EXTase, DQV, even Zill O'll!!) getting ignored and sitting in Japan untranslated.

[Chux]

Didn't think it was out today, bought it with Birfday monies!

[CybrGamr]

First impression: WOW!!

I got a little time to start the game tonight (much more later). The graphics are big, bold and beautiful. The voice acting is enjoyable. The musical score puts it way over the top for me - the full orchestral sound is fantastic. I have 5.1 DTS set up on my PS2 and the sound from this game just engulfs the room. I've done little else other than kill 3 slime and find the church to save, but it was impressive. I can't wait to spend some quality time with this game...

[rama]

this game is wonderful so far. here are some little differences i've noticed from the demo version.

not ALL of the music is arranged. the night time version of the town song, the casino music and a few little bits like the level up fanfare thing (i'm guessing a few other bits like when you get a special item) are still in their original versions. but the casino music wasn't on the arranged sound track...and neither was a nightime version of the town music. and the cursor looks different to me...like...i can't remember if the cursor for the item menu was in 3D on the demo. i don't think it was. + the way items hop to the cursor when you select to tranfer them from bag to party member. i like how most of your items, accept medical herbs, are transfered to your bag automatically. back when i was playin' dw3 on gbc, it got rather time consuming to put things in the bag when you found something new each time.

i have a question about the skills, though. i know in other dragon quest games, the fighter/monk class got high agility and it affected your critical hit rate. if i put skill points into fisticufs will my agility go up as if i was putting points into a fighter/monk class? also, does agility still affect critical hit rate?

[RedCoKid]

Magna Carta is horrible trash. One of the worst RPGs released this generation. I still don't know why they bothered to localise it (perhaps the anime girls with big boobs was a primary reason?), when there are much better games (Tales of Rebirth, Summon Night EXTase, DQV, even Zill O'll!!) getting ignored and sitting in Japan untranslated.

Sad but true. I think it has to do with the personal tastes of their staff, their inability to persuade Sony, lack of cash to bribe major companies for games passed over, and unwillingness to take larger risks. I guess they're content with maintaining niche status despite recent success.

[Verde]

Holy fuck, I love this game.

[blueskied]

i have a question about the skills, though. i know in other dragon quest games, the fighter/monk class got high agility and it affected your critical hit rate. if i put skill points into fisticufs will my agility go up as if i was putting points into a fighter/monk class? also, does agility still affect critical hit rate?

I wouldn't waste your time with any of the fisticuff skills except past about level 7-15 for anyone except the Hero, as you DO get a speed increase of +10 with that (if that's worth it for you). Otherwise, unless you really want a challenging game playing without weapons (which is fine), don't bother with more than that, as they are fairly useless. Generally you just increase agility via agility seeds, and certain items like the gale bandana or a quick ring (I don't know if these are named the same in the USA version). The critical hit rate also goes up via the Barehands skills, you're right about that. But it takes a lot (like 50+) skill points to get it, so for me I don't think it's worth it unless I have a bunch of skill seeds or points left towards the end of the game with everything else I want already maxed out.

For the Hero I focus on Boomerang, Spear, and Courage skills primarily, and a bit with Sword skills. I use spears more than swords for the Hero, but it depends on your play style. For Yangus, I just focus on Axe and Empathy, everything else I find to be fairly useless (his barehands skills really suck!). I don't use bows for Kukule (=Angelo in the USA version, right?), I just max out swords and charisma, with a bit of Staff skill thrown in. For Jessica I focus on whips and staff skills, then fill up her Sex Appeal skills.

[Gooch]

Shit, I should've picked this up today instead of Half Life 2, but forgot it was released. I've stayed away from RPG's (last one I beat was Wild Arms for PS) but I long for some DQ8. Dragon Warrior for the NES was the first RPG I ever beat and DQ8 will probably be the last.

[Ste-Von]

Yeah after reading everyone's impressions and some reviews I REALLY want this game. I haven't played a RPG I liked since FFX, but from what I've heard this is the best one to be released in a long time.

I got Guitar Hero today instead of this, but this will definitely be a future purchase.

[CybrGamr]

Anyone notice small issues with load times? When leaving buildings or leaving the first town, the music for the next cut scene will start playing but the screen is still black. It's a minor issue - but it is noticeable. I have an older PS2 (not real old, but not a slim one).

I also noticed what looks to be a small bug. Hero was killed on our way to Alexandria. I ended up running into one more fight before I could get back to the town. I chose 'Flee' so I didn't have to battle them alone. I saw the coffin for Hero on the ground as we fled. When I got to the town, I headed to the church to revive Hero and found he was already revived with half his life. I was a bit surprised to see that - but it was welcome.

Other than those two small things, I put in 4 quality hours with it... Most enjoyable.