You can also change up your formation to place party members in either the vanguard or rearguard for improved attack or defense, and issue orders for teammates to follow instead of micromanaging their moves - as in many Dragon Quest outings the combat here is enjoyable precisely because of its easy-to-grasp nature, and we love it for that.ĭragon Quest VIII does add one additional wrinkle to that formula in the form of the 'tension' system, which lets your character spend their turn getting 'psyched up' to raise their tension level. You'll pick each of your party members' actions before starting a turn, and can choose between several standard commands: you can Attack, cast magical Spells or Abilities (some of which consume MP), Defend to reduce damage, or use items in your characters' individual inventories. When you do find yourself facing off against a foe, you'll find a familiar turn-based battle system that's intuitive, quick and fun. It's also smartly balanced to avoid under-leveling, with dungeons and other monster-heavy locales usually featuring tight corridors where avoiding battles becomes more difficult. It's a welcome change, and - along with the fact that weaker enemies will actively run away from you as you level up - makes traversing already-explored areas much more fun.
DRAGON QUEST VIII CIA USA PS2
Those battles are no longer randomly encountered, as they were in the PS2 original instead, all enemies are now visible on-field, and you can (usually) avoid them or run headlong into combat as you see fit.
DRAGON QUEST VIII CIA USA MANUAL
Even if you're not coming directly off of that game, it still feels quick - learning fast-travel magic less than two hours in cuts manual backtracking to a minimum, and story beats are chained close together, so you're never left wondering where to go or what to do next.įor the most part, the 'what to do' in Dragon Quest VIII follows the series' trademark formula: you'll lead your party over a fully 3D world map, traveling between towns, outposts, dungeons, and ports, meeting new characters and helping them through trials and tribulations, and defeating all manner of monsters, foes, and bosses in turn-based combat along the way.
While we genuinely enjoyed the slow-build in Dragon Quest VII, the running start of this sequel is infectious it also makes it significantly easier to jump in here even if you've only recently wrapped up Fragments of the Forgotten Past, as you won't feel like you're spending ages in low-level limbo before getting to the real deal. You'll take control of your character within thirty seconds of the start screen, fight your first battle soon after that, and be well and truly off on the adventure after just a single night's rest. One thing that stands out immediately in Dragon Quest VIII - especially in contrast to its predecessor - is its impressively snappy pace. Jessica in particular is one of the more memorable heroines of recent RPGs, and we loved learning more about the whole cast's lives and motivations as the narrative unfolded. It hits on plenty of familiar fairy-tale beats, but always in a new light - European lore filtered through a Japanese perspective - and it certainly helps that the characters are well-drawn and likable. It sounds like a simple setup, but Journey of the Cursed King's story isn't exactly as it initially appears, and a constant succession of intrigue, complications and fresh faces continues to delight and surprise across the entire adventure. Left with these unfortunate new bodies and a castle in ruins, their only hope is to somehow track down Dhoulmagus and break the spell, so with the help of Yangus - a hulking cockney club-wielder - and our fearless, voiceless, nameless Hero, they set off to find the wicked wizard and put a stop to his evil tricks once and for all. Cursed by the dark magician Dhoulmagus into the bodies of a squat green troll and a horse, respectively, King Trode and Princess Medea are in serious straits at curtain up.
True to its title, Dragon Quest VIII opens with royalty in a pickle.
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