| | by Zenalasca, January 11, 2008 |
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This eighth instalment is the most glittering jewel in the Dragon Quest crown. And it's for PlayStation 2! So many RPGs are so complex nowadays you hardly know what you're doing, and in all of the previous Dragon Quest games it was difficult to know where you were going or what you were supposed to do. Dragon Quest VIII
(henceforth called DQ8 for convenience's sake) has the best of both worlds, and hours of levelling up are more pleasurable. There are a few things I prefer about the earlier Dragon Quests, but there is no substitute for the sense of panorama that the world of DQ8 gives you. The graphics are comical and the characters are superior to their earlier DQ counterparts. Square's positive input has effected the style of storytelling considerably. The characters seem less conventional and the overall artistic impression is a lot better. The only missing links in the chain are that lack of family and friends (the earlier DQ series was noted for having a lot of characters who were close to each other not just in terms of friendship, but love and loyalty as well).
The only thing I really dislike about DQ8 is the virtually endless lists of monsters that are in the game and the fact that you have to fight and fight and fight and fight to level up so you can beat the boss monsters. I mean, I like a challenge and I like variety when it comes to monsters... But this is too much! I like exploring the panoramic landscape of DQ8, and while I don't need to "fight to stay alive" I read a book during battles. I bet you I can finish off all three volumes of "War and Peace" while finishing of this game. By the time I was up to Port Prospect, my brother Alex (who is an avid player of Dragon Quest) was remarking how high levelled I was! I defeated Kalamari on my second try.
Once upon a time in a kingdom not of our own world, a foul enchantment swept across the palace of Trodain. Sleep spread throughout the castle and all the pages, guards, courtiers, watchmen and noblemen fell snoring from where they stood. Even the dogs fell asleep in the courtyard, and the horses fell asleep in their stables. The birds that were on the roof fell asleep, as did the flies on the walls -- all in the arms of Morpheus so to speak. In the kitchen, the cook, who was about to pull the scullery boy's ears for stealing a biscuit, dropped off to sleep. But the scullery boy didn't run away, for he slumbered too. The kitchen maid, who was
sitting on the hearth, basting chickens on a spit, closed her eyes and lay her head across her knees. The chickens on the spit stopped sizzling and cooking away, and the fire stopped flickering and went to sleep. The wind fell silent, and not a leaf, not even a pinch of dust stirred in the castle.
Instead of falling asleep, however, the king of Trodain and his beautiful daughter, Princess Medea were spared. King Trode transformed into a hideous green monster wearing the robes of a monk, whilst Medea was turned into a horse, an elegant white pony incapable of human speech.
If this sounded to you like Sleeping Beauty I congratulate you for your powers of observation (and even more so if you noticed I was probably being sarcastic).
One palace guard was saved entirely from the curse, as well as his pet mouse, Munchie. He is the hero of our story... The guard, Munchie, and King Trode set off in a caravan toed by Princess Medea and set of in the wild blue yonder in search of the evil villain who sought to bring down the kingdom. There is more to the story than one realises, even when they "finish" DQ8.
The story begins in a glade not far from the town of Farebury. As the palace guard and hero of the story, you meet many friends and funny creatures throughout your quest to discover the mystery behind Trodain and un-lift the curse that has plagued it. It is a big wide world full of treasures, treasure-hunters, and monsters,
as well as a quintessentially European landscape. The perfect fairy-tale, is it not?
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