"Dragon Quest VIII: The Journey of the Cursed King" is no wham, bam, and on to the next game, ma'am. Square Enix's role-playing franchise isn't in it for some cheap thrills; it wants a commitment of at least 60 hours of your gaming time.
And like any long-term relationship, there are moments of both delight and frustration, times when you can't wait to rush home to turn it on and times when you swear you'll never look at its screen again, no matter how rich and pretty it is.
"Dragon Quest" overwhelms players with fully explorable landscapes that let you climb any peak, comb any beach and while away your free time leveling up and hunting for treasure. Meanwhile, there's a compelling storyline waiting for you when you're ready to get down to business.
Luckily, with a game this in depth, the characters compel you to take an interest in their development, both of plot and experience. The British voice acting lends to their likability, with thoroughly amusing (at least to an American) British-isms, such as one character's expression of surprise/fright, "Cor Blimey!" I'm not really sure what that means, but it's a hoot nonetheless.
Gameplay, on the other hand, while engaging and often addictive, can wear your nerves. Enemies rarely are visible in the environment, so you can't avoid walking into a fight. Not bad if you're leveled up, but with save points few and far between, it's brow dampening to say the least.
Then there's the RPG staple: Go fetch. You finally arrive at the village to retrieve the moon harp, but, oh -- it's been stolen. Every time you get to where you need to be, there's always some hitch.
The enemies in the turn-based battles, however, are so extraordinarily weird and fantastical: Khatamari will sometimes forget to fight and start doodling on the ground; puppeteers try to subdue you with a rousing performance; sirens attempt to dazzle you with their, um, ampleness; and sultry devils will try to make you catch the dancing bug.
You start out as just a battle party of two, but you'll eventually add two more, with each character specializing in certain weapons and magic. They also each have attributes, like courage or humanity. Lady Jessica utilizes her va-va-va-voom appeal to entrance some monsters.
So is it worth logging in 60 hours and cutting into your nightly beauty rest⢠Fans of the classic RPG experience should no sooner deny themselves "The Journey of the Cursed King" anymore than they'd pass up the weapons shop after scoring some serious dungeon loot. In a non-nerd term: Yes.
Additional Information:
Details
'Dragon Quest VIII: The Journey of the Cursed King'Grade: A
Developer: Level 5.
Publisher: Square Enix.
Platform: PS2.
Genre: Role-playing.
ESRB: Teen.
