anyone who's known me for any amount of time could probably tell you that dragon quest is far and away my favorite series of all time, i love it dearly and to death. despite this, like most franchises i love, i struggle to reconcile with the wider opinions the fans of dragon quest hold, most of all the near universal acclaim of dragon quest 8. even the other dragon quests i don't "get" in the same way, namely 5 and 9, at least have something about them that i can understand being a hook to some even if i don't necessarily agree, but i just can not wrap my head around the fanbase's—and jrpg fans as a whole's—opinion on dragon quest 8. i understand that it had a lot uniquely going for it at the time, especially a demo for final fantasy 12, but despite most of what it had going for it at the time being less and less unique as time goes on the opinion of dragon quest 8 being one of the better dragon quest prevails, and i just don't get it.
don't get me wrong, i still enjoy this game! honestly having played every game in the mainline series other than finishing 11 at the time of writing this the only ones i even dislike are 2 and 9. in terms of positives i think dq8 has a great cast between the party and dhoulmagus, and despite the acoustics of the orchestral versions being questionable 8's soundtrack is really great. the final boss theme in 8 is unironically tied with 9 for my favorite final boss theme in the series, there was obviously as much love put into this game as every other dragon quest and that in of itself is charming to me.
however, that's sadly about where i run into the things i don't really care for. more than any other game in the series i find dragon quest 8 to be the embodiment of what most people who dislike or don't respect this series come to think of it; dragon quest 8 is a formulaic comfort food type of game without much notable to say outside of vibes and character writing. outside of dhoulmagus, yangus, and angelo there's not really that much to say about the story (and even what there is to say isn't crazy unique), the reliance on psyche-up and lack of distinct party variety outside of the 3ds version makes combat land on the less engaging side of what the series has to offer which is really not great when this game seemed to over-correct on people complaining about 7's combat-less intro (and to be honest nothing is more irritating to me than a sequel over-correcting on what made a much better game unique and appealing!), and the game is somehow on the longer end of dragon quest play times despite utilizing it the most haphazardly.
despite all that though, it's still dragon quest and i still get the base appeal! it's still a very strong 7/10 game for me and i'm glad i played it despite all of that because at the end of the day it's all dragon quest and i love dragon quest. it's just confusing and maybe a bit frustrating to see how common of a sentiment it is in the western fanbase to deride titles like 6 and 7 while parading a game like 8, maybe the most "generic" dragon quest in a series that outsiders deride for being generic, as a masterful golden goose of the entire franchise. i get that this game was the first 3d dragon quest, i get that it had voice acting and overseas it had an orchestral soundtrack, i get that there was a final fantasy 12 demo packaged with the game, and i get that plenty of people are nostalgic for this game but almost 20 years later with more and more people playing this game completely divorced from that context, what merits of its own does it really have? why out of every dragon quest game is it 8 that's so popular? i just really really don't get it.
don't get me wrong, i still enjoy this game! honestly having played every game in the mainline series other than finishing 11 at the time of writing this the only ones i even dislike are 2 and 9. in terms of positives i think dq8 has a great cast between the party and dhoulmagus, and despite the acoustics of the orchestral versions being questionable 8's soundtrack is really great. the final boss theme in 8 is unironically tied with 9 for my favorite final boss theme in the series, there was obviously as much love put into this game as every other dragon quest and that in of itself is charming to me.
however, that's sadly about where i run into the things i don't really care for. more than any other game in the series i find dragon quest 8 to be the embodiment of what most people who dislike or don't respect this series come to think of it; dragon quest 8 is a formulaic comfort food type of game without much notable to say outside of vibes and character writing. outside of dhoulmagus, yangus, and angelo there's not really that much to say about the story (and even what there is to say isn't crazy unique), the reliance on psyche-up and lack of distinct party variety outside of the 3ds version makes combat land on the less engaging side of what the series has to offer which is really not great when this game seemed to over-correct on people complaining about 7's combat-less intro (and to be honest nothing is more irritating to me than a sequel over-correcting on what made a much better game unique and appealing!), and the game is somehow on the longer end of dragon quest play times despite utilizing it the most haphazardly.
despite all that though, it's still dragon quest and i still get the base appeal! it's still a very strong 7/10 game for me and i'm glad i played it despite all of that because at the end of the day it's all dragon quest and i love dragon quest. it's just confusing and maybe a bit frustrating to see how common of a sentiment it is in the western fanbase to deride titles like 6 and 7 while parading a game like 8, maybe the most "generic" dragon quest in a series that outsiders deride for being generic, as a masterful golden goose of the entire franchise. i get that this game was the first 3d dragon quest, i get that it had voice acting and overseas it had an orchestral soundtrack, i get that there was a final fantasy 12 demo packaged with the game, and i get that plenty of people are nostalgic for this game but almost 20 years later with more and more people playing this game completely divorced from that context, what merits of its own does it really have? why out of every dragon quest game is it 8 that's so popular? i just really really don't get it.
Cor fucking blimey
Mi primer dragon quest y raíz de aquí ya no he podido parar
Dragon Quest is very much a series that doesn't like rocking the boat - every game is very solid, but doesn't really break from the formula. This game is the same: there's a big bad, with a bigger bad in the background that you eventually learn about, you trek around the world engaging in turn-based combat, and gain skills as you level up. Formulaic doesn't mean bad though! It's a ton of fun to play, the characters are likeable and memorable, the world is beautiful to look at, and the soundtrack is great. The difficulty curve is a little wonky at times, where there will occasionally be unexpected difficulty spikes that require some grinding to get over, but that's mostly towards the beginning of the game. Overall, one of the best Dragon Quests
(real hardware, PS2) suffers from an attempt to be luxurious. to have big beautiful vistas that are both visible and walkable, DQ settles for long loading (?) sequences in between battles, unskippable battle animations, and slow walking. in a given amount of time you can either walk half-way across a dirt road in 8 or you can cross an entire continent in 4. DQ isn't exactly the most riveting game to play so taking its ease of use and quickness out really hurts this one. play this one while eating dinner, you'll have ample time to fork your food in between button presses
it's no xi but you can't go wrong with this one