Stormblood is a solid expansion but not one that felt like it built upon the foundation of FFXIV as strongly as Heavensward, there's definitely a lot more chores and busywork to be done and the general tone, while I do like it a lot, does feel very steady and one-note in comparison to Heavensward's gripping story filled with twists and turns (at least up until the later patches, which usher in a dramatic jump in overall quality).

I think the biggest success of stormblood is its overall vibe and the beauty of its locales, taking inspiration from middle eastern and far eastern culture with some jaw dropping setpieces and outstanding music. By far my favourite area and my favourite portions of the expansion came in the form of the azim steppe and its native inhabitants with their mongolian influences. The music and tone of this area gets me going, its awesome. Those 'endless fields and boundless skies' as Hien puts it were beautiful and learning about the differences in its tribes and their gods was just really fun and interesting and a nice change of pace for a game very centred around one major theme. That theme is liberation and I think for the most part it handles it quite well. There is a lot of complexity in its different cultures and the nature of how they are surviving under colonial oppression and I was particularly fond of the dissonance between Lyse's headstrong determination to free her people and the reality of the local population's struggle to even survive, let alone fight back. Stormblood is constantly highlighting the different perspectives and ways that people survive and eventually reignite their resolve but also takes time to recognise the lasting damage and consequences of the Garleans' violent conquest. Notably there is a fascinating character study into the mind of Fordola, an incredible character and an Ala Mhigan native abused and spat upon by her comrades for her family's co-operation with their oppresors - labelled a traitor by her neighbours and a savage by the Garleans, Fordola vows to achieve freedom by any means and embraces her brand of 'savage', working with the Garleans in pursuit of both liberation and vengeance for her father who died at the hands of a furious Ala Mhigan mob. Fordola's story is that of the victim of circumstance (and it isn't the only time this comes up) and the question of if or how this could ever justify her actions is one the game isn't afraid to look into, but her story is also one of redemption and I just found it really compelling.

Stormblood is a story with a lot of tragedy and melancholy but there's also a lot of hope to be found and I think for the most part it is great stuff and I was thoroughly invested, but there are times where it falls off or otherwise becomes too unbelievable. For one, there are far too many fakeouts and deaths of main characters begin to feel of little consequence unless said character dies onscreen with absolute certainty. In the patches alone I counted 3 fakeouts where you think a character is straight up dead but then they come back for various reasons, if you're going to do that you had best have a very good reason or you risk playing down everything that came before and setting up a worryingly anticlimatic precedent. Also, I would note the handling of Yotsuyu's abuse and the nonchalant attitudes of those that are supposed to protect her as a negative, as it leads to a sadly predictable outcome that feels like it does Yotsuyu dirty and doesn't properly respect her as a victim of horrific abuse and neglect. It felt like it was at its lowest when Asahi, a very obvious bad guy, cruelly brings her parents back into her life with the sole intention of causing her untold pain and misery - to which the player and their allies do nothing except scowl and call it a 'dirty trick' when it felt like they could have and should have done more. Not to mention Yotsuyu is supposed to be under strict house arrest and yet escapes and puts herself in mortal danger twice, this whole section just felt quite rushed and lazy and like it didn't respect Yotsuyu as a character - the tragic outcome of her story seems only to serve to make Gosetsu sad and ponderous and set up the plot around the Ascians pulling all the strings, which could have been done without bringing back Yotsuyu and Gosetsu, I don't know it just felt inconsequential and I don't think the storyline justifies bringing the two back, it certainly could have done but I don't think it does. But saying this the tsukiyomi trial is absolutely hype and Gosetsu's spirit showing up to protect her was so awesome.

The new dungeons and trials in Stormblood carry on the marked improvments that came with Heavensward and the trials in particular, such as those of Susano and Byakko, go so insanely hard. Stormblood also quickly sheds its one-note and focused themes for extremely nuanced and exciting political turmoil and utter chaos in its final acts, introduced in the later patches. These patches are incredible and are filled with amazing monologues, exciting new mysteries that unfold, experly constructed and dramatic cutscenes and battle sequences and my favourite part by far - the relationship that grows between the warrior of light and alisaie, these final quests made me fall in love with alisaie as a character and I felt genuinely crushed when she succumbed to the same fate as her brother and the other scions. The music in this part of the game, the constantly moving and chaotic nature of the story, the character development, all fantastic and it makes me so excited for shadowbringers so bring it on. Captain has freed Doma and Ala Mhigo but the real battle has only just begun!

Rest in peace Akira Toriyama 💚

Dragon Quest 8 is about as pure of an adventure as you can get and I loved just about every moment of its main story and side content. After beating 11 and now this i'm developing a stronger appreciation for what dragon quest is all about and I feel like i've come around on it massively. At a point I was treating dragon quest 11 like other jrpgs i've come to know and love, this is the series that established so many of its trends after all, but in doing so I feel like I was critiquing it unfairly and overlooking the things that made it really special (which is why I deleted my DQ11 review and reevaluated its score)

The gameplay has evolved from those trends at a, shall we say, 'leisurely' pace; but I think that's what a lot of people love about it and part of why its so popular, you always know what you're getting and fans have actually fought against it to change - see dragon quest 9’s departure from its original action rpg direction and subsequent return to traditional turn-based combat in response to fan backlash. There’s been experimentation, new additions and quality of life changes but the fundamentals have never really changed all that much and if it isn’t broke, why fix it right? It will always sell like wildfire, but for good reason, there’s something about this familiar and homely approach to game design, sure you can pick it apart but if it didn’t work at its core and wasn’t fun, it simply would not have stuck around for as long as it has. Granted the original on the ps2 had random encounters and i’m glad to see those go in favour of visible overworld monsters, a totally meaningful change which is becoming the new norm - infact it always felt like the intention even way back when I was playing pokemon yellow (random encounters felt like a means to an end, a technical shortcut used to ‘simulate’ bumping into monsters on the road during your adventure by low memory, primitive console hardware). Basically what i’m saying is i’m glad some things like that have adapted over the years for something that I feel is better, but the template has not changed and there’s something comforting in that.

Comforting is what playing Dragon Quest 8 is on all levels really, even in its melancholic, dramatic and more tense moments, it exists in a fairytale-like universe where you know the heroes are going to win in the end and everyone will live happily ever after. Its not the destination that matters, it is the journey, the friends you make, the places you see and the memorable enemies and rivals you face along the way - simultaneously getting ever stronger and more confident as you go. These games are bedtime stories that you are literally thrust inside of and can take control of and its wonderful; at their best its like the game equivalent of being at home, on a soft chair, wrapped in a blanket with a hot drink in hand (I can also confirm that this is probably the best way to play them if you’re able). I came out of DQ11 enjoying my time but happy to see it finally come to an end, but then in DQ8 I truly fell in love.

Tonally I think DQ8 nails it, from the very beginning it is established that you are a guard to King Trode along with your pal Yangus and need to remove a curse from him and his daughter, princess Medea, which turned them into a monster and a horse respectively. This simple motivation extends to the entire rest of the game and there’s beauty in that simplicity, it never steers too far from its focus and I felt actively involved in the characters’ dilemma, rather than just some guy along for the ride. I love being bossed around by Trode and find him and Yangus consistently hilarious and lovable. Yangus in particularly is just the best isn’t he, just the most loyal bri’ish bloke I ever met, he’d have your back in a pub fight any day of the week and he carried me hard for the entire game, nothing on this planet could stop a max psyched and oomphed yangus.
Throughout the entire game I never got bored of its antics, narrative arcs and wacky characters with ludicrously over the top voice acting. I love love love its goofy voices and exaggerated accents, how can you not find it incessantly charming, the english VAs go above and beyond (though sometimes there’s something dire like Dominico or Rhapthorne’s first form, what the fuck were they thinking honestly, hilarious though).

Two things that stand out above all the rest and truly made this experience for me are its art and its soundtrack. Sadly both Akira Toriyama, the lead artist and Kuichi Sogiyama, the composer, have passed away now and I dedicate this to them, the future of this series and jrpgs in general owe so much to them both and thank you for delivering such outstanding work! The character (and monster) designs of dragon quest are outstanding but few of its characters are so colourful and full of personality as we see in DQ8, along with my favourite hero design in the entire franchise. The expressive models and brilliantly composed cutscenes do the designs so much justice and create some great scenes ranging from hysterical slapstick antics to this gripping, palpable melancholy. All this heightened by what is now one of my favourite soundtracks ever. DQ8’s soundtrack is beautiful and captures the ‘vibe’ of every sequence perfectly. Every mood it seems to try and convey is done masterfully and drives this consistent feeling of adventure, mystery, and longing. It can be dramatic or it can be soft and ambient, but its never boring, it never fades into the background, it is always there heightening every emotion the game wants to deliver and that’s something only the best soundtracks do. The smooth and soft violins make up a lot of this ost and they are intoxicating, sweeping over and wrapping around everything else.

Its hard to even pick a favourite moment in DQ8 and in this sense it kind of reminded me of ocarina of time, which similarly has these consistent highs where each storyline is as interesting and enjoyable as the last but the overarching tone always stays the same and this sense of familiarity never truly goes away. Not to mention the world itself is really pretty and fun to explore, the 3ds version is among the best looking games on the system I think. The towns and settlements feel like real places and their individuality shines, I particularly loved exploring castle trodain whilst it is under the curse, the melancholic atmosphere is top notch here and the best track in the game plays here aswell, only making it better. The final dungeon is also a total maze and I really enjoyed it, especially the part where you solve a puzzle by circling what looks like a small town which becomes progressively more cursed and ramshackled with each lap. Something that particularly stood out to me were the personal moments like hearing Medea speak to you in your sleep which I adored, the flashback sequence with Medea meeting the hero and looking after him and helping a king to overcome the trauma of losing his wife.

My only real complaints / criticisms are the incessant metal slime grinding needed to defeat that insane final boss and the sheer amount of randomness that involves as well as the creepy treatment / objectification of some female characters like Jessica, it feels out of place and uncomfortable and should go away. I don’t care for metal slimes in general and don’t see why they exist as a ‘mechanic’ or whatever, the fact they can be worth anywhere between 2x and like, 200x as much XP as what most regular monsters give is so unnecessary. I mean having some monsters be worth a fair bit more xp is fine but the difference is astronomical and this is the only real way to grind without wasting dozens of hours of your precious time and yet it involves so much randomness. A level of randomness is acceptable but there’s randomness to even find metal slimes in the first place because they’re pretty rare (at least you don’t have to find them in random encounters here thank god). After that there’s randomness in whether or not the slime will just flee immediately and there’s even more randomness in trying to get a critical hit to kill them, that’s multiple levels of random and if you get unlucky in any one of them it is frustrating as fuck! Again this wouldn’t matter so much if metal slime hunting wasn’t the fastest and most optimal way to grind XP since they are worth such a ludicrous amount more than regular enemies.

Without those things I think this would be 5 stars honestly, I enjoyed it so much. This game is just delightful, endlessly charming, warm, comforting and so endearing and silly. Its nice to delve into something that isn’t complex or witty or groundbreaking, it is just plain, simple, joyful fun. By the end credits I was smiling with goosebumps as the overture played on the main menu screen, *Keanu voice: yeah i’m thinking i’m dragon quest fan.