As usual, dragon quest is a pure, distilled jrpg experience. It will never surprise or challenge the player with innovative mechanics, but it will provide some of the most meticuloisly refined turn-based mechanics out there.
I particularly loved the aesthetics on this one: the cel-shaded look is enchanting and timeless. The characters also shine, both in design and in personality. Most of the characterisation is conveyed through party banter and bickering that is somewhat sparse, but always charming. Some characterisation ilfor the main character is also conveyed through mechanics, i.e. his immunity to curses and cursed equipment, which cleverly hints at some mystery about him. That is a really good touch.
Combat is nothing surprising, but it is quite well crafted and balanced. The only spark of uniqueness it has is the "psyche up" system, which lends more than a few opportunities for tactical play.
Basically no grinding is required, each character grows into a useful role, and getting them to work together in synergy is quite satisfying. As a side point, only having 4 party members is a design choice that I wholeheartedly support: it makes the game more focus and doesn't force the player to choose what characters will be left to rot on the bench.
Having only played DQXI to its completion before this game, I was left a bit disappointed by VIII in some regards, mainly the town designs, which are a lot more generic than XI. But I guess that's an unfair criticism, as XI came out a decade later.
The main drawback of this game is its length. It took me 60 hours to finish it, and it really didn't need to be this long. I caught up with Dhoulmagus (the big overarching objective of the first half of the game) at about the 35 hour mark, and I feel that this was a great place to end it. Little did I know, I was barely halfway through, and the second half would be just more of the same, repeated as nauseam.
If you'd allow me a (badly crafted) metaphor, DQ to me is like a fine steak. It doesn't need fancy toppings or sides, just some salt and pepper, it lets the flavour of the top-quality meat speak for itself. No fancy mechanics, no experimentation, just finely crafted jrpg-ing. Unfortunately, though, this steak is, like, 2kg of meat. It's way too much for one person, and even the most rich and succulent cut of meat you ever had is going to tire you after eating that much.
I particularly loved the aesthetics on this one: the cel-shaded look is enchanting and timeless. The characters also shine, both in design and in personality. Most of the characterisation is conveyed through party banter and bickering that is somewhat sparse, but always charming. Some characterisation ilfor the main character is also conveyed through mechanics, i.e. his immunity to curses and cursed equipment, which cleverly hints at some mystery about him. That is a really good touch.
Combat is nothing surprising, but it is quite well crafted and balanced. The only spark of uniqueness it has is the "psyche up" system, which lends more than a few opportunities for tactical play.
Basically no grinding is required, each character grows into a useful role, and getting them to work together in synergy is quite satisfying. As a side point, only having 4 party members is a design choice that I wholeheartedly support: it makes the game more focus and doesn't force the player to choose what characters will be left to rot on the bench.
Having only played DQXI to its completion before this game, I was left a bit disappointed by VIII in some regards, mainly the town designs, which are a lot more generic than XI. But I guess that's an unfair criticism, as XI came out a decade later.
The main drawback of this game is its length. It took me 60 hours to finish it, and it really didn't need to be this long. I caught up with Dhoulmagus (the big overarching objective of the first half of the game) at about the 35 hour mark, and I feel that this was a great place to end it. Little did I know, I was barely halfway through, and the second half would be just more of the same, repeated as nauseam.
If you'd allow me a (badly crafted) metaphor, DQ to me is like a fine steak. It doesn't need fancy toppings or sides, just some salt and pepper, it lets the flavour of the top-quality meat speak for itself. No fancy mechanics, no experimentation, just finely crafted jrpg-ing. Unfortunately, though, this steak is, like, 2kg of meat. It's way too much for one person, and even the most rich and succulent cut of meat you ever had is going to tire you after eating that much.