[PS2] Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

So hey, I finally got this game and came on GFF looking for info and tidbits only to find that no one's made a v.2 thread for it yet.

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Release Date:
04/2006 (EU)
11/2005 (US)
11/2004 (JPN)



Gamespot Review (9.0)
IGN Review (9.0)
GameFAQs Page

I've been playing the game for several hours now and I totally love it. I'm not too far into it, about to leave the second town, but I can't believe how much better the game is on my TV than in the screenshots. I have to admit, I was unimpressed by the way the game looked until I saw it being played by my friend at his house. I felt like I was watching a living, breathing cartoon play out on the TV screen, for the most part. It may not be as fluid as Zelda: Wind Waker is, but it looks the part pretty well.

The combat system is refreshing as well. I'm so used to the bloated battle systems of the RPGs today, like SO3's or FFX's, even the convoluted Xenosaga's system. Returning to the battle system of olden days is like a breath of fresh air from that favorite haunt you used to love when you were a kid. It's simple, clean, does what its supposed to do, and doesn't get in the way. I like that.

I also have to hand it to the voice actors, great work. It's so much better than I could have hoped for. King Trode sounds about right, Jessica's voice matches, even some of the less important characters like the townsfolk are acted out good and well.

Of final note before I go to play it some more, I have to confess my unoriginal hero name: Hiro.
At least I didn't name him 'Eight'.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Prinnydood

I beat this game recently and loved it. Was nice to play an RPG that isn't so terribly complicated, but still requires some strategy and has a totally addictive leveling system(atleast I thought so). Music was astounding and the monsters were some of the best.

I'm going to play through again to use some of the weapons I didn't on my first run. I used Swords with Hero, Bows with Angelo, Whip with Jess and Axe with Yangus.

Oh and here's a hint for beating metal king slimes easily. I figured this out on my own one day and it really helps. If you get the spear skillk that has a chance of auto-kill(forgot the name but its early) and also get the axe skill that does the same (executioner), then you have two chances a turn to automatically kill a Metal King Slime. I've gotten 60k exp in a fight doing this....quite helpful indeed ^^

So how long did it take you to finish the game?
I've heard it's about 80 hours or so, is that right?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Yeah no kidding.
Those 20 zillion Japanese fans who bought DQ8 on day one knew what to expect, after all.

Hoping a DQ game will be a totally fresh experience is like buying a Metallica album and hoping that the lyrics have deep symbolic and emotional depth.

How ya doing, buddy?