Blog Post: Almost, but not Quite: Dragon Quest VIII

[Disclaimer: I can't figure out how to make paragraphs work, so enjoy this giant block!] Imagine, if you will, a chubby little kid obsessed with Dragon Ball Z being told by his friend that Akira Toriyama designed the characters of Dragon Quest VIII. Imagine the excitement of that kid—a kid with two Rubbermaid totes full of Dragon Ball Z action figures and a Budokai 3 disc so worn out, it almost can’t be read—when he is told about that game, an unknown adventure with a familiar aesthetic. Imagine what that kid’s next birthday must have been like. As a kid, my gaming time consisted largely of Battlefront, Pokémon, and any Dragon Ball Z game I could get my hands on. Save for a few exceptions, I rarely branched out from that basic structure. Once I got ahold of Dragon Quest VIII, I had no idea what to expect beyond what I saw at my friend’s house. Even then, I was surprised how much I loved that game. I had never played a game with so much to do and so many places to go, and so I wanted to experience everything the game had to offer. I spent long stretches of time just wandering the world, doing whatever struck my fancy—talking to people, exploring towns, fighting monsters. Even if I got stuck on a boss or a dungeon, I’d just turn around and find something else to do. Even leveling up and increasing characters’ attributes—something that’s an afterthought these days—roped me in and kept me engrossed. My memory of the game has faded over the years, but there are still plenty of moments I remember. Of course, there’s the first time I saw the player character enter “Super High Tension”, which is basically a purple Super Saiyan. Then there’s the time when my friend and I frantically tried to beat the first boss with full bladders, not realizing the combat was turn-based and we could just stop and take a bathroom break whenever we wanted. Seeing the unique Hacksaurus near the starting town for the first time and having it nearly wipe out my parting was tense and thrilling; returning later to defeat it and make it fight for me was borderline cathartic. And of course, I need not describe the strange crush I developed on party member Jessica (I was about ten; cut me some slack. Whose idea was it to include a “Sex Appeal” attribute?). Of course, the enthusiasm was bound to dwindle eventually. I finally reached a fight with the main villain, and couldn’t best him. I’ve never had a mind for strategy, especially not then, so any battle that couldn’t be won with brute force was difficult for me. I knew it couldn’t be the final battle, but eventually just wandering around the world and visiting the same old places began to grow stale. I moved on to other games, and I never managed to finish the game. Even though I’ve never beaten it, I credit Dragon Quest VIII as the game that made me fall in love with RPGs. I didn’t play many of them besides Pokémon for a while, but once I got an Xbox 360, I tried more and more, the memories of the good times I had in DQVIII serving as motivation. Even now Dragon Quest is helping me broaden my gaming horizons; I’ve recently resolved to try more turn-based RPGs, and the four entries on the DS will no doubt help rekindle my love for the genre. Forgive the cheesy line, but I don’t think I’d be quite the same gamer I am today were it not for Dragon Quest VIII.



from Game Informer Magazine http://ift.tt/1CETVND