Dragon Quest VIII - 3DS

[darksnowman]

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Tease me about it but not in the DQ VII thread. Has thee no shame.

[Ike]

Tease me about it but not in the DQ VII thread. Has thee no shame.

 

Oops, haha. I was a little bit distracted. :p

[Dcubed]

Is this game New3DS enhanced?

 

Don't see why they don't take advantage of the extra system power to get 3D working or to restore some of the missing visual effects...

[Ike]

Is this game New3DS enhanced?

 

Don't see why they don't take advantage of the extra system power to get 3D working or to restore some of the missing visual effects...

 

Not sure, but I don't think so. The nub controls the camera but ZL/ZR, they do nothing.

 

There's a bit of popup on the overworld with stuff like the grass, trees seemed to fade in which is a bit nicer.

 

There's a few seconds load time for battles, it's not an instant transition. Having the enemies on the overworld is really nice though.

 

Obviously the game doesn't look quite as good as it did on the PS2.

 

They reused some icons from the mobile port when you can talk to NPC's which I think looks out of place.

 

Not noticed any framerate drops yet, all pretty smooth so far.

 

The Japanese voice acting is really good, the English version is always remain superior though. :p

 

Still early on though, just beat the first boss, don't remember him being so hard though.

 

There's a shortcut on the bottom screen to cast Zoom which is real nice.

 

I think the animation of the Hero opening the map is gone though since the map is on the bottom screen all the time, I thought that was a really nice touch in the original, really added to the feel of exploring caves.

[Dcubed]

Probably isn't then. A shame, cause they no doubt could've used it to smooth out some of the rough edges with this port...

 

Still sounds like they've done a good job regardless though

 

Too bad we'll probably never get it though

[darksnowman]

 

I was skipping through this video earlier to have a listen to the music. It sounds really good.

[Grazza]

 

I was skipping through this video earlier to have a listen to the music. It sounds really good.

 

It's the best soundtrack of all time!

 

Oh man, they seriously have to release this here. Even the first tune in that video is absolutely beautiful.

Edited August 28, 2015 by Grazza

[darksnowman]

Have you had a chance to play any more, @Ike?

[Ike]

Have you had a chance to play any more, @Ike?

 

Unfortunately, not had much time to play so I haven't made a load of progress. Only just made it to Maella Abbey.

 

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Oh, the Alchemy Pot seem to be instant now. Unless that's just the basic stuff that's instant, not sure about the rarer stuff.

[Grazza]

If Alchemy is now instant, that's a massive improvement. It could be a big enough improvement to make this the definitive version for me.

[darksnowman]

The alchemy pot is indeed instant now. Here's a list of features. That thread is worth keeping an eye on to read peoples impressions.

 

- Fully voiced in Japanese for the first time.

- Orchestrated soundtrack.

- Instant alchemy pot, with new recipes.

- Much faster battles than the original version's, including a new high speed mode.

- Visible enemies on the field.

- New story and scenarios.

- Geruda/Red and Morrie are now available as playable characters.

- New weapon types and skills.

- Visible equipment options for all characters.

- Brand new sprawling dungeons with new enemies and bosses, including a new post-game dungeon.

- New monsters, and new ranks in the battle arena.

- New photo mode, including the ability to compose photos with stamps and send them to other players. There's a whole new quest system centered around taking photos.

- Streetpass features using the photos from above.

[Grazza]

- Fully voiced in Japanese for the first time.

- Orchestrated soundtrack.

- Instant alchemy pot, with new recipes.

- Much faster battles than the original version's, including a new high speed mode.

- Visible enemies on the field.

- New story and scenarios.

- Geruda/Red and Morrie are now available as playable characters.

- New weapon types and skills.

- Visible equipment options for all characters.

- Brand new sprawling dungeons with new enemies and bosses, including a new post-game dungeon.

- New monsters, and new ranks in the battle arena.

- New photo mode, including the ability to compose photos with stamps and send them to other players. There's a whole new quest system centered around taking photos.

- Streetpass features using the photos from above.

 

Wow, these are all brilliant improvements and would definitely make it the best version for me. It'd be a crazy if they don't localise this one.

[Ike]

Cleared Maella Abbey last night.

 

 

First enemy in the underground passage was a Metal Slime. it rans as soon as it saw me but it didn't disappear so I was able to corner it and enter battle. It fled immediately of course though. Think I saw about 7 Metal Slimes but only managed to kill 1.

 

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Recruited Angelo. Fun(?) fact: His Japanese name is Kukule. Glad they changed it for the localisation. :p

 

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Really wish I took some screenshots of the bar fight in Simpleton, such a great scene.

 

 

 

They've hidden some Golden Slime figures throughout the game based on a figure they released for the 30th anniversary which I didn't realise you were supposed to be taking photos of, so I'll have to go back and try and re-find the ones I missed.

 

Really enjoying playing through the game again though.

[Grazza]

It must be quite unusual having visible enemies (particularly Metal Slimes) in this game. I know they were visible in IX, but that was top-down (and there were some visible monsters in VIII, but only ones for the Monster Arena/Support Teams).

 

I've gone from being indifferent, to really, really wanting this now.

[darksnowman]

Have you seen these videos, Grazza?

 

 

 

[Ike]

It must be quite unusual having visible enemies (particularly Metal Slimes) in this game. I know they were visible in IX, but that was top-down (and there were some visible monsters in VIII, but only ones for the Monster Arena/Support Teams).

 

I've gone from being indifferent, to really, really wanting this now.

 

Yeah, it was pretty strange the first time you get the overworld map. The camera has been completely fine but I'm playing on a New 3DS so you can control the camera with the nub anyway.

 

Infamous Monsters have an icon which makes them easier to distinguish.

 

So far I haven't ran into the issue that the DQVII remake had where the dungeons were obviously not designed to have visible enemies as the passages were pretty narrow and made it hard to avoid encounters.

 

Being able to avoid enemies on the overworld is great, makes exploring so much easier.

 

Another change is that they added Blue Chests which act the same way as they did in IX where they eventually regenerate for more free stuff.

 

Got my physical copies in which came with a download code for Erdrick's Sword. Shame the stats aren't great, seems to be intended for use early on.

[Grazza]

Have you seen these videos, Grazza?

 

No, I hadn't. Hmm, the graphical downgrade is regrettable, for sure. On the other hand, at least the pixels will perfectly match the screen. I no longer have an SDTV, and don't know if it's possible to play the PS2 game in HD, so I still think this would be my favoured version for now.

 

Another change is that they added Blue Chests which act the same way as they did in IX where they eventually regenerate for more free stuff.

 

This sounds brilliant. Do they have Metal Slime equipment (Rank A in Dragon Quest IX, if I recall correctly, rather than Rank S)? I never liked the other way of getting them in VIII.

[Ike]

This sounds brilliant. Do they have Metal Slime equipment (Rank A in Dragon Quest IX, if I recall correctly, rather than Rank S)? I never liked the other way of getting them in VIII.

 

They appear the overworld so I doubt it, I've mostly had stuff like Magic Water and Seeds so far.

 

It's super easy to grind Metal Slimes/Gold Golems in this version.

 

You can pan the camera around to re-spawn enemies.

 

 

[spoilers=Progress]Just beat Dhoulmagus and now tracking down Evil Jessica.

 

[Hero-of-Time]

With Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past not too far away, it's easy to overlook the fact that Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King is also heading to the 3DS in the West later this year.

 

That's still the case in North America, according to Nintendo's latest schedule, but the document accompanying the Q1 Financial Results has pushed the European release into a broad 2017 window. It could come early in the year, of course, but no specifics are given in the document.

 

Nintendo is publishing the title in the West, so it'll be Nintendo of Europe that makes the final call on a release date. Here's hoping we don't have to wait too long into 2017 for this release.

 

I expected this but i'm still disappointed.

[Sheikah]

It's a shame really - they should just release the original game on the PSN store and make it PS4 compatible like they have done with a bunch of PS2 titles, rather than push this demake. A fantastic game that deserves the big screen.

[Hero-of-Time]

It's a shame really - they should just release the original game on the PSN store and make it PS4 compatible like they have done with a bunch of PS2 titles, rather than push this demake. A fantastic game that deserves the big screen.

 

Yup. I'd much prefer a PS4 version as part of the PS2 classics range but i'll take what I can get at this point.

[MindFreak]

This game is out January 20th in US.

 

Dragon Quest VIII is heading to North America on January 20, Nintendo has just announced. You can take a look at the official boxart above.

 

This new version of Dragon Quest VIII features two new playable characters and additional side quests. Also included is a new Quick-Save function and a “Speed Up” feature to increase battle speed. Players can also take photos, customize them, and share images via StreetPass or by nabbing them from the SD card.

 

Head past the break for today’s full announcement with additional details about Dragon Quest VIII. View some English screenshots below.

 

http://nintendoeverything.com/dragon-quest-viii-launches-on-january-20-in-north-america/

[Dcubed]

Can't help but feel that this is a terrible time to release the game. It (and DQ7) really should've come out much earlier. This is gonna get released right after the Switch unveiling and it's gonna reflect really poorly as a result...

 

A shame, but at least it's coming out in the end I suppose.

[Sheikah]

Meh, it's all about waiting for DQXI now for me. I spent something like 120 hours on the glorious DQ8 and I feel like if I did that again soon I'd probably want to cool off for a long time before playing another game in the series. These are not RPGs to be taken lightly!

[Ike]

Earlier then I expected.

 

 

Jessica has a new voice actor, think it's the same one from Heroes.

 

 

Meh, it's all about waiting for DQXI now for me. I spent something like 120 hours on the glorious DQ8 and I feel like if I did that again soon I'd probably want to cool off for a long time before playing another game in the series. These are not RPGs to be taken lightly!

 

XI's English release is still probably a way off though.