Dragon Quest VIII Demo Impressions

So, when I first heard that Squeenix was going to be giving away free demo copies of its highly anticipated addition to the Draqon Quest series, numero 8, I quickly jumped on the Internet bandwagon and tried to order mine immediately. Sadly, due to what can only be stated as an oversight on SE's part, the form was not setup to accomodate Canadians. However, through some correspondance with Square Enix's customer service department (who were extremely helpful and courteous I might add), they agreed to send out to Canadians as well. 2 weeks later, I plunked it into my eagerly waiting PS2.

My initial reaction was, wow, they REALLY souped up the graphics. Gone are the clunky, jagged pixels that last marred my screen in the seventh addition. They have been completely replaced by beautifully rendered, cel shaded beauty as only Level 5 can produce. Great, I thought, the Dragon Quest series has finally been brought into the new millenia but does it still FEEL like a Dragon Quest game?

The answer is quite a hearty yes, Level 5 really worked hard to keep the game feeling like a DQ game. Everything from the music, to character interaction to gameplay seems to conserve the whole DQ vibe. I particularly enjoyed the sample battles and the HUGE overworld. I can already tell this will be a game that will seriously consume a huge chunk of my time. That being said, I hope the final version has a truly upgraded storyline. I found the demo to be a tad ho-hum in the plot and know that a staple of DQ games is to take a long while getting the story going. I hope the final product pushes to get me right into the story from the get go.

Noticeably absent from the story part of the demo were character skills. A vast majority of the fun to be had with DQ7 was the brutally in depth and highly addicting skill system. I hope to see something of the same when DQ8 is released. Being the semi-masochist that I am, building an uber warrior always makes for a good time.

All in all, the DQ8 demo has me quite excited for the finished product (as any good demo should). Finally the DQ series has a game that arm-chair adventurers no longer have to turn off in shame when their graphic whore friends come over. DQ8 has been launched for the next generation and I couldn't be happier.

Lee Babin | 10.31.2005 [return]

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