Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (U.S. Version)

[Briareos]

I haven't got a world map yet

Sorry i mean when you are exploring, normal random monsters you don't see until the fight begins, but those you can see when running around are usually tougher...

[Swallow]

Thought you might like an update, I'm sure you're all enthralled

I'm off to Red's now, but I've just recovered the Venus's Stone from Swordsman's Labyrinth.. I seem to have missed the start of this part of the storyline though, what with Yangus seeming to have a connection with it it had not been mention by the time I entered the Labyrinth.

Level 18 with a bullet though, just putting in a half hour or hour as often as I can.

Needless to state, but this is a top game.

[Daragon]

I've been really getting into this of late, during my 360 down time. One of the most difficult RPGs certainly that I've played in my time with the genre (makes most of the FF games look like a walk in the park). The difficulty spikes are insane.

That aside, I have made a relatively good amount of progress putting in over 80 hours. Think I'm close to the end now, but the

->Open Spoiler<-

Godbird

boss is a real pain in the backside. Even the game's "supposed" most difficult boss

->Open Spoiler<-

Dhoulmagus

didn't give me this much trouble.

Anyone got any tips for me? My main character's lvl 35-36 I think it is. Cheers

[Swallow]

Good grief, you've just filled me in on the amount of time I have to go :/

[Champloo]

Doubt anyone will remember, but with the alchemy recipe list, when an item is listed in green does that mean its weak? For example the blunt axe is listed as green, and its less powerful then the items that are used to make it. If not, anyone know what the colour signifies?

Edit: Worked it out now, I was just being dense.

[MartyG]

I really must go back to this and finish off the Dragovian Trials - they're really really tough and you need to level loads. Super game though - hope you're enjoying it Champloo

[Daragon]

I echo the above, I REALLY loved this game, but I considered it over once I witnessed the first ending, the Dragovian Trials should have been unlocked from the start as it really doesn't add to the story (as far as I'm aware).

Easily one of my favourite RPGs to date, put many FFs to shame. As for the negative reviews the game got, their loss is all I can say. "Oh boohoo, the game is too big for us" - probably crybabies like that being the reason we're stuck with 6 hour single player modes + no online/****ty online mode games this gen...

[Sane]

Yeah this game is probably one of the best RPG's of last gen. It's very traditional but in a good way, having perfected the formula pretty much. Can't wait for the new game and remakes on the DS but I hope Squeenix will also make a proper next gen one.

[gordon]

Thread resurrection!

45 hours into this, never played a Dragon Quest game before, heard this was the best (?) and all I can say is... wow! The quality in the writing and art direction, the perfectly judged difficulty level, the arrival of useful items at key moments, the boss battles - are all pretty close to perfect, IMO. I've rarely had to do any grinding: at worst, I've gone off to explore areas of the map I hadn't visited yet, picked up a level, bought some extra armour and tried again.

Lovely, lovely game.

[sharky_ob]

Thread resurrection!

45 hours into this, never played a Dragon Quest game before, heard this was the best (?) and all I can say is... wow! The quality in the writing and art direction, the perfectly judged difficulty level, the arrival of useful items at key moments, the boss battles - are all pretty close to perfect, IMO. I've rarely had to do any grinding: at worst, I've gone off to explore areas of the map I hadn't visited yet, picked up a level, bought some extra armour and tried again.

Lovely, lovely game.

Truly is an amazing game. There's a couple of horrendous difficulty spikes though - enjoy!!

[toythatkills]

Yeah, and 45 hours sounds like about the time they start coming

[gordon]

I think I might have just had the first one,

->Open Spoiler<-

the battle with Dhoulmagus in the Dark Ruin, which was hard enough, immediately followed by... another battle with Dhoulmagus, but harder

; it was the first one that took me more than a couple of attempts. I even enjoyed getting beaten, though, because it forced me to reassess my tactics.

[sharky_ob]

I think I might have just had the first one,

->Open Spoiler<-

the battle with Dhoulmagus in the Dark Ruin, which was hard enough, immediately followed by... another battle with Dhoulmagus, but harder

; it was the first one that took me more than a couple of attempts. I even enjoyed getting beaten, though, because it forced me to reassess my tactics.

Indeed, that is one of them. I beat him with very little left in my team.

[JamesS]

I just did that battle last night. Blimey, that was tough. Completely fluked it in the end - I had two chararacters left with under 50HP each and no MP or items left for healing. Would have died that round if I'd not killed him.

Given that there's absolutely no time pressure in the combat, it's amazing how stressful it can get.

Fantastic game, though, and still looks really nice even through the PS3 upscaler.