I Love Dragon Quest

"When you have a Japanese PS2, then you gotta have Dragon Quest VIII", that's what I thought back then.

After playing for a few minutes, my first reaction was something like "Oh this is as mediocre as games get". The game went back on the shelf (actually a cardboard box), and was replaced by games, such as Bujingai, Katamari Damashii and, of course, Street Fighter III - 3rd Strike. Katamari lasted, what, a week? Bujingai... Yeah, Bujingai is just great. I knew exactly what I was buying back then - pure quality. Let's just say that Bujingai went in the box with Dragon Quest VIII, because you just don't throw games in the trash, even if that's where they belong (I still don't get how the Bujingai trailer made the game look so fantastic).

Then, after about 4 months of Street Fighter III - 3rd Strike, I decided to give Dragon Quest VIII another chance. After playing as far as to the entrance to the first dungeon, my impression was, of course: "Damn, this game is hard". This, however, is not true; especially not if hard has anything to do with challenging. Ikaruga is hard. Devil May Cry is hard on hard, and harder on Dante Must Die. Heck, even Blood Omen 2 is hard (to keep from crashing). Dragon Quest VIII is hard compared to other RPG's I have played because you need to level up frequently; not only to beat the bosses, but even in order to survive the hordes of random encounters. Does this make Dragon Quest VIII any less boring than other RPGs? No, not really.

I admit, however, that i was under the spell of Dragon Quest for some time. "Well, I guess leveling up is part of the charm, and I'm sooooo freakin' excited to see what Zeshika's next skill is going to be". And of course, the graphics are stunning, and the music is nice, although a bit repetitive, I guess. But the fun doesn't last.

After having played around 30 hours, I have finally gotten myself a ship. Joy! Now I can spend ages sailing around, exploring the vast exciting world of Enix, just like in Wind Waker. But what is this news I hear? Random battles while sailing? Fantastic - more battles means more experience for me; isn't that wonderful. Plus: All I know is that I'm going to the western continent, but I have no idea where to dock my ship. Yes, I'm aware that I can enter land from any beach, but the thought of walking across a new continent with even harder monsters just doesn't seem that appealing anymore. Besides, I wouldn't know whether or not I was on the right western continent. But I really do enjoy this kind of freedom in games. Yup, nothing like illusions of freedom in a completely linear game. (I have nothing against linear games, by the way).

To the point: I'm writing all this because I am quite annoyed with Dragon Quest VIII at the moment. Mainly because I don't see the point in the whole "escape system". Since you can't die anyway, what's the point of an escape command that only works sometimes? Since Enix, or whoever, have already been kind enough to get rid of the whole Game Over-thing, why must I still be pestered by this extremely frustrating luck-based escape-crap?

"You cannot escape; you are surrounded". Surrounded. Feh, by one freaking enemy.

Back in the box, Dragon Quest VIII.