Dragon Quest VIII- does it get better?

[J T]

I just started Dragon Quest VIII. So far, I love the music, I love the graphics, I love the voice acting, and the controls seem alright. However, on my first little fighting mission outside of a town I have been asked to retrieve a crystal ball from a cave under a waterfall. I head off on my merry way, as happy as can be, thinking that with such great music and visuals, this could be one of the best RPGs I ever play... but then I do battle and almost die within the first room of the cave. I make through just one tiny portion of a cave to go down a stairway, but then realize I have to turn around and head back to town for a night at the inn because I'm not leveled up enough to possibly succeed.

I hate grinding.

I'm afraid that this game is going to be like this all the way through. I don't want to have to kill 20 million stupid slimes so that I can survive even the simplest mission. So, my question is, as you play through this game, do you only have to grind in the beginning, or do you have to constantly take time-outs to collect experience points before every single little mission? I'm not sure I have the patience for that, despite how great the game appears to be.

[Mozgus]

That's the same spot I quit at too. Screw that game.

[MrPopo]

The beginning of Dragon Quest VIII is the only time I really spent grinding (until the bonus dungeon that you get after beating the game). For some reason they decided that the cave monsters were going to be big and scary. For the rest of the game you should be fine with just going from area to area as long as you don't specifically avoid battles.

[Dakinggamer87]

I need to go back and finish that game eventually!!

[J T]

The beginning of Dragon Quest VIII is the only time I really spent grinding (until the bonus dungeon that you get after beating the game). For some reason they decided that the cave monsters were going to be big and scary. For the rest of the game you should be fine with just going from area to area as long as you don't specifically avoid battles.

That's a relief. Thank you for the info. I really love the overall feel of the game, so I got worried when I hit some heavy grinding requirements right off the bat. I've heard the game can take 80 hours to complete, so I'm not going to be happy if I have to spend most of that time leveling up characters.

[Flak Beard]

The game only feels slow in the beginning, but will soon pick up and become way more enjoyable once you get a full party. The game will become more about how you manage your attacks and inventory as opposed to raw levels.

I felt the same way as you at first, but stuck with it and ended up putting well over a hundred hours into the game. It became hands down my favorite RPG on the PS2.

[jfrost]

Try to focus your skill points on one ability, at least in the beginning. These points are rather scarce as leveling up takes forever.

[chupon]

It does indeed get better. Expect 80 ~ 120 hours. I loved all 116 of mine.

[sakicfan84]

Honestly, the only time I died (except for one time on that damned bird Empryea which was because I wasn't really expecting a tough battle) was at the first boss. The game doesn't require anywhere near the amount of grinding that the early DW games did.

If you like the game at the beginning, you'll probably end up really enjoying the game. The game really grew on me a lot as the game progressed.

[dedalusdedalus]

i totally feel you on this.

grinding is so 1990s, it's just a cheap way to stretch out a game.