Now playing Dragon Quest 8 again...

SOK wrote:

Superbuu3 wrote:

I'm pretty sure that guys always a challenge. This game puts you at roughly the right level if you do what your supposed to, plus your on a second playthrough so you'll be fine.

I don't recall him being a challenge, but then again, I ran around going all over every new part of the map I entered looking for all the chests and fighting every battle I got into like a total completionist dork. Doing that was bound to overlevel me. Hell, I didn't even need to grind much for the post-game trials thing either(I really just did some alchemy pot concocting for a few useful items).

Your sometimes obsessive nature gives me the impression you'd grind whether you meant to or not.

I could imagine you having this inner monologue. "Did I go down that corner, I'm pretty sure i did, but wait what if i didn't, I might miss out on a essential or rare item. You know what i'll just check again."

If i had time I'd have done it in gollum/smeagol style.

SimianWonder wrote:

Ellis wrote:

I've never done it before, but from what I've seen it is extremely challenging untill you get enough points in it to get the huge strength boosts and endall be all skills. The max points fisticuff skills are boss.

I've already put a few points in Boomerang, maybe I'll try fisticuffs for a while see how I get on. Mind you, if memory serves DQVIII was a pretty challengine game anyway - I remember having to grind a fair bit to stop bosses wiping me out.

Quote :

I've wanted to do this but I don't have a god damn PS2 anymore since the timer in my 60 gig that YLoD's the system ran out forcing me to pay more money to Sony for the dam slim that has about as much features as a coat hanger.

Ha.

I've still got my slim PS2 and my 80GB PS3 (the only UK model that has backwards compatibility) so I can play it on either.

Wait, the 80GB PS3 is backwards compatible? Is your one really old, or would one bought in 09 work, too?

Thats a typo, the 80GB in england wasn't BC.

Superbuu3 wrote:

SOK wrote:

Superbuu3 wrote:

I'm pretty sure that guys always a challenge. This game puts you at roughly the right level if you do what your supposed to, plus your on a second playthrough so you'll be fine.

I don't recall him being a challenge, but then again, I ran around going all over every new part of the map I entered looking for all the chests and fighting every battle I got into like a total completionist dork. Doing that was bound to overlevel me. Hell, I didn't even need to grind much for the post-game trials thing either(I really just did some alchemy pot concocting for a few useful items).

Your sometimes obsessive nature gives me the impression you'd grind whether you meant to or not.

I could imagine you having this inner monologue. "Did I go down that corner, I'm pretty sure i did, but wait what if i didn't, I might miss out on a essential or rare item. You know what i'll just check again."

If i had time I'd have done it in gollum/smeagol style.

I was fortunate to never really have that problem. It's not hard to remember all the chests in each area. Plus I had that sweet Piggyback guide book full of Toriyama art to check 'em off.

Superbuu3 wrote:

Thats a typo, the 80GB in england wasn't BC.

Yeah, sorry should have read 60gb.

That's quite all right, as I have a PS2. I was just shocked that I didn't know.

SimianWonder wrote:

Just finished the Abbey and recruited Angelo and the five hour mark has just passed.

What the hell? I'm pretty sure I hadn't left the first town by then.

That is extremely fast for already being pastthe abbey.

A_Nonny_Moose wrote:

What the hell? I'm pretty sure I hadn't left the first town by then.

What on earth were you doing all that time?

The initial village has about half a dozen buildings, three shops and quest with a simple two-floor dungeon to navigate. That should take no more than an hour and a half, even if you were choosing to explore every corner. Even after that, the next area, where you are introduced to Jessica, is a village with less than half a dozen people in it. And the dungeon isn't exactly hard, there's no boss or anything like that to trip you up. Maybe the boss at the Port might slow you down a little, but everything after that (including events at the Abbey) is pretty much signposted for you. It's difficult to get stuck, though as I said above, the boss of the Ruined Abbey did put up a fight.

Even if you literally explored every corner of the world map I cannot possible see how you could still be in either of the first two villages at the five hour mark.

If you check my playthrough topic you can tell by the time-stamps on my posts that it took me about 5 hours to finish the first village.

A_Nonny_Moose wrote:

If you check my playthrough topic you can tell by the time-stamps on my posts that it took me about 5 hours to finish the first village.

If you take the time-stamps literally, it took you four hours to get to the first boss...

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Tue Mar 16, 2010 7:36 pm
Only played it for an hour so far...

Quote :

Tue Mar 16, 2010 10:24 pm
Bah, got to the crystal ball and that retarded red dude killed me

I don't see how it's physically possible to drag out the opening that much.

The game opens with the slime ambush, then you proceed into Farebury. That's perhaps ten minutes. You might kill twenty minutes at most walking through Farebury if you were going to spend some time at each shop (though you've no Gold at this point) and explore each house, before you trigger the next cutscene in the inn and are expelled from the town. Cue cutscenes, perhaps another ten minutes have passed. Maybe you'd take a few minutes to find Satan's... I mean, Kalderasha's house to be given the quest. Then you follow the path to the waterfall. I guess if you ventured off the path and checked every corner that might take a while (though I soon learned there's very little of real worth hidden away) but the path is short, and the dungeon itself not very tricky. The boss himself was a little tough if you hadn't stocked up on herbs, but I simply cannot see it feasibly taking four hours to get to that point.

I'd take the time-stamps with a pinch of salt.

MAybe he was 'splorin

No, they are literal. I remember playing it that long.

Wow.

I still can't see what the hell you'd be doing for all that time, but hey...

Anyway, I've just arrived in Peckham Pickham, having done the bit with the mopey king and the Moonshadow realm. That took longer than it should have done because I couldn't remember the way to the mountain top and got a bit lost. I say lost, I was also grinding on Metal Slimes too (they appeared in the cave just prior to Moonshadow) and raised a couple of levels, so that kinda worked out.

So, just entering Pickham and the timer's at nine and a half hours or as-near-as-makes-no-difference.

This topic is pissing me off.

I want to play this so fucking bad now.

Ellis wrote:

This topic is pissing me off.

I want to play this so fucking bad now.

I'm taking out my DQ energy on DQVI, yay! But yeah, I'd actually like to return to this game some time. Maybe do the rest of those trials and stuff. I only did the important ones for the true ending and maybe a bit more, but definitely not all the fights. I probably won't, though.

Alright, done a fair bit.

Went to Pickham, Medea (the 'orse-princess) gets stolen. Run around trying to find the thief. Wouldn't you know it, he's just sold her. Luckily Yangus knows the guy he's sold her to. Bonus. Except he's just sold her as well. To Yangus' rival (and one time love interest, or so it seems.) To get Medea back I need to explore a labyrinth and bring back the Venus Parl in the centre. Okay, done that. Great, got Medea back. Now, back to Pickham to meet another of Yanus' old contacts. Apparently I'm too late, Dhoulmagus has already crossed to the Western Continent and with the increase in monsters, no ships are sailing. If we want to get across, we'll need our own ship. Which we don't have. Luckily, there's apparently a ship in the middle of a desert just south of Trodain. For some reason, when we eventually get to the ship only then does it occur to our heroes that it migh prove difficult to move said ship into the sea.

King Trode suggest consulting the library in the castle, given how near we are to Trodain. Good idea. Except the castle is still suffering from Dhoulmagus curse (which we see via flashback more or less in full now), meaning there are monsters running amok (including the very occasional Liquid Metal Slime though the little bastards ran away before I could get in a single hit!) and because of the monstrous vines still present, a lot of the access routes and always are blocked. Essentially, the castle is another dungeon. Yay. Anyway, navigate to the library, find a book that mentions the ship, saying only that the mountain / desert area used to be an ocean. Used to be. A very very long time ago. Luckily, at just that moment, the moon hits the window and the shadow forms a door to the Moonshadow Realm. Pop inside, chat with the elf guy (whose name escapes me), who says he could help. Then his harp breaks. Luckily, he says there's another one somewhere I've already been. Great. Care to tell me exactly where? No? Awesome. Half an hour of zooming to previous locatins later, I arrive back in Ascantha with a visit to the previously mopey King in mind. He's got the harp we need, and for once he's going to give it to us without any strings attached. About fucking time.

Only, someone's broken in to his vault and pinched it. Of course they have. Into the hole they left behind and we stumble across a gang of thieving Moles and their boss. Said Mole boss happens to think he's James Brown judging from the lawsuit friendly lyrics he's belting out, but luckily he's not too tough and relinquishes the harp upon defeat. With harp in hand, it's back to the castle to get the elf guy and then back to the desert to get the ship. Cue amusing cutscene with the ship floating on the ocean that existed hundreds if not thousands of year earlier, and I've now got my own ship. Stop at a save point.

About fifteen hours in and I've still barely gotten the story moving.

You got to the ship in 15 hours? Is this a speed run or something?

A_Nonny_Moose wrote:

Is this a speed run or something?

Not deliberately, no. I'm not exactly rushing either; I could have knocked a couple of hours off that by either A) not grinding a few levels on Metal Slimes or B) using guides for the two occasions I've been unsure exactly where to head. However, grinding will have to come sooner or later, and it's hardly that big a chore when you're getting lots of exp for it, and having not played the game for ages I'd rather try and get through it myself without relying on someone else to walk me through it.

I'm finding it rather steady going, though I note you said in your play through topic you felt the story dragged on a little too long; not a fault I'd have criticised it for. But then I still cannot fathom how you took four hours to reach the first boss.

TBH if i played this again i think i'd be about where simi's at. His first run if it wass about this speed is insane though.

I honestly cannot remember how quick my first run was other than the two saves on the memory card; 45 hours for the end of the story, then 69 hours for the full post game(or at least all the major diversions.)

I've notched up a couple of hour again tonight; now at 17 hours twelve minutes and I've made it to Baccarat, done the little quest to win the bell that summons a SabreCat (a diversion from the main story yes, but given how much quicker you can move I think it'll be make up that lost time by the end), been to the Dark Ruins, travelled to Argonia and am now about to set off for Charmles' initiation in the Hunting Grounds. For reference, my characters are currently around lvl 24-25.

The fastest I ever completed this game in my three playthroughs was 40 hours. It sounds like you are about to shatter that. Damn man.

I'm not doing a deliberate speed run, I'm just mostly concentrating on the story for now; most of the quests that I can leave until post-game I am.

I fucking hated Hero's slow walk speed and all the encounters in the later dungeons made me want to smash this disk in to pieces. Great game though.

Done all the stuff with Charmles' initiation, got the magic mirror, re-energised it, done a few scenes at the magic spring and then went into the Dark Ruins and beat the crap outta Dhoulmagus. He was much easier than I remember him being, though that might have been because only once did he use Disruptive Wave... otherwise I was free to buff my self up and use my tension attacks.

I've just awoken in the inn, and Jessica's gone missing... I saved the game there. Twenty hours and thirteen minutes played.