Dragon Quest VIII

i'm lazy man, so lazy

i never bought a ps2

i had a ps1 but haven't had a sony device since

i'm apparently about 10 hours in, although i don't trust the game clock. i don't think i've spent ten HOURS already (have i? oh god). i think i'm about to get angelo to join the party, except i'm embarrassingly having trouble finding the secret underground entrance to the sanctuary or whatever. they gave me clear instructions - head toward Simpleton but stay close to the river until you get to the ruins - but somehow, even though i see the little dot on the map where the ruins are, it's blocked off by the landscape and every 8 seconds i have to deal with a random encounter. maybe i should cast padfoot so i have some more time to explore. on the other hand i'm getting some much needed leveling up in while i wander. i fear that i spent too much time in simpleton village at the tavern and now i too am a true Simpleton.

my hero is named DIRKBURT.

the game itself is a lot of fun, and i like the characters. i feel like i probably don't exploit the tension system enough, and i probably rely on 'fight wisely' tactic way too much. part of that has to do with the menu system, and i'm not sure if it's in the original or if it's an iPad modification. but basically, any deviation from the fight wisely tactic results in several button presses. and it's especially cumbersome when switching weapons in the middle of a battle (which is often necessary to use certain abilities):

- tap DIRKBURT's options pane
- tap "items"
- tap the new weapon to select it
- tap the new weapon to equip it
- tap to close out of the options pane

it's not really a huge deal in isolation, it's that you have to do it so often. it would have been really cool to add a quick weapons switch button to streamline the process.

i especially enjoy how every village has a burly S&M guy wearing a horned mask.

Tailored for the train-faring Japanese population the game is played in portrait mode, which is going to seem like an odd choice for some people. I actually like being able to play one-handed, but there's no doubt the lack of horizontal space cuts down on the feeling of grandness in some of the game's environments.

bummer. this game is so pleasant and mainly because of the big, colorful environments.

I know the olympics are bad but pretty awesome to see all the teams march out to Dragon Quest music lol

I hope someone puts up a video of this

stopped watching but apparently they played some Sonic too!