Dragon Quest 8 site launched

[EddieA]

SquareEnix has launched a teaser site for Dragon Quest 8 here.  All it features now is the E3 trailer, though.  They've also launched a fansite - Slime Knights, where you can earn mini-medals toward getting exclusive movies and screenshots, and even actual DQ merchandise.  I even made my first bit of fanart to get some points - Here it is in all its MSPaint glory


It looks like SquareEnix is going all out with the marketing, including a mall tour, that is, alas, not coming anywhere near me.

[AgtFox]

Where's the list of malls?  I'm wondering if they are coming here or not.

[EddieA]

From the SlimeKnights page -

August:
FRI 12 - North Attleboro, MA - Emerald Square (3-9PM)
SAT 13 - Saugus, MA - Square One Mall (3-9PM)
SUN 14 - Nashua, NH - Pheasant Lane Mall (12-6PM)
FRI 19 - Garden City, NY - Roosevelt Field (1-7PM)
SAT 20 - Lake Grove, NY - Smith Haven Mall (3-9PM)
FRI 26 - Glen Allen, VA - Virginia Center Commons (3-9PM)
SUN 28 - Langhorne, PA - Oxford Valley Mall (12-6PM)

September:
SAT 03 - Charlotte, NC - South Park (3-9PM)
FRI 09 - Kennesaw, GA - Town Center at Cobb (3-9PM)
SAT 10 - Duluth, GA - Gwinnett Place (3-9PM)
FRI 16 - Indianapolis, IN - Lafayette Square (3-9PM)
SAT 17 - Indianapolis, IN - Castleton Square (1-7PM)
FRI 23 - Orland Park, IL - Orland Square (3-9PM)
SAT 24 - Calumet, IL - River Oaks Center (3-9PM)
FRI 30 - St. Paul, MN - Maplewood Mall (3-9PM)

October:
SUN 02 - Duluth, MN - Miller Hill Mall (12-6PM)
SAT 08 - Seattle, WA - Northgate Mall (3-9PM)
SUN 09 - Tacoma, WA - Tacoma Mall (1-7PM)
FRI 14 - Westminster, CA - Westminster Mall (3-9PM)
SAT 15 - Laguna Hills, CA - Laguna Hills Mall (1-7PM)
SUN 16 - Brea, CA - Brea Mall (12-6PM)
FRI 21 - McAllen, TX - La Plaza Mall (3-9PM)
SUN 23 - Cedar Park, TX - Lakeline Mall (12-6PM)

[AgtFox]

Thanks much...they'll be here on a Friday, although that mall is not the one I would figure they'd stop at.

[Tebunker]

Hah, I worked at the Glen Allen Va Mall. what a shithole.


Actually it was a nice mall until the undesirable element started showing up.


I will go though, and I am SO in on this game. I am hustling through VII just so I can feel good about myself. I still have to finish 3 from the GBC, I swear it was easier on the NES...

I love this series, and while FF had better moments, the DW series has allways created better, longer lasting memories.

[Knightshade Dragon]

No Phoenix?  Assy....

[Tebunker]

Hey Nintendo will be at that Mall on the same day with Nintendogs etc. Man what luck ! :p

[kathode]

That trailer is AWESOME, but dear god, that music has got to go.  It's like "RPG" by John Philip Sousa!   :lol:

[EddieA]

That's the main Dragon Quest theme, and has been for as long as I can recall.

[whiteboyskim]

From the SlimeKnights page -

October:
FRI 21 - McAllen, TX - La Plaza Mall (3-9PM)
SUN 23 - Cedar Park, TX - Lakeline Mall (12-6PM)

For the record, McAllen, TX, is on the border to Mexico relatively close to Harlingon. In other words, in the middle of Fucking Nowhere, USA. Why SquareEnix would pick that place out of anywhere else on earth is beyond me.

/shrug

Cedar Park is at least just north of Austin for whatever that's worth.

[Calvin]

Awesome. The closer the better!! And kathode, how can you not like the dragon quest theme music? Its always been the same and its classic!!

[EddieA]

Worthplaying has some new English screens here.

[Canuck]

Out of curiousity, what was Dragonquest have that FF doesn't?  I know that DQ>FF here in Japan but as I've never played a game I can't tell why.  Judging from the trailer the graphics seem pretty meh and the story failed to interest me whatsoever.  So what is it that makes it so popular exactly?

[Belgedin]

God I want this game so bad. Time to break out the PS2! My most anticipated PS2 game since the damned machine came out.

[AgtFox]

I can't say for sure why DQ is better than FF to the Japanese, but I can only guess it is because FF has gone more "style and flash" while DQ has stayed in the old-style RPG mechanics and is quite a bit longer than any FF game from a gameplay perspective.

I love both series, but FF of today consists a lot more of a cutscene:gameplay ratio versus DQ's gameplay:cutscene ratio.

[Qbe]

Out of curiousity, what was Dragonquest have that FF doesn't?

This is probably a religious question, so consider that when you read answers to it.

For me, Dragon Quest/Warrior feels more like playing a game while FF feels more like trying to figure out how to trigger cutscenes.  YMMV, of course.

There's an interesting article out there somewhere about the effect Dragon Quest has had on Japanese culture.  Very interesting.

[EddieA]

It's hard to explain the appeal of Dragon Quest.  The battles are pretty simplistic, as are the stories.  The first four games had only bare-bones characters.   The games are just fun to play, though.  I've been replaying the Gameboy remakes of the original games, and they're still fun to play today, despite their simplicity.

 As for DQ8, the main draw is the large, explorable world  - something that fewer and fewer modern RPGs have, although they seem to be making a comeback.  Also, the quest is long, and the graphics feature great cel-shading, similar to Dark Cloud 2 from the same developer.  Personally, I prefer the story-based FF games, but Dragon Quest was my first RPG and will always be special to me.