Dragon Quest VIII Smartphone / PS2 Comparison

Posted 19:20 EST on 20DEC2013 by: indie navi news staff in previews » dragon quest 8 for smartphones

Japanese games news and media outlet 4Gamer.net has released a brief but informative comparison of the smartphone and PlayStation 2 versions of Square Enix’s Dragon Quest VIII.

The comparison first focuses on the differences in the control scheme, as this is the largest departure from the original PlayStation 2 version of the game. Different from the “virtual game pad” that is the de facto norm, particularly among ports, DQVIII offers a simple virtual control stick, similar in function to the analogue stick standard to modern game pads. The user places his thumb over the pad, then slides his thumb in the direction he’d like for his avatar to head. Moving the thumb slightly away from the virtual stick causes the avatar to walk then trot, while sliding further away causes the avatar to break into a dash. For simplicity, there is an on-screen representation of the eight degrees of movement surrounding the virtual stick in a compass formation.

In towns and dungeons, players need only approach characters or interactive items to summon a “talk” or “!” icon. Rather than a button press, the user clicks this icon to talk or to interact with the on-screen element of interest. Clicking the onscreen “auto” icon causes the avatar to advance in a sprint in the direction he was facing. This also brings up a ribbon at the bottom of the screen with left and right icons to adjust the avatar’s trajectory. In this way, large swaths of the world map or large dungeons can be traveled without need to hold down the virtual control stick. (The “auto” icon can be moved to the left or right of the screen, though no further customization is possible, different from the smartphone release of Dragon Quest I.) Also, a “Zoom” spell icon is available directly from the play screen, so users can activate this frequently-used spell to travel between visited locations without navigating menus.

The camera is controlled using swiping motions anywhere on the screen where there is not an icon or interactive game element. Like Dragon Quest I for smartphones, DQVIII can only be played in vertical screen mode. To compensate, the camera is pulled back to reveal more of the avatar’s surroundings.

Oddly, despite this being a release for mobile platforms, the save system has not been significantly altered from the PlayStation 2 version. There are still three save slots, and one “in progress” save slot. Saves to one of the three slots can be made at save points within towns, churches, etc. Players can also save to the “in progress” slot from anywhere on the world map. Players still may not save during battles or from within dungeons or towns, unless at a designated save point.

One addition, though, is an auto save feature which is triggered following battles or when moving into a new area of the world map. The auto save is wiped immediately once activated.

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A few changes the author of the article notes:

• The “brewing time” for the alchemy pot has been done away with, and it’s now possible to create multiples of the same item in one go.
• Skill points can be saved up and distributed from the appropriate menu, rather than just at level up.
• There is no need for a dungeon map, as the dungeon’s layout is displayed in the upper-right corner of the screen, even when entering a dungeon for the first time.

In summary, the author of the comparison indicates that once the player has grown accustomed to the controls, they work quite seamlessly, and that his largest impression was of how similar the title remains to its original version. For fans of the original PS2 version looking to play through a gaming favorite once again, or for those who never had the opportunity to try out the PS2 version, Dragon Quest VIII for smartphones sounds like a safe bet.

News and image source: 4Gamer.net