The wonderful ingredient that makes Bitmob engaging is the various community views; and it wasn’t that long ago when my enquiry about Japanese RPG’s was answered. Jason was kind enough to make a recommendation and Dragon Quest Viii was promptly searched for and bought.

Though Jason did warn me about the grinding aspect of the game, I found myself mentally prepared for the experience and whole heatedly plunged into the experience. What I hadn’t planned for was the reality that I would have to do it all over again because my data would be lost after having to replace my Ps3.

I have no doubt that many of the community members at Bitmob know of or have directly experienced the DQ world.

I must say - there is a lot to love about Dragon Quest Viii

I love the design, although the Japanese style inverted camera controls and First Person View is one step beyond my mental capacity. I love the animation and Akira Toriyama’s artistic style leaves a lasting impression!

The main character is a silent hero that looks half pirate boy/half gypsy. You’re accompanied by Yangus, a loveable rogue and thug (though I never got far enough to discover his story and how he joined) and, as in my experience of Final Fantasy 7, meet other comrades along your journey (Jessica the sorceress and Angelo a knight). The creatures are amazingly different and distinct.

though some of them remind me of creatures from the Star Wars universe

Each character has their own unique skills and weapon attributes which you can spend points on after you level up. Once you have invested in “x” amount of points, the skill will finally reach a stage where it provides you with an ability. If you invested in a weapon skill, you will have different options of attack.

I grew extremely attached to my character and the party. The grinding to level up seemed a necessary evil, though one that didn’t seem bitter in the first run.

However, now that I am faced with having to commence the journey again, I have found myself reluctantly shying away from game. You see, despite the amazing style and lovable creatures, the process of levelling your character does leave me short of breath.

Whilst grinding is not new to me, I’ve realised the Japanese game designers make no effort in masking the requirement. You see, I am both equally fond of DQ8 and of FF7. My appreciation of these titles are very different to my memories of Baldurs Gate and Neverwinter Nights. All these games are, to me, engaging RPG games.

What I am not fond about in Japanese RPG's are the hours spent running in the open world triggering off random encounters to gain XP . What I do remember is the excitement of readying the new equipment you purchase as you move from one stage of the game to the next.

What I’ve realised is that the experience of leveling up in Western RPG’s is seemingly less obvious in the game design. In Fallout 3, I do a lot of wandering around and to-and-thro between cities.

However, many of the encounters are scripted into specific areas. You level up by completing the missions which means the grinding has more structure and becomes part of the story line. The story and the missions lead you to places where the challenge is right, and when they are not, you complete side missions to acquire more experience and better weapons so that you can further the story.

With Borderlands, each mission has a difficulty indicator depending on your level and your weapon. And what I found was that the western developers have created enough side-missions to make your experience of returning to the same area or preparing for that uber boss fight less laborious.

With Japanese RPG’s, it seems to be only one story line and the side missions seem more like mini games rather than mini missions. My enjoyment of Jrpg’s isn’t so much about looting and finding purpose to kill, but rather the satisfaction one gains after reaching a level that makes you “kick-ass” in the battlefield.

In DQ8, I knew I could safely make the move to the next area when I found myself killing my enemies with one foul swoop. Often this means I had acquired enough money to upgrade my weapons and armour for my party and was high enough level to take the hits and deal the damage.

Though my DQ8 experience was short lived (and definitely one I will revisit at a later stage) I certainly felt familiar with the game. What I also found different was the artistic style of Jrpg’s and Wrpg’s.

have you thought about playing as Aragon? You sure could pass as him.

It seems Western RPG’s tend to stick to a more realistic and recognisable fantasy world, whilst Japanese developers seem to have the creative license to mix and merge different historical pieces. 

DQ8 has a European/medieval feel though it wasn’t like BioWares Dragon Age world. It seems Western RPG’s draw upon a common vision of Lord of the Rings, dragons, elves and dwarves or post apocalyptic worlds where the populous are either zombies or neo-punk.

I wish I knew the ways of the force.

The Japanese seem to re-invent and re-construct this world. You can have a hero that wields a spear or sword as well as a boomarang! Now that is pretty cool but historically inaccurate. The King that accompanies you is like a goblin/troll, but not really either. 

German Barmaid -------Jessica from DQ8----------Tudor women

Jessica is a busty European wench, but her costume is neither English Tudor nor French Renaissance however still remains distinctively European. She could also pass as a buxom German barmaid who works in a beer tavern during the Oktoberfest in Munich!

And it’s this artistic liberty that I think sets Japanese RPG’s apart from their Western cousin. There is something extremely refreshing and creative about how Japanese developers construct a world and I think it would be hard for any Western developer to over take Japanese developers in that liberal and creative aspect.