Dragon Quest VIII vs. Final Fantasy XII

[Bolivar]

edit: ignore the repetitions of "both!" at the top...but by all means vote for it...


These flagship RPG titles have been out for a little bit now, and as the latest representatives of (arguably) the top 2 series in the genre, which do you feel is best?

I don't know if this sounds weird, but having not even complted DQVIII, I have to say I prefer it much more than FFXII. Even worse, I've completed every FF, yet this is the only DQ I've played, so as a much bigger fan of the former, it is a little surprising. What's more, I was the biggest hater of cell shaded games, but I feel it was utilized in VIII to create a truly wonderful atmosphere. To put it short, although XII is one of my favorite games in a long time, I feel it moved too much away from what Final Fantasy and RPGs are supposed to be all about. With Dragon Quest, I believe I got what i paid for and then some, with about 70-80 hours clocked in, I'm only about 1/3-1/2 through the story, whereas with 60 hours I've already beaten XII and nearly all of the mark hunts. It's been over a year since I played DQVIII, I think I have to get back to it.

So, for people who have played both, which one do you feel is better, as an RPG, as a game, or both? And also, do you feel this says something about the way the games in the genre should be designed - being that XII took so many risks while VIII seemed to be a strong cling to tradition? Especially considering that that's maybe the underlying theme of both series?

[Captain Maxx Power]

I really wish I could formulate a thorough opinion for DQ8, but I get burning headaches if I play for more than half an hour. As for FF12, I've clocked in a HUGE amount of hours (still not touching my 120 in FF10, but nearing it with 108), but really I've come to the conclusion that a lot of the time I wasn't actually having fun. It was more going through the motions to "see what I can defeat" sort of thing. Don't even get me started on loot hunting for the Tournesol. A reasonable idea horribly executed if you ask me. Plus I find the design aim for the game extremely underhanded as the designers purposefully set out to make the game so confusing that people would either be forced to ask for help online or to buy the official strategy guide. To me that's nothing short of a kick in the balls to your average game player who expects a game to be suitably designed to provide a challenge that's completable, rather than a near-impossible task that requires outside assistance. For that matter, the characters didn't really develop all that much to my eyes. Just what the hell was the point of Penelo? I mean really, apart from the fact she just happened to start tagging along? She gets no development, no major scenes, no interesting dialogue. She's like the ultimate placeholder character.

So yeah, in short I'm not a massive fan of FF12.

[Nifleheim7]

I like both games.
FFXII has it's issues but it still is a great game.
DQVIII was the first DQ title i ever played and i was pleasantly surprised!It was also my first Level5 game i ever played and made me want to buy all their other games as well!
It's like trying to compare a Lamborghini with a Ferrari...

[Slothy]

FFXII is innovative and new. DQVIII is damn near the perfection of the traditional end of the Japanese RPG genre. I'll go with FFXII if only because I loved everything about it more, though the lack of Yangus is regrettable. Then again, Balthier is ten times the character any of the cast of DQVIII are so it's forgiveable.

Also, I don't know how you can only be 1/3 - 1/2 way through with that many hours on the clock. I've yet to find the time or the desire to beat DQVIII, but I'm at least half way through with far less than half that time on the clock. If most of that is side quests then I was unaware there's that much to do so early in the game. The whole thing seemed quite linear to me up until the point I'm at.

[Bolivar]

FFXII is innovative and new. DQVIII is damn near the perfection of the traditional end of the Japanese RPG genre. I'll go with FFXII if only because I loved everything about it more, though the lack of Yangus is regrettable. Then again, Balthier is ten times the character any of the cast of DQVIII are so it's forgiveable.

Also, I don't know how you can only be 1/3 - 1/2 way through with that many hours on the clock. I've yet to find the time or the desire to beat DQVIII, but I'm at least half way through with far less than half that time on the clock. If most of that is side quests then I was unaware there's that much to do so early in the game. The whole thing seemed quite linear to me up until the point I'm at.

a friend of mine told me that's about where i was at. but i found there were alot of things to do aside from the main quest, with the item combination and always looking for new places i haven't uncovered yet. I think I am going to pick this game back up.

[crazybayman]

DQ8
Turn Based > Action-RPG

Although DQ8 required more level grinding than FF12, I still prefered this game. Great story, awesome idea with the alchemy pot.

And yes, I felt too that FF12 could have developed its characters better.

In general, I prefer the FF series, however in this comparison DQ8 gets my vote.

[Bolivar]

Thanks for saving my thread from oblivion. Are there really that many people who haven't played DQVIII, or does this forum just not see alot of traffic?

[Slothy]

Thanks for saving my thread from oblivion. Are there really that many people who haven't played DQVIII, or does this forum just not see alot of traffic?

I think it might be the lack of traffic. I thought DQVIII did pretty well.

[Sailor Princess]

i have boith and like both of them. fran and jessica are sexy. dotn like penelo, she is so boring and i want to smack her!

[Vivisteiner]

I enjoyed Dragon Quest. I loved FFXII.

Therefore, IMO FFXII > DQVIII

[LunarWeaver]

I enjoyed them both immensely, but I liked XII just a smidge better. I enjoyed it trying something new, while Dragon Quest has been doing the same exact thing with a prettier face for far too long. It's just that VIII did that same thing with final perfection. But play any previous Dragon Quest game and you will feel like you're playing VIII all over again with barely any tweaks. The same cannot be said about XII with previous Final Fantasy titles.

Also, it's true the characters in XII are undeveloped, but it's not like DQVIII's characters went through tons themselves. The cheeky fat guy, the charming sexist, and the bombshell hot chick have been done so many times before, even in that exact series, that it didn't exactly blow me away. Characters like Balthier, Fran, and Ashe at least had some interesting aspects going for them. I'm not saying they are brand new either, but not as old-timer as VIII's. Both games need to learn how to beef up the characters a bit.

Anyway, one was all about doing something new and one was all about being the culmination of the RPG formula. They both did it well.

[Darth Tjador]

i picked both cuz there both ok!!!

[abrojtm]

You know, I was so bored of the mindless leveling of DQVIII at the end of the game fighting Metal King Slimes or whatever I was fighting to give me "good" exp, that I actually didn't finish the game.
FFXII, on the other hand I've spent like 160hrs on through two playthroughs.

[Bolivar]

I finally beat DQVIII. 130 hours... i mean DAMN....

My first FFXII file has about 104 hours but a good chunk of that is mark hunting, which I found more tedious than the level grinding at the end of DQVIII, although I wasn't really grinding, I was gaining EXP while waiting for my alchemy recipes to finish. XII I had to do a considerable amount of gil grinding to get the equipment as I went along, although that's probably not necessary to finish the scenarios.

Music-wise DQ was breathtaking up to the end, whereas I got pretty bored with XII's music about the time I got to Raithwall's tomb (hell, maybe even Barheim).

I've always considered the 2 most important aspects of RPGs to be story & gameplay. Story I think I would have to say they're about even, XII is a great story from the ivalice world, it's huge and it's very well done. like most have already said, DQVIII is the traditional RPG perfected, and I think it did an amazing job with that.

But gameplay is where FFXII just smashes DQVIII. I have to say I continually kept getting better with gambits both times I played XII, always trying out new things, and probably still will next time I play it. I developed my characters completely different my second time, whereas I'd imagine maintaining pretty much the similar strategy for DQ. Although it has a really good development system, it's not great.

But I still give the slight nod to Dragon Quest. Apart from its great scenario, almost the only other thing to do is Mark Hunting, which is basically the same exact concept repeated over and over an excessive amount of times. Each hunt gives you a little more info on Ivalice but to me they could have spent that time doing something else which would have made the game better. Dragon Quest has so much to explore and it's world design is beyond words, whereas Final Fantasy was very limited.

While they both live up well to the standards of what is already considered the 2 best series in RPGs, I think Dragon Quest VIII is a more complete and better RPG.

[Vivisteiner]

Actually, now that you've made me think about it, FFXII beats DQVIII in terms of story (although maybe not character development) and gameplay.

Music in both is pretty good. Maybe Id slightly favour DQVIII. The visuals in DQVIII are amazing. But overall, because of the plot and gameplay I prefer FFXII.