Excellent way to revisit a classic - Lacks Updates – DRAGON QUEST VIII Review

2017 Edit: The game is still a great game, however cloud save functionality has been broken for months and the game hasn't seen any updates in over a year now to make it more compatible with new OS and devices. Still playable, still enjoyable, but performance is lower even on newer devices, and cloud features being down is a drag. I bought and loved DQ8 when it came out, and now almost 9 years later I'm able to revisit this beautiful RPG. The transition to iOS was not without sacrifices, but as much as an orchestral soundtrack or voice overs would be nice, I find it wasn't that bad to give them up to have this game in the palm of my hand. And probably 80% of the time or more I'm playing with the sound off anyway. Portrait mode took all of ten minutes to get used to, and now I'm rather happy for it. It's impressive how much of the game you can still see. The visual integrity of the game is actually made better by the one handed play style as everything my thumb needs to do is below the action and out of the way. I can enjoy the wonderful visuals the entire time in a way that two thumbs in landscape mode might take away from. As for crashes I've played the game about two hours on an iPad 2 and 3 hours on an iPhone 5 and have yet to experience a crash. I usually have all of my background apps closed when I play, so that may be the reason. I do still switch to text messages mid-game but never have issues switching back. All the wonderful gameplay of DQ8 has made it over, and I really feel like I have a very complete package well suited for my mobile collection. I highly recommend that anyone interested in this game pick it up. I believe you'll find many of the gripes of other reviews overblown. Just remember to make sure your device is compatible, and to close those background apps!
Review by B.Watts on DRAGON QUEST VIII.