RPG that lives up to the hype.
The premise is simple: someone steals a sacred staff, places a curse on your kingdom (well, your king's kingdom) then, as the sole knight unaffected by the curse, you must set out to find this evil-doer. But there's definitely more to the plot as you progress in the game.
All the characters are colorful and very unique, although the artwork and even a few aspects of the game will be familiar to Dragonball Z fans. The environments are well done and cover quite a lot of ground, especially noticeable in the beginning, when all travel is done on foot. But no worries, there are plenty of ways to get around in this game...
The majority of battles are random and fairly straight-forward - run around, get the usual monster contact music and fade-out, then the fight is on. The battle options are also pretty straight-forward according to nowadays' standards, except Intimidate is a new one to me. If you're a high enough level than a certain monster(s), you can literally scare them away. Now you won't get any experience for it but it's a nice way to save time, items & magic when travelling in previously "conquered" areas.
As for the monsters, you'll see a lot of recycled ones. As they get harder, many monsters are simply be renamed & recolored. But there is enough of a variety to keep it from getting boring. And the boss beasts will definitely keep you on your toes.
With any RPG, it's all about the best items & gear. You can find them in random chests throughout the game, you can earn them in the various side-quests, and in DQ8, you can MAKE some. Early on, you'll aquire an alchemy pot in which you can mix certain lesser items to create some really good items. And lucky for you, it isn't all about experimentation. You can read many books & talk to many NPCs to find recipes.
Also crucial in any good RPG are side quests; missions not vital to the storyline but definitely worth completing for the stuff you earn. And these side quests offer a very satisfying experience, one even offers more gameplay AFTER beating the game, which is when it becomes available. Just something else to look forward to.
All in all, a solid and satisfying role-playing experience. I honestly couldn't think of anything they should've added or changed - the developers spent just the right amount of time creating this masterpiece.