have fun getting the gringham whip.

I didn't have the patience to get myself all the way up to 200,000 tokens, but I guess it would be worth it.

Jesus Christ, that was one long ending. Over 70 minutes from saving before the final battle to saving after the ending. Good thing I stayed home from work sick today and had plenty of time (really sick, not Superbowl hungover either!).

Guess it's time to start towards that second ending.

Getting a PS2 just to play this. What are the other Dragon Warrior games out for the PS1/2 that I've missed out on?

I am hooked on his game... And I do not even have it!!! I got the demo which only lets me play through the first village and cave areas. But I want this game so bad! Too bad it's still $45+.

So, anyone done with theres and want to trade me for it??? ; )

A couple posts back someone said it was going for $30. But it was $50 every where I checked. Anyone know who's got the best price?

Couple weeks back Best Buy had it for 34.99, and you could use the 10-off coupon to get it for 24.99 net.....Back up to regular price everywhere now, I think.

I'm sorry, I'm just not getting dragged into this one like everyone else is. I just went through the Swordsmans' Labyrinth or whatever it was called, and I don't have the 'gotta play' urge that I did for, say, Digital Devil Saga. I like the characters, I like the fact I can 'zoom' and 'evac' so I can save virtually anytime, the voice acting ranges from not-annoying to pretty cute, I like the enemy designs for the most part, I like the concept of the Alchemy Pot, though I'm not finding many recipes, I like the 'personality' of the game, and I like the somewhat-linear capability [I don't like total free form games where I have no idea were to go/what to do].

All that said, why am I not getting sucked in? I don't like the seemingly extremely high
encounter rate, I don't really like the skill point system, and I don't like the lack of variety/quantity of spells/skills. I think that last bit is a big part of it. Psyching up is a neat concept, but it only makes a difference in boss fights so far. I found myself succumbing and restarting FFX-2 the other night [though it's somewhat girly, I love the dressphere/skill learning system], and I got another game yesterday I might start. What am I missing?

Wow, I finally finished this tonight. Clocked in at a whopping 110 hours after all the sidequests and both endings. I think the only other RPG I've played that long was Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

Well, I thought this was just great, easily in my top 10 favorite RPGs. In sort of a strange way, it reminded me of Record of Lodoss War (the excellent Dreamcast RPG). Even though the battles and tone were completely different, it felt pretty similar in terms of pacing, dungeons, and sidequests. That one ended with a series of dragon battles, too, as I recall. Although the ROLW dragons were much, much more difficult... LOL, yeah, I just looked it up and each of those dragons had about 150,000,000 to 200,000,000 HP (yes, million) while you only had about 30,000 HP (if you leveled up a lot!). Definitely the hardest boss battles I've fought -- ever! Oh, and it says that the prize for beating the final dragon is a skill that lets you easily kill dragons. I forgot about that.

Anyway, ended at level 45 with complete Metal King and Dragovian armor sets... and decided to make some of the dragon fights a little easier with 2 timbrals of tension and 3 sage's stones. Just a fun little game, I liked it a lot.

I'm still slowly working my way through this game... just got to the bazaar after the escort mission. Even with the temptation of Shadow Hearts 3 and Tales of Legendia sitting right next to my console, I've managed to focus my rpg efforts solely on this game... a testament to how good it really is.

On a side note, if you liked the Dreamcast Record of Lodoss Wars, I suggest trying Shining Force Neo, for the PS2. I think it shares developers with the Lodoss Wars games, and certainly plays very similar to it. Probably not worth a full 40 bucks at this point, but keep an eye out for it used or as a rental.

Shining Force Neo looks a lot like Shining Tears, which looks like the Shining Soul series, which I ignored when it came out because it wasn't a tactical-RPG. I don't have anything against action-RPGs, but I hate to encourage Sega to continue moving the Shining franchise farther and farther from its roots with these types of games. It doesn't seem to be working, though... the next game in the series (Shining Wind) looks like a sequel to Shining Tears.

Can they just release a complete version of Shining Force III for PS2? I would buy that in a heartbeat.

But thanks for the suggestion. I think I'm suffering from Dragon Quest VIII withdrawal.

The first Shining game, Shining in the Darkness, was a turn based RPG, and Shining Force moved radically away from that to a tactical RPG. I recently picked up a GBA copy of Shining Force, and I still enjoy it, though the tactical genre has moved way beyond it. Maybe they feel like they can't compete with Nintendo's Fire Emblem, Squares Tactics games or the Nippon Ichi games? Speaking of which, Disgaea 2 is coming out soon.

Just recommended Shining Force Neo as similar to Record of Lodoss Wars...

Anyway, got to play a bit more of DQ VIII, past the major event that happens after the Tower of Rhydon. Unfortunately, the cutscene after the major plot point took too long... my wife was waiting for me in the car, and I couldn't sit through it, so I have to beat the last boss again. I am glad that I didn't read any spoilers, and that the guidebook, while incomplete, doesn't spoil the major happenings.

As stated above, the first Shining game was not a tactical RPG. In fact there have been several games in the series that have had varying play mechanics: Shining in the Darkness, Shining Wisdom, Shining the Holy Ark, Shining Soul, Shining Tears. Neither Shining Force or being a tactical RPG were the series' roots.. so your big "principal" for ignoring the new games was in error. Though, I guess there could be some merit in that argument for them making a Shining FORCE game into an action-RPG.. but since you mentioned Soul and Tears I had to stand up for them, they're both excellent.

It's an opinion, Pixy. I didn't insult your mother, so no need to get condescending.

Pulling out Shining in the Darkness is pretty much irrelevant, as the roots of the series are in tactical RPGs. It's like saying the Mario Bros. games aren't about platforming through various worlds and fighting Bowser because Mario Bros. is a Joust-type game, or that you can't typify the Friday the 13th franchise as about a zombie in a hockey mask because Mrs. Voorhees was the killer in the first one. Ask nearly any gamer what the Shining series is, and they'll say it's a tactics series.

If you look at the list of games:

6 were tactical RPGs (all pre-2003; not counting Shining Force CD or the additional Shining Force III scenario discs released in Japan)
4 were action RPGs (all post-2003)
2 were dungeon crawlers
1 was an action-adventure

The popularity of Darkness, Holy Ark, and Wisdom pales in comparison to the Shining Force series.

There is a very clear line after Shining Force III where Sega stopped doing tactical RPGs and started doing action RPGs, and that's what I'm referring to.

I recently finished this game up for the 2nd time, to get the alternate ending. This is the first RPG that I've really enjoyed in a really long time. Just when I think I'm done exploring the game, I find something else to do. I think I have about 74+ hours logged in right now. I will probably play this game on and off for a while to level up, so that I can finish up the "trials".

I just borrowed a copy from my boss. Clearly I won't be able to play all of it with Kingdom Hearts II coming out soon, but it will give me a taste for it.

I finally finished this game last night. I beat the post-game stuff and went back for the alternate ending. I clocked in just under 100 hours.

I really enjoyed this game the whole time. Simply amazing.

Now I can finally start playing Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time since I don't like to play 2 RPG's at once.

FINALLY...got back into this game after over a month it seems. Had no time for video games but a new shift at work now should free up a lot of space. How am I doing anyways, here is my status. Wondering how far I am in the game and how my time and levels are



I have 29 hours logged and my leves are:

Hero 27
Yangus 26
Jessica 24
Angelo 24

I am having a tough time with the alchemy pot on making up my own recepies, nothing I try seems to work. I do have quite a few recipies that I found though, just don't have the necessary ingredients.

Man, you've much higher levels than I did at that point and I would imagine a couple hours longer. I ended up with about 75-80 hours after completing both endings. I'd say you're about 1/3 of the way.

My total time played is now going to be horribly skewed because of Baccarat's casino. I spent an hour there yesterday on the 100 coin slots... started off with 27,000, almost went to 0 at one point, but with only 6k left, I hit the triple 7s.

Thanks Pinata. I really enjoy this game and I enjoy the battles which are a rarity in some rpgs. I think the main reason I am at those levels is because I love to explore. I don't use walkthroughs and this game is HUGE. I find myself wandering around a lot just exploring, looking for treasure chests and enjoying the scenery when I am on top of a mountain or cliff

Finally beat DQ8 today. I've had it ever since it came out.

My final playtime was 67:12. My levels were:
Hero - 37
Yangus - 37
Jessica - 35
Angelo - 37

Now I need to go back and do the extra stuff.

For anybody still on the fence, speedy is saying this will be $9.99 at Circuit City the week of 5/28 - 6/3.

Unbeleivable its that affordable, the game is just unbeleivably amazing and anyone who owns a PS2 should check it out, although a warning that its a time killer should be on the package! I played it for 40+ hours too! It just kept on getting better.

This probably was the best game I played last year for any system. At that price there's no reason for any RPG fan to not have it.

That game will finally be mine this week, I have my new PStwo and I have been waiting for a sale to pick this title up.

May want to try to pick a copy up somewhere with a PM policy this week, just in case it sells out when on sale.