When comparing DRAGON QUEST VIII vs Shadowrun Returns, the Slant community recommends Shadowrun Returns for most people. In the question“What are the best Android games without in-app purchases/paywalls?” Shadowrun Returns is ranked 39th while DRAGON QUEST VIII is ranked 43rd. The most important reason people chose Shadowrun Returns is:
With a set amount of moves and action points it is fairly easy to understand how the battle system works. Everything is tun based and tactics are the main component to gameplay. Users must judge where they want to move, what attacks they want to use while taking into account the environment, if anything in it could shield them and then base all of these decisions off of their allotted action points.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Fine grained controls over leveling each character
Instead of a class system that is found in all of the previous Dragon Quest titles where players upgrade their player through beating monsters a certain amount of time, Dragon Quest VIII uses a skill system to level up the characters and learn new skills by placing skill points earned through battle into the available skill tree, this allows for a more fine grained approach of leveling a character up.
Pro One handed gameplay design
The game plays in portrait mode to cater to the hardcore Japanese gaming audience that enjoy being able to play with one hand while commuting.
Pro Really long game
Including side quest the game can easily last over 100 hours.
Pro Classic JRPG battle system
As one would expect of a JRPG there are random battles on the map that are strictly turn based.
Pro Intuitive battle system
With a set amount of moves and action points it is fairly easy to understand how the battle system works. Everything is tun based and tactics are the main component to gameplay. Users must judge where they want to move, what attacks they want to use while taking into account the environment, if anything in it could shield them and then base all of these decisions off of their allotted action points.
Pro Fleshed out interesting world
There has obviously been painstaking care taken in crafting the world and story of Shadowrun Returns. A noir cyberpunk story that sees the main character trying to solve a murder-mystery intertwined with a conspiracy. Throughout the game are characters who the main protagonist crosses paths with that have a tin of great dialogue written for them that is entertaining to read and also flesh out his cyberpunk world.
Cons
Con Removed content from North American PS2 release
Things like the original orchestrated music and voice acting that were in the original North American Playstation 2 release have been removed from the mobile version of the game. Most likely to save room.
Con Limited RPG paths
The story gets played out basically the same way on every play-through. Player choice only has moderate impact on the flow of the game.
Con Grammar errors
Needed a proofreader as their is tons of grammar errors which gives a rushed unfinished feeling.