When comparing DRAGON QUEST VIII vs Ys Chronicles 1, the Slant community recommends DRAGON QUEST VIII for most people. In the question“What are the best Android games without in-app purchases/paywalls?” DRAGON QUEST VIII is ranked 43rd while Ys Chronicles 1 is ranked 56th. The most important reason people chose DRAGON QUEST VIII is:
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.
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 Simple directional controls that are easy to understand and work great on touch screens
There are actually no buttons on screen, and the whole game is controlled with a floating Dpad. Interaction with NPCs is down by just bumping into them, same with fighting monsters. This type of control method may appeal to those who find more complicated controls with many buttons complicated.
Pro Classic action RPG gameplay that still holds up to current day games
While an older game, the gameplay itself still holds up pretty well. In classic action RPG fashion, the player sets out on an adventure where they must battle enemies in real time. Similar in style to games such as Zelda or Secret of Mana, Y's is one of the original Japanese action RPGs with great gameplay and polish.
Pro Mobile friendly save system where you save when you want
The save system is pretty forgiving, fitting well with a mobile on the go style of gaming as you can save at anytime you like as well as rely on saves every so often from the game itself.
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 Translation is full of errors
The translation of the game is chock full of errors, making for sometimes difficult to read text and hard to follow story.