It's one of the download tablets, but it seems that the Japanese mobile version list of tablets contains a lot of the stuff which has been offered only for limited time on the 3DS (there are 55 tablets in total on mobile).
The one I mentioned was the one with the jailcat on the icon (I don't remember the tablet's name).
It's one of the download tablets, but it seems that the Japanese mobile version list of tablets contains a lot of the stuff which has been offered only for limited time on the 3DS (there are 55 tablets in total on mobile).
The one I mentioned was the one with the jailcat on the icon (I don't remember the tablet's name).
Cool, I think I have the DLC tablet with the jailcat, thanks.
Edit: I'm finally close to the point where I'm about to unlock Monty and the ability to receive user created tablets over Streetpass, anyone here have much experience creating and receiving user tablets and if so have you enjoyed it overall? Playing user created dungeons was one feature that most excited me about the game, it's ridiculous how long it takes to unlock the feature though.
Edit: Ok, so apparently I have to clear the boss on Nottagen next and then I should have full access to the meadows and receiving user tablets according to a FAQ I'm reading?
I recently went back to this after a number of months away from it (just got bored/distracted), and finally got to the point in the game that gave me SO much trouble on the PS1 back around 2010 against (boss name)
Gracos
. Having spent more time building up my job classes, this time it was almost too easy. Some of the abilities I have for Ruff right now (hit everyone for 120+ damage, no MP cost) seem unfairly OP, but I guess it's giving me a better opportunity to enjoy the actual stories and dialogue of each vignette instead of feeling like I'm going to get destroyed during my next regular random battle.
Quick update... just finished Providence in the past. Forgot how many back-and-forths there are in that story, but it was good. I have to say again that the QoL changes they made in this game are so helpful. If not for being able to get the hints about what to do next in the Shrine of Mysteries, being away from the game for lengths at a time would be more painful. It's so nice to be able to get right back on track without having to scour the entire overworld.
I just finished the main story today, clocked in at 73 hours. What a great, great game. I don't remember the last time I actually managed to finish a JRPG as I find myself quickly losing interest on games I purchase. I remember at first I wasn't really feeling it, as it felt I mostly used the attack command and I wasn't accustomed to such a narrative structure (small vignettes story instead of the usual final fantasy epic, I never knew DQ growing up but I was a big FF fan). I kept waiting for the game to really start or pick up gears before I even realized that it was more episodic. I'd say I really started to like the game once I got vocations and start messing up with the vocation system, especially monster vocations (blue mage is my favorite in FF). I took big breaks months at a time but because of the episodic nature, the helpful party chat, the next fragment hint and the "story so far'" feature I found myself quickly getting back into the meat and potatoes of the game unlike most JRPGs I take a break from (I just can't remember what to do if I take a big break from them). By the end you really get the feeling you just experienced a grand adventure, and I think that's what DQ strives for. I find that Final Fantasy doesn't cater to my interests anymore and Dragon Quest is quickly becoming my favorite JRPG franchise. Looking into trying out the post game content now.
Some negatives I will say about this game is how unbalanced most abilities are. By that I mean the vast majority are useless, monsters die to quickly for status effects with such a high fail rate to be useful, there's a lot of quirky moves that are funny but just suck. I legit could not find a single scenario where body slam was good at. Also muster strength oomph sap knuckle sandwich very OP, the last boss was a pushover with that combo. Finally I would have liked the dead-end tier 2 vocations like monster masher and pirate to get a tier 3 vocation, they felt like, well, dead-end.
I'm also near the end of the game. I did enjoy it well enough, but the most annoying thing about the game to me was having to re-do dungeons two and sometimes three or more times. It got boring and tiresome to have to slog through the same places multiple times.
Now that I have time for this game again, I managed to reach the Roamers island vignette. So far my favorite one is the automaton island, mostly because of the dungeon boss and the rather bittersweet story with Autonymus.
The dungeon boss of Greenthumb Gardens was the first one I actually had a hard time beating, due to him spamming a scorching attack twice in a row.
I still feel like I'm missing something from Greenthumb Gardens / Wilted Heart in the present. I spent a good couple of hours talking and re-talking to everyone and sleeping in the mountain church, but no event was triggered. I thought there was something more in the story regarding the two graves and Carraway / Lavender. Last I checked in the past, Carraway fled from the town and that was it. Maybe I'm imagining things...?
I still feel like I'm missing something from Greenthumb Gardens / Wilted Heart in the present. I spent a good couple of hours talking and re-talking to everyone and sleeping in the mountain church, but no event was triggered. I thought there was something more in the story regarding the two graves and Carraway / Lavender. Last I checked in the past, Carraway fled from the town and that was it. Maybe I'm imagining things...?
I still feel like I'm missing something from Greenthumb Gardens / Wilted Heart in the present. I spent a good couple of hours talking and re-talking to everyone and sleeping in the mountain church, but no event was triggered. I thought there was something more in the story regarding the two graves and Carraway / Lavender. Last I checked in the past, Carraway fled from the town and that was it. Maybe I'm imagining things...?
I'm actually 63 hours in and past the vocation system. The game hasn't really picked up much at all. Not entirely sure why I keep going except the pull to beat it after so many hours.
. I really like this vignette as well, it is a big departure from the usual formula (find troubled town, go to dungeon, beat boss, town is saved) and for once the new characters are original models and not the same rehashed ones. Finding
Lala and Kiefer's grave
in the present is another bittersweet moment.
I also found the 5th Haven resident and got an Axassin tablet, whose boss was tougher than expected; did about 50 damage to a character, and so far only Hero has HP above 100.
A note, people already picked up on it but the single phial item has a wrong description. It says it restores HP, but when I used it it restored my MP instead.
Play 6, it's better paced and has the same job system (with a few less jobs), so you get very similar gameplay without the 100+ hour time commitment. If you love it, you'll know whether you wanna invest in 7.
I feel like DQVII is best looked at as a collection of short stories. In that way it's actually easier to digest than most other long RPGs imo. The 3DS remake also has a handy recap feature where after taking an extended break you can remind yourself of the story so far.
Finally got around to the job system, after spending way too much time in the casino and then in the story leading up to retaking Alltrades Abbey. I was worried about the second fight with Rasher and Stripes since many here seemed to have trouble with it, but it ended up being a cinch at levels 16 / 16 / 15 for Hero / Maribel / Ruff. Having the best defensive equipment from the casino rewards surely helped though. Cardinal Sin went down pretty easily too, about a level later for all characters.
I had a harder time fighting off the
surprise 4 bandits attack in the present
. So many status effects - confused, dazzled and poisoned - and I turned Maribel to a Mage so her HP was very low, making her susceptible to dying quickly. Anyway with that done I'm on my way to La Bravoure now.
Edit: And my party fucking died to a well wisher. Thankfully I had quicksaved right out of the bandit's cave.
Game took me a few weeks to beat at 77 hours I believe, it's not as bad as people have said. I can see how people have spent 100s of hours in it but if you don't spend too much time job/level grinding and only worry about key story parts it's very easily managed.
I loved this game, as the first DQ game I've played completely through it was a fantastic ride. Gave me major Chrono Trigger vibes(not just the Toriyama art but the story/setting too) and had me majorly invested in the characters and story which is usually the hardest part of games for me to get into.
Play 6, it's better paced and has the same job system (with a few less jobs), so you get very similar gameplay without the 100+ hour time commitment. If you love it, you'll know whether you wanna invest in 7.
I feel like DQVII is best looked at as a collection of short stories. In that way it's actually easier to digest than most other long RPGs imo. The 3DS remake also has a handy recap feature where after taking an extended break you can remind yourself of the story so far.
Game took me a few weeks to beat at 77 hours I believe, it's not as bad as people have said. I can see how people have spent 100s of hours in it but if you don't spend too much time job/level grinding and only worry about key story parts it's very easily managed.
I loved this game, as the first DQ game I've played completely through it was a fantastic ride. Gave me major Chrono Trigger vibes(not just the Toriyama art but the story/setting too) and had me majorly invested in the characters and story which is usually the hardest part of games for me to get into.
Closing in on 35 hours now, finished with Grondal (Past) and Al-Balad.
Al-Balad was nice but at some point it was unclear what I had to do and I didn't realize I needed to return to the present then go back to the past. I'm pretty sure I caused a time loop by resurrecting the river dragon using his skull from the future. The dungeon was also cool but in the end I got pissed off at the encounter rate and started fleeing from all the Vile Vials. Setesh's attack did 80 HP damage :/ - my Mage Maribel never stood a chance at 76 HP total lol.
Grondal felt comparatively much shorter but it was a smaller island anyway. The brainwashed villagers were decently creepy and I finally fought and killed a metal slime, 30+ hours into a Dragon Quest game.
Edit: I still have no idea how putting all those "is being" and "is having" (present continuous) in their dialogue (instead of talking like a normal person) is supposed to be a 'German' thing.
I had just changed Maribel's vocation, so she lost the ability to multi heal. And because I couldn't beat Gracos V without it, I decided to go back to him later and progress the story as far as I could first. Well, now Maribel left my party and I have to beat him with only three party members and without my best healer. There is also nothing else I can do at the moment besides grinding, which I hate. Fuck -.-
I had just changed Maribel's vocation, so she lost the ability to multi heal. And because I couldn't beat Gracos V without it, I decided to go back to him later and progress the story as far as I could first. Well, now Maribel left my party and I have to beat him with only three party members and without my best healer. There is also nothing else I can do at the moment besides grinding, which I hate. Fuck -.-
Wait, really? But I have already beaten all islands I had access to and the "next fragment" clue is only talking about the fragments I get from him and King Maximo (for which I don't have enough mini medals yet). Or do I have to visit the past to check specifically if I've missed anything there? Anyway, it's a relief I don't have to beat Gracos V with only three people and no good healer.
I still have to pick up 8 and finish Builders. Loved Builders, but got distracted by 2016 holiday celebrations/travels that I never got back into. I need to. Great game.
Wait, really? But I have already beaten all islands I had access to and the "next fragment" clue is only talking about the fragments I get from him and King Maximo (for which I don't have enough mini medals yet). Or do I have to visit the past to check specifically if I've missed anything there? Anyway, it's a relief I don't have to beat Gracos V with only three people and no good healer.
Wait, really? But I have already beaten all islands I had access to and the "next fragment" clue is only talking about the fragments I get from him and King Maximo (for which I don't have enough mini medals yet). Or do I have to visit the past to check specifically if I've missed anything there? Anyway, it's a relief I don't have to beat Gracos V with only three people and no good healer.
If you need a healer, grinding through the Healslime monster class (you may have the heart in your inventory already) is worth it IMO as it gives Multiheal. And monster classes carry over their abilities to all classes so you can have a strong heal all the time. I personally gave it to my Hero because I knew he would be in the group at all times and he served me well as an offhealer through the entire game.
I tamed a Metal Slime. Apparently this is rare so yay. Still not close enough to unlocking the monster meadow island in the present.
I finished Wetlock in the past and got the flying carpet / new 4th party member that's been missing for a while now. Flying carpet music is one of my favorite flying themes, no joke.
I'll have to get back to the job grinding game with the new member, so a few hours will fly by spamming the Sticky Business tablet.
07/20 Edit: Done with Nottagen now. Made a 2nd save file just to see what would happen if I chose 'Yes' in helping the mob and ... Jesus the end result was downright depressing. One of the few instances where selecting Yes / No does actually impact your game.
I will probably take on Hubble next, but before that I'll grind some starter-level jobs with Sir Mervyn to get him up to speed. I want to go in as Paladin / Druid / Luminary / Paladin for Hero / Maribel / Ruff / Mervyn.
So, after about 120 hours I'm close to finishing the main story. The only thing left to do is the final dungeon and its boss fight. I wanted to do the bonus dungeons as well, but that was before I read, that
you had to do the first bonus dungeon at least three times to progress to the second
and that
you have to grind a lot to stand a chance against the Almighty
. That plus
the bonus dungeons being recycled content from the main game
are the reasons I don't really want to bother. It kinda sounds like the Traveller's tablets which I tried twice at the (relatively) beginning of the game and didn't enjoy all that much.
I want to know though, if I'll miss anything storywise should I skip the post game content. If that's the case it would be really nice, if someone could summarise the most important information for me.
That aside, I really, really enjoyed the game. It was my first Dragon Quest and despite most people advising against playing this one first, I loved it start to finish. Some of the island's stories were bittersweet or even tragic and left quite the impression. The amount of dialog of NPC's and your own party was especially astonishing. The way they reacted to recent events made the world really come to life. You can tell the developers put a lot of love and care into this game. I had to take a pretty long break for personal reasons, but when I picked it up again, I couldn't put it down. I'm really looking forward to playing Dragon Quest 8 and 9 next (both of which I already own) and the Zenithia trilogy after that.
So, I've been playing for a couple days and I've almost reached the end of the Alltrades Abbey part, but I'm not sure if I'm enjoying my time with the game.
The performance is kind of offensive at times, especially in menus (wifi disabled, battle text medium) and the short stories so far ranged from boring to almost mildly interesting, but they're over so quick I can't get invested at all.
Will the stories and the game overall get any better or will the game chugg along like this for the next 60h? I'm really trying to like this game :\
So, I've been playing for a couple days and I've almost reached the end of the Alltrades Abbey part, but I'm not sure if I'm enjoying my time with the game.
The performance is kind of offensive at times, especially in menus (wifi disabled, battle text medium) and the short stories so far ranged from boring to almost mildly interesting, but they're over so quick I can't get invested at all.
Will the stories and the game overall get any better or will the game chugg along like this for the next 60h? I'm really trying to like this game :\
Your mileage will continue to vary for the story vignettes, but yes, a majority of the game is those vignettes. Eventually, you will get some that tie back to one's you've already completed, fleshing out the aftermath of those stories in interesting ways. However, if you disliked the initial stories, it's hard to imagine more of them would change your opinion.
The game may eventually grow on you, especially once you unlock the job system and add more complexity to the combat. However, the main plot takes a long time to get going (you're not even remotely close to that), and what is there is about as light in terms of complexity and depth as the vignettes.
Your mileage will continue to vary for the story vignettes, but yes, a majority of the game is those vignettes. Eventually, you will get some that tie back to one's you've already completed, fleshing out the aftermath of those stories in interesting ways. However, if you disliked the initial stories, it's hard to imagine more of them would change your opinion.
The game may eventually grow on you, especially once you unlock the job system and add more complexity to the combat. However, the main plot takes a long time to get going (you're not even remotely close to that), and what is there is about as light in terms of complexity and depth as the vignettes.
Did Hubble and Providence the other night. I feel like I did the last islands out of order though, it should probably go like Providence > Nottagen > Hubble since there's some backstory with the Ruckers at Providence and Hubble is clearly the toughest enemy island of the three.
Anyway Hubble was nice and kinda dark, I liked the hooded figure and the ominous sense of impending doom that plagued the kingdom. Providence, on the other hand, has got to be one of the worst vignettes. Going up and down the same cave dungeon 8 times (10 if you count the present) was really not needed, and the boss was a pushover in the end. The latter though may be because I was overpowered after Hubble.
Now
Maribel left to take care of her dad
and
Aishe joined
. I'm about to enter Aeolus Vale just before hitting the 70 hour mark.
08/04 Edit: Finished Aeolus Vale, Vogograd and Buccanham so essentially I'm done with all the islands of the "forgotten past". The last batch of islands is pretty high up in vignette quality, even Vogograd with its short but pretty gloomy story. I anticipated Cumulus Vex to give me trouble, but he went down pretty easily so I'm likely overpowered.
Unlocked the casino in present day Buccanham and about an hour in this happened
Safe to say I won't be using the casino again until I unlock the other one in the Haven.
Speaking of the Haven, I got to download five more special tablets and two shared ones and played through most of them. They're great fun and it's cool to see enemies from other DQs like the Hackasaurus (who dropped a Shimmering Shield upon defeat, pretty OP). However the whole downloading / sharing tablet interface is a horribly slow, user-unfriendly mess.
Want to download a tablet? Talk to the guy in the bar. Gotta save your game first though, let the guy do that for you. *saving jingle* Alright, select a tablet. Now let the girl download it for you. *saving jingle* What do you mean you want to pick your tablets together for download? No, go back and do the same process for each one. *saving jingle *saving jingle* Oops you reached the maximum number of tablets (a whopping total of 24 including the Haven ones, which are 12 or 13 at this point). Sorry, no can do. Go back and talk to the girl in the middle. "Ask residents to leave" seems plausible to get rid of previously downloaded tablets since I imagine the tablets are attached to the visiting residents. Nope! Go back to the plinth and choose "Remove tablets", maybe this one gets rid of tablets. Nope, all it does is remove them from the plinth. For some reason you can insert and play any tablet you want regardless of what tablet is on the plinth, so I'm not even sure what's the point of the "Remove tablets" option. As it turns out, you need to go to the Monster Meadows and talk to Monty's old guy assistant and he will help you get rid of unwanted tablets. Great, thanks game for not telling me. Monty himself isn't any better - every time you go up to him with a new enclosure plan you have to sit through his monster rescuing tirade before he realizes you got something new. And when you give him the plan, don't expect it to trigger outside in the highly probable case that you want to check it out right away. Nope, gotta sleep in a bed in the present and then come back. Again, thanks game for not telling me. Anyway, go back to the download bar and go through the whole selection process five times to get those five blasted tablets. Done? Let the girl save your game for the sixth time as you go offline and back to the Haven. *saving jingle* All the while you're mashing the A button to go through the laggy text as everyone is exceedingly wordy. God forbid you talk to the tombola monster next to the plinth, you have to sit through its entire speech as if its talking to you for the first time, before it tells you the number of blasted stamps you need for the next tombola ticket.
Also why can I not save at the church of the Haven? Or rest at some inn in the Haven? Such baffling and backwards design decisions for an otherwise amazing addition to the game. Anyway venting over.
08/06 Edit: Love how one of the shitty torban players was named Yngwie after Yngwie Malmsteen. I'm about to enter the dungeon to awaken the Wind Spirit, well over 100 hours into the game and it's still going. Might just update this post after I clear it.
What a ride. Ending's a stinger. It's still one of the fullest, near-perfect jrpg experiences, from the central plot to the vignettes to the job system and monster-collecting aspect. Really the only thing that they could have done better IMO is fix some of the user-unfriendly interfaces I ranted about above (including laggy menus) and maybe they should have added a past-functionality to the Zoom spell to save some back-and-forth trekking the game throws at you in the second half.
In terms of islands I have to say: Nottagen > Alltrades Abbey > Wetlock > Aeolus Vale > Hubble > Faraday > Roamers > Vogograd > Buccanham > Grondal > El Ciclo > L' Arca > Ballymolloy > Al-Balad > Greenthumb Gardens > Emberdale > Providence > Regenstein
Fuck present Vogograd though eh. Right now I'm doing post-game stuff and messing around with monster vocations as I've more or less mastered every human vocation with everyone. Manged to defeat
Congrats! This game is definitely underappreciatrd amongst Dragon Quest fans. It is a heck of a ride and I'm thinking of booting up playthrough number two.
Start with DQ8 instead, it is more streamlined and one of the best starting points in the series. DQ7 is a lengthy game, and I while I think it is a great game, I don't think it should be anyone's first impression of the DQ series.
If you play 8 before 7, you will already be familiar with how the battle system works and what the basics are, so things like the job system will seem less overwhelming. 8 also lets you appreciate the way the DQ stories are written, even though 7 features another type of storytelling based on individual stories for each town. Both are good games, but I think any newcomer would enjoy DQ8 way more. (I would recommend people to play DQ9 before 7 too, but in regards to the 3DS games, 8 to 7 is the way to go).
Personally, I think 5 is a great place to start. It doesn't have a large time commitment at all, has IMO some of the most memorable characters and stories, and has terrific 2D battle animations. I'm in the minority, but while I really enjoyed 8, it's also the slowest one. I have not played the 3DS version yet though, so they might have addressed some of the things I didn't like about that one.
Same here! This game was much harder to play through for a second time... I think mainly because I spent so many hours the first time on the job system.
It took me 12-15 hours from that point until the final dungeon, but I was messing around so you could cut significantly into that time. Without spoiling too much, there are no real sidequests from that point and on and the game becomes pretty linear (well almost, there's a couple of things you can do in a different order).
Congrats! This game is definitely underappreciatrd amongst Dragon Quest fans. It is a heck of a ride and I'm thinking of booting up playthrough number two.
I'm tempted to do a second playthrough despite the length, just so I can use CFW and listen to the symphonic OST while I play, i.e. play the game the way it was meant to be played. Probably not until next year though as the game will be fresh in my memory for a while!
I truly recommend starting with either Dragon Quest V or Dragon Quest VII. Both are perfect starts the series. Also keep in mind that if you play DQV that is part of one trilogy and if you play DQVII that is part of another trilogy. Though within both trilogies, they are not direct prequels or sequels, they only share a theme in the trilogies. DQIV, DQV, DQVI are part of the Zenethian Trilogy and DQVII, DQVIII, DQIX are part of Almighty Trilogy.
The only trilogies in the series are I-II-III and IV-V-VI, since they not only share a timeline but also lore. I've never heard VII-VIII-IX being grouped as another trilogy, since they do not relate in any way.
In fact, (Ending spoilers for DQ8, do not click if you haven't finished that game)
DQ8 takes place in the universe of the first three games, but in another world.
. Saying that 7, 8 and 9 are grouped into a trilogy might be off putting for newcomers. Anyway, the good things with DQ games is that people can play them in any order and pick the one that interest them the most, since every game is standalone and different on its own way.
