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Dragon Quest appreciation thread
- Thread starter Aeana
- Start date
Lord Helmet
Member
Can't wait for 4 & 9...
Melhisedek
Member
Would it be worth for me to start from DQ5 and work my way up? Would 5 (SNES one) be a nice introduction into series?
Although I've been playing games since the early 80s, I am almost a jRPG virgin. I've played a couple of hours of quite a few, but the only ones I've put some serious time in are Skies of Arcadia DC and Final Fantasy 6 SNES (I liked both, more because of the exploration and the character development and side-stories than the battle gameplay itself). I don't count the Mario RPGs here, which I've played and I usually enjoy. Recently I bought Final Fantasy 3 DS and I am enjoying it much more than I expected (halfway through, with some help from the official guide).
When I finish FF3, I'd like to get into some other games, and the Dragon Quest series looks like a good fit for me. For game genres that are not my preferred ones, concentrating my play-time on a single high-quality series works well for me. I did that with Fire Emblem and now I am a fan of the series.
The reason why I think I'd like DQ is because I like the art style and I strongly prefer light-hearted games. What I've read in this thread about the focus being on the journey rather than the goal really appeals to me (that's how I play the Zelda games for example).
That said, I do not want to play on emulators and I can only play PAL or handheld games, english language releases. The plan would include DQ8 PS2, DQ9 DS, and the DS remakes as long as they are released in Europe or NA at least. I think the rest will no doubt be remade in the future. This is a long-term plan, no hurries.
Questions:
- I tend to play a lot more on handhelds than home consoles, so I'd like to start with DQ9 or DQ4 (english release); bigger chances of success. But I do own a sealed copy of DQ8, which I could use as the starting point at any time. How long is this game? Can I play it in short one-hour sessions? Would it be a good introduction to DQ?; or should I wait for DQ4?
- Are the DQ games heavy on puzzles? what type of them?
- Is there a lot of NPC interaction in towns?
Thanks for this great thread.
When I finish FF3, I'd like to get into some other games, and the Dragon Quest series looks like a good fit for me. For game genres that are not my preferred ones, concentrating my play-time on a single high-quality series works well for me. I did that with Fire Emblem and now I am a fan of the series.
The reason why I think I'd like DQ is because I like the art style and I strongly prefer light-hearted games. What I've read in this thread about the focus being on the journey rather than the goal really appeals to me (that's how I play the Zelda games for example).
That said, I do not want to play on emulators and I can only play PAL or handheld games, english language releases. The plan would include DQ8 PS2, DQ9 DS, and the DS remakes as long as they are released in Europe or NA at least. I think the rest will no doubt be remade in the future. This is a long-term plan, no hurries.
Questions:
- I tend to play a lot more on handhelds than home consoles, so I'd like to start with DQ9 or DQ4 (english release); bigger chances of success. But I do own a sealed copy of DQ8, which I could use as the starting point at any time. How long is this game? Can I play it in short one-hour sessions? Would it be a good introduction to DQ?; or should I wait for DQ4?
- Are the DQ games heavy on puzzles? what type of them?
- Is there a lot of NPC interaction in towns?
Thanks for this great thread.
stalker said:
Dragon Quest VIII is a pretty long game. First time playing, without a lot of experience, it could take you... I don't know, maybe 80-90 hours? You can certainly try to play it in shorter sessions, but I think you'll probably have a hard time trying to tackle the game one hour at a time. The thing to know about VIII is that it's a big game. The world map is pretty vast, there's a lot to explore in it; towns are huge; dungeons aren't quite as long as some of the others in the series, but they're still pretty hefty. And this is without a quicksave -- the only way to save is by going to a church.
At the same time, it's a very good introduction to the DQ series. A lot of people on GAF started out with VIII and are now interested in playing the older games. You might have some difficulties tackling it with your schedule, and it really does require time commitments of a bit longer than you seem to have, but I think you'd find it a very rewarding experience and it'd certainly prep you for the rest of the games.
stalker said:
Some of the games have some minor puzzle-solving in the dungeons (I always think of the intro dungeon in DQVII, which is all puzzles, no fights), but it's really not a big series emphasis. Dragon Quest has always been more about exploration than it has been about solving puzzles.
stalker said:
Quite a bit, yes. As I mentioned in the DQVIII answer, the towns are pretty huge, and they're filled with NPCs. They change their dialogue as the game shifts between day and night, and a lot of times dialogue is updated as events progress in the story. What's more, because of the great sense of humour the games have, it can be a lot of fun to hear what they have to say.
velvet_nitemare
Member
Only one i played was DQVIII and it was awesome. Keeping an eye on the one coming out for the Wii,good times.
2DMention said:
Hopefully there'll be a portable version by the time he gets that far. I think DQVII would be absolutely perfect as a portable game (long as hell and broken up into lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of smaller, more bite-sized episodes)... I wouldn't really mind DQI-III remakes done in the same style as IV, and a straight port of VII.
But yes, as a console game, DQVII is pretty daunting. I still love the game, though.
thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
Johnas said:
Err, I think there was a typo above. I actually have 3 and 5, but never finished either. I did PLAY parts of them. I definitely will go back and play all the way through III at some point.
I can't decide right now if my favorite DQ game (of the ones I've played) is 3 or 5. since it seems like we should get DQ4 DS I'll hopefully have a new contender! Either way, I think DQ8 is a great way to jump into the series. I'd consider it kind of middle of the pack for DQ, but it's a really good intro to the games because it doesn't have the job system from DQ6/7 that's vastly different from the rest of the series. Not like any of them feel like huge departures from each other (except 4, I guess?) but 8 especially feels like a throwback to DQ2 or 5, though I still like 5 more.
stalker said:
Well, Ethelred and some of the others probably know 100x more things about Dragon Quest, but I thought I share my thoughts because I'm kinda similar to you as I've only beaten four or five jrpgs and I also really liked FF6 (one of my favorite games ever, to be precise). Not that Dragon Quest VIII is the only DQ I have reasonable play time.
- Well DQVIII is really long and big, I just finished it this week and I my save file is at 82 hours right now
and I haven't done the extra dungeon
- Again I can only talk about DQVIII, and it really hasn't a lot of puzzles and the ones which are there are really easy. I'm normally not a fan of too much puzzles in a rpg, but I thought in DQVIII there were actually too few.
- Well there isn't that much meaningful conversation (i.e. not a lot of sidequests to unlock or things like that) but there is a lot of dialogue, which is always written very well and makes you feel that the npc's actually live in the world. Pretty much all npc's react to the things that happen. Definetly not like in others games were people still babble about some marbles they lost 30 hours ago when now there there is an army of darkness standing before the gates of the town.
In short: Play DQVIII
Red Scarlet
Member
Mejilan said:So long as you didn't read the instruction manual to DQIII NES USA. It totally ruined the plot twist.
The back of the box ruined it before the manual had a chance for me.
Dragona Akehi
Retired
I was lucky and never had the box/manual for DWIII. You can imagine my ZOMGWTF when I did get to the end of the game. It was a truly transcendent experience at that moment.
Also, I was KINDA irritated with the game, for letting me be female but a) the sprite not changing whatsoever and b) the king STILL calling me "the son of Ortega". So I restarted the game and just used default male RPG hero name "Zaketh", as usual.
I was rather pleased with DWIII GBC's script alteration when it was finally released.
Also, I was KINDA irritated with the game, for letting me be female but a) the sprite not changing whatsoever and b) the king STILL calling me "the son of Ortega". So I restarted the game and just used default male RPG hero name "Zaketh", as usual.
I was rather pleased with DWIII GBC's script alteration when it was finally released.
Red Scarlet
Member
Dragona Akehi said:I was lucky and never had the box/manual for DWIII. You can imagine my ZOMGWTF when I did get to the end of the game. It was a truly transcendent experience at that moment.
Also, I was KINDA irritated with the game, for letting me be female but a) the sprite not changing whatsoever and b) the king STILL calling me "the son of Ortega". So I restarted the game and just used default male RPG hero name "Zaketh", as usual.
I was rather pleased with DWIII GBC's script alteration when it was finally released.
Doesn't the GBC one kind of poke fun at that, in that the king calls you Ortega's son then gets corrected?
Although I knew all about what happens at the end of 3, it was/still is really cool each time.
Dragona Akehi
Retired
Red Scarlet said:
Yeah he does. I believe it's something along the lines of "son of Ortega... er I mean daughter... hey don't give me that look!"
Yeah even replaying it, once you get to Alefgard and the music from DQI starts playing, I can't help but smile.
Pureauthor
Member
firex said:
Like Tycho said in PA, there's a statute of limitations on this sort of thing. It's been what, 15 years?
Dragona Akehi
Retired
Pureauthor said:
fire's a friend of mine. Pay him no heed.
DQ4 is definitely my favourite. The chapters are just so well done individually and chapter 5 puts everything together, and nothing beats the feeling when you finally join up with characters from the first 4 chapters. Which is why I just cannot wait for my DS remake to arrive... (it's been a week and 2 days since YesAsia shipped it... come on Australia Post!!!)
I haven't played DQ5 in quite a while (still got my PS2 remake sitting on my shelf), so I can't really remember how it felt to play it. Therefore, DQ3 would be my second favourite at the moment. Even though DQ3 has not much individual character development (quite a big contrast to DQ4), however it still feels epic and quite awesome.
DQ5 is a great game because again of the characters development, the story, and also the monster collecting part of it. It's also great to
.
After that, the order goes:
DQ7
DQ6
DQ8
DQ2
DQ1
I haven't played DQ5 in quite a while (still got my PS2 remake sitting on my shelf), so I can't really remember how it felt to play it. Therefore, DQ3 would be my second favourite at the moment. Even though DQ3 has not much individual character development (quite a big contrast to DQ4), however it still feels epic and quite awesome.
DQ5 is a great game because again of the characters development, the story, and also the monster collecting part of it. It's also great to
have a son who inherits and can wear the celestial equipments
After that, the order goes:
DQ7
DQ6
DQ8
DQ2
DQ1
TheCardPlayer
Likes to have "friends" around to "play cards" with
Reading this thread I see that I should avoid 1, 2 and 8 (it seems that people not acquainted to the series will like it but once you play the others, it's ass) but play 3, 4 and 5. I love GAF for threads like this. Allows you to play the gems and avoid the ones that don't deserve your time.
I am a sucker for NES RPGs so I hope I can find copies of 3 and 4 somewhere.
I am a sucker for NES RPGs so I hope I can find copies of 3 and 4 somewhere.
Dragona Akehi
Retired
Pedobear said:
If you can, get DQI&II for GBC. It fixes most of the "problems" of the NES versions. They're really good.
III loses a lot of its magic if you haven't played I & II, and VIII is utterly fantastic, just not the best in the series. It is an aural and visual treat, however. The GBC ports of I & II (actually on one cart) are much more approachable and enjoyable than the NES originals.
TheCardPlayer
Likes to have "friends" around to "play cards" with
I hear that the translation was kind of butchered (1 and 2 GBC) on that one? Is that true?
Dragona Akehi
Retired
Pedobear said:
No it was fine. It's much better than the original releases (and they put Loto back instead of Erdrick).
TheCardPlayer
Likes to have "friends" around to "play cards" with
Isn't Erdrick a better name than Loto?
Anyway, I'm glad I keep my original Gameboy. DQ here I come. Too bad I sold my Color one.
Anyway, I'm glad I keep my original Gameboy. DQ here I come. Too bad I sold my Color one.
Pedobear said:
I always liked Erdrick better, and still do. I also prefer the NES DW I and II by a fairly large margin. I much prefer the graphics, and I hate the smaller field of view on the GBC games. Also don't like the white backgrounds in battle. I know I'm in the minority.
TheCardPlayer
Likes to have "friends" around to "play cards" with
That's not what I heard. From what I was told (I am a DQ newb!), the game actually has less features than even the NES versions. It removed the job system(ala FFV?) and had less party members than the previous games. I own it and intended to play it but the negative comments on it is keeping me from playing it. Last time a major JRPG franchise had a game with that amount of backlash was FF2. That's not good! :lolMejilan said:
Pedobear said:
The job system in VII breaks up the flow of the game (haven't played VI, but I believe it has a similar system).
VIII has points you can allocate to different aspects of a character. It has 4 characters, which is the same as DQIII, and more than DQII's three-party system, and of course more than the first DQ which you play as a solo hero.
Play VIII, it's completely worth it. It harkens back to the older DQs in that it streamlines the experience, which is a good thing.
no, DQ8 doesn't have less features than a typical DQ game. when I said it doesn't have the job system of DQ6/7, that wasn't a negative. I was just saying that it's more traditional for the DQ series, since aside from DQ6 and 7, your characters learn nearly all their abilities as they level up. A lot like DQ8, although that largely comes from putting points into the skill trees, while DQ1-5 all give you abilities as you level, like in a typical console RPG. The only other DQ game aside from 6/7 with a job system is DQ3, and it's done very differently in that one.
I just consider 8 middle of the pack in the series because most DQ games are awesome from start to finish, and have fast battles and stuff. DQ8's battles take a bit longer and there were a couple points where I felt like it dragged. The thing for me is the worst DQ game is still much more fun for me than a lot of other console RPGs out there, so don't take that as a critique of general quality. I would still play DQ1&2 over a lot of other console RPGs from that time frame, and I'd still play DQ8 over a lot of other PS2 RPGs (it's like my 3rd favorite PS2 RPG of all the ones I've played). It's just that when DQ hits its highest point (DQ3, 4?, 5) it's unbelievably awesome in every single facet of the game. 6 and 7 are the only ones with an annoying gameplay setup due to the job system, but that can and hopefully will be balanced better in the impending DQ6 remake (and then eventually, DQ7 remake).
I just consider 8 middle of the pack in the series because most DQ games are awesome from start to finish, and have fast battles and stuff. DQ8's battles take a bit longer and there were a couple points where I felt like it dragged. The thing for me is the worst DQ game is still much more fun for me than a lot of other console RPGs out there, so don't take that as a critique of general quality. I would still play DQ1&2 over a lot of other console RPGs from that time frame, and I'd still play DQ8 over a lot of other PS2 RPGs (it's like my 3rd favorite PS2 RPG of all the ones I've played). It's just that when DQ hits its highest point (DQ3, 4?, 5) it's unbelievably awesome in every single facet of the game. 6 and 7 are the only ones with an annoying gameplay setup due to the job system, but that can and hopefully will be balanced better in the impending DQ6 remake (and then eventually, DQ7 remake).
Bonerville High
Banned
Normally I like figuring stuff out on my own, but DQVIII is so wide open that it's a little daunting. What should I be doing with my skill points? Previously I was just maxing out my non-weapon stats (sex appeal, courage, etc) but those started getting high enough that it made me pick other categories.
I think my main problem is that my gear absolutely sucks (everybody has the same plain shield, my weapons are just crappy things I bought from Pickham, etc), so I have no idea what the cool weapons are to spend ability points on. I haven't even seen some of the weapon classes, for example are the bows for Angelo any good? Are there "archetypes" of characters, like different stategies to play a character?
One final question, it seems like Angelo critical hits a lot. Are criticals based on how high your agility is? Is there any gear I can put on Angelo to make him focused on high chances of getting a critical hit? Thanks for any advice.
I think my main problem is that my gear absolutely sucks (everybody has the same plain shield, my weapons are just crappy things I bought from Pickham, etc), so I have no idea what the cool weapons are to spend ability points on. I haven't even seen some of the weapon classes, for example are the bows for Angelo any good? Are there "archetypes" of characters, like different stategies to play a character?
One final question, it seems like Angelo critical hits a lot. Are criticals based on how high your agility is? Is there any gear I can put on Angelo to make him focused on high chances of getting a critical hit? Thanks for any advice.
Red Scarlet
Member
Pedobear said:
Loto is the original name the creator chose. Erdrick was what Nintendo went with for a more westernized-sounding name. I always imagine Erdrick as some old fat noble. Whoever you ask will give a different answer on which name is better.
Pedobear said:
8 has more features than the NES ones. The only NES one to have a 'job system' was 3. You could go with 1-4 party members (1 was the hero and couldn't change jobs) at a time, with 7 jobs. At a certain experience level, you could change class to another class with a penalty of being level 1 in experience and starting with half the stats (hp/mp/agility/etc) but keeping whatever spells you had. Only 3, 6, and 7 had interchangeable classes.
DQ8 has less total party members than most of the other games, except for the 1 in DQ1 and 2 in DQ2. You could only use 4 at a time in 3,4,6,7, and only 3 in DQ5. Aside from if you filled out the party roster in 3 and if you got most of the monsters in 5 and 6, DQ8 only has a few less party members than the other games.
There's been negative comments about the game, but in general I think the overall reaction to DQ8 at gaf has been a little more towards positive. You've missed a lot of discussion if the last major franchise backlash is FF2. Later FF's and other DQ's have received a lot of backlash, probably more than DQ8 has. DQ2 I think gets the most backlash when it comes to the series here. I like it, though (and FF2 too).
Are there lots of negative comments about DQ8 in this thread? Because I thought the general consensus was more positive than negative. I thought 8 was the first good new one in the series since 4. I didn't play 5 until 2001 or so and prefer the remake to the original, and I put 6 and 7 at the bottom of the list for the series. They took out what I mainly didn't like about 5-7 and added new stuff.
Bonerville High said:
Any selection of weapons/skills will get you through the game, but some appear to be more effective. I was actually extremely bored the last time I played through the game with a crappy (on purpose) skillset for characters. What gear are you using? You can buy a bow at Askanta (forget the English spelling) and Pickham. I don't know if there are archetypes, but I do have a preferred skillset that gets me through the game more efficiently than others. I don't know what affects criticals, tbh. There are some abilities with certain weapons that supposedly give a higher crit rate.
Red Scarlet
Member
Error said:
When all you have is the shitty version of it, I'd agree.
Red Scarlet said:When all you have is the shitty version of it, I'd agree.
hehehe.
I like VIII, but mainly for the amazing world that was much fun to explore. There were also plenty of beautiful moments and views.
It was a bit long though, the battles were a little slow, and the main cast was forgettable.
Hmm, I wouldn't say it was much better. They did improve upon some things but IMO they messed up a lot, too, and the items and equipment and all that were butchered horribly. DQ8 is the series' first really good localization since the NES games (which, toned down or not, had quality localizations).Dragona Akehi said:
Pedobear said:
That's bullshit. DQVIII didn't come close to having that kind of backlash. Not on GAF, not in reviews, not on the net. While it didn't have a developed job system like VI or VII, it still afforded much more character building than any of the other numbered DQs. They didn't bother with including more than 4 playable characters because of that skill system. Basically, you had to specialize your characters to get any of the masteries, since no character could master all of his possible skill branches. Thus, you could experiment and wind up with very different character builds, in subsequent play-throughs. In this sense, the game was both more streamlined than VI or VII, but still deeper and more varied than I-V, with the possible exception of III.
DQVIII, on the other hand, gives you a magnificent overworld to explore, and very awesome dungeons as well. The overworld is the highlight of the series, however.
Edit - And to those that say that the US version was gimped, I'll agree on the interface. It was cumbersome and amateurish, and I'd have preferred the oldschool nested menus. But the music upgrade was much welcome. I'll take poorly recorded orchestral music over the DQVIII synth, any day of the week. As it was, it's one of the weaker DQ soundtracks to begin with. Honestly, I was more impressed with DQVII's synth. And yeah, the US build did introduce unfortunate lags due to the upgraded music, but that's nothing an installation onto a PS2 HDD couldn't solve. My copy ran just as snappily as the JP original, but with juiced up music.
Edit 2 - No, it was the NES originals that had butchered localizations. The GBC versions of I-III featured vastly superior localizations. More accurate to the source, as well.
Dragona Akehi
Retired
john tv said:
No, I understand that part. I can somewhat forgive spells/equipment names when they use better english overall.
Even if you don't like the translation, it's simple and readable. And all the mechanical improvements on the GBC versions make it the version to get for non japanese speakers (if you speak japanese, obviously the SFC version)!
I liked DQ3 GBC's localization, but 1&2 definitely aren't as good. They still stuck to some of the "traditional" (in NA) stuff, at least when it comes to spell names, but some of the charm of the silly old english translations for the original "DW" games on NES is lost when they give it a simple, clean localization that's easy to read.