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[Dark Schala]

I like NNK and I would say that it does follow the Dragon Quest mold in some respects. It's a lighthearted adventure and every location you visit has its own story. I don't think it does it better than Dragon Quest, though.

I'd agree with that. Even if I don't like NNK at all, I can at least say that the narrative--outside of the direct-to-dvd stuff--was serviceable, was very DQ-like.

It doesn't have the gravity of a DQ game, I feel, but it's very much like it.

 

[Sinople]

Good timing for the thread, this just arrived in the post:

I won't be able to play it for a while, though.

 

[CorvoSol]

I'd agree with that. Even if I don't like NNK at all, I can at least say that the narrative--outside of the direct-to-dvd stuff--was serviceable, was very DQ-like.

It doesn't have the gravity of a DQ game, I feel, but it's very much like it.

You know what game is a lot like DQ in my brain?

Mother 1. A LOT of that game seemed to be "urban DQ" to me. The menus and combat, particularly.

 

[Hours Left]

Quintessential series that embodies adventure.

DQ <3

 

[Gloam]

Good timing for the thread, this just arrived in the post:

I won't be able to play it for a while, though.

Nice! Drop me a PM if you need any help with set-up etc.

 

[Oxx]

My experience with DQVIDS wasn't the best.

I was burnt-out on the look and feel of the DS remakes, and in DQ in general after playing 500 hours of DQIX.

I'd like to give VI another look under more favourable circumstances eventually.

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

Here's a little secret of mine:

I love Dragon Quest. I love the series. I have all the DS remakes, VIII, IX, and X. I treasure my little pathetic collection. And I'm hoping for VII to be localized.

But I admit, they're boring games. I never finished any of them. The only one I got pretty far into was VIII and maybe V. They're tedious, a chore to play, stories aren't that great, characters aren't the best, the graphics look ugly at times, and the games are very generic RPG fare. It's a grind fest. Not really my idea of fun.

Yet I love the series! Am I crazy?

Weird, isn't it?

 

[speedpop]

Seems obscure to love a franchise when you seem to detest everything about it.

 

[malikhaing_bayag]

Dragon Quest is one of my favorite series!

I love this scene. Square Enix why break my heart by not releasing Dragon Quest VII 3DS in English.

 

[Psxphile]

Oh, how'd I miss this?

Don't hold back. With the Steam releases the popularity of the series seems to increasing quite a bit, so there should be a chance for a community like that.

That was my reasoning exactly, but I'm just not sure I'm qualified for the job. I've got the passion maybe, and pretty much know what I want to say... but I'm somewhat of a neophyte when it comes to being a knowledgeable fan. Hell, my first play-throughs are always on the Easy setting. Seemingly blasphemous for an Ys fan, from what I've gathered.

Well, for certain titles I do replay them eventually on harder difficulties... anyways, currently about to wrap up Celceta. I'll decide what to do then.

...

I mean WOO DRAGON QUEST YEAH BIANCA IS BEST WIFE

 

[Jucksalbe]

That was my reasoning exactly, but I'm just not sure I'm qualified for the job. I've got the passion maybe, and pretty much know what I want to say... but I'm somewhat of a neophyte when it comes to being a knowledgeable fan. Hell, my first play-throughs are always on the Easy setting. Seemingly blasphemous for an Ys fan, from what I've gathered.

For all I care all qualification you need is the knowledge of how to write Ys properly.

Spoiler

Though you really shouldn't play on easy.

 

[Arthea]

awesome thread title

Spoiler

I'd like a Puff-Puff, yes

 

[Aeana]

You know what game is a lot like DQ in my brain?

Mother 1. A LOT of that game seemed to be "urban DQ" to me. The menus and combat, particularly.

Both Mother 1 and 2 are intended to be Dragon Quest homage/parody games. Like that was a specific goal Itoi had.

 

[Winnie the Pimp]

Is there ANY way now to get my hands on DQ 1-3 since that collection has not come out in Europe

Also:

DQ VII 3DS BETTER COME or else...nothing i guess

 

[Jucksalbe]

Is there ANY way now to get my hands on DQ 1-3 since that collection has not come out in Europe

If you don't want to play a fan translation, you can import the GBC games. Or wait for a potential iOS release.

 

[turnbuckle]

Totally love the Mother/Earthbound series.

Absolutely detest NNK. One of my top 5 hated games of the last...I don't know, several years. Maybe hyperbolic a bit, but other than the visuals I just couldn't get into the game at all. I gave it my best shot but stopped playing around 15 hours in or so...just found it terribly slow and boring. Took the worst parts of Dragon Quest VIII (beautiful game but everything took too long) and threw them into a pretty package but failing to include fun. I can't survive through a game on whimsy alone.

 

[Jucksalbe]

While I'm playing on the PSP, I took the chance and made some screenshots of the monsters. I especially like the design of these here:

The animations when the wizard casts his spell or when the priest doesn't have enough MP are great.

I also like how even the same enemy type sometimes has this very little differences, like here:

The second slime is looking slightly to the right. Edit: Turns out it's a fortunate bug.

 

[Lightning Lord]

How have I not noticed this thread until now? I'm a huge DQ fan and currently waiting for VII 3DS to be released.

 

[saichi]

I'm in with anything DQ! Especially OP picks DQV as "if you can only play one game in this series play this one" choice

 

[turnbuckle]

How have I not noticed this thread until now? I'm a huge DQ fan and currently waiting for VII 3DS to be released.

Well, the thread isn't even a day old so you're still early

Sorry about the wait. I don't know what improvements/changes have been made to DQ VII on the 3DS, but I'm getting the feeling the only way I'll get to play it portable is through my PSP. I did that a long time ago but my PSP doesn't work any longer. I'd love to get it working on my Vita though...

As for the series - Dragon Quest III will always be my favorite.

 

[Faustek]

Both Mother 1 and 2 are intended to be Dragon Quest homage/parody games. Like that was a specific goal Itoi had.

I never knew.

Anyway this thread got me thinking about old times and I decided to buy 1-3 again. Found for a decent price(about $70 each here) and as I pressed "add to basket" on the last I noticed how the seller had written in the small print "reproduced"... Every where I checked it's either only Japanese release or reproduced. Is it really that impossible to find the original English release today?

 

[PumpkinSpice]

The second slime is looking slightly to the right.

That variation is due to a bug in the way DW7 lines up 2D sprites in the 3D environment. It causes whole vertical lines of sprites to be missing on some parts of the screen. Some times it's not such a big deal, like here, other times it looks really terrible.

The problem doesn't seem to exist in the DS games, likely because this annoyed the crap of someone working on it and they snapped the 2D sprites to the pixel grid better.

 

[Jucksalbe]

Haha, lol. Oh well, I still like it, it gives me something more to do in battles.

 

[Reuenthal]

I liked Dragon Quest V and I am thinking of maybe trying another. But which one? I played V because there was an impression it was the best but I dunno which one to play other than that.

 

[turnbuckle]

I never knew.

Anyway this thread got me thinking about old times and I decided to buy 1-3 again. Found for a decent price(about $70 each here) and as I pressed "add to basket" on the last I noticed how the seller had written in the small print "reproduced"... Every where I checked it's either only Japanese release or reproduced. Is it really that impossible to find the original English release today?

Are you talking about Dragon Warrior I, II, & III on NES?

Luckily I have all 4 of those. A cool little fact for me is that my buddy bought me Dragon Warrior II and III for NES several years ago (I previously owned III but it had been lost during my childhood). Anyways, when I opened up the gift and saw the cartridges I was extremely happy. Then when I turned them over I saw a golden stticker on each that said "Southside Video". That "Southside Video" was the exact same rental store I used to rent games from as a child and I knew I had definitely rented the ones he gifted me before. I used to live about a 2 minute walk from that store and rented from there for a good 7-8 years before they finally closed.

Just a cool little thing that make those copies of the games more special to me

 

[turnbuckle]

I liked Dragon Quest V and I am thinking of maybe trying another. But which one? I played V because there was an impression it was the best but I dunno which one to play other than that.

Well, Dragon Quest III is my favorite in the series. But part of what made that so amazing for me was a few callbacks (and more) to the previous 2 games in the series.

It's hard to recommend Dragon Warrior I&II anymore unless the person is going to be playing them through emulation. But if you had the patience I would definitely recommend Dragon Quest I through III on SNES. It'll require an english patch but that's easy enough.

I suspect the more popular answers will be Dragon Quest IV and Dragon Quest VIII. Both very good choices in their own right. The original trilogy just holds a special place in my heart

 

[Starwolf_UK]

Man I wish there was a patch out there that added party chat back in the DS version of Dragon Quest IV. I know there have been several attempts but they always died out of a lack of interest.
I'd do one myself but I'd first have to work on my hacking skills.... and my Japanese. .__.

What gets me about IV lacking party chat is that was done for time or cost reasons (it is quite a fair chunk of the script) yet sales-wise the game did a lot better than the other two of the trilogy (which had complete party chat). So much for hard work pays off...

On Dragon Warrior III (NES) there were a few times when I turned on the game and I got a message saying that Zoma deleted my Imperial Scrolls of Honor. ...
...
Anyone here experience that? For the life of me I can't find any images of it online.

Not familiar with DW III but I assume this is the saves getting corrupted. A few games are very descriptive with their corrupted save messages. Considering how verbose DW games were it is appropriate.

Yea, it seems it's still there. I thought I heard people saying it was taken down before, but I can't find anything about that now.

The DQIX online service. IIRC it was taken down once but fans petitioned SE to bring it back.

 

[Uncle Rupee]

That variation is due to a bug in the way DW7 lines up 2D sprites in the 3D environment. It causes whole vertical lines of sprites to be missing on some parts of the screen. Some times it's not such a big deal, like here, other times it looks really terrible.

The problem doesn't seem to exist in the DS games, likely because this annoyed the crap of someone working on it and they snapped the 2D sprites to the pixel grid better.

That one slime tho

 

[Young Magus]

Thread Subscribed!!!1

Got into the series a year or so back with DQ VIII and picked up IV from the BST thread. Both are in the backlog but Ive enjoyed what I have played in each title. Also picked up V PS2 and VII 3DS as well. IIRC the 3DS has furigana correct?

 

[turnbuckle]

Not familiar with DW III but I assume this is the saves getting corrupted. A few games are very descriptive with their corrupted save messages. Considering how verbose DW games were it is appropriate.

Oh absolutely. It's just one of those things I've only heard about a single other person (other than my brothers who saw it on my game) having experienced. Even the co-hosts on that episode hadn't heard of it and not all of them were completely convinced it wasn't a hallucination of Alex Fraioli's. But it happened! Trust me!

The DQIX online service. IIRC it was taken down once but fans petitioned SE to bring it back.

From what I've read it will be gonezo once Nintendo's wifi service shuts down on May 20th.

 

[PumpkinSpice]

I suspect the more popular answers will be Dragon Quest IV and Dragon Quest VIII. Both very good choices in their own right. The original trilogy just holds a special place in my heart

IV is very good. That, VII, and IX are probably my favorites.

I actually feel like VIII is the worst in the series. It looks really, really nice, but the world feels so empty and getting around especially early takes forever. Also the total lack of classes and no extra characters leave the game with little customization options, and the skill points system just feels useless and kinda tacked on.

 

[Reuenthal]

Well, Dragon Quest III is my favorite in the series. But part of what made that so amazing for me was a few callbacks (and more) to the previous 2 games in the series.

It's hard to recommend Dragon Warrior I&II anymore unless the person is going to be playing them through emulation. But if you had the patience I would definitely recommend Dragon Quest I through III on SNES. It'll require an english patch but that's easy enough.

I suspect the more popular answers will be Dragon Quest IV and Dragon Quest VIII. Both very good choices in their own right. The original trilogy just holds a special place in my heart

Damn, I am just too indecisive and suffer from choice paralysis. Also the fact that there are huge games make it kind of unlikely for me to play another 3 of them. They are good and all but they are pretty similiar even with their differences, I imagine at some point it would get tiring for me.

So from what you mentioned I am between Dragon Quest III, IV and VIII.

 

[CorvoSol]

Both Mother 1 and 2 are intended to be Dragon Quest homage/parody games. Like that was a specific goal Itoi had.

Ah, well there you go then.

I could almost swear I've played other RPGs that reminded me of DQ in a similar fashion, but I'm not sure which now . . .

 

[turnbuckle]

Damn, I am just too indecisive and suffer from choice paralysis. Also the fact that there are huge games make it kind of unlikely for me to play another 3 of them. They are good and all but they are pretty similiar even with their differences, I imagine at some point it would get tiring for me.

So from what you mentioned I am between Dragon Quest III, IV and VIII.

Totally understand that. If you ever change your mind you can always play them on a smartphone emulator and speed up the game. Makes it more manageable and easier to pick up and play whenever

 

[Reuenthal]

Totally understand that. If you ever change your mind you can always play them on a smartphone emulator and speed up the game. Makes it more manageable and easier to pick up and play whenever

Ah good to know.
Oh and actually I decided to go with IV since it has good reputation and seems to be pretty similiar to V which I enjoyed.

 

[Magicpaint]

Ah good to know.
Oh and actually I decided to go with IV since it has good reputation and seems to be pretty similiar to V which I enjoyed.

DQIV is indeed a good choice! Enjoy.

 

[Reuenthal]

DQIV is indeed a good choice! Enjoy.

Thanks.

 

[Starwolf_UK]

From what I've read it will be gonezo once Nintendo's wifi service shuts down on May 20th.

That is correct, making its second life rarther short lived.

 

[Pharaun]

Damn, I am just too indecisive and suffer from choice paralysis. Also the fact that there are huge games make it kind of unlikely for me to play another 3 of them. They are good and all but they are pretty similiar even with their differences, I imagine at some point it would get tiring for me.

So from what you mentioned I am between Dragon Quest III, IV and VIII.

I love all three, but as evidenced by my avatar I'm biased towards VIII. I always felt it was the perfect modernization of the franchise. It added voice acting, a more coherent story, and significantly improved graphics, but kept the old school RPG feel and charm that I have loved from the series.

 

[Reuenthal]

I love all three, but as evidenced by my avatar I'm biased towards VIII. I always felt it was the perfect modernization of the franchise. It added voice acting, a more coherent story, and significantly improved graphics, but kept the old school RPG feel and charm that I have loved from the series.

It is nice to see people loving different games.
Some of the views on this series kind of reminds me of the Zelda series in that there is no real consensus which is often a testament of a certain level of consistent quality among the games.

 

[Faustek]

Are you talking about Dragon Warrior I, II, & III on NES?

Luckily I have all 4 of those. A cool little fact for me is that my buddy bought me Dragon Warrior II and III for NES several years ago (I previously owned III but it had been lost during my childhood). Anyways, when I opened up the gift and saw the cartridges I was extremely happy. Then when I turned them over I saw a golden stticker on each that said "Southside Video". That "Southside Video" was the exact same rental store I used to rent games from as a child and I knew I had definitely rented the ones he gifted me before. I used to live about a 2 minute walk from that store and rented from there for a good 7-8 years before they finally closed.

Just a cool little thing that make those copies of the games more special to me

Yepp, the NES/sfc versions. I still can't forgive myself for selling most of my games

But hey I left Sweden on many occasions due to work and consoles just became a hassle. Now I know better and I have enough money to buy a.storage unit/ship them but the games are so hard to find

 

[bagandscalpel]

DQIV was my first RPG and one I retain the strongest memory on. The town Aktempto (can't recall what they renamed it in the DS remake) always creeped out of my 6 year old self.

So you're frantically running around your ship picking up ammo to shoot at the other guy, deciding to fire high or low (your ammo can collide in mid-air), deciding which items to shoot (there are TONS of different items, all of which do different damage and can have various other effects on the enemy tank). The coolest thing to me is just how frantic it all is, you can bring in NPC characters to help you, you can invade the enemy tank, you can even jump into your own cannons and fire yourself at the enemy tank, which is just bonkers. It's surprisingly deep and strategic for how simple and cute it appears on the surface, and the action is fast paced and always varied... I loved it, my brother and our friends played the hell out of it when this game was new.

Man, I WISH I knew people who loved Rocket Slime as much as I did when I played it.

Pretty much had this pure vulcan and shield setup that I was pretty confident that couldn't be beat.

 

[Aeana]

DQIV was my first RPG and one I retain the strongest memory on. The town Aktempto (can't recall what they renamed it in the DS remake) always creeped out of my 6 year old self.

The music there always made me sad, not creeped out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3QFiTAkrg0

Original NES version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-pof25dVNA

 

[bagandscalpel]

The music there always made me sad, not creeped out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3QFiTAkrg0

Original NES version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-pof25dVNA

The music was definitely a big part of it. But the other part was the setting itself. Whilst other towns were upbeat and save havens, something you came to relate the town sprite on the map to, there was something dreadfully wrong with this little, out-of-the way hamlet nested faraway surrounded by hard monsters. There were skeletons strewn about, the buildings were deteriorating, with toxic mold everywhere, and people were dying off and were merely accepted it. Hell, even the priest who saves your game is on his deathbed. First time I went there, I wasn't sure I'd be safe just staying in the town.

 

[Faustek]

Aena, honestly, how happy are you right now?
I know I'm feeling it

 

[brinstar]

I first got into this series through the US release of DQ1, but it was too much for me as a kid (and so was FF1). Then later during the SNES era FF: Mystic Quest got me super-into RPGs and around the same time I was also becoming obsessed with Akira Toriyama's art through Dragon Ball manga. When I found out he did the artwork for the Dragon Quest games I began fiendishly playing through all of them and the rest was history :')

Dragon Quest V is my favorite, first game to ever make me cry!

 

[Aeana]

Aena, honestly, how happy are you right now?
I know I'm feeling it

About what?

 

[Pharaun]

I first got into this series through the US release of DQ1, but it was too much for me as a kid (and so was FF1). Then later during the SNES era FF: Mystic Quest got me super-into RPGs and around the same time I was also becoming obsessed with Akira Toriyama's art through Dragon Ball manga. When I found out he did the artwork for the Dragon Quest games I began fiendishly playing through all of them and the rest was history :')

Dragon Quest V is my favorite, first game to ever make me cry!

Yeah, when

Spoiler

you and your wife get turned to stone and separated.

That was pretty heart wrenching.

 

[Sparrowhawk]

After I pay bills, I may have to reorder Dragon Quest VIII. I've only ever played VIII and IX and they're both great, but I prefer VIII. Can you guys recommend others in the series I should check out?

 

[Empty]

i love this series. something i'd never have looked at properly if i didn't read gaf, but the threads back in the day (both the appreciation ones and the dqix to ds stupidity) made me pick up dragon quest viii which had me hooked then i bought all the ds remakes and dqix as soon as they came out here in europe.

really need to get round to importing dq3 gbc, that and dqvii are the big holes but i'm holding out hope for the 3ds version of the latter, if that falls through i guess i'll get a us ps1. also need to import rocket slime which i've been meaning to for ages.