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Dragon Quest Community Thread: Come in! Would you like a Puff-Puff?

When I was in Japan, I had my birthday dinner at Luida's Bar. I made conversation worth two very nice ladies there.

One of the ladies told our waitress that I like 5 the best, so I was asked if Bianca or Flora was my favorite wife.

I said Deborah. The "Waaaaaaaaaaahs!?!?!?!? " I followed by hysteric laughter was amazing.
 

Psxphile

Member
They probably didn't expect a foreigner to understand the appeal of a tsundere.
You turned their whole world upside-down, now they will question everything.
Their hysterics was clearly a defense mechanism to hide their deep shame.
Yeah, that's it
... and not because Bianca is the only choice that matters.
 

Kirie

Member
Finished up VIII last night and it was just incredible. Didn't take as long as I thought it would (around 45 hours) but I guess the speed up mechanic and other improvements help knock off some of the time.

I've now played VII, VIII, and IX and I'm kind of sad I've slept on the series for so long. Better late than never I guess! Will be diving into IV shortly :D Any tips or anything I should know before I start?
 

Square2015

Member
Has anyone played DQIV PS? How is it in comparison to the DS and NES versions? That's one that's rarely discussed and still lack lacks a fan translation. Had a curiosity about it since its US cancelation.

I've played DQ4 DS but lost interest halfway through (small screens just don't do it for me).
It's really unfortunate DQ4 PS has gone this long without a translation (original release was in 2001). This is a title that looks promising like DQV PS2, and the era before sprite-based characters went the way side for the series.
Code:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/uwODWMJ.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/O60LRhj.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/eLijSnZ.jpg[/img]
edit: beautiful images added. That DQ7 style
 
Working my way through V. Really enjoying it. Probably going to fire up VI right after. Maybe take a break. I don't want to burn out. I still need to get through VII (I played it YEARS ago on the psone and it was rough) and then hit up VIII.

I'd love to get through at least V and VI before XI comes out.

Got my kid playing builders. Pretty charming game.
 
I booted up DQVI DS just to check it out, (I'm still about 40 hours into VII on 3DS).

I only played a little bit of VI but holy crap the OST is amaaaaaaaazzzing. Don't get me wrong I like VII's OST, but it's track selection is kinda limited....
 

Wehrwolf

Member
Any opinions n the ps4 ports of DQ1-3? Just finished replaying DQ1 on Famicom, and originally was debating FC or SFC for replaying DQ2, but then those came out.
 

Psxphile

Member
Any opinions n the ps4 ports of DQ1-3? Just finished replaying DQ1 on Famicom, and originally was debating FC or SFC for replaying DQ2, but then those came out.

If you want opinions there's always this thread. Plenty of hot takes there. Personally I think the PS4 editions handle the sprites a lot better than mobile or the 3DS did:

3vZW1iU.png

hvP1ugD.png



Dragon Quest III just came out yesterday, I understand:
source: Gematsu (expand the 2nd shot)

The 3DS version actually looks pretty nice. PS4 ain't too shabby either except for the new character sprites looking a little out of place. No clue if these versions retain monster animations over the mobile port but I'm going to assume they don't.
 
Was Dragon Quest VI DS a limited run release or something? All the other DS/3DS games can still be bought new in the $20-$30 range, but VI for some reason is jacked up to like $80 new on most sites. :(
 

Wehrwolf

Member
Thanks for linking thayt other thread, somehow I missed it. From the opinions there, I think I'll stick with the FC and SFC ones.
 
Was Dragon Quest VI DS a limited run release or something? All the other DS/3DS games can still be bought new in the $20-$30 range, but VI for some reason is jacked up to like $80 new on most sites. :(

IV and V Were published by Square and had more than one print run. VI and IX were published by Nintendo and only had one print run.

Expect VII and VIII to get up there in a couple of years as well as both were published by Nintendo.
 

ggx2ac

Member
Playing DQ VII

Finally, I can change vocations.

Before that, it was great that I hit the casino since that match two pairs game got me some good gear like a war hammer and cloak of evasion. I won't even need to replace the war hammer for a while.

Meanwhile,
Kiefer followed his dick,
and now he's dead. /jk

I'm seriously wondering if Kiefer ends up being his own grandpa or that the MC will be blood related to him.

Weird that the characters didn't feel anything for him when they found Lala's(?) grave which mentioned him.

______________________

Edit:

Forgot to point this out.

So obviously going through each newer game, newer enemies appear.

You open a treasure chest, a cannibox appears and attacks you.
You open an urn, an urnexpected appears and attacks you.
You pull out a book from a bookshelf, a grimoire appears and attacks you.

At this point, I'm expecting to open a drawer and a drawer monster will attack me.

I'm expecting to open a closet and a closet monster will attack me.

I'm expecting to talk to the bartender and that he'll actually serve me for once. Following that, the alcohol I buy will become a monster and attack me.
 

Psxphile

Member
Edit:

Forgot to point this out.

So obviously going through each newer game, newer enemies appear.

You open a treasure chest, a cannibox appears and attacks you.
You open an urn, an urnexpected appears and attacks you.
You pull out a book from a bookshelf, a grimoire appears and attacks you.

At this point, I'm expecting to open a drawer and a drawer monster will attack me.

I'm expecting to open a closet and a closet monster will attack me.

I'm expecting to talk to the bartender and that he'll actually serve me for once. Following that, the alcohol I buy will become a monster and attack me.

Expect to go to a casino to hit the slots only to have a Gamblor attack you.
How meta.

giphy.gif
 
It took waaayyy too long to unlock vocations in DQVII.

Especially with how quickly you can grind through classes. It's like you go through 20 hours of the game (It took me 19 to finish Alltrades) with jack shit for abilities and spells and then the game just opens the floodgates.
 

Ultratech

Member
Playing DQ VII

Forgot to point this out.

So obviously going through each newer game, newer enemies appear.

You open a treasure chest, a cannibox appears and attacks you.
You open an urn, an urnexpected appears and attacks you.
You pull out a book from a bookshelf, a grimoire appears and attacks you.

At this point, I'm expecting to open a drawer and a drawer monster will attack me.

I'm expecting to open a closet and a closet monster will attack me.

I'm expecting to talk to the bartender and that he'll actually serve me for once. Following that, the alcohol I buy will become a monster and attack me.

heh heh

Wait until you check a
certain Well
...

It took waaayyy too long to unlock vocations in DQVII.

Especially with how quickly you can grind through classes. It's like you go through 20 hours of the game (It took me 19 to finish Alltrades) with jack shit for abilities and spells and then the game just opens the floodgates.

Yeah, I kinda agree with that.

Plus the scenario they put you through to unlock it was kinda annoying (story-wise, it was pretty neat though).
 
Expect to go to a casino to hit the slots only to have a Gamblor attack you.

The series does have slot machine mimics now actually!

The most unexpected for me in 7 was checking a sack on the wall and having it be a Goodybag/Dancing Jewel(Though I think they took sack checking out of the 3ds version so I think that's gone now iirc)

Sacks almost never have anything in them anyway!
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
I really don't like class systems in VI and VII. Every time I replay them I remember how much I dislike them. At least VII 3DS is a slight improvement over the PS1 version.

I really like IX's system, or hell even III's. For all it's simplicity it does work well. IX, well, I just like that sort of point buy established by VIII
 
What character progression system does DQXI use? I haven't checked the import thread cause I don't wanna get spoiled. Does it use a skill point system like VIII or what?
 

Aeana

Member
What character progression system does DQXI use? I haven't checked the import thread cause I don't wanna get spoiled. Does it use a skill point system like VIII or what?

It uses skill points that you spend on a grid, where opening up one skill makes the ones adjacent to it available. It works pretty much like the mantra grid from Digital Devil Saga 2.
 
Hello the thread!

My RTTP on Dragon Quest IX has been going well. Been doing about one scenario/vignette per day since I started. Up to a certain
Empire
mission now and having a lot of fun. Is anyone else currently doing a RTTP/LTTP on this one?

It is weird how these games engrave themselves into my memory. I don't actively remember anything, but as soon as I get to a new area, I remember the whole map layouts and which ways to go to get items and suchlike. Mostly for IV and IX since I've replayed these two the most over the years.
 

Kirie

Member
Just finished DQIV, it was so good! I thought I would have issues going from VIII to the older games, but nope, felt right at home!

Really glad I played the android version for the party chat as I can't really imagine the game without it. It took me awhile to get used to the mobile version's controls, but other than that no complaints with the port at all. I enjoyed it so much I think I might pick up mobile version for V too, which I'm about to start.

Alena and Torneko were probably my favorite party members, but I liked everyone :)
 
Has there been any word yet if the PS4 versions (based on the mobile ports) of DQ 1, 2 and 3 are coming to PSN in NA? Just noticed them browsing my Japanese PS4 account and forgot they were announced.
 
Just finished DQIV, it was so good! I thought I would have issues going from VIII to the older games, but nope, felt right at home!

Really glad I played the android version for the party chat as I can't really imagine the game without it. It took me awhile to get used to the mobile version's controls, but other than that no complaints with the port at all. I enjoyed it so much I think I might pick up mobile version for V too, which I'm about to start.

Alena and Torneko were probably my favorite party members, but I liked everyone :)

My friend started with 8. He's now played every dq. Hnow thinks that story wise, 8 is one of the more boring ones.
 
My friend started with 8. He's now played every dq. Hnow thinks that story wise, 8 is one of the more boring ones.

The overall story yeah. But it still has some of the best character development ever in a game.

Trode is one of my favorite NPC's in any JRPG ever and his character arc is absolutely fantastic. He's a character that changes throughout the course of the game and you slowly grow to love him.

edit: All of the characters in VIII have their own motivations and growth. On the other side though, I'm 65 hours into DQVII and other than Sir Mervyn the character development isn't that good. Some of the characters don't even have any real motives or depth.
 

Kirie

Member
My friend started with 8. He's now played every dq. Hnow thinks that story wise, 8 is one of the more boring ones.

If I were to personally rank the stories from the ones I've played so far I'd probably go:

VII > IV > VIII > IX

But VIII definitely has my favorite cast, closely followed by IV. Excited to get into V more to see how it fares
 
For me, the series is probably something like

VII > III > IV > VI > XI > V > VIII > I > II

Not sure where I'd put X. It's certainly fun but I didnt beat it because i kept getting lost lol. The story seemed pretty good though. It's a big game

XI is very strong. At least the 3ds version. As of right now, I'd probably put it between VI and IX. It's an instant classic for sure.
 

Velcro Fly

Member
Getting into more of the job system Dragon Quest games (VI, VII, IX) and I'm going to really have to resist the urge to max out jobs for my entire party for the sake of being able to move on.
 
Welp I beat DQVII, clocked in right a 70 hours. Add maybe two hours on that for save scumming at the casino for 4x Metal King Helms.

One thing I wanted to note is how surprised I was at the sheer amount of unique monsters in the game. Yeah there's a few palette changes but even at the end of the game in the final dungeon I was seeing new monsters with unique models.

Which makes it quite a shame that there's no monster battle system because there's just so many good looking monster models.

I really enjoyed the game overall though, my only complaint really is the limited OST. While the OST is great, there just wasn't enough tracks for me. The game could have really benefited from a few more tracks because I got so tired of listening to the same town theme, town under darkness theme all the time when I'm 50+ hours into the game. You rarely hear anything new either.
 
It's funny toy say that, because dq7 had one of the largest ost in the series. Only 8's is longer. XI may have a larger ost, but it has a lot of recycled songs
 

Lynx_7

Member
The longer a game is, the longer its OST needs to be in order to avoid repetition, and DQ VII is reaally long, so I can see where the complaint is coming from. III - VI are generally shorter games so it's less of a problem, though it's still a small gripe I've always had with the franchise. There are hardly any "special" boss themes in the series outside of the final boss, only one battle theme for the entirety of the game, many repeated village themes, etc. As the game's playtimes got bigger, that problem got more noticeable. IV is the best in this regard I think, because each chapter has a different world map theme and I always thought that was a really cool touch, and the game is short enough that the ost never overstays its welcome. I also remember DQ VIII having some different boss themes for a few special fights, which is a step in the right direction.
 
Started on VI (DS) and I'm a few hours into it, I just got to Alltrades after getting the mustang. Really liking it so far, thank god I'm back to snappy menus after DQVII on 3DS.

So is VI kind of like the Ghost Dad in the series?
 

Aeana

Member
Ghost Dad could mean so many things, so I'm afraid to presume one thing over the other.

6 is one of my absolute favorites, but I felt that the DS version suffers from lack of visual identity, worse music quality, and weird pacing problems exacerbated by the smaller maps/faster movement speed.
 

Velcro Fly

Member
VI is the only one in the series I have basically zero experience playing. I'm a little familiar with things up until you unlock jobs but that is it. After I finish off this replay of DQIV I'm ready to dive right in to DQVI though.
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
It's funny toy say that, because dq7 had one of the largest ost in the series. Only 8's is longer. XI may have a larger ost, but it has a lot of recycled songs

VII is definitely the beginning of the end of the good OSTs. There's only a handful of tracks I like in VIII-X.
 

Kirie

Member
I somehow managed to recruit a metal slime the first time I killed one in DQV. I feel extremely lucky right now @_@ The rest of my party is around level 12 and even at level 3 it hits hard with a boomerang, I love it lol
 

Tonton

Member
How are the mobile ports of the games? I've been wanting to get into the series and that would come out significantly cheaper then going after the (3)DS versions
I'd only be missing VII, IX and XI going that route, right?
 

Hasemo

(;・∀・)ハッ?
How are the mobile ports of the games? I've been wanting to get into the series and that would come out significantly cheaper then going after the (3)DS versions
I'd only be missing VII, IX and XI going that route, right?
I played I-VII on mobile and thought they were great ports with some good qol features (quicksave almost everywhere).
Stretched sprites in DQI aside, I think it's the best way to pmay these games nowadays unless you REALLY need buttons (touch controls are fine).
I even chose the mobile version of 7 over the 3DS one after playing both for a while.
 

Tonton

Member
Only in Japan. Still not localized on mobile.
Well damn
At least I should have the 3DS version if they don't bring it for some reason

So what would be a good place to start with what's available to me? I-III are tempting due to lower price but IDK if they're too archaic or something.
 

Hasemo

(;・∀・)ハッ?
Well damn
At least I should have the 3DS version if they don't bring it for some reason

So what would be a good place to start with what's available to me? I-III are tempting due to lower price but IDK if they're too archaic or something.
I enjoyed playing theough the whole series starting from I and enjoyed them, but on the other hand I used guides for all the games aside from XI.
 
Well damn
At least I should have the 3DS version if they don't bring it for some reason

So what would be a good place to start with what's available to me? I-III are tempting due to lower price but IDK if they're too archaic or something.

For me, the series didn't really find its footing and tone until 3. 1 and 2 ARE too archaic. 3 stands up to this day. 4 and on are all great.
 

Hasemo

(;・∀・)ハッ?
For me, the series didn't really find its footing and tone until 3. 1 and 2 ARE too archaic. 3 stands up to this day. 4 and on are all great.
1 and 2 are so short that I didn't mind them being archaic. On the contrary, I enjoyed seeing how the whole thing started.
 
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