Dragon Quest
- Thread starter Rylee Fox
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I played a bit of Dragon Quest 7 on the 3DS. I liked the world and the characters. I liked the fact that each island had its own story so you never knew what to expect.
Unfortunately the combat was hot garbage. I played for something like 12 hours and all I did in random battles -- and this is not an oversimplification -- was keep pressing A until everything was dead. I fought a few bosses which actually required you to heal your characters every now and again, but they weren't challenging at all. Even by the standards of old JRPGs it's way too simplistic and tedious. This is on the same level as the first Final Fantasy, but in that game you at least got to choose your classes at the beginning rather than waiting 20 hours.
So I'm considering Dragon Quest a total write off (in case that wasn't already obvious).
Unfortunately the combat was hot garbage. I played for something like 12 hours and all I did in random battles -- and this is not an oversimplification -- was keep pressing A until everything was dead. I fought a few bosses which actually required you to heal your characters every now and again, but they weren't challenging at all. Even by the standards of old JRPGs it's way too simplistic and tedious. This is on the same level as the first Final Fantasy, but in that game you at least got to choose your classes at the beginning rather than waiting 20 hours.
So I'm considering Dragon Quest a total write off (in case that wasn't already obvious).
If it's story you're gunning for, try DQ5. That game takes a LOT of things you take for granted in these games and plays with them in very interesting ways. For example, the Hero...Rylee Fox said:
is not you. You're the main character, but you are NOT the chosen hero who is destined to bring light back to the world. You don't even meet said hero till you're almost in the last third of the game.
Also, it has best waifu in the series aside from Jessica in DQ8.
As a huge fan of Dragon Quest (see avatar) I will chime in.
It's about gameplay first, story second.
If you buy a Dragon Quest game, excluding any of it's spin-offs, you KNOW what to expect right away. You will get a very well crafted JRPG with familiar systems that does NOT try to re-invent itself with every iteration. Providing a standard is what largely endears the franchise to people, if you liked the gameplay in one game, you will like it in all the others. Dragon Quest certainly has some gimmicks too, with some entries featuring things like vocations, alchemy crafting, monster hunting, even fashion in one instance. The core gameplay however, where you travel from town to town, across the overworld, visiting dungeons in-between, and engaging in turn based battles, with often familiar enemy types with your 4 man (usually) adventuring party... is pretty standard across the series since the third entry.
Now it's true that Dragon Quest is laden with all kinds of generic tropes and common JRPG conventions... largely because it invented many of them, or at very least popularized them. You won't find any revolutionary story-telling in a Dragon Quest game because that's never been the intent. Consider it the pulp novel of the JRPG world, certainly not the pinnacle of writing by any means, but a guilty pleasure loved by many because it delivers upon what is expected, often in spades.
Is that to say that the stories are bad? No, certainly they are predictable, and perhaps even worthy of being considered banal and generic, but Dragon Quest as a series KNOWS what it is, and it works with it very well. The gameplay is tried and true, and continues across the series, at least 1 through 9, and because it is so standardized the story is written around the gameplay instead of vice versa as is often the case in many other RPGs where a story comes first.
Incidentally I should mention that story-wise, the most highly praised are NOT the more recent titles like 8 and 9, but rather the Zenithian Trilogy (4 - 6), particularly Dragon Quest V.
It's about gameplay first, story second.
If you buy a Dragon Quest game, excluding any of it's spin-offs, you KNOW what to expect right away. You will get a very well crafted JRPG with familiar systems that does NOT try to re-invent itself with every iteration. Providing a standard is what largely endears the franchise to people, if you liked the gameplay in one game, you will like it in all the others. Dragon Quest certainly has some gimmicks too, with some entries featuring things like vocations, alchemy crafting, monster hunting, even fashion in one instance. The core gameplay however, where you travel from town to town, across the overworld, visiting dungeons in-between, and engaging in turn based battles, with often familiar enemy types with your 4 man (usually) adventuring party... is pretty standard across the series since the third entry.
Now it's true that Dragon Quest is laden with all kinds of generic tropes and common JRPG conventions... largely because it invented many of them, or at very least popularized them. You won't find any revolutionary story-telling in a Dragon Quest game because that's never been the intent. Consider it the pulp novel of the JRPG world, certainly not the pinnacle of writing by any means, but a guilty pleasure loved by many because it delivers upon what is expected, often in spades.
Is that to say that the stories are bad? No, certainly they are predictable, and perhaps even worthy of being considered banal and generic, but Dragon Quest as a series KNOWS what it is, and it works with it very well. The gameplay is tried and true, and continues across the series, at least 1 through 9, and because it is so standardized the story is written around the gameplay instead of vice versa as is often the case in many other RPGs where a story comes first.
Incidentally I should mention that story-wise, the most highly praised are NOT the more recent titles like 8 and 9, but rather the Zenithian Trilogy (4 - 6), particularly Dragon Quest V.
Can totally agree with this assessment.McMarbles said:
Nothing too mentally tasking (least so long as you aren't attempting uber-hard post-story content), just solid gameplay, a colorful art-style and unlike a lot of other JRPGs (least to me), it doesn't get all convoluted with it's story.
I really enjoyed IX and kinda role-playing as the different members of my party and in a lot of JRPGs, you don't really get that as much these days.
It's less that it's doing something unique or special and more that it's doing what it does REALLY well, just like Mom's Meatloaf
Metalix Knightmare said:If it's story you're gunning for, try DQ5. That game takes a LOT of things you take for granted in these games and plays with them in very interesting ways. For example, the Hero...Rylee Fox said:
is not you. You're the main character, but you are NOT the chosen hero who is destined to bring light back to the world. You don't even meet said hero till you're almost in the last third of the game.
Also, it has best waifu in the series aside from Jessica in DQ8.
(Raises hand for a high five) Bianca? Nera? Pffff. Real men marry Debora.
HIGH FIVE REQUEST APPROVED!Specter Von Baren said:Metalix Knightmare said:If it's story you're gunning for, try DQ5. That game takes a LOT of things you take for granted in these games and plays with them in very interesting ways. For example, the Hero...Rylee Fox said:
is not you. You're the main character, but you are NOT the chosen hero who is destined to bring light back to the world. You don't even meet said hero till you're almost in the last third of the game.
Also, it has best waifu in the series aside from Jessica in DQ8.
(Raises hand for a high five) Bianca? Nera? Pffff. Real men marry Debora.
I agree with everything that's been said about what makes Dragon Quest work. It's simple. It's not convoluted and doesn't go for extreme drama and/or melodrama. It's charming and nostalgic. It's also not for everyone.
I fired up DQ3 on my tablet a couple months back and have been slowly playing through it and loving every minute of it. DQ is the epitome of an old school romp through another world.
DQ8 is one of my favorite JRPG's on PS2. It doesn't do anything special. But what it does, it does well. It gave me a beautiful world explore. Likable characters. A traditional fantasy adventure and a simple, but satisfying combat system.
I fired up DQ3 on my tablet a couple months back and have been slowly playing through it and loving every minute of it. DQ is the epitome of an old school romp through another world.
DQ8 is one of my favorite JRPG's on PS2. It doesn't do anything special. But what it does, it does well. It gave me a beautiful world explore. Likable characters. A traditional fantasy adventure and a simple, but satisfying combat system.