The Dragon Quest Thread

[SexExitium]

I've never played one of these 2D-HD remakes because I've always found them visually jarring; watching that trailer I realized it's mainly due to the diorama / depth of field effect, as some parts of the trailer had it but others didn't. Is this an area-specific thing or a feature you can turn on/off in HD-2D games in general, or does it just depend on the game? Remake looks very nice otherwise

 

[Sentinel]

You can on PC with mods. Not on consoles.

 

[Vorark]

Hopefully this and the I & II remakes sell well enough for Square-Enix to greenlight the IV-VI trilogy.

 

[Shinji]

Apparently they've changed the scale of the overworld

Top image is the old one
Bottom image is the new one

It looks nicer overall, I think.

 

[Late Bloomer]

I prefer the top one.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Old one? From when? My NES don't look like that.

 

[Irxy]

Never played any of the DQ games in the past, decided to try DQ11, and after ~10 hours of forcing myself through this snorefest I think this is easily one of the worst jrpgs I've ever played.
Everything about it is jarringly simplistic - story, characters, combat, overall gameplay - very linear and bare bones. Feels like a game made to be a 1st jrpg for small children. I'm frankly a bit baffled, considering the series popularity and cult status - is it purely nostalgia based, are all of them like this? Maybe it becomes better in the 2nd half or something & I should give it a chance? So far if I had to rate all ~50 or so jrpgs I've played since snes/genesis era, excluding indies I'd put this one at the absolute bottom.
Also the music is horrendous, it literally hurts my ears.

 

[Starner]

Never played any of the DQ games in the past, decided to try DQ11, and after ~10 hours of forcing myself through this snorefest I think this is easily one of the worst jrpgs I've ever played.
Everything about it is jarringly simplistic - story, characters, combat, overall gameplay - very linear and bare bones. Feels like a game made to be a 1st jrpg for small children. I'm frankly a bit baffled, considering the series popularity and cult status - is it purely nostalgia based, are all of them like this? Maybe it becomes better in the 2nd half or something & I should give it a chance? So far if I had to rate all ~50 or so jrpgs I've played since snes/genesis era, excluding indies I'd put this one at the absolute bottom.
Also the music is horrendous, it literally hurts my ears.

I'm not sure what kinds of things you value in RPGs, but I can recommend trying 2 and 3 on the NES. They rely more on exploration than 11 does, and they expect you to read the dialogues for clues about what to do next. Overall they feel more challenging as well especially since 2 wasn't balanced correctly resulting in party deficits you have to overcome.

As for 11 it's alright, but not representative of the series as a whole. It's just comfort food for people that have already played the superior titles in the series. It doesn't really exist to shake things up or do anything new.

 

[Irxy]

But what would its strong points be? It can't be the story. Or the combat. Exploration? There's barely any. Can't think of a single mechanic or idea which would make it stand out. Everything is just so generic. Even what it has it doesn't really excel at. It is as if somebody took an example/tutorial project from rpg maker and stretched it into a full game, leaving everything as basic as it were. Can't get rid of a feeling I'm missing something here. Opinions be opinions, but come on, this is just bad.

 

[Starner]

But what would its strong points be? It can't be the story. Or the combat. Exploration? There's barely any. Can't think of a single mechanic or idea which would make it stand out. Everything is just so generic. Even what it has it doesn't really excel at. It is as if somebody took an example/tutorial project from rpg maker and stretched it into a full game, leaving everything as basic as it were. Can't get rid of a felling I'm missing something here. Opinions be opinions, but come on, this is just bad.

I'm not really the one to want to make an argument for 11 because it isn't one of the games that I particularly enjoy from the series. What do you like in RPGs so we can give you a better DQ to check out?

 

[Irxy]

But what would its strong points be? It can't be the story. Or the combat. Exploration? There's barely any. Can't think of a single mechanic or idea which would make it stand out. Everything is just so generic. Even what it has it doesn't really excel at. It is as if somebody took an example/tutorial project from rpg maker and stretched it into a full game, leaving everything as basic as it were. Can't get rid of a felling I'm missing something here. Opinions be opinions, but come on, this is just bad.

I'm not really the one to want to make an argument for 11 because it isn't one of the games that I particularly enjoy from the series. What do you like in RPGs so we can give you a better DQ to check out?

Anything beyond generic really, don't think my tastes are special.

But a bunch of random examples - the Trails series for overall cozyness & a plot spawning over a dozen games, SMT for fun grinding, exploration & cool designs, Personas for the school stuff & a decent story, Final Fantasy for creative worlds & badass summons, Agarest for the cruelty, Atelier for crafting, Nier for the ass, Suikoden for the gang, Fire Emblem for tactics & relations and... well, could go on for a long time, I've played tons of jrpgs. Different games excel at different stuff - just need to be good at something at least to be fun, wether story or gameplay or general design.

Like, how would one finish a phrase "DQ11 is good because..."?

 

[Rahdulan]

Like, how would one finish a phrase "DQ11 is good because..."?

That's the thing. Because it's a traditional series. You could say that's the gimmick of DQ when re-inventing the wheel or single defining feature is what makes other series stand out. It's also an institution when it comes to majority of Japanese JRPG players.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Like, how would one finish a phrase "DQ11 is good because..."?

Throw my vote in as another person that likes early DQ games but bounced right off this one. I'd recommend 2-6. They've each got their own quirks. 2 and 3 are especially freeform in exploration, 4 has a fairly unique scenario system where you play several different characters/parties with their own storylines before they converge in the endgame (one is a merchant with a bunch of his own mechanics/minigames and the entire scenario revolves around making money) while 5 is the one that was so popular they modeled all the anime stories after it (you start as a child, get married to your waifu of choice, and have a kid that becomes a playable character.) 6 was kind of a return to 3, with lots of free exploration in the latter half and a return of the job system, which I really like.

Once you get into the 3D games there's a huge emphasis on cutscenes and story, and the games become way more linear, often completely so, while also lacking any challenge. Not my cup of tea.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Nier for the ass,

Oh! What is this Nier?

Don't forget DQ has a few other side series like Monsters, Builder, etc. Honestly, it is a cult game that many of us foreigners may never understand.

Lordy, more than I recall last time I looked: wiki

 

[Spike]

Isn't 8 really held highly? I should check these out soon, always loved the art style.

 

[e-mailio estevez]

My biggest gripe with DQ8 (and 9, for that matter) is that the gameplay leans a little too heavily on the 'Psyche Out' mechanic, which is basically powering up DBZ-style for several turns to gain a progressively larger damage multiplier. It can result in absurd damage, but can be easily dispelled by bosses the later you get into the game, which leads to scenarios where you're powering up for several turns only for it to result in a wet fart. Not fun.

Otherwise, it's been a long time since I've played it, but it ranks up there as one of my favorites in the series. Nice artstyle, decent enough story for a DQ game, really nice orchestral soundtrack, a rudimentary crafting system, monster-capturing and great exploration. Just a cozy feel-good experience from start to finish, and it's pretty damn long too, so finishing it is pretty satisfying if you can stick to it.

You've get a set team of 4 party members you stick with throughout the game, but they're all very likeable.

DQ3 and 5 still top my personal charts, DQ3 being the very first RPG I ever played (JRPG or otherwise), but DQ8 is a close 3rd. I bought it at a gamestore aeons ago, and the dudebro at the counter asked if I was buying it for the FFXII demo.

 

[MakenBro]

Psyche Up in VIII isn't really required until late game and against certain type of enemies.
+5 tension = 170% damage, two normal attacks will inflict 200%.
+20 tension = 300% damage, the equivalent of three normal attacks.
The entire mechanic can be largely ignored until you get the Timbrel, really.

 

[Yuber]

My biggest gripe with DQ8 (and 9, for that matter) is that the gameplay leans a little too heavily on the 'Psyche Out' mechanic, which is basically powering up DBZ-style for several turns to gain a progressively larger damage multiplier.

Really? I pretty much never use that, only for postgame bosses.

 

[PulsatingBrain]

My biggest gripe with DQ8 (and 9, for that matter) is that the gameplay leans a little too heavily on the 'Psyche Out' mechanic, which is basically powering up DBZ-style for several turns to gain a progressively larger damage multiplier.

Really? I pretty much never use that, only for postgame bosses.

Same here. It's certainly a useful skill throughout, but I wouldn't call it essential until very late game.

 

[Vorark]

So, the remake is out. Of course, people are already bitching about high random encounter rates...

Anyway, some stats have changed from previous versions. Defense used to be determined by 1/2 Agility + armor, but in the remake it seems to be determined by Resilience + armor instead. If the classes remain the same, this means that Warrior will end up being a more defensive class than, say, Fighter. It will be interesting to see how the class and personality combinations are affected by these changes in the long run.

The stats are now as follows:

Strenght = attack
Resilience = defense
Stamina = HP growth
Agility = initiative and evasion
Wisdom = spell power scale (neat!) and MP growth
Luck = crit rate and chance to avoid ailments.

Lame localization apart, the game seems to be a well done remake and a good port overall. There are even mods available too.

Will pick it up for sure once it's a bit cheaper here.

 

[Volourn]

Yeah, 80$ is way too much for a remake. Waiting for it to be at least half price.

 

[Late Bloomer]

80$

 

[Thalstarion]

I played VIII and XI.

I enjoyed the former much more than the latter. VIII had some grit and consequence to it and a better cast overall. XI pulled out time travel nonsense to reverse any consequences and Sylvando was incredibly annoying.

Is this closer to VIII?

 

[Vorark]

DQIII is light on story, focusing more on overworld exploration, questing and a general sense of adventure than the in-depth narratives of VIII and XI. There are no companions either, you create your own party members.

Lackluster as it was, if you enjoyed the small bits of exploration in VIII, then III might be of interest.

 

[Thalstarion]

I'll check it out once my backlog clears a bit more, then. Thanks!