Dragon Quest - Like a Dargon

[WildcatJF]

We seem to have a pretty devoted band of adventurers who enjoy the DQ series here at TT, so let's name our silent main character and begin the 3.0 TT Dragon Quest thread the best way I know how.

Fuck Sugiyama's politics and his continued involvement with the series.

Because nearly everything else is really good to fantastic. Which is what this thread is about; the GOOD parts of Dragon Quest.

Like Yangus!

He's a great bean.

But what will thou post? Because thou must!

 

[Mightyblue]

I only really like V and III to a lesser extent, ngl. I honestly find the latter half of the series to be a monument to excess in ways that even the Tales series doesn't approach often, and I usually burn out after reaching what amounts to the midway point in the later games.

 

[Kishi]

The section in VIII where the party decides they need a boat and then has to complete like five matryoshka fetch quests and episodic vignettes just to achieve "get boat" is a monument to self-parody. No intentional satire of RPG excess would even take it that far. Just exquisite.

 

[YangusKhan]

I worry about how long DQ12 is gonna end up being, if it's still a console-sized game. I still haven't fully finished DQ11 after something like 90 hours, and there's easily another 15-20 hours of stuff left I could do.

 

[Issun]

This is the year I finally play some DQ games to completion.

Hopefully.

 

[YangusKhan]

Here's a CGI trailer for Dragon Quest Tact, which has been confirmed for releasing in the West some time this year:

Before you ask, yes it is a gacha. I tried playing the other DQ gacha that came out earlier this year but I didn't stick with it very long. No idea how this one compares, but it's a grid-based tactics game instead of a traditional DQ-like. Now all SQEX needs to do is finally localize the Pokemon Go clone...!

 

[Falselogic]

Outside of the first Dragon Quest (NES) I've never completed any of the mainline games. Despite now owning most of them. (I think I'm missing the SNES ones.) I love DQ Builders though and heartily recommend it to everyone, they even tie into the mainline games. It's like Minecraft but fun and not hideous!

 

[MetManMas]

Here's a CGI trailer for Dragon Quest Tact, which has been confirmed for releasing in the West some time this year:

Before you ask, yes it is a gacha. I tried playing the other DQ gacha that came out earlier this year but I didn't stick with it very long. No idea how this one compares, but it's a grid-based tactics game instead of a traditional DQ-like. Now all SQEX needs to do is finally localize the Pokemon Go clone...!

As a fan of that DSiWare tactical Dragon Quest game, I signed up for this as soon as I learned it's a thing that exists. A pile of DraQue cosmetics might not keep my interest in a gacha for long, but collectible monsters is a whole other barrel of sea slimes. The lack of a "Contains ads" notice is also more likely to get me to try a gacha.

I just hope this one isn't as aggressive about shoving all the microtransactions it wants me to buy into my face whenever I start it up. One big reason I've stuck by Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is because the "buy this shit" message interference is minimal compared to games that'll throw six or seven windows at you before you're allowed to play the damn game.

 

[FelixSH]

I love DQ, having played 1-9, with VII probably being my favourite? I love the little vignettes, and that the storytelling doesn't shy away from being bittersweet.

But what I want more from the series than amything else would be a new DQ Monsters. Not Joker, which was fun too, but not quite what I wanted. DQM was my first DQ game, still has a very special place in my heart, and is probably my favorite monster collecting game? With Digimon Cyber Sleuth, there is competition now, but elsewise it's very much For Me.

 

[MetManMas]

On the subject of Dragon Quest Monsters, I would really love to see a remake of or spiritual successor to Caravan Heart. Combining the Monsters series with elements of The Oregon Trail was a neat touch and I would love to see another game do something like that.

 

[jovewolf]

I am quite fond of both the DQ Builders games, but in particular I love Builders 2 - it refined most things from the first game and added new mechanics many new mechanics that just made building and exploring a joy (though I do wish you could take the buggy off your home island once you get it)

Plus I kind of love that not only are there more "good" DQ monsters around to help you out, but also that your best buddy through the whole game is the infamous big bad of DQ2.

 

[Troa11]

I am quite fond of both the DQ Builders games, but in particular I love Builders 2 - it refined most things from the first game and added new mechanics many new mechanics that just made building and exploring a joy (though I do wish you could take the buggy off your home island once you get it)

Plus I kind of love that not only are there more "good" DQ monsters around to help you out, but also that your best buddy through the whole game is the infamous big bad of DQ2.

You...you know you can build a buggy using the blueprint on any island you travel to after that, right? In fact, I think you can build up to 3 per island.

For my own DQ experience, like many, I played the free one Nintendo Power talked me into getting. Last year I played 2, 3, 4, and 5 back to back and loved it. I stalled out in 6 despite liking the main conceit, during the portion where you're trying to gather the Z gear. It's still waiting for me on my DS... I should go finish it.

And I'll say Builders and to a greater extent Builders 2 is probably the most fun I've had in ANY game for a long time. It's what actually made me want to take in more of the mainline series.

 

[jovewolf]

You...you know you can build a buggy using the blueprint on any island you travel to after that, right? In fact, I think you can build up to 3 per island.

No, no I did not, but good to know now!

 

[MetManMas]

Dragon Quest Tact just went into early access! I've been playing it.

It's alright so far! The story's as dumb as nails but that's expected from a genre that wants you to roll some new best friends. I definitely find recruiting Dragon Quest monsters far more appealing than collecting Dragon Quest gear and while I haven't lost a fight yet the difficulty level is enough that a couple of early boss fights have been a bit rough.

The game's more advanced than Dragon Quest Wars was but still fairly easy to get into. Just have to be mindful of positioning with spells; friendly fire isn't really a thing, but magic can have some very interesting tile layouts it covers.

 

[YangusKhan]

I've been playing it as well. I like it a lot more than DQ of the Stars! To my surprise I've actually been putting in much time for an early access beta; usually when that happens I'll only play for 1 session and then wait for the full release, but I've felt compelled to unlock all the features and see what kind of progression everything has. It looks really good on my tablet, too!

The weirdest thing about it is the gacha itself. There's no guaranteed rarity mechanic for doing a 10-pull, which is all but standard nowadays for gacha games, so effectively there's no incentive to do a 10-pull over a single pull. But that kind of stuff changes easily/quickly in this genre, so I'd be surprised if that's intact for the full release. I actually haven't pulled yet because the game gives you ample monsters for free (albeit from a much lower rarity pool), so it still kinda feels like a Monsters game in spirit.

Also:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1318614561214230531

 

[MetManMas]

I have been pulling but this is really a game where pulls don't help you as much as you think they would, at least for now.

This guy got beaten up by great sabercubs on his initial mission. I even had levelled him up with the requisite instant level-up doodads.

Anyway, I am currently replaying some previous missions for better ranks and some EXP. That king slime boss fight was surprisingly brutal.

 

[YangusKhan]

I'm really enjoying my time with Dragon Quest Tact. I've almost finished unlocking everything, but so far I've been surprised how much I enjoy it, especially compared to DQotS. There is one disabled feature called Arena which I hope isn't some kind of PvP, as that never goes well with gacha games, but I've always felt that PvP isn't really "on brand" for Dragon Quest in the first place.

In some ways the gacha rates are kind of refreshing, because without any kind of pity or guaranteed rarity mechanic I don't really take it that seriously and can just pull whenever I feel like it without having to hyper-analyze my pulling decisions.

Most importantly though, the localization is great and the writing is amusing and it primarily cribs music from DQ7, so, awesome.

 

[MetManMas]

I am seriously enjoying this game. I finished up what we got to play of the main story a couple of days ago so I'm now working on ranking up and improving my monsters to take on the Battle Road and VS Missions.

This goofy salamander fry has the highest CP total in my team right now.

 

[MetManMas]

Welp, the Dragon Quest Tact beta is over. I am eagerly awaiting the official release of the game.

 

[Ixo]

I have played so much DQ IV today. (The DS version.) Started the game a few days ago, playing up through adding Healie to the party. Today I picked up from that point, completed both Ragnar and Alena’s chapters, and made it part of the way into Torneko’s, stopping once my brain failed to interpret basic directions to a building correctly. (I legitimately thought I had done something wrong in a previous chapter. Nope! Just tired. Yangus sorted me out though; thanks man.)

Anyway. The way the game’s set up is perfect for me, the player who enjoys the early JRPG trading 2hp blows while building up enough cash for a Real Weapon experience. Each chapter so far feels like I’m playing through a couple real short games instead of one long one, which I’m betting will help keep me engaged more efficiently than “Here’s 60 solid hours of plot; hope you remember what you were doing between play sessions.”

The localization team sure made some choices though. The faux Scottish isn’t as bad to me as the faux Slavic language, (what with the stereotypical grammar structure a la “Please to be having-“) because it’s at least tossing in some actual vocabulary. I do appreciate the attempt to give each region some cultural distinction, if nothing else, and it’s probably hard to get a certain dialect across in text without perpetuating stereotypes! I’m still gonna look at it a little funny regardless.

Torneko appraising his lunch is my personal highlight of the whole game thus far.

 

[MetManMas]

If you're willing to endure touch controls for movement and camera control and the occasional odd text formatting, the mobile port added back in the party chat that the DS localization cut out.

 

[Ixo]

I have been wondering why the Talk option in the menu never really did anything. I didn’t know the party chatter got intentionally dropped.

 

[WildcatJF]

Only in IV iirc.

 

[q 3]

They definitely kept it in V, which is important because Debora's commentary is the single best part of the entire franchise.

 

[Poster]

Deborah is great. She is such a troll choice, I love it.

 

[Octopus Prime]

Know, I’ve played through V a number of times and have still yet to experience it.

The choice of who to marry always felt rhetorical

 

[Lokii]

I picked Nera once and felt awful.

 

[conchobhar]

Even if conceived as a joke option, Debora is a genuinely compelling character with a well-done character development. It's not an earth-shattering change (she gradually warms to the hero, and matures in general), but it's told in a surprisingly organic way thanks to party chat, and it just works. She's one of my favourite characters in the series.

 

[Ixo]

IV playing continues. It appears I’ve somehow wrangled Turtle into giving a playthrough a fair shake. It’s been real fun to see the differences in how we approach the game at roughly the same time.

I’m 28 hours in with a party in the level 18 - 21 range and just tonight beat the boss that gets Ragnar back as playable. Fully admit to getting entirely sidetracked for a few hours once I got a boat. (The same thing happened when I tried DQ II a while back. I managed to sail to the point where Cannock gets sick like nearly immediately. Have not managed to come back to it.)

After covering a chunk of the map, I finally hit my first point of “grind to beat boss to continue” which was fine. What was not fine was my first aborted attempt at the fight thanks to trying the silver tarot cards. Pulling The Fool, and it successfully Thwacking three of my four party members was not a welcome outcome.

Alena just Koolaid Man-ing her way through locked doors despite having a key in her inventory is great. She does the same thing in combat and it rules. Torneko was great to play as in his chapter, but afterwards he gets this weird RNG thing where he has a mind of his own sometimes. It’s not the greatest. I keep getting the sisters’ mixed up and confusing which has what abilities because of their similar names and appearance. I feel like I don’t have much reason to ever use Borya and that’s kinda sad.

Old man has the idea and puts in the work to dig a tunnel, but it’s Torneko that gets the credit for it just ‘cause he funded the thing. Whack. (We all know the real champion of the Taloon family is Tessie anyway. Perseverance of a saint.)

I’m admittedly thrown off by the inclusion of elves and dwarves here. I mean, fantasy setting and all, so it’s not like they don’t fit, but it seems weird in the context of the series somehow.

Using Zoom and watching an entire horse n wagon launch into the air will never not be entertaining.

Thanks to aforementioned boat sailing, I’ve seen the dream sequence with Rose, to which my brain immediately filled in King’s Quesr VI’s Girl in the Tower while the cutscene played.

I wish the zoomed in map was scrollable. Or at least labeled. I keep forgetting which city is which and there’s not much in-game to help with that.

 

[conchobhar]

I just wrapped a playthrough of Dragon Quest I, or I guess Dragon Warrior I (the GBC version, specifically). I have a bit of experience with NES RPGs (including DQ3), but I was still impressed to see just how well the genre's ur-example holds up; it's a bit more of a grind than I would like, but its world map does a great job of inspiring adventure and danger in equal measure and the tension derived from that. It's also impressive how tightly-designed it is: each spell has a distinct use, towns often have multiple purposes, most NPCs offer hints or clues. And yet it still sneaks in plenty of character… I was surprised to see that, even in the first game, Horii was imbuing villagers with a semblance of an inner life by including ones who commiserate about their circumstances, or that the series' tendency for a post-final boss victory lap around the world began here. It's a shockingly well-realized game.

One interesting thing about my time with DQ1 is that I effectively experienced the big Erdrick Trilogy twist in reverse. As I said, I've already played DQ3, and because I played it first, the big moment in the second act where the player drops into "the underworld" (Alefgard) was mostly lost on me; I knew enough to recognize what it was going for, and thought it was neat, but it didn't register beyond that— any specific references flew right over my head. But my time in DQ3's Alefgard made a big impact on my time here in DQ1's Alefgard, granting additional context and weight to its locations. I think it might actually work better in this order, because it's like seeing all these plot seeds bear fruit: Galen goes from being a travelling minstrel to a town's founder; Cantlin gets the protective golem that one of its residents mused about; the destruction of Damdara has weight since I was familiar with the town already; and even just the way people talk about Erdrick is satisfying, to see that she remains a legend. When I think about how those would play out in reverse— meeting the founder of Galenholm only to find out he's kind of a happy-go-lucky dork, or visiting Damdara to find it's a fairly unremarkable place— it doesn't seem as interesting. But perhaps that's just because I experienced it one way first; I'd be curious to know how others think.