Dragon Quest / Warrior

So I'm curious, how many people here have played some/all of these games? For the unknowing, they're RPGs dating back to 1986 on the Famicom (1989 on the NES for America, where the name was changed to "Dragon Warrior" until the release of VIII a couple years ago). I have the vague feeling I made a thread about this before but I can't really remember, so I'm sorry if I'm having an underage alzheimer's bout in posting this.

Unlike Final Fantasy, which has changed so much over time that when one really compares FF11 and FF1, they'd be hard pressed to figure out what made them the same series- not that the change is bad, new things are always interesting and all- Dragon Quest is stuck like glue to certain conventions of the series. Not so much that it stops it from expanding and trying new things, but VIII will feel familiar to someone who's played the first, certainly. With some of the series not being released here during the non-existence of Enix of America for a while (V and VI in particular, as well as the SNES remakes) worsening the situation, Dragon Quest has enjoyed only cult popularity in the US.

Dragon Quest is extremely popular in Japan, though- more so than Final Fantasy and Mario, or so I understand it. So many people skipped out on school and work for the release of Dragon Quest III that a real law was passed saying that Dragon Quest games could not be released on weekdays.

The series is basically a bunch of classic style RPGs. You play a "hero" character that you name yourself, typically one who has a balance of different abilities, are sent on a quest of some sort (plot varies greatly in complexity and somewhat in subject matter by game; I, II, and III are a continuous series, as are IV, V, and I think VI; VII and VIII are seperate, self-contained stories), usually (I is an exception; III also has an unusual system) meet with companions who have specialized abilities, and explore the world, getting levels and equipment and spells and all that typical RPG stuff.

The series tries different systems for the gameplay progression, though; in I you fight alone on a simple, straightforward quest, whereas in II you get a party and a ship and have to figure out the way to reach- and exactly where- the main villain is, whereas in III you can optionally set up a party at the beginning or go alone and the game is still more complex, with an extension beyond what seems like the battle with the main villain; in IV this is replaced by a chapter format, where you play as a/some character(s) through their own story, complete it, and move on to another, with the last chapter tying it all together as the hero meets and teams up with the previous chapters' characters; in V, your character starts out as a child and the game follows his life as he encounters problems, matures, and even gets married and has children; I've never really played VI as it's not fully translated; in VII, you start out on a single island, the only one in the world, but on that island you explore ancient ruins that contain, as you figure out, the whole of the world sealed away in portions, and you have to travel into those lands in the past to fix things and unseal them, causing them to return in the present, all part of a grander scheme; and in VIII, you start out with what looks like an odd troupe in search of the person, as it turns out, responsible for cursing them and their kingdom, and the first half of the game has you following his trail around- and teaming up with two more companions- until you learn that something more was behind his actions.

In each case, certain factors stay the same, though; in all games but II (where the hero was more of a soldier-type, with no magic), you play as a "hero" character with balanced abilities, the same menu types (american version of VIII aside) are always used, the battle format is very simlar (although MUCH prettier in VIII; it's traditional that the battle has you looking at the enemies, choosing commands off the menu, and reading a dialogue box chronicling the action, but in VIII, this is enhanced with full-motion visuals of that action, with the camera panning around to see the characters and their attacks), the same spells are nearly omnipresent after their introduction (although VIII used a different translation system for the names), and many of the same enemies (especially Slimes), items, and themes return. The music is usually new in each game, although the title Overture is always there and ever since III, the same save file menu music has been in use.

So, in case my lengthy babbling wasn't an indication, this is pretty much one of my favorite videogame series ever ^^ I love Dragon Quest. It's fun, it holds onto the things that make it Dragon Quest while mixing things up enough to keep it interesting, and I admire that it has remained more or less timing-free. It always gives you lots of room to see and explore everything, more than once- in fact, it's encouraged, and it's quite typical that characters always have lots to say. VII and VIII in particular go nuts with it- they let you talk to your party at any time for commentary on the present situation (in VII they're a bit more ADD striken and comment on nearly everything they see, whereas in VIII they tend to stick more to the main goal of the moment; additionally VII let you talk in battle, although there were very few lines to be found there, and talking too much used up your turn), and ever since V, there's always more to find after finishing the game proper (usually at least one uber-strong extra boss, although later games have incorporated hidden dungeons of varying quality- VIII, on the other hand, has an entire storyline extension and several incredibly strong bosses that put the normal final boss to shame).

Simply put, I find Dragon Quest very fun. It definitely requires patience and enthusiasm- you have to really be interested, and level grinding is usually inevitable at some point or another (ESPECIALLY THE NES VERSION OF I), but it meshes with the way I work pretty well, and I really enjoy it (in fact, I find that these and SOTN-type Castlevanias are the two series I seem to handle the best- I have more patience and obsession with them than even Mario sidescrollers and older Zelda games and such). It's simply an awesome series, if you like it for what it is.

Of course, something I've barely played are the spinoffs. In particular there have been "Mystery Dungeon" style games (only one made it to the US, "Torneko: The Last Hope", but there was another Torneko/Taloon game, and recently there was one for Yangus of DQVIII) and the "Monsters" series (a vaguely Pokemonish series where you tame, collect, and breed monsters from the series to compose a party for the- usually simplistic- story quest, and just for the sake of trying out the different monsters). I'm interested in them, I've just barely played them so far.

So, does anyone else here like this series?

I used to own Dragon Warrior on the NES when I was little. I never got very far into it though. Several years ago I picked up Dragon Warrior I & II for the Gameboy Color, and finally managed to beat it. The updated version was pretty faithful to the original, while making the game a little easier to play (ie no more huge menu for actions - most actions could be performed by pressing A at a certain context, such as talking to a person when you're facing them). I never finished Dragon Warrior II though.

I haven't played any other games in the series, but I would like to check out the Dragon Quest Swords (or whatever it's called) for the Wii when it comes out.

All remakes of Dragon Quest I also do you the favor of doubling the EXP enemies give you (plus the Green Dragon in the cave to Rimuldar gives you extra, as does the Golem). That's probably a good thing; lots of boring hours of doing absolutely nothing but levelling up removed there.

Dragon Quest II didn't do that AFAIK. They did, however, add some cool stuff in; you were actually likely to find a mysterious hat (the only helmet that two of your party members can wear- and it lowers MP usage) instead of never knowing one existed because it was an insaneo rare drop item; there was a little more plot talk; a world map item; and there was a little added sequence where a party member gets sick if you stay at a certain inn, requiring you to go find an item (the leaf of the world tree- something you'll probably want to get more than once anyway, since it's the only reviving item) to cure him.

For information purposes, versions that are available (in the US) of the series games:

Dragon Quest: NES, GBC (With DQII), and a translation patch for the SFC/SNES version (also with DQII; basically it's a much, MUCH prettier version of the GBC game with uncensored dialogue)

Dragon Quest II: NES, GBC (with DQI), and the SFC version (on the downside, the patch has a couple of little glitches in DQII, the nastiest being the one that screws up the aforementioned- avoidable, just don't stay in the inn in the water town- prince-gets-sick event, causing an infinitely looping inescapable text window of gibberish)

Dragon Quest III: NES, GBC, unfinished translation of the SFC version (again, basically a much prettier alternate of the GBC version)

Dragon Quest IV: NES (there's a PSX version in Japan, but...)

Dragon Quest V: SFC with complete, glitchless translation patch (there's also a PS2 version of this in Japan. It's nowhere near as pretty as DQVIII though, and looks a bit like DQIV PSX and DQVII)

Dragon Quest VI: Unfinished SFC translation patch (there are no remakes of this, yet people say it's one of the best games in the series...)

Dragon Quest VII: PSX (also no remakes. That's a problem because there's a not-terribly-rare damaged disc problem; basically, some copies of the game are turning up flawed such that it plays perfectly except a few things will never load when you get to them. That means the screen goes black and nothing happens. If it was a room you needed to go in to finish the game (likely), you're boned. Sometimes it's worse, like battles crash the game, or the world map item doesn't work. The only way I was able to play was to get ahold of two copies temporarily, and swap discs when I came to a broken part)

Dragon Quest VIII: PS2 (still pretty common new for $20, I highly recommend it even if you've never played a Dragon Quest game)

Dragon Quest Monsters: GBC
Dragon Quest Monsters 2 (there's two alternate versions, but I'm not sure what the differences are): GBC
Dragon Quest Monsters Joker (I think this was coming out for the NDS here?)

Torneko: The Last Hope (PSX)

Dragon Quest: Rocket Slime (NDS, common)

Upcoming:

Dragon Quest IX (NDS)
Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors (Wii)


In other words: I-III are findable on GBC or easily through emulation (I really recommend that SFC version, by the way, especially since DQI is flawless, and II is playable as long as you know what to avoid- I can give a list if anyone's wondering); IV is something you'll probably only play via emulation unless you want to hunt up the semi-rare cartridge and play it on a NES or NEX or somesuch; V, you can only play via emulation; VI, you can play by emulation with work and probably a guide; VII, good luck with your disc or ISO (yes, ISOs from bad discs exhibit the same flaw I believe); VIII, hunt around some game stores or maybe Wal Mart even.

I like the whole series (except the one I've yet to play, obviously), but my favorites are probably VII, VIII, and III. And IV in it's own weird way, although it drives me nuts how you can only legitimately control one party member in the final chapter (otherwise I wouldn't hesitate to list it). VII is fun and loooooooooong and packed and really awesome save for a few weird shortcomings (it felt like they didn't have as much time as they wanted to finish the sidequests and bonus dungeons, and I think the FMVs are the only reason it's on two discs instead of one), VIII is also thooughly badass and is BEAUTIFUL (I've yet to see a game I felt so impressed by in that regard; the anime cel shading look comes off perfectly, and the flying...! and the views!), and III is a well balanced, strong, classic RPG (easily one of the best games on the NES). IV is quite different and I have to say the plot is stronger than I would've expected, and the game is pretty damn fun, except that your final party consists of Hero + retarded computer players.

So anyway, if anyone's interested it's fairly easy to get into it (VII and VI being the "rare gems" as it were). I hereby pimp VIII on everyone here XD

Have I ranted lately about how badly I wish Square Enix would get around to remaking these instead of more versions of Final Fantasy games that they already remade recently *coughcough1andIVcough*? A Dragon Quest VI + VII release for PSP or somesuch would be like, the best thing ever.

I've always been a big fan of Dragon Quest... played through every game in the series thus far, my personal favorites being III and V. III for the excellent class system (yay for multiclassing!) and V for having one of the few truly original stories in jRPG history.

I actually thought VII was a bit of a step down in the series... a lot of grinding in a game that's very long to begin with makes a game that takes forever and a day to finish. The plot wasn't bad, and the gameplay was fun... the plot was just too sporadic to keep me entrenched and the gameplay gets very old by the time to start to get somewhat near the end.

VIII, however, redeems the series and is utterly and completely awesome. One of (if not THE) best RPGs on the PS2.

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Originally Posted by DarkDragoonX

I actually thought VII was a bit of a step down in the series... a lot of grinding in a game that's very long to begin with makes a game that takes forever and a day to finish. The plot wasn't bad, and the gameplay was fun... the plot was just too sporadic to keep me entrenched and the gameplay gets very old by the time to start to get somewhat near the end.

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I read a review once that said (something close to) "If RPG gaming were put in terms of meat, Dragon Quest VII is a truckload of raw steaks". That seems pretty accurate XD I liked it though, I had the dogged persistance for it. It's worth noting that Final Fantasy V was also my favorite FF game...

I found a copy of the original, NES Dragon Warrior in a local used games shop- thought about getting it and playing it on my girlfriend's NES, but I'm not sure how much she'd like me always coming over just to play a 50ish(guessing here) hour RPG.

I never really played any of the Dragon Quests, unfortunately. I've heard great things about the series. I have however played VIII, which I really liked. Good stuff. I'll probably pick up DQM: Joker when it comes out later this year, as well as IX whenever it comes out for the DS. (Very glad it's not coming out for the PS3. :waggle:)

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Originally Posted by Tygore

I found a copy of the original, NES Dragon Warrior in a local used games shop- thought about getting it and playing it on my girlfriend's NES, but I'm not sure how much she'd like me always coming over just to play a 50ish(guessing here) hour RPG.

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You can easily finish the original Dragon Warrior in a single day.

Yeah, Dragon Quest 1 is pretty short events-wise. There's basically like only 12 objectives or so in the whole game. The thing that takes a while is levelling up; it tends to comprise most of the gameplay time (although there is a good amount of overworld to explore, for such an early game).

You can finish it in a day, but unless you use an impressive strategy, you'll probably want to reach somewhere around level 20 by the end. Expect to spend, I dunno... easily most of the day devoted to it.

Now on the other hand, if you're playing a remake, well, you can probably do it in a few hours. Like I said, the EXP gain seems to be doubled from what I could tell, so there goes half or more of the time once spent grinding.

Dragon Quest has to be one of my fav RPG series ever. It ranks #1 on my rpg series list followed closely by Final Fantasy. I Once owned the 1st NES game and rented and beat the 4th. The others I played via emulation on their original systems with the appropriate emulator though I did play the remake for 3 on the GBC on emu. I also own 8, but haven't beaten it due to distractions (work, other games, etc) and it's my #2 fav game in the series (#1 being the 4th on the nes. I still cry whenever I see the scene with Rosa) and I've played the DWM games. The differences for the two versions of the 2nd DWM is the types of monsters you can catch, and the keys for worlds (including a unique one in each game you can transfer to the other) that makes it interesting to play both. I prefer the Tara version of DWM2. :kitty: