Dragon Quest

[Dark Edea]

Dragon Quest is the best JRPG series.

Grandia can come too.

 

[Shroom King]

Dragon Warrior Monsters on the Game Boy was awesome because it allowed you to breed every single monster with only one copy of the game. Of course, they had to mess this up with Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 by going the Pokemon route with having 2 versions of the same game, but with exclusive monsters so you needed 2 games and 2 Game Boys to get them all.

Of the 4 Dragon Warrior games on the NES, I like the first one the best because it was the shortest. I am too fucking old to grind through the other 3. I never played anything from this series after TSR's copyright on the Dragon Quest name expired in the US and Enix could use it in the US for the video game series.

 

[Dunsparce]

Dragon Warrior Monsters on the Game Boy was awesome because it allowed you to breed every single monster with only one copy of the game. Of course, they had to mess this up with Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 by going the Pokemon route with having 2 versions of the same game, but with exclusive monsters so you needed 2 games and 2 Game Boys to get them all.

Most monsters were available in both versions, they just swapped which ones were obtainable via main storyline worlds but you could get the other version's via breeding or the randomly-generated key worlds.

Outside of the three event monsters, which were similar to Mew and Celebi in Pokemon, the only Monster that REQUIRED two versions was the WonderEgg, which you used the multi-player breeding function by breeding a basic Slime with a BigRoost, which the player that chose Slime would get.

EDIT @Shroom King while looking up to see if Wonder Egg could be obatained via connecting to the orignal DWM(which you can use for a breeding partner in a special menu option), I found reports of people being able to obtain Wonder Egg via encounter in the previously mentioned randomly generated key worlds.

So the only thing you are really missing out on are the three Event-only monsters, only one of which was officially released in the US via Nintendo Power(Dimensaur). It was a pretty lame event, since while it came with 3 really powerful attacks it capped at level 9, preventing it from being used for breeding, and thus you couldn't get one with more than those three attacks. Also meant you had to grind for stat seeds and fight lots of wandering minstrels in the random key worlds to max out its stats.

 

[Gimmick Account]

I got tired of 50% of my japanese mangas being Dragon Quest references I don't understand so I decided to play through from the beginning. I remember about 10 minutes of Dragon Warrior back in the day but didn't know the history at the time so I dismissed it as yet another of the (DQ clones, as it turns out) early RPG trash on the NES.

I really love stripped-down fast-paced minimalist RPGs so DQ1 has been a blast that scratches the Ys I&II itch. Surprisingly lot of older hentai RPGs had the same kind of elegance; I'd put them up there as well if I could remember what any of them were called. Amazing to think this all evolved from that one System Shock minigame.

Simper than thou.

PS that Rocket Slime spinoff on the DS fucking owns.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

I finally got Dragon Quest XI for Christmas, and I gotta say, this is shaping up to be one of, if not my favorite JRPG. I love the characters, the combat feels sharp and refined, and the story takes an interesting twist after Act 1. It's a culmination of all the stuff I enjoyed from the first three games built up over decades of refinement and commitment to the series' core principles.

That does leave the other games, and I would love to play V, but the DS version costs an arm and a leg. I have to ask, how good is the fan translation for the original release? Fan translations tend to be a crapshoot when it comes to these kinds of things, but it's either that or spend $200 on a video game, and that's way too much.

 

[RhoasJonas]

I finally got Dragon Quest XI for Christmas, and I gotta say, this is shaping up to be one of, if not my favorite JRPG. I love the characters, the combat feels sharp and refined, and the story takes an interesting twist after Act 1. It's a culmination of all the stuff I enjoyed from the first three games built up over decades of refinement and commitment to the series' core principles.

That does leave the other games, and I would love to play V, but the DS version costs an arm and a leg. I have to ask, how good is the fan translation for the original release? Fan translations tend to be a crapshoot when it comes to these kinds of things, but it's either that or spend $200 on a video game, and that's way too much.

The fan translations are good, just keep an eye on whatever release of the games you play as some come with shit MIDI versions of the soundtracks, like VII's 3ds port. I'd personally check out IX for the DS for its customisation and I-III for old JRPG nostalgia, but anywhere is fine to jump in. The Dragon Quest Monsters DS games are good if you want a more Pokémon style battle system with DQ mobs.

 

[Dark Edea]

I finally got Dragon Quest XI for Christmas, and I gotta say, this is shaping up to be one of, if not my favorite JRPG. I love the characters, the combat feels sharp and refined, and the story takes an interesting twist after Act 1. It's a culmination of all the stuff I enjoyed from the first three games built up over decades of refinement and commitment to the series' core principles.

That does leave the other games, and I would love to play V, but the DS version costs an arm and a leg. I have to ask, how good is the fan translation for the original release? Fan translations tend to be a crapshoot when it comes to these kinds of things, but it's either that or spend $200 on a video game, and that's way too much.

They did a good job with XI.

 

[Marissa Moira]

How the fuck is Dragon Quest 5 the same price as Panzer Dragoon Saga?

Like 5 is probably on par with 3,8, and 11. But like triple digit prices? That's crazy I remmeber getting 4 and 5 for the DS and then 6 took fucking ages to come out. I really thought 6 would have been the one to skyrocket.

Square has to re-release the games in some form of modern physical format, and I don't mean IOS garbage. Like real deal premium treatment like they did with Final Fantasy origins or just maybe directly port the PS2 versions since the US never got those.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

How the fuck is Dragon Quest 5 the same price as Panzer Dragoon Saga?

Like 5 is probably on par with 3,8, and 11. But like triple digit prices? That's crazy I remmeber getting 4 and 5 for the DS and then 6 took fucking ages to come out. I really thought 6 would have been the one to skyrocket.

Square has to re-release the games in some form of modern physical format, and I don't mean IOS garbage. Like real deal premium treatment like they did with Final Fantasy origins or just maybe directly port the PS2 versions since the US never got those.

Speaking as a relative newcomer to Dragon Quest, it is way more difficult to break into the series than it is with Final Fantasy and it all comes down to the prices. The majority of the older Final Fantasy games received a billion ports that get released in the US and remaining relatively cheap at that. Meanwhile, most of the DQ games beyond III are astronomically expensive. Take IV for example. You can either get it on NES for $150 or on DS for the same price. V is in an even worse spot because that one never got a US release until the DS version, so if you want to go the law-abiding route you have to spend an insane amount of money.

Hell even the 3DS versions of VII and VIII are raising in price; a used copy of VIII on 3DS will cost you at least $58 on Amazon (though thankfully the PS2 version is much cheaper, and if I ever get around to VIII that's the one I'm getting).

Also, for some goddamn reason, Amazon and eBay will lump in the Japanese versions in the search results which are much cheaper but all it does is emphasize how irritating it is for a Western fan to get a playable copy in a language they actually speak.

All of this is honestly making me more appreciative of emulating. No matter how much I'm enjoying these games, $150-200 is way too much for a single video game.

 

[Gimmick Account]

I'm halfway through DQ2 now and it's already ceased to have that immaculate hentai minimalism, but at the same time I'm starting to understand why Japan shuts down if they keep escalating like this. I mean I'm kinda excited for the next one in a way that's surprising me as someone that burned myself out by finishing 80%+ of the SNES JRPGs in existence and don't really consider myself a fan of the genre anymore.

I'm also seeing what Final Fantasy 7 was going for, which is interesting because I'd thought that game was a wholly special product of the international market/audience situation at the time it was made. But no, it's another classic Dragon Quest callback, like most of Japanese culture.

 

[Billy_Sama]

How the fuck is Dragon Quest 5 the same price as Panzer Dragoon Saga?

Like 5 is probably on par with 3,8, and 11. But like triple digit prices? That's crazy I remmeber getting 4 and 5 for the DS and then 6 took fucking ages to come out. I really thought 6 would have been the one to skyrocket.

Square has to re-release the games in some form of modern physical format, and I don't mean IOS garbage. Like real deal premium treatment like they did with Final Fantasy origins or just maybe directly port the PS2 versions since the US never got those.

I just don't trust video games prices anymore with the coronavirus and inflation. I had to check prices and I almost spit my coffee out.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

I'm also seeing what Final Fantasy 7 was going for, which is interesting because I'd thought that game was a wholly special product of the international market/audience situation at the time it was made. But no, it's another classic Dragon Quest callback, like most of Japanese culture.

Honestly, DQ recontextualized JRPGs in general for me. I grew up playing stuff like Pokemon and Final Fantasy and I love those games to death, and later on I played EarthBound and found it a funny game, but it was Dragon Quest that made me understand them. All those games share DQ's DNA. EarthBound isn't just funny, it was a large-scale parody and homage to Dragon Quest, complete with similar battle screens and menu design. Final Fantasy started off as a DQ-style game before veering off into its own thing and dared to be far more experimental. Pokemon (at least the first couple of generations) took the basic structure and exploration of Dragon Quest and simplified it into a portable experience that could be easily enjoyed by kids (of course, Dragon Quest Monsters became a thing and everything went full-circle).

Dragon Quest has essentially reignited my love for classic JRPGs; it's quite fun replaying old favorites of mine and seeing how much influence Dragon Quest still has over them.

 

[Gimmick Account]

Pokemon (at least the first couple of generations)

The underlying dark existential subtext of Pokemon clicked with me right from the beginning of the first Gameboy generation, but the development connection to Mother is something I learned only in the last few years--and I pretty much thought that was the whole story. I knew on an academic level about the mechanical and interface lineage to Dragon Quest but I just took them as an intentional conspicuous carrying forward of arbitrary genre conventions and not much more. Like the references to poplar English-language music which everybody knows about: there's clearly some cultural curve there that you had to be there for. But the overall vector is like finding the middle piece of the jigsaw you'd been missing.

edit:drunksnip

 

[Shield Breaker]

I finally got Dragon Quest XI for Christmas, and I gotta say, this is shaping up to be one of, if not my favorite JRPG. I love the characters, the combat feels sharp and refined, and the story takes an interesting twist after Act 1. It's a culmination of all the stuff I enjoyed from the first three games built up over decades of refinement and commitment to the series' core principles.

That does leave the other games, and I would love to play V, but the DS version costs an arm and a leg. I have to ask, how good is the fan translation for the original release? Fan translations tend to be a crapshoot when it comes to these kinds of things, but it's either that or spend $200 on a video game, and that's way too much.

It was decent when I played it, but it has one less party slot, and one less spouse.

 

[Marissa Moira]

I just don't trust video games prices anymore with the coronavirus and inflation. I had to check prices and I almost spit my coffee out.

I bought 8 on the DS before Corona virus hit for 30 bucks on Amazon via Amazon Warehouse.

I already had 8 on the PS2 that came with the FF12 bonus disc, but I wanted a complete set of GBC, DS, and 3DS dragon quests.

Torneko The Last Hope also skyrocketed in price and that was around 20 bucks used from Gamestop's website for eons. This was actually one of the few games where 90% of the time your ordered it used from Gamestop it came 100% complete in a jewel case.

 

[Dark Edea]

How the fuck is Dragon Quest 5 the same price as Panzer Dragoon Saga?

Because Dragon Quest V is the best Dragon Quest and therefore the best JRPG ever made.

 

[Billy_Sama]

I bought 8 on the DS before Corona virus hit for 30 bucks on Amazon via Amazon Warehouse.

I already had 8 on the PS2 that came with the FF12 bonus disc, but I wanted a complete set of GBC, DS, and 3DS dragon quests.

Torneko The Last Hope also skyrocketed in price and that was around 20 bucks used from Gamestop's website for eons. This was actually one of the few games where 90% of the time your ordered it used from Gamestop it came 100% complete in a jewel case.

I really like 8 better on the 3DS just because of the addition of enemy on map instead of random encounters and having Morrie as a playable character, such gusto.

7 was also a better on the 3DS just because of the tweaked gameplay, I remember years ago playing it on the PS1 and got tired of the grinding it had.

 

[KingofNothing]

Because Dragon Quest V is the best Dragon Quest and therefore the best JRPG ever made.

I was playing DQV before I had to reformat my drive lost the saves in the process. I need to start up a new game again because controlling the heroes journey straight from childhood to adulthood is a really cool concept.

 

[HexFag]

Is the PS2 version of DQV not the best way to play? I was planning on starting up that or DQIX soon. Speaking of DQIX, is there any way to play it multiplayer using emulation?

 

[Dunsparce]

Is the PS2 version of DQV not the best way to play? I was planning on starting up that or DQIX soon. Speaking of DQIX, is there any way to play it multiplayer using emulation?

While the PS2 version is the best-looking graphically, the DS version has features it doesn't have, like a third wife option and 2 new monsters you can get as party members(Jailcat from VIII and Archdemon from II/VII/VIII)