Dragon Quest

[Radical Cadre]

This saddens me a little. Why's it disappointing? I'm not too familiar with it.

It's just a mediocre series. Years ago when the first one came out it was supposed to be Square's return to the classic JRPG and would revitalize the genre for a new age. And it wasn't any of that. The best thing it added was a fast forward button but the efficacy of that is questionable at best, in my opinion. Dragon Quest is still firing on all cylinders with the most recent entry and that game didn't need a fast forward button. And otherwise the Bravely Default games are just... bleh. Very middle of the road, some questionable design and scenario choices and overall there are much better games to play, both new and old.

Bravely Default is a very mindless JRPG. And some people might say they all are, but at least Dragon Quest is usually engaging and has fun characters. Everything about Bravely Default kind of reminds me of eggshell white drywall and office carpeting. You can drop 100 hours into one of them and have had a time. But it's not 100 hours well-spent.

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

Is it now? I don't get the clamor behind it. It just feels mildly charming and generic but the gameplay feels lame. Haven't touched it beyond the demo but I did pick a physical copy used for 40 bucks. With the pre-order poster and coasters.

The first game is okay until the hidden chapter, where you get a boss that will just murder you if you aren't Cheesing the game/Over leveled and does so by pulling really annoying crap like "Applying Weakness to fire to the entire party" and this ability negates any equipment that you have that negates fire damage so the sensible equipment to use such as the accessories that let you absorb fire damage are completely useless.

Bravely Default 2 doesn't have that, but it has this really annoying issue where every single boss in the game has counter attack mechanics, and late game it devolves into "Counter attacks every action you can take" so you basically have to equip every character in the game with the ability that lets them evade counter attacks.

Of course that only solves half the problem because a bunch of the endgame bosses including all the optional ones counter attack by getting Brave Points (extra turns) which the counter attack negation ability DOESN'T NEGATE. This gets further absurd when you get classes like Red Mage who cast two spells every time you cast a spell so if you use a Red mage a boss will gain 2 Brave Points.

There is also The Spiritbringer class which has this really fucking stupid passive that occasionally dispels effects on the party but they didn't make the ability differentiate between positive and negative effects so you dispel your own Reraise/Regen/Haste/Damage Reflection effects, combined with the Boss HP amounts you just sort of make boss fights long slogs.

It's just a mediocre series. Years ago when the first one came out it was supposed to be Square's return to the classic JRPG and would revitalize the genre for a new age.

The biggest issue the series has is that the Brave/Default system actively harms the game, the games would be so much better without it because you don't get boss fights where they can bank 4 turns and just chunk your party.

 

[MerriedxReldnahc]

I played DQ Builders and Builders 2 surprisingly because Andrew Dobson was playing the demo and it looked neat enough for me to check it out. Loved both games, I think 1 is better for replaying but 2 has way better controls and much more intuitive building in some ways. I had pretty much no knowledge of Dragon Quest other than it existing, so I was excited when 11 came out on Switch. I'm so glad I got it, I really love the game and I adore Sylvando so much that I put porn of him in my banner that I bought a sticker of him and put it on my Switch.
Right now I'm trying to finish up the 2D sidequests and a few other things before I continue on to (what I assume!) is the end of the game.

is it just me or is Sylvando kind of just the worst character gameplay wise.

I was about to be offended but honestly there's so many battles in the game where I would have done better if I didn't insist on always having him in my party and didn't have to spend the extra turns Kazinging him back to life when he's inevitably the first to go down.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

I got the most use out of Sylvando during the beginning-to-middle part of Act 2. He had Acceleratle, which was super useful at that stage in the game and he had Hustle Dance, which was a very good multiheal ability. When you're starting out with a scant few characters and little in the way of magic, he's shockingly good. Thing is, he gets outclassed by other characters and their status buffs, especially Serena. At that point there wasn't much use for him anymore; his damage output is poor and he doesn't have enough useful magic compared to Rab or Serena.

Kind of a shame too since I enjoyed his character arc, and his flamboyancy started to grow on me after a while.

 

[gaystoner]

I got the most use out of Sylvando during the beginning-to-middle part of Act 2. He had Acceleratle, which was super useful at that stage in the game and he had Hustle Dance, which was a very good multiheal ability. When you're starting out with a scant few characters and little in the way of magic, he's shockingly good. Thing is, he gets outclassed by other characters and their status buffs, especially Serena. At that point there wasn't much use for him anymore; his damage output is poor and he doesn't have enough useful magic compared to Rab or Serena.

Kind of a shame too since I enjoyed his character arc, and his flamboyancy started to grow on me after a while.

Sylvando reminds me of Dhoulmagus from VIII

 

[Shining Wit]

I got the most use out of Sylvando during the beginning-to-middle part of Act 2. He had Acceleratle, which was super useful at that stage in the game and he had Hustle Dance, which was a very good multiheal ability. When you're starting out with a scant few characters and little in the way of magic, he's shockingly good. Thing is, he gets outclassed by other characters and their status buffs, especially Serena. At that point there wasn't much use for him anymore; his damage output is poor and he doesn't have enough useful magic compared to Rab or Serena.

Kind of a shame too since I enjoyed his character arc, and his flamboyancy started to grow on me after a while.

Act 2 Serena is such a beast I think comparing anyone to her is unfair

 

[Dark Edea]

Act 2 Serena is such a beast I think comparing anyone to her is unfair

Yeah she becomes pretty crazy. They basically give her every spell.

I can recommend DQ Builders 1 and 2. They are a lot of fun, especially if you like games like Minecraft.

 

[Shield Breaker]

Yeah I'll probably run through DQ 5 or 8 after this.

DQ Builders 1 is a very long down the road thing.

Is it now? I don't get the clamor behind it. It just feels mildly charming and generic but the gameplay feels lame. Haven't touched it beyond the demo but I did pick a physical copy used for 40 bucks. With the pre-order poster and coasters.

This saddens me a little. Why's it disappointing? I'm not too familiar with it.

Honestly wish Sqeenix would just remake, remaster, and port the old DQ games for current gen stuff. They ported DQ8 to mobile devices, how is it not on PC/Console for current gen?

Bravely Mediocre seems to be the name of the series from what I've heard. I haven't touched it beyond the BD2 demo.

MFW I'd love for Squeenix+Nintendo to do another massive DQ push like they did in the late 2000s. It'd probably do really fuckin well because, unlike Squeenix's other franchises, DQ is kinda just a whole and extremely well made series from the ground up. I can't think of an apt analogy but it's cozy, timeless, and well made.

(I've yet to play an outright bad DQ game. I hear DQ6 is the worst game by DQ standards but that ain't saying mmuch given that the same people I hear it from always say that it's still a damn good JRPG. )

DQ4 on the NES is the worst. You are only allowed to control the main character, and the AI is extremely retarded.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

Act 2 Serena is such a beast I think comparing anyone to her is unfair

Yeah she becomes pretty crazy. They basically give her every spell.

Honestly that's why I was a little annoyed with Act 3 when you go back in time and make sure Veronica survives. Completely threw me off when Serena suddenly didn't have Enchanting Echo or Magic Barrier anymore. Also negated that really sweet character moment where Serena accepts Veronica's death.

 

[Alexander Thaut]

It's just a mediocre series. Years ago when the first one came out it was supposed to be Square's return to the classic JRPG and would revitalize the genre for a new age. And it wasn't any of that. The best thing it added was a fast forward button but the efficacy of that is questionable at best, in my opinion. Dragon Quest is still firing on all cylinders with the most recent entry and that game didn't need a fast forward button. And otherwise the Bravely Default games are just... bleh. Very middle of the road, some questionable design and scenario choices and overall there are much better games to play, both new and old.

Bravely Default is a very mindless JRPG. And some people might say they all are, but at least Dragon Quest is usually engaging and has fun characters. Everything about Bravely Default kind of reminds me of eggshell white drywall and office carpeting. You can drop 100 hours into one of them and have had a time. But it's not 100 hours well-spent.

Thank god I got the switch game used with pre-order goodies attached.

2 weeks after release. . .

I'm guessing someone was that disappointed lmfao.

The first game is okay until the hidden chapter, where you get a boss that will just murder you if you aren't Cheesing the game/Over leveled and does so by pulling really annoying crap like "Applying Weakness to fire to the entire party" and this ability negates any equipment that you have that negates fire damage so the sensible equipment to use such as the accessories that let you absorb fire damage are completely useless.

Bravely Default 2 doesn't have that, but it has this really annoying issue where every single boss in the game has counter attack mechanics, and late game it devolves into "Counter attacks every action you can take" so you basically have to equip every character in the game with the ability that lets them evade counter attacks.

Of course that only solves half the problem because a bunch of the endgame bosses including all the optional ones counter attack by getting Brave Points (extra turns) which the counter attack negation ability DOESN'T NEGATE. This gets further absurd when you get classes like Red Mage who cast two spells every time you cast a spell so if you use a Red mage a boss will gain 2 Brave Points.

There is also The Spiritbringer class which has this really fucking stupid passive that occasionally dispels effects on the party but they didn't make the ability differentiate between positive and negative effects so you dispel your own Reraise/Regen/Haste/Damage Reflection effects, combined with the Boss HP amounts you just sort of make boss fights long slogs.


The biggest issue the series has is that the Brave/Default system actively harms the game, the games would be so much better without it because you don't get boss fights where they can bank 4 turns and just chunk your party.

Legit sounds kinda annoying.

I feel like it could have been tweaked to not be busted.

I played DQ Builders and Builders 2 surprisingly because Andrew Dobson was playing the demo and it looked neat enough for me to check it out. Loved both games, I think 1 is better for replaying but 2 has way better controls and much more intuitive building in some ways. I had pretty much no knowledge of Dragon Quest other than it existing, so I was excited when 11 came out on Switch. I'm so glad I got it, I really love the game and I adore Sylvando so much that I put porn of him in my banner that I bought a sticker of him and put it on my Switch.
Right now I'm trying to finish up the 2D sidequests and a few other things before I continue on to (what I assume!) is the end of the game.


I was about to be offended but honestly there's so many battles in the game where I would have done better if I didn't insist on always having him in my party and didn't have to spend the extra turns Kazinging him back to life when he's inevitably the first to go down.

DQ Builders is legitimately a good series and I wish it'd stop getting overlooked by le funny internet nerds going "minecraft ripoff bad. dragonquest lame series and bad".

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

Legit sounds kinda annoying.

I feel like it could have been tweaked to not be busted.

If they just let the Counter-Attack Savvy (negates counter attacks) work on it I would have been less harsh on it, I would still have a complaint about "why not just give 4 passive ability slots instead of 5 and remove all the counter attack bullshit" but I would at least forgive it for being able to have a work around.

 

[Dunsparce]

I got the most use out of Sylvando during the beginning-to-middle part of Act 2. He had Acceleratle, which was super useful at that stage in the game and he had Hustle Dance, which was a very good multiheal ability. When you're starting out with a scant few characters and little in the way of magic, he's shockingly good. Thing is, he gets outclassed by other characters and their status buffs, especially Serena. At that point there wasn't much use for him anymore; his damage output is poor and he doesn't have enough useful magic compared to Rab or Serena.

Kind of a shame too since I enjoyed his character arc, and his flamboyancy started to grow on me after a while.

The best way to use Sylvando in Act 3 is to constantly spam Lady's First to let any of the three female party members effectively get 2 turns every round. All three have a bunch of fun stuff they can do with that ability to make a lot of the optional boss fights much easier. One fight in particular has multiple enemies constantly inflict turn-wasting status effects, and so using Sylvando to get Serena to cast Snap, Crackle, Poof twice and have Hendrik use his status-blocking self-buff can get 3/4ths of the party warded on turn 1.

 

[Alexander Thaut]

The best way to use Sylvando in Act 3 is to constantly spam Lady's First to let any of the three female party members effectively get 2 turns every round. All three have a bunch of fun stuff they can do with that ability to make a lot of the optional boss fights much easier. One fight in particular has multiple enemies constantly inflict turn-wasting status effects, and so using Sylvando to get Serena to cast Snap, Crackle, Poof twice and have Hendrik use his status-blocking self-buff can get 3/4ths of the party warded on turn 1.

there's a gay joke here somewhere.

god i hate getting mini medals. I'm at 85 from just exploring and doing quests. I just need 15 more for the fucking shield of erdwin.

 

[Marissa Moira]

there's a gay joke here somewhere.

god i hate getting mini medals. I'm at 85 from just exploring and doing quests. I just need 15 more for the fucking shield of erdwin.

They drop from enemies in the bonus dungeon. I wound up with 50 or so extra just from grinding and that's even after filling out the whole board with them.

 

[Unassuming Local Guy]

Why does nobody talk about the mobile versions of the really old games? Just because it's mobile? I definitely would prefer actual buttons, of course, but the mobile versions are just the DS versions but with significantly higher resolution, which makes them the ultimate editions as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

Why does nobody talk about the mobile versions of the really old games? Just because it's mobile? I definitely would prefer actual buttons, of course, but the mobile versions are just the DS versions but with significantly higher resolution, which makes them the ultimate editions as far as I'm concerned.

People hate the mobile editions of I-III because they used a new artstyle that's ugly compared to their original and Super Famicom releases, and these are the versions that have been receiving more ports in recent years such as on Switch and PS4 so naturally people focus on them specifically. As for IV-VI, I couldn't really tell you outside of people generally ignoring mobile-only releases.

That being said, I really hope they re-release the mobile versions of IV-VI on other platforms at some point, if only because those are probably the most expensive games in the series if you're a Western fan.

 

[Sable]

Yeah, the mobile versions of 1-3 are pretty ugly.

 

[Alexander Thaut]

People hate the mobile editions of I-III because they used a new artstyle that's ugly compared to their original and Super Famicom releases, and these are the versions that have been receiving more ports in recent years such as on Switch and PS4 so naturally people focus on them specifically. As for IV-VI, I couldn't really tell you outside of people generally ignoring mobile-only releases.

That being said, I really hope they re-release the mobile versions of IV-VI on other platforms at some point, if only because those are probably the most expensive games in the series if you're a Western fan.

dq7-8 on 3ds just had a massive price spike for physical copies in the last few months. I think it may have something to do with the DQ anniversary expected this year.

DQ4 on mobile is the only one with the party chat translated into english, right? I sincerely hope Squeenix just ports the MObile copies of 4-5-6 and the 3ds 7-8 games to the switch. I'd love the DQ monsters 3ds games added on top of that but that may be wish ful thinking.

I think we're due for more info on the DQ games implied or confirmed to be in development for the last few years though.

1. DQ Monsters with DQ11's Erik and Mia.
2. DQ9 remade for Switch.
3. a DQ game based on the Legend of Dai anime/manga.
4. more info on DQ12
5. More info on the DQ Heroes 1+2 ports for Switch.

I think that's all? I think it's fucking funny that Squeenix hasn't just slapped DQ 4-9 ports onto the Switch shop alongside a port of Chrono Trigger. That shit would absolutely be free money printed for them and would easily make up for the cost of porting the games there. (They ported the fucking shitty mobile versions of dq1-3. )


Like niggas, yall ported FF7-12 to the Switch AND remastered fucking FF Crystal Chronicles. A game that I'm pretty sure didn't have a massive fan clamoring for. (Unlike FFT.)

honestly, DQ merch may be the only video game merch i'm willing to purchase as an adult because it's a genuinely timeless series. Is there even an outright bad game in here? The storytelling in the series is consistently great, the art is timeless, and it's a great example of how simple game design philosophies can make an eternally replayable series.

What I'm trying to say is that I've played like maybe 6 DQ games total, 2 in recent memory, and have only beaten 1 bc I'm an adult now and there's just something utterly engrossing about this fucking series that I haven't felt in other games. I've touched all sorts of games like Fallout, Talos Principle, Persona, FF, Red Dead Redemption, etc. I've legit never seen any controversy about DQ that wasn't an incredible stretch. (Puff-puffs). It's a crime that FF became more popular than DQ in the west because I just can't stand Nomuras designs where it looks like a cross between K-Pop boy bands and 2000s emo/scene kids with long hair.

I haven't felt the same wholesomeness with any other game series that I experience when playing DQ and I suspect that the straightforwardness of the experience combined with high production standards has everything to do with it. This fuckin series reminded me why I enjoy games all over again and I know I'm not the only one who has this sort of weird epiphany about the series because I see people talk about the series in a similar tone quite often.

that asshole who ran Naughty Dog like a sweatshop dreams of being able to elicit these kinds of responses in people who play TLOU2 or his other associated works in the same way that Yuji Hori and company have done with the video game equivalent of the cozy feeling like grandma's pot roast for a sunday dinner.

 

[Marissa Moira]

I think we're due for more info on the DQ games implied or confirmed to be in development for the last few years though.

1. DQ Monsters with DQ11's Erik and Mia.
2. DQ9 remade for Switch.
3. a DQ game based on the Legend of Dai anime/manga.
4. more info on DQ12
5. More info on the DQ Heroes 1+2 ports for Switch.

I think that's all? I think it's fucking funny that Squeenix hasn't just slapped DQ 4-9 ports onto the Switch shop alongside a port of Chrono Trigger. That shit would absolutely be free money printed for them and would easily make up for the cost of porting the games there. (They ported the fucking shitty mobile versions of dq1-3. )

11 S sold pretty badly on the switch, especially since it needed a shitload of work to port over and pretty much took the development time of a real game to finish. It was a heavily promoted game too. In comparison Final Fantasy 7 remake was promoted around a similar timeframe and sold way more. This was also reinforced when 11 S made it to other platforms and had somewhat better sales, however many people were turned off to it being called the definitive edition when on the PC and PS4 the downgrade was noticeable. So OG 11 still wound up beating the S version in the end.

It's the entire reason why the west didn't get the Switch ports of 1-3 in physical format was due to 11's poor sales on the switch and why both of the Dragon Quest builders games had very low print runs on the switch as well.

 

[Billy_Sama]

I rather play the GBC ports of Dragon Quest 1-3 on my modded 3DS along having the DS and 3DS Dragon Quest games than the lazy mobile ports. I loved III on the GBC and the switch port looks doesn't excite me.