The episode that defined it all. Dragon Quest III introduces classes and jobs, which are going to be absolutely key through the rest of the series. Its quest is much, MUCH longer than the previous episodes, especially since it introduces post-game content. The scenario itself is still pretty basic, but solid nonetheless. One of the most important episodes in the series history.
wayyyyyy better than 1 and 2, I think that what makes DQ3 stand out so much over the other classic ones is how much freedom you really have to play through it with how your party works. Thanks to the class system and how it prestiges, you can be as overpowered or underlevelled as you want, as well as the fact that you can make your party fit any one of your needs, which leads to infinite replay value, which is something that I don't think a lot of other RPGs really strive to have. I think that's why this game is one of the fan favorites, and is my favorite out of the original famicom dragon quests.
'' The legend was born....''
still fairly vanilla, but the remake is extremely well made and way more charming than either one of the previous games - plenty of moments of fantasy nerd rush and a pretty decently written story
also goes without saying but the music is obviously fantastic
also goes without saying but the music is obviously fantastic
I guess something was up with the listings for this game before but anyways DQIII On The Super Famicom is a GOATed RPG
Pretty good I just found parts of it boring or frustrating, and it was kinda grind-heavy
an incredibly special game to me, definitely an all time favorite, an opinion i feel will be more cemented with the HD-2D remake
My rating for this game is based on the combination of rating it how it would be when it came out vs how it would be today. Most of my considerations are to this game's original design in 1988, although the additional features of this 1996 version are worth noting. So let's take a look at the Seinfeld of JRPGs, Dragon Quest III
The original game that really brought DQ to prominence, and there is a single word that can explain Dragon Quest: Simplicity. The combat system is simple, the story is basic and formulaic (though with a few twists that would be impressive for the time), and yet it's all charming because there's this earnestness to the game that turns any potential eye roll into a smile. Simple and Earnest, what a way to be. The Class system even gives it a drip of depth, thinking about when to change your characters and whatnot.
The game isn't without its frustrations, in combat I wish I could select individual enemies rather than just which group, and there could have been more space to tell me what things did before I used them. Also for its cost and inability to crit, the ability for magic to just miss enemies is frustrating. In fact magic as a whole is inferior to physical in most situations, especially bosses. The one thing I will give the game that I did not expect it to have is that you don't get a Game Over when you die, just go back to the last castle and ask if you want to save. Sure there's still reviving your guys if you need to, but it's far kinder than what I expected.
The world is enjoyable even with its many similar areas, the music and sense of secrets in various nooks and crannies give it a new life. Only downside is Random Encounters were still the norm at the time (Mother 2 and Chrono Trigger being the exceptions) and while that makes me tolerate them more it doesn't mean I like 'em. While it doesn't entirely make up for it, the charming animations of the monsters certainly help. The Orb Quest was particularly notable in exploration, as the game lets go of your hand for you to search this entire world on your own. When you figure something out and it leads to an Orb or a Key it feels great!
Simple and Earnest can go a long way, and DQIII is proof of that.
The original game that really brought DQ to prominence, and there is a single word that can explain Dragon Quest: Simplicity. The combat system is simple, the story is basic and formulaic (though with a few twists that would be impressive for the time), and yet it's all charming because there's this earnestness to the game that turns any potential eye roll into a smile. Simple and Earnest, what a way to be. The Class system even gives it a drip of depth, thinking about when to change your characters and whatnot.
The game isn't without its frustrations, in combat I wish I could select individual enemies rather than just which group, and there could have been more space to tell me what things did before I used them. Also for its cost and inability to crit, the ability for magic to just miss enemies is frustrating. In fact magic as a whole is inferior to physical in most situations, especially bosses. The one thing I will give the game that I did not expect it to have is that you don't get a Game Over when you die, just go back to the last castle and ask if you want to save. Sure there's still reviving your guys if you need to, but it's far kinder than what I expected.
The world is enjoyable even with its many similar areas, the music and sense of secrets in various nooks and crannies give it a new life. Only downside is Random Encounters were still the norm at the time (Mother 2 and Chrono Trigger being the exceptions) and while that makes me tolerate them more it doesn't mean I like 'em. While it doesn't entirely make up for it, the charming animations of the monsters certainly help. The Orb Quest was particularly notable in exploration, as the game lets go of your hand for you to search this entire world on your own. When you figure something out and it leads to an Orb or a Key it feels great!
Simple and Earnest can go a long way, and DQIII is proof of that.
Regularly subverts your expectations, absolute classic
the best way to play dragon quest 3 util the new remake comes out.
It's very easy to see how influential DQ3 was for RPGs and Japanese pop culture, which it entirely deserves.
All the designs for the classes are immediately iconic, and the monsters are all memorable and expressive. This game is really good at signposting where you need to go next, until you get the boat, then it gets a little more shaky but still doable without using a guide. Combat is fairly simple but enjoyable, but you never really encounter something to challenge you due to there not being that many boss battles, with almost all of them backloaded.
I enjoyed the majority of this game, but I do feel that once you get to Alefgard, the game starts to drag, even if it is cool conceptually. Ultimately, you are stuck doing another fetch quest, which I did not find as enjoyable as looking for the orbs. At this point, I also started to find combat more tedious, with enemy encounters becoming more frequent and taking longer to deal with, especially in the final dungeon. It would have been nice to have MP restores outside of the limited rings and more types of healing herbs that do more than 30 HP.
Even with all that, it is still 100% worth playing.
All the designs for the classes are immediately iconic, and the monsters are all memorable and expressive. This game is really good at signposting where you need to go next, until you get the boat, then it gets a little more shaky but still doable without using a guide. Combat is fairly simple but enjoyable, but you never really encounter something to challenge you due to there not being that many boss battles, with almost all of them backloaded.
I enjoyed the majority of this game, but I do feel that once you get to Alefgard, the game starts to drag, even if it is cool conceptually. Ultimately, you are stuck doing another fetch quest, which I did not find as enjoyable as looking for the orbs. At this point, I also started to find combat more tedious, with enemy encounters becoming more frequent and taking longer to deal with, especially in the final dungeon. It would have been nice to have MP restores outside of the limited rings and more types of healing herbs that do more than 30 HP.
Even with all that, it is still 100% worth playing.
Muerte al cerdo capitalista
remake still needs to come out but slighty better version
beautiful game. made me realise I never properly learnt cardinal directions tho
Wonderful and customisable in so many simple ways. I'm putting the HD-2D remake on as many radars as I can. #100RPGs
Great adventure marred by grinding near the end.
Dragon Quest III is a monumental leap forward from Dragon Quest II in basically every way. It represents the point where DQ found its footing in regards to structure, narrative trickery, and game mechanics. This version is also full of QoL additions that seem to be almost direct responses to complaints I had about the previous games.
The massive plot twists of the last chunk of the game aside, I think my favorite aspect of the game was the job system. It's certainly not as extensive and addictive as some later iterations of it (Final Fantasy V!!!), but it gives you so many more options to deal with encounters than you've ever had, and I did find myself incentivized to swap classes over and over to get certain spells and manipulate my stats. For the first shot at one of my favorite gameplay systems this is really excellent.
Even with all the QoL improvements that this remake brings to the table there's still a fair bit of old JRPG crust at play here, but it's not hard to see why this became the gold standard for the genre at the time and led to about a billion other things ripping it off or paying homage to it. Was worth playing just for the many, many moments that made me go "wow I think (game) just took that idea from here"
The massive plot twists of the last chunk of the game aside, I think my favorite aspect of the game was the job system. It's certainly not as extensive and addictive as some later iterations of it (Final Fantasy V!!!), but it gives you so many more options to deal with encounters than you've ever had, and I did find myself incentivized to swap classes over and over to get certain spells and manipulate my stats. For the first shot at one of my favorite gameplay systems this is really excellent.
Even with all the QoL improvements that this remake brings to the table there's still a fair bit of old JRPG crust at play here, but it's not hard to see why this became the gold standard for the genre at the time and led to about a billion other things ripping it off or paying homage to it. Was worth playing just for the many, many moments that made me go "wow I think (game) just took that idea from here"
A wonderful remake of an absolute classic. They made his cape pink since the NES version, which was bold of them because pink was considered the "gay" color back in the 90s. It was a statement, and that statement was "Loto is gay", but upon closer inspection this doesn't make any sense considering you play as his descendants in the later games. Plotholes aside, it's a classic remake.
(I think there was a duplicate entry of this game and my record of this got 'eaten'. Anyways I've played it twice, once in 2019 and again in 2020 but I've lost the dates)
The original was my favorite game to start with, and this is a gold-standard remake of it. It adds plenty of QoL to smoothen the experience, and lots of interesting new features and content. This is one of the few games from the era that doesn't make me wish for a fast-forward button at any point - it's just really well paced and fantastically balanced. As probably the only Dragon Quest game that I find slightly too easy, I feel like they could have made the enemies slightly tougher to account for the vastly greater amount of tools they give to the player compared with the original, but wow what a good game.
The original was my favorite game to start with, and this is a gold-standard remake of it. It adds plenty of QoL to smoothen the experience, and lots of interesting new features and content. This is one of the few games from the era that doesn't make me wish for a fast-forward button at any point - it's just really well paced and fantastically balanced. As probably the only Dragon Quest game that I find slightly too easy, I feel like they could have made the enemies slightly tougher to account for the vastly greater amount of tools they give to the player compared with the original, but wow what a good game.
It was a good mostly calm time like when I played 7. I like that type of break from the massive high stakes cinematic JRPGs I play. The music was pretty good.