I wish I liked it more than I did. The customisation was great. But more so than any Dragon Quest game I just got my head down and churned through it. I felt no incentive to carry on past the credits. I was just glad to be done with it, but I really couldn't tell you why that was.
L'histoire est vraiment bonne, les autres personnages aussi. Le postgame est répétitif, c'est juste plein d'antres. Le fait que nos compagnons soient des coquilles vides qui sont là que pour aider au combat, bon voilà quoi
This game is MASSIVE which makes it very daunting to replay- but it is also INCREDIBLE and I would say a must-play for fans of JRPG's that also own a DS (or software that can run DS games).
The story is actually very engaging- you are uncovering the truth about the angel society that you left while at the same time solving problems for the humans that you can now interact with. It's tropey in that you start with "kill this cucumber" and end with "kill the guy who killed God," but its still engaging. The sections in swinedimples and the dragon duel in particular stand out.
The gameplay loops is classic JRPG dragon quest- its a grind, but there are enough skill-trees and classes and lovable enemy designs that the gameplay loop doesn't get old too fast (I will maintain that this game gets infinitely better once you learn Zoom, though).
The multiplayer is also very fun and the postgame is massive, meaning that you can play with friends no matter where you are in your journey.
The story is actually very engaging- you are uncovering the truth about the angel society that you left while at the same time solving problems for the humans that you can now interact with. It's tropey in that you start with "kill this cucumber" and end with "kill the guy who killed God," but its still engaging. The sections in swinedimples and the dragon duel in particular stand out.
The gameplay loops is classic JRPG dragon quest- its a grind, but there are enough skill-trees and classes and lovable enemy designs that the gameplay loop doesn't get old too fast (I will maintain that this game gets infinitely better once you learn Zoom, though).
The multiplayer is also very fun and the postgame is massive, meaning that you can play with friends no matter where you are in your journey.
I wish I liked it, but I don't. The multiplayer is cool though.
This review contains spoilers
A single player game disguised as an on demand MMORPG. That is how I see this game.
Story:
The story is really cool. I actually enjoy it a bit more than DQ8's story. Every little sub-story in the different towns are all cool and emotional in their own way and the overarching plot of the whole game in general is also cool. I haven't played all the Dragon Quest games, but I think Dragon Quest IX (DQ9) is the only game, where the villain actually has a back story outside of "I'm evil and I kill". Generally I like everything about it, even if it's kind of generic in it's structure (finding 7 fyggs).
Characters:
There actually aren't really a lot of characters in this game. The characters you meet that have actual personalities are always side characters. The reason for that is, that the protagonist is a personalityless self made character, just like in most MMORPGs. And there are no actual party members as part of the story. If you want party members you make them yourself. These party members then also have no personality. I'm very neutral to that aspect. I like good characters, but characters in DQ9 aren't really the main focus of the game in my opinion.
Music:
The music is good. It isn't really outstanding. It fits and has it's general Dragon Quest charm, but it is nothing truly amazing.
Gameplay:
Now to the main part of the game. The gameplay itself is just basic turn based combat. But what makes this games so amazing is the character costumization and progression. First of all YOU decide how many characters are in a party. You can play solo or with two, three or four party members. And you decide how they look and what their names are. Additionally you can actually see every equipment piece on your characters which is rarely to be seen in single player JRPGs. You can combine the abilities of all different vocations (classes in this game) to work on your personal perfect group composition. And finally there are randomly generated dungeons with random loot, enemies and bosses as the basically never ending post game content. All of that content is a massive grind. And if you have friends, you can actually play that game completely in local koop. All of these aspects makes that game feel extremely MMORPG-y. I like that a lot. The grind can be exhausting at times, but I really like the feel from that almost neverending dungeon grind and character progression. I have never played a single player game that gives me the same feeling. The only bad part of the game is that DQ9 is the only Dragon Quest game in existence that didn't get a remaster or a remake, thus is stuck on the DS. Additionally there is free DLC content that isn't available anymore due to needing Wi-Fi connection which doesn't exist anymore. There are other means to obtain it even today, but still. I like the legacy bosses a lot too, even if I haven't played a lot of Dragon Quest games yet. Throwbacks to older games are always a weak point of mine. Though grinding these bosses up to level 99 to fight them on their strongest form is rediculous.
Content:
It's rediculous. There is so much to do that you will probably never finish the game 100%. Due to it's grindy nature and random loot elements, it is basically impossible to do everything in the game. It has the most amount of content in any single player game I have ever played. The only content piece that is sadly missing is a casino.
Replay value:
It has the worst replay value of all time. In this game you work towards a very big and long lasting goal by grinding your ass of. I would never restart the game from scratch again because that would mean to grind everything up again. I only replayed the game once after finding out how to access the DLC and I will probably never do it again. I come back to my long ass save file from time to time if I feel the itch to grind more.
Conclusion:
I really like this game because it is a nice classic single player JRPG experience but also scratches the itch of playing an MMORPG. And I rather play a long lasting single player offline game with multiplayer possibilities than a live service game. This game is truly amazing.
Story:
The story is really cool. I actually enjoy it a bit more than DQ8's story. Every little sub-story in the different towns are all cool and emotional in their own way and the overarching plot of the whole game in general is also cool. I haven't played all the Dragon Quest games, but I think Dragon Quest IX (DQ9) is the only game, where the villain actually has a back story outside of "I'm evil and I kill". Generally I like everything about it, even if it's kind of generic in it's structure (finding 7 fyggs).
Characters:
There actually aren't really a lot of characters in this game. The characters you meet that have actual personalities are always side characters. The reason for that is, that the protagonist is a personalityless self made character, just like in most MMORPGs. And there are no actual party members as part of the story. If you want party members you make them yourself. These party members then also have no personality. I'm very neutral to that aspect. I like good characters, but characters in DQ9 aren't really the main focus of the game in my opinion.
Music:
The music is good. It isn't really outstanding. It fits and has it's general Dragon Quest charm, but it is nothing truly amazing.
Gameplay:
Now to the main part of the game. The gameplay itself is just basic turn based combat. But what makes this games so amazing is the character costumization and progression. First of all YOU decide how many characters are in a party. You can play solo or with two, three or four party members. And you decide how they look and what their names are. Additionally you can actually see every equipment piece on your characters which is rarely to be seen in single player JRPGs. You can combine the abilities of all different vocations (classes in this game) to work on your personal perfect group composition. And finally there are randomly generated dungeons with random loot, enemies and bosses as the basically never ending post game content. All of that content is a massive grind. And if you have friends, you can actually play that game completely in local koop. All of these aspects makes that game feel extremely MMORPG-y. I like that a lot. The grind can be exhausting at times, but I really like the feel from that almost neverending dungeon grind and character progression. I have never played a single player game that gives me the same feeling. The only bad part of the game is that DQ9 is the only Dragon Quest game in existence that didn't get a remaster or a remake, thus is stuck on the DS. Additionally there is free DLC content that isn't available anymore due to needing Wi-Fi connection which doesn't exist anymore. There are other means to obtain it even today, but still. I like the legacy bosses a lot too, even if I haven't played a lot of Dragon Quest games yet. Throwbacks to older games are always a weak point of mine. Though grinding these bosses up to level 99 to fight them on their strongest form is rediculous.
Content:
It's rediculous. There is so much to do that you will probably never finish the game 100%. Due to it's grindy nature and random loot elements, it is basically impossible to do everything in the game. It has the most amount of content in any single player game I have ever played. The only content piece that is sadly missing is a casino.
Replay value:
It has the worst replay value of all time. In this game you work towards a very big and long lasting goal by grinding your ass of. I would never restart the game from scratch again because that would mean to grind everything up again. I only replayed the game once after finding out how to access the DLC and I will probably never do it again. I come back to my long ass save file from time to time if I feel the itch to grind more.
Conclusion:
I really like this game because it is a nice classic single player JRPG experience but also scratches the itch of playing an MMORPG. And I rather play a long lasting single player offline game with multiplayer possibilities than a live service game. This game is truly amazing.
Another outstanding entry in the DQ series. As much as I prefer a normal party like DQ8 and DQ11, I can't deny that crafting your own party was a huge selling point of this game.
Review in progress:
I probably would've enjoyed this a lot more if I had someone to play multiplayer with. In single player, it's nothing amazing. The story is very forgettable. Like in Dragon Quest III, no one in your party has any dialogue/character.
Making a sequel on a technologically inferior platform doesn't sit well with me. It's a one step forward, two steps back kind of situation. Dragon Quest IX is one of the most technically impressive DS games I've played, but still feels like a worse version of VIII all the same (besides the removal of random encounters). I still consider this to be one of the best games on the DS despite my gripes. It's a solid Dragon Quest, but nothing more.
On an unrelated note, this game shows what Pokémon on the DS could've been like in the hands of a competent developer. We could've had a full 3D game with no random encounters and robust multiplayer!
I probably would've enjoyed this a lot more if I had someone to play multiplayer with. In single player, it's nothing amazing. The story is very forgettable. Like in Dragon Quest III, no one in your party has any dialogue/character.
Making a sequel on a technologically inferior platform doesn't sit well with me. It's a one step forward, two steps back kind of situation. Dragon Quest IX is one of the most technically impressive DS games I've played, but still feels like a worse version of VIII all the same (besides the removal of random encounters). I still consider this to be one of the best games on the DS despite my gripes. It's a solid Dragon Quest, but nothing more.
On an unrelated note, this game shows what Pokémon on the DS could've been like in the hands of a competent developer. We could've had a full 3D game with no random encounters and robust multiplayer!
outdated as HELL. requires really awful grinding in the endgame
La creación de personaje junto con la jugabilidad tomando en cuenta equipaciones y armas se siente como una experiencia totalmente personalizada, es fácil de completar y muy orientativo, incluye algunas tramas muy interesantes que escapan de la fórmula arquetipica de anteriores juegos de la saga, pero le faltan ciertas cosas para sentirse uno completamente inmersivo
By far the best Dragon Quest game, one of the greatest JRPGs ever made.
The uberlong procgen-heavy postgame is unappealing, especially as of writing when every other game seems to be a GAAS title, but the main game is fun enough.
I know Ill be dead before they remake this
will always have a place in my heart
Love this one so much, this was my introduction to Dragon Quest and I'm ashamed I still haven't gone back and finish it! I was literally right before the final boss when I stopped. I will always love this game though!
Can't get myself to play this for a long time
best dragon quest game hands-down! have been replaying it on my ds (first played when i was like 12 or something) and it still holds up. sooo wild that there hasn't been a port or remake of this one yet
Sois una panda de cobardes por no admitir lo bueno y comfy que es este juego!!!!
How much content can you fit on one DS cart?
I beat the game a long, long time ago, but I still come back to it. Not for replays, mind, but the absolutely MASSIVE postgame. Great character customization for a party of four and an addictive loop of dungeon crawling and getting more treasure maps.
I beat the game a long, long time ago, but I still come back to it. Not for replays, mind, but the absolutely MASSIVE postgame. Great character customization for a party of four and an addictive loop of dungeon crawling and getting more treasure maps.
One of the greatest games for the DS. I rember that my grandma bought it for my birthday. I lost the count of how many hours I spent on this game. I rember that after the final boss (Corvus? I don't remember) I hacked it with cheat codes and brought it to completion. Good days!
La experiencia Dragon Quest definitiva porque es esencialmente el III, pero con mil cosas más y la posibilidad de pasártelo de principio a fin con alguien. PUEDE ser un sueño de artes marciales.
i tried playing this because i wanted to try playing a dragon quest game. i knew enough about dragon quest beforehand to expect a fairly basic jrpg. but i love a good ol fashioned jrpg, and this one came highly recommended from those who played it as a kid. and yeah, i see why. the protagonist being a fallen angel is conceptually pretty neat. there's plenty of good ol fashioned jrpg charm, plus the ability to completely customize your whole partys appearance, outfits(!!), and vocations, and the entire game has multiplayer support. im sure this would've been my favorite thing ever...if i was 10 years old and had people to co-op with.
as i am not 10, however, this game is just a little too annoying. anything interesting the gameplay has to offer requires grinding: trying out different vocations/skills, doing alchemy (a crafting system i actually find fun, which would be impressive but...) , or even progressing the story. grinding is made annoying by the fact that combat is simplistic without the decency of at least being forgiving. i had to backtrack to revive or heal up my party a good few times...and i personally think a story and combat system as simple as dqix's should at least make itself easy to progress through. the storyline suffers greatly from the fact that none of the player characters have any personality. the writing of other plot-important characters like the wight knight, phleming, or marionette, is often interesting enough, but their stories are so short compared to the amount of time i had to spend mindlessly fighting monsters that it doesn't feel worth it.
i won't rate this game unless i finish it, but right now it'd be about a 2/5. i played up until getting the boat before deciding that if the game was still boring me a solid 90% of the time i should probably go play something else. i might come back to it for completion's sake one day, but this was a pretty disappointing first foray into dragon quest.
as i am not 10, however, this game is just a little too annoying. anything interesting the gameplay has to offer requires grinding: trying out different vocations/skills, doing alchemy (a crafting system i actually find fun, which would be impressive but...) , or even progressing the story. grinding is made annoying by the fact that combat is simplistic without the decency of at least being forgiving. i had to backtrack to revive or heal up my party a good few times...and i personally think a story and combat system as simple as dqix's should at least make itself easy to progress through. the storyline suffers greatly from the fact that none of the player characters have any personality. the writing of other plot-important characters like the wight knight, phleming, or marionette, is often interesting enough, but their stories are so short compared to the amount of time i had to spend mindlessly fighting monsters that it doesn't feel worth it.
i won't rate this game unless i finish it, but right now it'd be about a 2/5. i played up until getting the boat before deciding that if the game was still boring me a solid 90% of the time i should probably go play something else. i might come back to it for completion's sake one day, but this was a pretty disappointing first foray into dragon quest.
Such a good JRPG cucumber die
"Why do you think the game called Sentinels of the Starry Skies is called Sentinels of the Starry Skies? Cause Sentinels was in the Starry Skies." -Kanye West
biased bc this was my first dragon quest game but it was so full of life, building a party was fun, so many side quests to do, and the overarching story was enjoyable
In this moment I am euphoric, not because of any phony celestrians’ blessings but because I am enlightened by my own intelligence
Rerelease this so I can finish it.
El mejor juego de la saga.
-1/2 estrella por la armadura feminina de guerrero
-1/2 estrella por la armadura feminina de guerrero
I have played through this games more times than I could ever remember, also huge amount of post game content.
Cuando le metan multijugador online al MelonDS le pongo 10 estrellas