Guys, this game is fucking insane. Like absolutely insane. I can not stress enough how fucking cool this game is. This dude from Japan, Yuji Horii, took this mostly Western PC genre and completely changed the world of gaming for-fucking-ever. I mean, I'm sure you already know that, and I'm sure you think, oh yeah, it's impressive how much this game did being a prime builder for the genre, but like guys... holy SHIT. This game is one of the first of its kind, and it still gets SO much right. It gets things right that games coming out way later might forget about (YES, I'm still bitter that Lufia doesn't have ANY indicator of how low your HP is in battle in fucking 2002 shut up), it gets things right that I full on went in expecting a game on the Famicom to understandably not get right it's first-time around, it got things right that I didn't even know I wanted to be done right. I've see people online argue about earlier Japanese RPGs, and they're what we should put more focus on, like Dragon Slayer or Black Onyx, but like come on - this was put on a way less powerful system compared to the PC-88 and it had a soundtrack of music, charmingly detailed enemies and backgrounds, it had fucking characters you could talk and learn from... Dragon Quest so perfectly surrounds you into feeling like you've been dropped into a fairy tale and finally get to be the hero for (which I lovingly named Fugger btw).

Now, lemme tell you the ways in which Dragon Quest blows my goddamn fucking mind:

- Dragon Quest takes a genre used to the complexity that a PC keyboard can allow a player, and was able to easily convert it over to a controller that has 2 buttons.
- It opened an uncountable amount of players to a concept they've never heard of, and had them fall IN LOVE with it. Like for real, how many kids in 1980's Japan do you think were playing Dungeons and Dragons with their friends?
- This Horii dude was so worried about making sure the game was player-friendly enough that he straight up invented some amazing QOL elements that became naturally part of the genre, to the point we just assume it's going to be in any RPG we pick up. Examples include: Leveling-up quick in the beginning to keep motivations high, NPCs offering beginner advice, visual representations in knowing the changes in difficulty (bridges and tunnels), text boxes with all current information easy for access, etc. etc.
- Additionally, how involved the player's actions feel in connection to the game's story is so charming. Events such as being able to see the hero physically bridal-style carry the princess back to the castle, and seeing the poisonous swamps now brimming with flowers really helps emotionally connect the player to what they do to progress the story.
- And yes the story! Let's not forget about that! Yes, it features a damsel-in-distress storyline that we've seen a million times in plays, books, and movies, but the way Dragon Quest's story of self-growth and determination so perfectly mixes with the RPG gameplay brought forward. The villain is also really cool - especially his sort of plot-twist second form.

On top of all that, the absolute most important of all, Dragon Quest is FUN. It's fun! It's really fucking fun! Almost 30 years later, and you still find people online, old or young, Eastern or Western, no matter the gender, all talking about their fondness for the game. It's groundbreaking, beautiful (especially on NES), influential, it looks and works better than even goddamn Linda Evangelista. I played through it with the American Dragon Warrior guide book that came out the same time the game did in the West, and found that perfect for helping me know what to do next after I got bored wandering in circles trying to level up.

This is the first game I've played in the Dragon Quest series, even though really, I played Dragon Warrior for the NES in technicality, heh heh. This whole experience is definitely the start to a new series I think I will be very annoying about, so I hope anyone who, for some reason happens to like following my reviews, is ready for many, many more to come.

XOXO

4/5

Much more interesting concepts as this is where most of the stuff Final Fantasy is known for is really birthed (moogles, the job system, summons, warriors of darkness, etc), but it's lacking in a lot of places. We see the beginning of the job system and while it's a vast improvement from whatever was going on in FF II, it still feels like it's missing things. The writing is interesting enough but falls flat in quite a few areas. And the dungeons are boring and extremely linear.

Despite all that though, my love for this game's soundtrack gives this game an edge over the first two games. And the new renditions in this remaster are fantastic.

The first Final Fantasy game that feels like one. The grand writing. The Active Time Battle system. And the giant scripted fights. This game has all of those but does it pretty poorly a lot of the time. The story is dumb and silly but I can't help but connect with some of the characters and key story moments. Most of the characters lack depth like Rosa and Edge but then Rydia is a pretty good character. The combat is fun but not as fun as later uses of the ATB. The dungeons have a bit more depth but still lack complexity. It has the basis of something special, it just needs that final push. But regardless of what I say here, I know how revolutionary this game was back when it was released, no other game had tried doing something so big with its story. And for that, I really respect this game. Looking forward to replaying V next.

6.0/10

Much better than I remember it being. I'd also consider this the first good Final Fantasy game. It does everything that its predecessors do but better. The job system returns and has actual depth and amazing customizability options. Dungeons have some actual depth with puzzles (kinda) and interesting designs, for the most part. The ATB is back but works much better with this game's combat system than the 4th's. Levelling up means nothing really since the main way to get stronger is levelling up classes. And this leads to some addicting gameplay loops, wanting to max out all jobs for all 4 of your heroes. The music is great and has a lot of standout tracks. And while the writing in this game can't really be taken seriously because of all the awful humour. It has some key moments that would cement this franchise as the classic JRPG franchise it is. Mainly 'Battle on Big Bridge' and anything to do with Gilgamesh. I do feel this game is overlooked but the pixel remasters have made it more noticeable thankfully.

7/10

tbh this game is mad boring. The story for this entry is mainly a multitude of extremely mundane side quests that eventually evolve into something bigger accept that "something bigger" is also a small fragment to something MUCH bigger that won't get explained until you play the other games. Honestly you're not missing anything by not playing this game, deadass just watch a 20 minute summary and you'll come out with the same level of info as anyone who played the game.

Also don't let people fool you with the World Building shit. Don't get me wrong some of the sidequests genuinely provide a "humbling" experience for lack of a better word, but the other %75 of them you're just fetching the milk from some big ass rat you have to fight

the gameplay is p fun though, highly recommend playing on hard so you don't die of boredom if you do decide to give this game a shot

soulless dialogues
lazy designs
poorly written characters
empty game "not many items are there" and money is pure useless
cliche ambition villain edelgard "I have to do it because... why? umm I don't know but I have to do it even if I turn into a monster"
boring repetitive unchallengeable matches
...
holyy shit this game is so bad I can't believe how much praise this game got...

Fantastic video game, my favorite of the PSX Armored Core games now!

Campaign is great, as good as the first game. Music is great. Customization is as great as always.

What turns this game from a 9 into a 10 is the Ex. Arena mode which takes up disc 2. I had SO much fucking fun doing all the challenge ladders, especially the one where you fight against mechs made by, and represented by, From Software employees who worked on the game.

It was hard for me to choose this over Armored Core at first, but that Ex. Arena mode was wild as hell and definitely a memory I will keep with myself (and whoever saw it on my twitch stream) for a long time.