This review contains spoilers
im so conflicted on this game. most of the time, I love this game so much and think it really shines in its simplicity. i saw someone else refer to this game and dragon quest as a whole as "mom's homemade cooking" and I couldn't agree more. at least with this entry, I still haven't played a ton of the series at this point.
a lot of people might write off the "you're the chosen one??????" plot since its such a beaten to death trope at this point, but they still manage to weave in a fair amount of unexpected twists and turns that I didn't really expect from a game like this. im not talking metal gear or anything here, but ill just say i was surprised to find myself tearing up more than a few times.
however. the BIG however. is that all this tight gameplay with charming characters, etc. feels stapled onto a game design/environmental design model that should've evolved three console generations ago.
for instance, its really cool that you can just play this entire game in 2d mode! they really never had to do that at all and it must've been a ton of work for something that you can just ignore completely! but the fact that a 2017/2019 AAA RPG can be boiled down into a pseudo-16 bit mode shouldn't be possible. it feels like the game isn't really pushing itself to be something thats only possible nowadays.
now im not saying snes rpgs are old and bad, that'd be absolutely stupid of me. but if you look at something like ff4/5/6 compared to ffxvi, you can tell theres been so much experimentation and attempts to try new things. for better or worse, ill admit. but you can't lie to me and say that everyone should still only be using spell charges this far into the series, even as someone who enjoyed them in ff1
and I already know dragon quest earns its reputation through its traditional gameplay and mechanics, which I do like, but there's still ways to make more interesting stuff without going full ff7 remake insane-atb style combat, yknow?
my other fault with the game revolves around its story and act 3. I don't hate it like other people, but I feel like it completely undermines what you worked for in act 2. I love a happy ending just as much as anybody else, but it went way too far for me. something that I loved doing in act 2 was the feeling of slowly liberating the world from darkness and starting from basically nothing. having to find your old party members all over the continent. its cool to see! as well as the new bosses that tie into most of your party and their arcs. its all told and paced well. mwah.
now imagine most of the character defining events of part 2 that took their time setting up and resolving themselves with enjoyable writing and cutscenes being smushed down into like. half an hour. and all the characters in those scenes feel like wooden boards who barely have any emotional reaction to what happens since the game needs to get a move on and bring your party back up to speed.
theres new moments for sure, like with hendrik, but most characters tend to understand, come to grips with their dilemma, and find resolution within a short paragraph or so. having all of act 2 play out again in full would've been exhausting for sure, but there had to have been a better way to do this. also, whenever a character goes "woah this event seems really familiar" I swear I can feel the hero look at the camera with a sly grin like he's in the office since he doesn't tell any characters about what's going on and its frustrating.
I would've preferred a healthy mix of things from act 2 and 3. keep most of the consequences from act 2 and stick with the theme of overcoming loss and continuing to fight when the deck is stacked against you, but bring back the endgame boss shit from act 3 and the expanded worldbuilding and history of the luminary. you can give some characters a happy ending again with magical luminary bs, but keep Veronica and other bigger characters who's deaths were part of the plot dead.
basically this shit is so fucking awesome but every now and then it just feels like im playing a top down snes rpg that was directly translated into 3d which leaves some parts of the world feeling kinda open and lifeless, especially compared to its modern day peers. it also unfortunately backpedals on a lot of its more impactful decisions in the end which makes me kinda go back and forth on the conclusion of the story. excited to see what dq12 does if we ever see more of it, and im excited to dig into more of the series in the meantime
a lot of people might write off the "you're the chosen one??????" plot since its such a beaten to death trope at this point, but they still manage to weave in a fair amount of unexpected twists and turns that I didn't really expect from a game like this. im not talking metal gear or anything here, but ill just say i was surprised to find myself tearing up more than a few times.
however. the BIG however. is that all this tight gameplay with charming characters, etc. feels stapled onto a game design/environmental design model that should've evolved three console generations ago.
for instance, its really cool that you can just play this entire game in 2d mode! they really never had to do that at all and it must've been a ton of work for something that you can just ignore completely! but the fact that a 2017/2019 AAA RPG can be boiled down into a pseudo-16 bit mode shouldn't be possible. it feels like the game isn't really pushing itself to be something thats only possible nowadays.
now im not saying snes rpgs are old and bad, that'd be absolutely stupid of me. but if you look at something like ff4/5/6 compared to ffxvi, you can tell theres been so much experimentation and attempts to try new things. for better or worse, ill admit. but you can't lie to me and say that everyone should still only be using spell charges this far into the series, even as someone who enjoyed them in ff1
and I already know dragon quest earns its reputation through its traditional gameplay and mechanics, which I do like, but there's still ways to make more interesting stuff without going full ff7 remake insane-atb style combat, yknow?
my other fault with the game revolves around its story and act 3. I don't hate it like other people, but I feel like it completely undermines what you worked for in act 2. I love a happy ending just as much as anybody else, but it went way too far for me. something that I loved doing in act 2 was the feeling of slowly liberating the world from darkness and starting from basically nothing. having to find your old party members all over the continent. its cool to see! as well as the new bosses that tie into most of your party and their arcs. its all told and paced well. mwah.
now imagine most of the character defining events of part 2 that took their time setting up and resolving themselves with enjoyable writing and cutscenes being smushed down into like. half an hour. and all the characters in those scenes feel like wooden boards who barely have any emotional reaction to what happens since the game needs to get a move on and bring your party back up to speed.
theres new moments for sure, like with hendrik, but most characters tend to understand, come to grips with their dilemma, and find resolution within a short paragraph or so. having all of act 2 play out again in full would've been exhausting for sure, but there had to have been a better way to do this. also, whenever a character goes "woah this event seems really familiar" I swear I can feel the hero look at the camera with a sly grin like he's in the office since he doesn't tell any characters about what's going on and its frustrating.
I would've preferred a healthy mix of things from act 2 and 3. keep most of the consequences from act 2 and stick with the theme of overcoming loss and continuing to fight when the deck is stacked against you, but bring back the endgame boss shit from act 3 and the expanded worldbuilding and history of the luminary. you can give some characters a happy ending again with magical luminary bs, but keep Veronica and other bigger characters who's deaths were part of the plot dead.
basically this shit is so fucking awesome but every now and then it just feels like im playing a top down snes rpg that was directly translated into 3d which leaves some parts of the world feeling kinda open and lifeless, especially compared to its modern day peers. it also unfortunately backpedals on a lot of its more impactful decisions in the end which makes me kinda go back and forth on the conclusion of the story. excited to see what dq12 does if we ever see more of it, and im excited to dig into more of the series in the meantime