Next up on my Dragon Quest kick was the second game! Popo had warned me that this one had some really god damn mean bits, and damn wasn't he kidding x3. This game has some really serious design issues, but it really is more up to the growing pains of the genre it was helping pioneer, so I really can't blame the game too much.
I'm just SO glad I was playing the Japanese 3DS remake, because it has the DS remakes' art style but the balancing of the GBC port, so it gets rid of a lot of the miserable grinding of the Famicom original as well as making a lot of the formerly empty or crap loot chests have better loot. I had read the game takes like 20 hours for this version, but it took me only like 14, so right about double what the first game took me, and that's being a little over leveled. (My characters were levels 40, 38, and 33 at the end of the game).
The story is an evolution in depth over the original as well as the world building. A LOT more towns and dungeons really make DQ2 feel like a more real world than the comparatively small scope of the first game. Some of the towns are a bit too far apart and/or guarded by monsters whose level curve is a bit harsh, but it's nothing totally game breaking. It certainly makes it apparent when to grind, that's for damn sure x3
This game has some really serious design issues that come about from pioneering new systems while not addressing problems from the original. There are no magic stats, just as in the original. As a result, spells never scale with levels either offensively or defensively. This means that the only way to guard against enemy spells is just raising your HP which will take a crazy level of grinding. And all the grinding in the world won't save you from instant death spells like Sacrifice which I only had happened twice but did a full-party wipe every time it happened.
The other big freaking problem is the dungeons, which are just so mean and maze-like. Some of them, particularly near the end of the game, are just so damn full of annoying enemies that put you to sleep or can 1 or 2-shot half the party in just one turn. This is all on TOP of having bullcrap like pitfalls to previous floors, stairways that lead you backwards, and Lost Woods-style puzzles that constantly lead you back to the start of an area. Some of the dungeons could literally take you hours to get through without a guide map, which is why I used them liberally in the second half of the game. That's probably why my game timer was only about 14 hours instead of 20.
Verdict: Not Recommended. It's a piece of history, that's to be sure, bit it's also really obvious why this is considered the worst Dragon Quest game. It's got a lot of good ideas, but the execution is just so flawed that it's really difficult to recommend as a game unless you're just hellbent on playing all of the DQ games. There are a ton of far better DQ games out there to play, so just go play those and save yourself the frustration x3
I'm just SO glad I was playing the Japanese 3DS remake, because it has the DS remakes' art style but the balancing of the GBC port, so it gets rid of a lot of the miserable grinding of the Famicom original as well as making a lot of the formerly empty or crap loot chests have better loot. I had read the game takes like 20 hours for this version, but it took me only like 14, so right about double what the first game took me, and that's being a little over leveled. (My characters were levels 40, 38, and 33 at the end of the game).
The story is an evolution in depth over the original as well as the world building. A LOT more towns and dungeons really make DQ2 feel like a more real world than the comparatively small scope of the first game. Some of the towns are a bit too far apart and/or guarded by monsters whose level curve is a bit harsh, but it's nothing totally game breaking. It certainly makes it apparent when to grind, that's for damn sure x3
This game has some really serious design issues that come about from pioneering new systems while not addressing problems from the original. There are no magic stats, just as in the original. As a result, spells never scale with levels either offensively or defensively. This means that the only way to guard against enemy spells is just raising your HP which will take a crazy level of grinding. And all the grinding in the world won't save you from instant death spells like Sacrifice which I only had happened twice but did a full-party wipe every time it happened.
The other big freaking problem is the dungeons, which are just so mean and maze-like. Some of them, particularly near the end of the game, are just so damn full of annoying enemies that put you to sleep or can 1 or 2-shot half the party in just one turn. This is all on TOP of having bullcrap like pitfalls to previous floors, stairways that lead you backwards, and Lost Woods-style puzzles that constantly lead you back to the start of an area. Some of the dungeons could literally take you hours to get through without a guide map, which is why I used them liberally in the second half of the game. That's probably why my game timer was only about 14 hours instead of 20.
Verdict: Not Recommended. It's a piece of history, that's to be sure, bit it's also really obvious why this is considered the worst Dragon Quest game. It's got a lot of good ideas, but the execution is just so flawed that it's really difficult to recommend as a game unless you're just hellbent on playing all of the DQ games. There are a ton of far better DQ games out there to play, so just go play those and save yourself the frustration x3