So, this is my "official" start into the Dragon Quest series. I initially had tried Dragon Quest IX as my first game, and it didn't go so well...I don't blame that entry for not catching my attention, after playing the first game, I realize this series has a different world building than most RPGs and shouldn't be treated as traditional.
Granted, I know I'm playing a remake of the original game, but even looking at this version, it still has that graphical charm of a rather old RPG. everything while stylized is very retro, but pretty at the same time. I always thought of Final Fantasy as the game most RPGs imitate, (which is somewhat true) but when most media is imitating real retro RPGs this is the game they are likely emulating.
The story is about as basic as you can get...the princess is missing, evil has run amok, you're destined to save the world...that's it, there's VERY little extra to any of that. While that does sound kinda simple...I kinda dig it, with other RPGs having you find a group and take down organizations and cults or gods or whatever...Dragon Quest has you be a one man army and just go on an adventure of your own and take things at whatever pace you want it. This is your adventure, GO!
And this leads into the gameplay and this is the part that threw me off of DQ IX, it's difficult walking into a world like Dragon Quest and not understanding what monsters do and what spells mean when a spell is called "Sizz". In this game, you basically do one-on-one battles all the time, so the strategy is always you learning about the monster types and how to defeat them without feeling cheated since you never have to deal with multiple types at once, so you feel like you're learning and focusing on what an enemy does and it's role and how to counteract what it does. It really added more to the combat than I thought, and I appreciated it for it's freshness. Aside from battle it's pretty much explore the lands and grind to improve your level and equipment, the standard stuff.
The music is really hard to judge for me. On one hand, I liked what I heard as far as the battle theme and I love the sound effects of spells and attacks. On the other hand, I can't say I really remember a lot of the games music, and this could be because it's orchestrated and that's not really my jam, but nothing stood out badly at all.
Since this game is pretty retro and was well done, it's hard to think of any negatives as side from the only real thing that was bugging me from start to finish.
- The writing of NPCs is annoying. I can't stand that "olde English" medieval fantasy type of talk...I can tolerate it when voiced, but can't stand to read it.
This was a really great experience, I couldn't really give it a perfect score, because while I had fun, I felt like the game needed more in spots such has job/classes or a bit more modern writing and I think this version would have benefited from a "retro mode" to it and used the games old music or similar graphic style to add flavor in spots, but as the game is now, I loved my adventure.
Granted, I know I'm playing a remake of the original game, but even looking at this version, it still has that graphical charm of a rather old RPG. everything while stylized is very retro, but pretty at the same time. I always thought of Final Fantasy as the game most RPGs imitate, (which is somewhat true) but when most media is imitating real retro RPGs this is the game they are likely emulating.
The story is about as basic as you can get...the princess is missing, evil has run amok, you're destined to save the world...that's it, there's VERY little extra to any of that. While that does sound kinda simple...I kinda dig it, with other RPGs having you find a group and take down organizations and cults or gods or whatever...Dragon Quest has you be a one man army and just go on an adventure of your own and take things at whatever pace you want it. This is your adventure, GO!
And this leads into the gameplay and this is the part that threw me off of DQ IX, it's difficult walking into a world like Dragon Quest and not understanding what monsters do and what spells mean when a spell is called "Sizz". In this game, you basically do one-on-one battles all the time, so the strategy is always you learning about the monster types and how to defeat them without feeling cheated since you never have to deal with multiple types at once, so you feel like you're learning and focusing on what an enemy does and it's role and how to counteract what it does. It really added more to the combat than I thought, and I appreciated it for it's freshness. Aside from battle it's pretty much explore the lands and grind to improve your level and equipment, the standard stuff.
The music is really hard to judge for me. On one hand, I liked what I heard as far as the battle theme and I love the sound effects of spells and attacks. On the other hand, I can't say I really remember a lot of the games music, and this could be because it's orchestrated and that's not really my jam, but nothing stood out badly at all.
Since this game is pretty retro and was well done, it's hard to think of any negatives as side from the only real thing that was bugging me from start to finish.
- The writing of NPCs is annoying. I can't stand that "olde English" medieval fantasy type of talk...I can tolerate it when voiced, but can't stand to read it.
This was a really great experience, I couldn't really give it a perfect score, because while I had fun, I felt like the game needed more in spots such has job/classes or a bit more modern writing and I think this version would have benefited from a "retro mode" to it and used the games old music or similar graphic style to add flavor in spots, but as the game is now, I loved my adventure.
3 Comments
I'm glad to hear you found enjoyment in the first DQ, it's an objectively bad game, but it certainly has its magic and that's what makes me love it.
I hope you like DQ2, because although it's very difficult at times, I think it's an improvement in every way over the first, maybe and the music in that game you'll like it more.
I hope you like DQ2, because although it's very difficult at times, I think it's an improvement in every way over the first, maybe and the music in that game you'll like it more.
Thank you @Pandsu and @Maurith
I was kinda worried I wouldn't like DQ thanks to my first try at DQ IX, but honestly I really liked this as a start of the series and looking forward to moving well...forward with the series. Also, happy to see my review getting traction and pretty positive replies and likes.
I was kinda worried I wouldn't like DQ thanks to my first try at DQ IX, but honestly I really liked this as a start of the series and looking forward to moving well...forward with the series. Also, happy to see my review getting traction and pretty positive replies and likes.
Pandsu
9 months ago
I liked this game (the Super Famicom and Game Boy Color versions, that is) way more than I expected to. The simplicity of it all didn't seem appealing at first but it's honestly just really zen and relaxing, while still providing that old-school sense of danger and adventure where you really didn't want to fail a fight, but you didn't know when you could safely walk into the next major area or how far and what would await you there.
I prefer DQ2 and especially 3 (I have only beaten the first three so far) but there is something about this first game that is just so pure and simple. Has a very unique charm to it, in hindsight.
The music, I agree, is pretty underwhelming though. The original 8-bit versions are honestly just annoying at times (and I love 8-bit music) but the remade versions are tolerable but very forgettable.