Alrighty, so here's the end to the "Erdrick trilogy". first off, I'll say that I honestly didn't know DQ3 was so heavily loved and revered. I went into to the series very blind only knowing about slimes and this series predated Final Fantasy...that's about it, OH and that this game had a job/class system, but that's where it ends for my knowledge of this game prior to playing it.
This'll be the last time I have to say this about the graphics and artstyle...again I really like it. It's colorful, it pops out, and the monster and level designs look great, though because I played this on the DQ Collection on the Switch based off the mobile port, all three games used the same style and looks with only certain tweaks here and there to show some progression. Still, it looks great and enjoyed everything about it, but it does feel weird playing the three games and having them look VERY identical to each other like this...tis the nature of playing that kind of collection.
Usually I'd go into gameplay here, but skip that for now, because I feel explaining the music and sound ties into the same point I made above. They used the same engine when making these three games for the collection, so a lot of sounds and music while very good and this game had more tracks and the music was spread out much better...it still shares some of the same sounds and some of the tracks with the others. Again, very good music, probably the best of the three.
Alright, here's the bulk of what makes this game great. The job/class system aka the Vocation system. I complained before that one of the things DQ1 and DQ2 lacked was customization, the characters had set roles and were as bare boned as mages and knights...that's about it. DQ3 opened the door to thieves, warriors, martial artist (my favorite) and more. This brought me back to Final Fantasy and made the gameplay soooo much more fun. I mean yes, it's still like the prior games, turn based battles, dungeons, towns, yada yada, no real change there, but to now have 4 characters in which 3 can be whichever Vocation you want with different equips and spells and rules for what they can do. This made the game twice as good than it had any right to be.
I'm not done though...see on top of this new Vocation system, characters have personalities which effect their stat growth, which is VERY important because as I said before 3 characters can be created and given Vocations, but the main character can not. They are given Hero as a Vocation and mostly work like the main characters of DQ1 and DQ2, so their personality is important, because you can build them how you want stat wise, but they can't change Vocation and they rely on gear and the stat growth more than the others. All this leads to a very interesting and engaging party building experience. Granted everything is still in the same bubble as the past two DQ games, but this system makes it feel soooo much grander.
Whew, now to the story. This one's kinda hard to talk about because I think it has the same problem as the prior two games for the most part, though it does fix that near the end. The story for the most part is pretty non existent aside from, "Hero go save the world from the big evil." but if you have any interest in this series I urge you to play this one for the story...I know that sounds weird to say, but the little bits of story sprinkled into the whole adventure does make up for itself near the end and I feel it makes the story worth it.
So, the cons for this game...I honestly can't really thing of too many issues the game has overall, but I will list the few nitpicks, just because it is worth expressing.
- In order to understand the Personality system you HAVE to use a guide, otherwise you'll be barely utilizing it properly. You can still beat the game without knowing any of it, but you're missing some of the fun of stat building proper.
- While by the end the story was worth it, I really wish it had a little bit more depth earlier.
I absolutely loved this game, there's not too many games where I would go to work and think about the game and could wait to get home and play it like this game. It's earned it's reputation as one of the best RPGs.
This'll be the last time I have to say this about the graphics and artstyle...again I really like it. It's colorful, it pops out, and the monster and level designs look great, though because I played this on the DQ Collection on the Switch based off the mobile port, all three games used the same style and looks with only certain tweaks here and there to show some progression. Still, it looks great and enjoyed everything about it, but it does feel weird playing the three games and having them look VERY identical to each other like this...tis the nature of playing that kind of collection.
Usually I'd go into gameplay here, but skip that for now, because I feel explaining the music and sound ties into the same point I made above. They used the same engine when making these three games for the collection, so a lot of sounds and music while very good and this game had more tracks and the music was spread out much better...it still shares some of the same sounds and some of the tracks with the others. Again, very good music, probably the best of the three.
Alright, here's the bulk of what makes this game great. The job/class system aka the Vocation system. I complained before that one of the things DQ1 and DQ2 lacked was customization, the characters had set roles and were as bare boned as mages and knights...that's about it. DQ3 opened the door to thieves, warriors, martial artist (my favorite) and more. This brought me back to Final Fantasy and made the gameplay soooo much more fun. I mean yes, it's still like the prior games, turn based battles, dungeons, towns, yada yada, no real change there, but to now have 4 characters in which 3 can be whichever Vocation you want with different equips and spells and rules for what they can do. This made the game twice as good than it had any right to be.
I'm not done though...see on top of this new Vocation system, characters have personalities which effect their stat growth, which is VERY important because as I said before 3 characters can be created and given Vocations, but the main character can not. They are given Hero as a Vocation and mostly work like the main characters of DQ1 and DQ2, so their personality is important, because you can build them how you want stat wise, but they can't change Vocation and they rely on gear and the stat growth more than the others. All this leads to a very interesting and engaging party building experience. Granted everything is still in the same bubble as the past two DQ games, but this system makes it feel soooo much grander.
Whew, now to the story. This one's kinda hard to talk about because I think it has the same problem as the prior two games for the most part, though it does fix that near the end. The story for the most part is pretty non existent aside from, "Hero go save the world from the big evil." but if you have any interest in this series I urge you to play this one for the story...I know that sounds weird to say, but the little bits of story sprinkled into the whole adventure does make up for itself near the end and I feel it makes the story worth it.
So, the cons for this game...I honestly can't really thing of too many issues the game has overall, but I will list the few nitpicks, just because it is worth expressing.
- In order to understand the Personality system you HAVE to use a guide, otherwise you'll be barely utilizing it properly. You can still beat the game without knowing any of it, but you're missing some of the fun of stat building proper.
- While by the end the story was worth it, I really wish it had a little bit more depth earlier.
I absolutely loved this game, there's not too many games where I would go to work and think about the game and could wait to get home and play it like this game. It's earned it's reputation as one of the best RPGs.
12 Comments
Yeah this one is definitely my favorite out of the original 3, much for the same reasons you mentioned. Plus, I loved the way it neatly ties the trilogy together, with the callback to the world of the first game and the whole... thing of when this takes place and who you are and whatnot.
It is also pretty important to put all three games into the context of when they came out, because while the story is super simple by today's standards, compared to most games out at the time, especially on consoles, they're quite elaborate and deep in their narrative. Must've been mind-blowing at the time, when gamers were mostly used to a quick little blurb on the first page of a manual and then it's off to the races.
I also loved that, at least in the SNES and GBC version -- not sure about NES, mobile and switch -- they animated the enemy sprites. Made the whole thing feel way more alive.
It is also pretty important to put all three games into the context of when they came out, because while the story is super simple by today's standards, compared to most games out at the time, especially on consoles, they're quite elaborate and deep in their narrative. Must've been mind-blowing at the time, when gamers were mostly used to a quick little blurb on the first page of a manual and then it's off to the races.
I also loved that, at least in the SNES and GBC version -- not sure about NES, mobile and switch -- they animated the enemy sprites. Made the whole thing feel way more alive.
@Maurith
I'll take a hit on a lack of graphical difference for an amazingly fun adventure like this any day. I do wish I had tried to hunt down the SNES version since from what I see the monsters had moving animations, but that's not really an issue. I'm just glad I got to play this amazing game and honestly can say I'm loving the DQ series so far.
I'll take a hit on a lack of graphical difference for an amazingly fun adventure like this any day. I do wish I had tried to hunt down the SNES version since from what I see the monsters had moving animations, but that's not really an issue. I'm just glad I got to play this amazing game and honestly can say I'm loving the DQ series so far.
@Pandsu
I know it wasn't on purpose, but having played the other two DQ games back to back with this one, I wasn't expecting much from the story, so any depth it may have had early on was a bit lost to me for most of the game until near the end where EVERYTHING starting coming together and I won't lie...I had a smile on my face once the story REALLY got going.
Nah the Switch port didn't animate the enemies, it does have really good spell animations and sound effects to them that are VERY impressive. I really wish it took after the SNEs version, I've seen gameplay of it and would have loved that pretty enemy animation to give some difference to the other games.
Although I did have this running gag as I played, of saying "Not you again..." after seeing the green dragon sprite I original saw in DQ1 and then in both DQ2 and DQ3, it's so silly looking so it stood out to me.
I know it wasn't on purpose, but having played the other two DQ games back to back with this one, I wasn't expecting much from the story, so any depth it may have had early on was a bit lost to me for most of the game until near the end where EVERYTHING starting coming together and I won't lie...I had a smile on my face once the story REALLY got going.
Nah the Switch port didn't animate the enemies, it does have really good spell animations and sound effects to them that are VERY impressive. I really wish it took after the SNEs version, I've seen gameplay of it and would have loved that pretty enemy animation to give some difference to the other games.
Although I did have this running gag as I played, of saying "Not you again..." after seeing the green dragon sprite I original saw in DQ1 and then in both DQ2 and DQ3, it's so silly looking so it stood out to me.
The drop in quality is not only in the lack of animations, but also in some sprites and in the artistic design. In addition to cutting a bit of content.
Spoilers ahead:
For example compare the final battle of the SNES version vs. the Switch version, the water in the SNES version has a great detail that simulates the reflection of the environment, something that in the Switch version they cut out. The backgrounds of the battles are incomplete and lose a lot of detail as well.
But yes, I agree with what you say, much more important than good graphics, what makes a good game good is its design and the final experience it gives the player.
Spoilers ahead:
For example compare the final battle of the SNES version vs. the Switch version, the water in the SNES version has a great detail that simulates the reflection of the environment, something that in the Switch version they cut out. The backgrounds of the battles are incomplete and lose a lot of detail as well.
But yes, I agree with what you say, much more important than good graphics, what makes a good game good is its design and the final experience it gives the player.
@Maurith
Hmmm, I may need to look into the differences. I had saw one review of the game recently and only personally noticed the enemy sprite animations, but to be fair I was more listening than watching. I'll look into it, I'm curious.
Also, you seem well versed in the DQ series, which version of DQ4 would be best to start with? It won't be my very next game, but I do plan to play it pretty soon, but it doesn't have a Switch or modern console port.
Hmmm, I may need to look into the differences. I had saw one review of the game recently and only personally noticed the enemy sprite animations, but to be fair I was more listening than watching. I'll look into it, I'm curious.
Also, you seem well versed in the DQ series, which version of DQ4 would be best to start with? It won't be my very next game, but I do plan to play it pretty soon, but it doesn't have a Switch or modern console port.
The best version of DQ4 to date is the mobile version. It is a bit unfortunate that it does not have ports to modern consoles since it is the best version in general.
Although the DS version is also quite good and is identical in terms of content and art style, the difference is that the mobile version has a very nice feature called "party chat" that basically gives dialogues to your party members for almost any situation, even when talking to random NPCs.
Although the DS version is also quite good and is identical in terms of content and art style, the difference is that the mobile version has a very nice feature called "party chat" that basically gives dialogues to your party members for almost any situation, even when talking to random NPCs.
But regardless of which version you play, if you liked DQ3 I'm sure you will enjoy DQ4 and I hope you will when the time comes!
@Maurith
Thank you, I'll probably roll with the DS version since I'm seeing the mobile port has a lot of touch screen needs, which is an instant "NO" for me. Honestly can't wait to jump into DQ4 but I know I should wait just a little bit, lest I burn myself out.
Thank you, I'll probably roll with the DS version since I'm seeing the mobile port has a lot of touch screen needs, which is an instant "NO" for me. Honestly can't wait to jump into DQ4 but I know I should wait just a little bit, lest I burn myself out.
I think there's a patch of the Japanese version of DQ4 DS that adds in the translated party chat from the mobile version, which I kind of which I'd had when I tried getting through DQ4. I hear it flubs the gendered pronouns because Japanese doesn't really have those the way English does but aside from that it's worth digging up.
@ranrannerson
Thank ya, I may just look into it just to see how well the translation patch is and works and see if it's something I wanna do, I'm not one to put too much stock into it tho. The original game seems like it didn't have the "party chat" mode so it seems like just an extra QOL thing, which I'm down for, but not bothered much without it, whatever makes the experience fun and still loyal to it's original intention.
Thank ya, I may just look into it just to see how well the translation patch is and works and see if it's something I wanna do, I'm not one to put too much stock into it tho. The original game seems like it didn't have the "party chat" mode so it seems like just an extra QOL thing, which I'm down for, but not bothered much without it, whatever makes the experience fun and still loyal to it's original intention.
Yeah I mostly like it because it’s fun to have and fleshes out the characters a little more to have them comment on stuff instead of ending up pretty much silent once they join the Actual Protagonist’s party. I was still pretty wowed by its ambition when I read a let’s play of the NES version though so it’s not like the game is missing something huge without it.
Maurith
8 months ago