i don't really play dating sims OR mmorpgs, but if no one else is going to step up and review this game i will, because i had a blast. i do at least have enough knowledge of mmorpgs to know that the UI design for this game is great. honestly a huge selling point here is all the details that make it feel really immersive. super appreciate the way there will frequently be multiple conversations going on at once across the realm/guild/officer chats as well as PMs, it really does feel like you're hanging out in a MMO. one (1) member of your guild having a mic that's way shittier than everyone elses was a nice touch. i could go on.

while i don't know that i'd want to be in a relationship with most of them (i may be overthinking it, because again, not a big dating sim person?) all of the characters felt pretty realistic, including the ones who weren't love interests. they all feel like real people i could meet online, and i appreciate how all of the characters (the MC included) have already known each other for a while; it's way more interesting and believable than starting all the relationships from scratch, and i think it was well-done in that despite the player being thrown into the guild literally mid-raid i could still easily understand how all these people know and feel about each other. and i liked getting to uncover more history as the game went on.

i REALLY appreciate this game's supporting cast; i wasn't expecting so many supporting characters in a dating sim, but i think they're one of the best parts of the game. i like that so much of this game is focused on the guild, up to there being different endings both for how well you romance your love interest AND for how well you do in the final raid. i also think it's really impressive how well this game was able to balance such a large cast of characters: there are a LOT of guild members, and sometimes they chat with their alt accounts, but i still found it pretty easy to keep track of everyone and their relationships to each other, and i was very VERY invested in all of the guild drama happening. some of it (like 2 of your guild members being in the middle of getting a divorce? but they're still in the guild together?!?! and nobody knows about the divorce until halfway through the game!!! WHAT) was so juicy, i love it. also i would die for jim.

i tried playing this because i wanted to try playing a dragon quest game. i knew enough about dragon quest beforehand to expect a fairly basic jrpg. but i love a good ol fashioned jrpg, and this one came highly recommended from those who played it as a kid. and yeah, i see why. the protagonist being a fallen angel is conceptually pretty neat. there's plenty of good ol fashioned jrpg charm, plus the ability to completely customize your whole partys appearance, outfits(!!), and vocations, and the entire game has multiplayer support. im sure this would've been my favorite thing ever...if i was 10 years old and had people to co-op with.

as i am not 10, however, this game is just a little too annoying. anything interesting the gameplay has to offer requires grinding: trying out different vocations/skills, doing alchemy (a crafting system i actually find fun, which would be impressive but...) , or even progressing the story. grinding is made annoying by the fact that combat is simplistic without the decency of at least being forgiving. i had to backtrack to revive or heal up my party a good few times...and i personally think a story and combat system as simple as dqix's should at least make itself easy to progress through. the storyline suffers greatly from the fact that none of the player characters have any personality. the writing of other plot-important characters like the wight knight, phleming, or marionette, is often interesting enough, but their stories are so short compared to the amount of time i had to spend mindlessly fighting monsters that it doesn't feel worth it.

i won't rate this game unless i finish it, but right now it'd be about a 2/5. i played up until getting the boat before deciding that if the game was still boring me a solid 90% of the time i should probably go play something else. i might come back to it for completion's sake one day, but this was a pretty disappointing first foray into dragon quest.