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[Rpgmonkey]

Nice boxart.

Like it more than the Japanese one.

 

[Mejilan]

Gypsy Dance! Gypsy Dance! Gypsy Dance!

 

[Red Scarlet]

Pardon my ignorance, but what are those fin lookin things around his head?

The guy in the center of the boxart is a

Spoiler

merman

.

 

[Johnas]

That boxart is easily superior to the Japanese version, not that that says a whole lot really.

Nice that it actually has a dragon on it.

 

[Llyranor]

Quick question about DQ4.

How long does an average dungeon take to go through? Can one usually go through one dungeon in one run-through, or does one usually have to backtrack and restock before completing said dungeon? I'm all for a challenge; can I go through the game with minimal/no grinding? Does the game allow for tactical choices to win the day, or is it based on levelling up?

 

[Aeana]

Dungeons in DQ games are generally not incredibly long. The longer dungeons don't tend to have bosses at the end, either. DQ8 was a change in that a good portion of the dungeons actually did have bosses at the end, although the length of the dungeons was pretty similar to the older games.

It is never necessary to grind in DQ4. Ever.

 

[Llyranor]

I know they're not really similar, but how would you compare the pacing of DQ4 (and 5-6, I guess) with Etrian Odyssey (just the more recent 'grindy' RPG I've played)? I enjoyed EO, but exploring one part of a map, then having to return to town then back again and so on and so forth started to get to me. The small story segments also seem interesting. I remember playing only chapter 1 (as that soldier guy?) of DQ4 a very long time ago and enjoyed it, but for some reason I just stopped playing. I also did play about 10 hrs of DQ7. The first few hours where there was no combat were actually pretty enjoyable. I also did like the little stories in each island. Though, again, I also stopped playing at around the 10 hr mark (or was it 20?).

I'm willing to try out the series again. DQ4 will be mine, and I'll see from there.

 

[renessahnz]

The DQ IV site's updated. Check it.

 

[Crazymoogle]

I know they're not really similar, but how would you compare the pacing of DQ4 (and 5-6, I guess) with Etrian Odyssey (just the more recent 'grindy' RPG I've played)? I enjoyed EO, but exploring one part of a map, then having to return to town then back again and so on and so forth started to get to me. The small story segments also seem interesting. I remember playing only chapter 1 (as that soldier guy?) of DQ4 a very long time ago and enjoyed it, but for some reason I just stopped playing. I also did play about 10 hrs of DQ7. The first few hours where there was no combat were actually pretty enjoyable. I also did like the little stories in each island. Though, again, I also stopped playing at around the 10 hr mark (or was it 20?).

I'm willing to try out the series again. DQ4 will be mine, and I'll see from there.

EO struck me as incredibly-grind based. DQ5 is literally the FF4 of the series, making DQ6 roughly analogous to FF6. DQ7, on the other hand, has this unbelievable amount of pre-first-battle setup and is quite a bit more based on mechanics than storyline.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Both this and Force Unleashed are coming out on my birthday.

 

[Mejilan]

Etrian Odyssey is isn't even close to grind-based. There's a shit-ton more grinding necessary in the older DQs (NOT necessarily these updated remakes) than in EO.

 

[MoxManiac]

I don't recall doing any grinding in EO aside from a brief stint of killing those frogs that spawn more frogs. I got more than enough experience exploring the mazes.

 

[Kazenone]

For any Euro's browsing, SE updated the EU site as well with confirmation of 5 (Hand of the Heavenly Bride) and 6 (Realms of the Reverie) coming to Europe too

http://www.dragonquest-game.co.uk/

 

[Crazymoogle]

Etrian Odyssey is isn't even close to grind-based. There's a shit-ton more grinding necessary in the older DQs (NOT necessarily these updated remakes) than in EO.

Possibly just me misinterpreting my impressions of the back and forth element. whoops.

Anyhow, can't wait for DQ4/5/6 on the DS.

 

[Mejilan]

Possibly just me misinterpreting my impressions of the back and forth element. whoops.

Just to clarify, if you bother to map out every floor (fun) and do most or all of the optional quests, then you'll be more than strong enough to beat the game. Easily.

I'd say that tackling the completely optional post-endgame content (another 5 floors and OODLES of bosses) probably would require some grinding, or EXTREMELY excellent luck (or FAQ-reading/foresight) in building up your party...

As far as RPGs go, it's not exceptional in the amount of grinding it requires, and more adept players will be able to get through the entire game without any forced leveling.

I guess it depends on how you define "grinding." For my part, it's forced leveling. Others foolishly considering the mapping of levels and the quest-solving as grinding, for some obscure reason. Me, I call those exploring and questing, not grinding.

But yes. DRAGON QUEST OH YES YOU WILL BE MINE YOU WILL BE MINE. [/horrible grammar]

 

[Llyranor]

Yeah, I wouldn't say EO is more grindy than your usual JRPG (hence the quotation marks). Part of it was my fault (leveling up the two new classes you unlock later on, which turned to not be to my taste, and then resting the rest of my party - making them go back 10 lvls to be recustomized - at the same time, which caused a significant set-back). I think my main problem with it is that it was a dungeon crawler. Now, mind you, it was fun, and exploration was enjoyable. Though, I missed the sense of going on an adventure. The various floors were a bit varied, but it was still going through the same dungeon. It just missed something for me. A lack of purpose, perhaps? (though one could argue that exploration serves its own purpose)

 

[Mejilan]

It's more of a content-orientated experience. It's neither character-driven, nor story-driven, and I can see why that would turn some RPG fans off.

Arguably, the same could be said about the DQ series. (Though to a much lesser extent). Certainly, story was never Dragon Quest's strong point.

 

[Aeana]

It's more of a content-orientated experience. It's neither character-driven, nor story-driven, and I can see why that would turn some RPG fans off.

Arguably, the same could be said about the DQ series. (Though to a much lesser extent). Certainly, story was never Dragon Quest's strong point.

One of the main draws to DQ for me has always been the scenarios. They're very personal, which is a stark contrast to what you find in Final Fantasy and other series.

 

[Llyranor]

I enjoyed the small stories in each village in DQ7 from what I've played. How similar are those (in terms of pacing/presentation, at least) to DQ4-6?

 

[Mejilan]

One of the main draws to DQ for me has always been the scenarios. They're very personal, which is a stark contrast to what you find in Final Fantasy and other series.

I've always rather liked them too. They're charming, though not much of a draw compared to the "epic" stories of other, more popular RPGs.

 

[VOOK]

Ubisoft announce that it has entered a distribution agreement with Square Enix Ltd. to bring DRAGON QUEST®: The Chapters of the Chosen™, to Australia and New Zealand. DRAGON QUEST: The Chapters of the Chosen will be released exclusively on the Nintendo DS™ system this September.

Just got a PR, coming to AU/NZ in September as well.

 

[A Human Becoming]

Was the GBC remake of DQ really that nerfed? I remember grinding a ton. So much so that by the time I figured out how to get to the final boss, he was easy as hell.

For some reason I couldn't get into DQII back in the day. Sometimes I want to go back and give it another try.

 

[Red Scarlet]

Was the GBC remake of DQ really that nerfed? I remember grinding a ton. So much so that by the time I figured out how to get to the final boss, he was easy as hell.

For some reason I couldn't get into DQII back in the day. Sometimes I want to go back and give it another try.

GBC remake of which one? The remakes for 1 and 2 for every system they came out on were adjusted from the originals, mainly in the sense that badguys give a whole lot more experience and money so you weren't fighting around for a long time to level up or afford the next upgrade if you decided to go for it. 3 played a lot faster thanks to group/all monster hitting weapons that were added.

I still think 2 is the most difficult one in terms of enemy difficulty.

 

[A Human Becoming]

I remember being so excited for the DQIII on the GBC. Sadly, other games got in the way and I never got around to trying it.

I remember getting to a really hard optional dungeon in DQII and just losing interest. It was sometime after you have all your party members. I vaguely recall being at the tip of one of the continents?

I'm starting to wonder if it might be hard for me to get into DQIV. Now I enjoyed DQVIII quite a bit, which is very oldschool compared to most RPGs today, but DQIV's age might get to me. I'm going to assume I'm much less tolerant now of old school design then I was when I was 12 years old, when I picked up DW 1 & 2 for the GBC. I'm even more weary after playing the remake of FF3; I went through the final dungeon twice (which took over an hour) to only realize I kept dying at the boss because I was under leveled. I never picked it up again.

 

[NolbertoS]

I remember being so excited for the DQIII on the GBC. Sadly, other games got in the way and I never got around to trying it.

I remember getting to a really hard optional dungeon in DQII and just losing interest. It was sometime after you have all your party members. I vaguely recall being at the tip of one of the continents?

I'm starting to wonder if it might be hard for me to get into DQIV. Now I enjoyed DQVIII quite a bit, which is very oldschool compared to most RPGs today, but DQIV's age might get to me. I'm going to assume I'm much less tolerant now of old school design then I was when I was 12 years old, when I picked up DW 1 & 2 for the GBC. I'm even more weary after playing the remake of FF3; I went through the final dungeon twice (which took over an hour) to only realize I kept dying at the boss because I was under leveled. I never picked it up again.

I don't recall any optional dungeons in DQ II. If I did miss one, than I'll go back whenever I can . DQIV is easy, from what the Japanese GAF gamers are saying compared to it's old NES version, hell the SFC DQ II remake was wayyyyyy tougher than the GBC remake. I tried beating the last boss, and got hammered badly, while in the GBC version, I didn't have to grind like crazy to beat him.

 

[A Human Becoming]

I believe it was the cave to the left of Osterfair (not in the picture above).

 

[NolbertoS]

I believe it was the cave to the left of Osterfair (not in the picture above).

That's not an optional cave. I don't wanna reck the rest of the game for ya, but that cave is needed to be completed to continue your journey.

 

[Red Scarlet]

I believe it was the cave to the left of Osterfair (not in the picture above).

That dungeon is required due to the item you find inside. The only optional dungeons in the game are if you go to Moonbrooke and look around in there, the north Dragon's Horn Tower, and Charlock Castle. The dungeon you were at is where the difficulty really ramps up for me, but you were almost done with the game.

I don't recall any optional dungeons in DQ II. If I did miss one, than I'll go back whenever I can . DQIV is easy, from what the Japanese GAF gamers are saying compared to it's old NES version, hell the SFC DQ II remake was wayyyyyy tougher than the GBC remake. I tried beating the last boss, and got hammered badly, while in the GBC version, I didn't have to grind like crazy to beat him.

I've never really noticed a difference in difficulty from the Super Famicom version of 2 and the GBC one. But one thing you can try in the GBC one is to not get the 2nd prince again and beat the game with just the main guy and the princess. I did that on the Super Famicom version and it was pretty cool I thought.

 

[NolbertoS]

That dungeon is required due to the item you find inside. The only optional dungeons in the game are if you go to Moonbrooke and look around in there, the north Dragon's Horn Tower, and Charlock Castle. The dungeon you were at is where the difficulty really ramps up for me, but you were almost done with the game.

That dungeon was hard too, but I'd say the

Spoiler

Cave to Rhone is wayyyy harder than that cave. I must've spent many hours grinding the cave to Rhone, cuz if you don't have Revive spell, you're chances of getting outta the cave alive with all your party members intact is nil

I've never really noticed a difference in difficulty from the Super Famicom version of 2 and the GBC one. But one thing you can try in the GBC one is to not get the 2nd prince again and beat the game with just the main guy and the princess. I did that on the Super Famicom version and it was pretty cool I thought.

Yeah there was a huge difficulty.

Spoiler

Fighting Sidoh, was harder, as his fire breaths almost always did tremendous damage to your party members, while the GBC version, he was pretty easy.

I never tried not getting the prince thou, as I always like the overworld song with all 3 of them .. I did do a solo quest in DQIII though and made it all the way to the last boss.

 

[Red Scarlet]

That dungeon was hard too, but I'd say the

Spoiler

Cave to Rhone is wayyyy harder than that cave. I must've spent many hours grinding the cave to Rhone, cuz if you don't have Revive spell, you're chances of getting outta the cave alive with all your party members intact is nil

Oh, the difficulty there is higher I'd agree too, but I always felt a big jump from the lava place to the ones before it, and another one from lava place to Rhone.

Yeah there was a huge difficulty.

Spoiler

Fighting Sidoh, was harder, as his fire breaths almost always did tremendous damage to your party members, while the GBC version, he was pretty easy.

I never tried not getting the prince thou, as I always like the overworld song with all 3 of them ..

Hm, it seemed the same to me I guess, but I only played the GBC one about twice and the SFC one a lot more.

I did do a solo quest in DQIII though and made it all the way to the last boss.

What stopped you from winning?

 

[NolbertoS]

Oh, the difficulty there is higher I'd agree too, but I always felt a big jump from the lava place to the ones before it, and another one from lava place to Rhone.



Hm, it seemed the same to me I guess, but I only played the GBC one about twice and the SFC one a lot more.



What stopped you from winning?

I couldn't beat Zoma I tried many times, but he's just too powerful on a solo quest. Maybe if I pick it up again, I'll try.

 

[Red Scarlet]

What level were you and what was your equipment? When I recorded a solo playthrough, it looks like I was lv49. The Blade/Swordedge Armor helped out.

 

[NolbertoS]

What level were you and what was your equipment? When I recorded a solo playthrough, it looks like I was lv49. The Blade/Swordedge Armor helped out.

Never thought of using the Blad/Swordedge Armour [face_thinking]..I was in the high 50's. Maybe I didn't equip properly. Probably going to try again later. Damn..all this DQ talk is making me want DQIV DS more badly now. Yes, even more the Etrian Odyssey 2 and FFIV DS.

 

[A Human Becoming]

I'm not so sure I was SUPPOSE to go to that cave at that point in the game. More then likely I was just checking it out, only to get frustrated and stop playing. :lol

I just remembered! Nintendo Power had a (partial?) guide for DQ when it came out for the GBC and boy was it helpful. Too bad with the internet now magazines don't do it for games anymore.

 

[Red Scarlet]

If it helps, my equipment was Falcon Sword, Blade Armor, Hero Shield, Ortega's Helmet, Meteorite Armlet. I kept the Orochi Sword thing but I think I used it on the badguys before him and not Zoma himself.

If you get really annoyed and never got it, you could also just grab that cursed mask with +200 defense and being confused wouldn't matter for a solo character.

I'm not so sure I was SUPPOSE to go to that cave at that point in the game. More then likely I was just checking it out, only to get frustrated and stop playing. :lol

If you were able to get into the lava cave, then that would be where you were supposed to go. Since the Staff of Thunder trick doesn't work on the remakes, I usually only have one or two Shields of Strength by then; they help out quite a bit, imo.

 

[A Human Becoming]

I was almost done? Wow. I remember there still being a lot of the world I hadn't explored. This makes me want to go back and try it again. I'd have to start a new game though. :\

 

[NolbertoS]

I was almost done? Wow. I remember there still being a lot of the world I hadn't explored. This makes me want to go back and try it again. I'd have to start a new save though. :\

I wouldn't say you were almost done. I'd say 75% complete, with the remaining 25% ready to kick your teeth with harder monsters and "special" obstacles. If you though that cave was tough, just wait till you get to the cave that's next

Edit: Listen to this to get you psyched for DQ II

http://youtube.com/watch?v=TqOdIyGTkzs&feature=related

 

[Red Scarlet]

Location-wise, there were only a few dungeons left. But like Nolberto said, time-wise it'd be less probably, because from the lava cave onward, the monsters get really tough and survivability can be a battle-to-battle challenge. Even at the maximum level, it is easy to die in the last areas of the game. :lol

If you do play through it again, I'm sure some folks can give you some advice.

 

[Sagitario]

Does DQIV requires a lot of grinding? It would be my first DQ title [I bought Monsters and Rocket Slime, haven't opened them yet... I'm waiting to buy a Lite] but the thought of grinding, turn-based and random battles makes me hesitate about getting it [though I've always wanted to get into DQ]...

 

[cartman414]

GBC remake of which one? The remakes for 1 and 2 for every system they came out on were adjusted from the originals, mainly in the sense that badguys give a whole lot more experience and money so you weren't fighting around for a long time to level up or afford the next upgrade if you decided to go for it. 3 played a lot faster thanks to group/all monster hitting weapons that were added.

I still think 2 is the most difficult one in terms of enemy difficulty.

I think the difficulty behind DQ 2 was the whole party imbalance thing. You have one pure fighter who doesn't start gaining significant HP until the end in order to offset his lack of magic knowledge, one mage fighter who isn't especially adept at either, and one pure mage who of course isn't cut out for fighting. And magic was still underevolved to justify any dedicated magic users.

I did score a Magic Hat as a rare drop from a Metabble though.

 

[Red Scarlet]

I think the difficulty behind DQ 2 was the whole party imbalance thing. You have one pure fighter who doesn't start gaining significant HP until the end in order to offset his lack of magic knowledge, one mage fighter who isn't especially adept at either, and one pure mage who of course isn't cut out for fighting. And magic was still underevolved to justify any dedicated magic users.

I did score a Magic Hat as a rare drop from a Metabble though.

I always attributed it to low HP for all the characters, really high damage attacks from monsters throughout the game, low MP, and the lack of all-enemy hitting spells until late in the game. I don't know if it was the same for any of you guys, but on each version of the game, the 2nd prince was usually who would die the most, which made him having the only revive spell in the game kind of frustrating. They did give the princess one too, though. I still think it's the most strategic game in the series when I play it.

They changed it to a Magic Hat? I got a drop on the NES version, when it was that 'save anywhere' item. At least they added one in a chest in the remake though.