I'll use another example. In Dragon Quest VII you go back in time to try and fix things right. There is one character in particular who isolates himself to one part of the island. He makes robots and machines because they make him happy and he's lonely. His brother wishes to use his brains to help the country from an attack against mechanized warriors, and he complies after strenuous effort. After saving the area, he isolates himself once more, damning himself to a lonely and sad fate. He creates the ultimate robot, which he has as a companion and friend for the rest of his life. He has no desire to leave his home or step inside his kingdom again. It takes care of him in the mean time. You travel back to your time line where you discover him dead, of course, since you're way ahead of his time. His robot, however, is still working hard to make sure he's okay, not knowing its master is dead.
This sounds like a simplified tale, but when you see it play out in the game, it pulls your heart strings since you form a relationship with the character. Dragon Quest is good a few things that turn cliches into memorable experiences, and the character interaction is what ties it all together.
None of this has really anything to do with the main plot. It's just a subplot that happens during the course of the story. The episodic structure may not be some people's preference, but us DQ fans like it.
I think DQ stories are unique, just not in the way people intend them to or expect them to be.
That's a good story, and thanks for sharing it as I never played DQ 7. A slightly similar story telling the tale of a strange, for lack of a better word without completely spoiling everything, relationship between AI and mistress exists in the first Knights of the Old Republic as well. Although I am using inferred logic, I can at least (hopefully without any pretensions) say I partially connect with this sordid tale. ^
That was a good story and a good comparison. The guy's lover died so he created the robot as a sort of replacement, if I remember. For companionship, not for love. I think the lady in KOTOR was the same way. However, it was particularly nteresting how in KOTOR, the robot developed feelings to the point where he felt it was necessary for him to cease existing, for it would be for the good of its master. The thing about Zelboot's robot in DQ7 is that it always did what it was told; it was the perfect robot with the perfect A.I. even as time passed, and its master turned into a skeleton, unbeknown of its masters fate. They're both morbid, similar tales, but have different outcomes.
distorted the tale and that the "hero" came to save them, when in fact they tried to kill the worm in the past.
I also remember vividly the town that
was completely turned into stone and seeing the ghost town and there fate made me angry that I literally wanted to hunt down the Demon Lord personally and kill him, yes like I said that DQ game touched me to the soul, like never before.
I wished we could have gotten an original Toriyama art piece. Not really fond of the practice of pasting character art on the box, but the North American version does look slightly better than the Japanese version.
They're all good. DQ is probably the most consistently-excellent RPG series there is. DQ4 is one of the fan favorites, though. It's one of my favorites, too.
Ok, I just googled DQIV and it seems like it may be pretty good. I wonder about the fighting portions though. I would at least like to see my characters on screen. Has anyone seen the fighting portions of the DS remake yet?
Ok, I just googled DQIV and it seems like it may be pretty good. I wonder about the fighting portions though. I would at least like to see my characters on screen. Has anyone seen the fighting portions of the DS remake yet?
DQVIII (and now IX) is the only one where you can see your party members in battle. The first person view has been a series staple for years and it works extremely well. No worries.
Ok, I just googled DQIV and it seems like it may be pretty good. I wonder about the fighting portions though. I would at least like to see my characters on screen. Has anyone seen the fighting portions of the DS remake yet?
I guess I can live without on screen characters during battles. At least it's faster as a result. After DQVIII I've been dying to hop back into a similar feeling world. Not too sure if this is a spoiler or not, but I find it interesting that the main character joins the game
so late.
It's actually pretty cool, imo.
Count me in as, officially excited about Dragon Quest IV on DS.
Damnit. First I'm gonna need a Wii so I can play Samba de Amigo (RIP, Dreamcast + Maracas), and now I'm going to need a DS to play the DQ remakes. I wish they'd re-release DQ 1&2 and DQ3 for either GBA or DS, then I could have almost all the DQ games on one convenient system.
Great observation on how DQ's storytelling is so different from most other RPGs. It's something I've always known, but it's sorta intangible and hard to describe. I've played through every DQ game, and I love them all. If I had to rank them:
DQ3 - Being able to reclass and keep all your abilities/spells was awesome. Plus it featured an unparalleled level of customization (no other DQ lets you choose your party members' names, with a few exceptions like the wild panther in DQ5). Every single class has a use, even the Joker (
you can reroll a lvl 20 jester directly into a Sage without that stupid book/scroll
).
DQ5 - The family element was done really well, and connected with me strongly.
DQ7 - I -loved- all the vignettes you play through. It gives you a strong tie to the people of the world. It's also the closest DQ has come to the "religion = evil" cliche, which is why it's below DQ5. Yes, the graphics sucked, but I valued the instantaneous load times much more. A prettier-but-slower game just wouldn't have been DQ.
DQ8 - Pretty, but more or less by-the-numbers. Wins the "most disappointing big bad reveal ever" award. Seriously, you look at the end bosses of the DQ games, and the best you can do is the Stay Puft Marshmellow Demon?
DQ4 (NES) - The DS remake may make it higher up the list. On the NES, chapters 1-4 are full of win, but chapter 5 is a mess thanks to all the NPCs being in permanent AI mode. Granted, you can more or less get your party to do what you want by constantly fiddling with the AI, but usually when you use an AI script that enables something awesome, the party members do something really stupid too (like cast spells while stopspelled).
DQ6 - Didn't care for the story premise; job system is to DQ7 what FF5 is to Tactics: an introductory system, but not refined. I found it quite tedious.
tie: DQ2 (NES) - dear God, where to start. I'm pretty sure this is the worst of the entire series when it comes to grinding. The level up requirements towards the end of the game are.. mindnumbing. The characters are two weaklings and a powerhouse. The only thing going for the game is that the game really rewards you for exploring and talking to everyone (if you take notes, you can solve every puzzle w/o a hint book), and the fact that the GBC version fixed the absurd XP requirements and toned down the difficulty to "sane" mode.
DQ1 (NES) - The most primitive of all the games: keys are consumables (retconned reason: the key guy had a defective recipe that produced shoddy keys, or did that on purpose to make money). You have to use a STAIRS command to go up and down stairs (only game where it isn't automatic). Also the only NES DQ to have graphics behind the monsters in battle mode. The NES game is also tough as nails--even at level 30, the Dragon Lord would kick your ass more than half the time.
The GBC remake is totally neutered. While they toned down DQ2 to "sane," they put DQ1 down into retard mode. The only thing worthwhile about the remake is a better script and better graphics.
But again, we're talking about a scale of "kick ass" to "excellent."
Nice. I am eagerly looking forward to being able to play DQ4 without AI retard crap.
Not sure if 5 or 6 will really be worthwhile. It'll be interesting to hear if there's anything new for them...but honestly I wasn't too much of a fan of either. At least I hope they make the monster-members less random when joining.
With all that Dragon Quest going around, you've got to wonder if Square Enix might not be risking a little Japanese RPG burnout by the time Dragon Quest IX: Protectors of the Starry Sky hits town on November 20.
With all that Dragon Quest going around, you've got to wonder if Square Enix might not be risking a little Japanese RPG burnout by the time Dragon Quest IX: Protectors of the Starry Sky hits town on November 20.