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GAF Plays: Dragon Quest. All of it. In order. :)

C

Carlisle

Member
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I, like I'm sure many other gaffers, have a massive backlog that includes games dating way back to the NES era. A lot of these games are popular series that I knew I would like, bought them, never got around to playing them, but continued to buy new entries in the series anyway. I can think of half a dozen of these off the top of my head. So I've decided once and for all to plow through them. And I'm starting with Dragon Quest. I've played bits of a couple of them, but have yet to see a single one through to the end. This changes now.

I'm going to play the GBC ports of 1-3 and the DS remakes of 4-5. I'm really hoping that by that time 6 DS will be out stateside and 7 will be on PSN so I can play on my Go. And hopefully by the time I'm done with 8, 9 will be out stateside as well. I think the timing should work out relatively well, but we'll see :lol

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Title: Dragon Quest [Warrior]
Systems: Gameboy Color, Nintendo DS, Playstation, PS2
# of Games: 7 now with 2 more to come later

I'll be playing 1-3 on my GBA, 4-6 & 9 on my DSi, 7 & 8 on PS3. I'm a bit slow sometimes so I went ahead and gave myself a headstart so as to keep up with anyone else doing this. Plus since I've never played these before, I'm going for the full experience and not so much speed.

I've finished DQ1 and am headstrong into DQ2 now. Playing these games has opened my eyes about this series in an amazing new way. I can't get enough of it. And OH MY GOD the MUSIC.

This will be an incredibly daunting task and will probably go on for a very long time, but I'm not stopping till I'm done. If you've got the drive, the persistence, and the heart to do this, then I beseech you to join me on this epic journey. Those of weak constitution should probably stay home. You'll see us when we come in uninvited and raid your cabinets.

This is my first GAF Plays thread so go easy. It was inspired by Unknown Soldier's amazing FFXII:IZJS GAF Plays thread.
 
VI and IX are the only mainline games I've yet to finish (for obvious reasons), but there's no fucking chance I'll be joining you on a complete run through the series. I do wish you the best of luck, however! Always nice to see a new fan of an awesome franchise.
 
:lol
Thanks! Yeah I figure I'm at least half insane for doing it. But if I don't do it now and like this I never will. And from what I've played so far, I'd be missing out on something incredible. I'm pumped and I'm making good progress and I feel great about it. Thanks for the well-wishes. I'll see you when VI and IX come out.
 
I think I put over 150 hours into DQVII, and had it not been for succeeding in getting it working on my PSP, I'd have never finished it! Amazing game, though.
 
I sort of did this. I had finished the first four on nes back then, replayed III again on gbc, and eventually finally got around to play V and VI on snes and by then I started up VII and went ahead and got into VIII a few months later when it got released.

It helps that you just keep the momentum at the series, not all at once. My hubby did this when he got grieved at by me for not playing them all and I doubted that he could do it, but he did it though. Definitely not going through the series again i can tell you that much.

I'll probably love to replay III again at another point. III still remains to be my favorite DQ game ever.

EDIT: 150 hours, Mejilan? I spent 240 of it with a third of it doing the Monster Park. That part was insane but fun at the same time.

Just remembered, I also replayed IV again for the DS. Still got V to replay though.
 
I finished the entire story in VII, and all of the post-game bonus content.
I also fully upgraded the customizable town. But I completely ignored the monster park. Hell, I don't even remember what it is. I don't think I touched that at all.
 
Over the past year, I played through I-III (GBC), IV & V (DS), and am 15 hours into VII on the PS1. I can see why so many people stopped playing DQ7 early on. It's one of the worst starts to an RPG I've ever experienced (and certainly the worst of the DQs that I've played), but once you get going, it's pretty good and very "DQ". I really like the music and the monster animations are terrific. I haven't gotten to the job stuff yet, but I'm looking forward to it. That was definitely the most rockin' part of DQ3, and I'm looking forward to how they've done it in this game.

FWIW, in terms of how much I enjoyed these: DQ3 > DQ5 > DQ4 > DQ2 > DQ1

Who knows, I might've liked 4 more than 5, but 5 was the one that truly hooked me on the series, so I have to give it a bit more tilt. We'll see where 7 falls when I'm done w/ it.
 
Until now I'd only played part of VII.... but I didn't fully grasp the magic of the series, so I definitely didn't appreciate it for all it was worth. I also played a good chunk of VIII. It being so much easier on the eyes than the others made it easier to love and appreciate, but I just never finished it.

But now that I've gone back to the beginning I'm starting to get what all the love is for this series. The plots and gameplay are all fairly linear so far, but it's just so damn charming. You can tell it got a lot of love and attention when it was being made. And I can't get enough of that feeling.
 
Yeah, they're all pretty charming RPGs. The English localizations have gotten fairly incredible too, from VIII onwards.
Battles can rely heavily on buffs and debuffs, unlike most JRPGs, so that's pretty refreshing too.
DQs also have some of the best towns and NPCs of any JRPG. Excellent exploration elements too, in and out of town.
 
Ass deep in VIII now so unfortunately can't join, but will keep a close eye on this thread. Btw is dq1-3 on the gba in Europe?
 
I've done this twice in the last few years, so I won't be joining in, but good luck with it. It's really fun to go through them in order.
 
Ugh, this means I'd have to go through II and VII again...

I'll just see if I can finally get around to finishing IX before its western release. :lol
 
justjohn said:
Ass deep in VIII now so unfortunately can't join, but will keep a close eye on this thread. Btw is dq1-3 on the gba in Europe?
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Can't answer regarding EU, but DQ I-III hit the GBC, not the GBA.
 
Rpgmonkey said:
Ugh, this means I'd have to go through II and VII again...

I'll just see if I can get around to finishing IX before its western release.
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7 is really awesome to replay, though! I've got it down to about 65 hours for a replay, which I guess is still long, but short compared to the first time.
 
Monster Park. I swear, the heart of the game is right there in the Monster Park. One of the earlier towns where that man was threatened to kill his pet worm? That guy's descendant has a monster park and asks you to collect with Gabo's Tame skill. All of the monsters. Including Platinum King Slime. Ever wondered why one of the gifts from the optional God quest was a foodstuff (forgot what it was)? Yes, that trifle of a gift was to entice the Platinum King to join you.
 
Carlisle: Yep, exactly. DQ doesn't take itself so seriously, and the sense of adventure and exploration is something that is almost a lost art in modern RPGs. Combat is fast, but requires a lot of strategy, particularly for bosses. For the first time since probably the PS1 days, I've yelled out "YES!" after beating some of the tough bosses in this series. It speaks to just how perfectly balanced they are. There is some grinding required, but because combat moves so swiftly, it's actually a joy to do.
 
After finishing every dungeon and boss battle (including the optional ones) and putting 150 hours into DQVII, I didn't have the energy to fuck with anything as boring as the monster park!
 
ghibli99 said:
Carlisle: Yep, exactly. DQ doesn't take itself so seriously, and the sense of adventure and exploration is something that is almost a lost art in modern RPGs. Combat is fast, but requires a lot of strategy, particularly for bosses. For the first time since probably the PS1 days, I've yelled out "YES!" after beating some of the tough bosses in this series. It speaks to just how perfectly balanced they are. There is some grinding required, but because combat moves so swiftly, it's actually a joy to do.
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There isn't any grinding required, though. That is what speaks to how perfectly balanced they are. :)
 
Kishgal said:
There isn't any grinding required, though. That is what speaks to how perfectly balanced they are. :)
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To the uninitiated/non-experts, though, I think some of these games would be pretty rough (i.e., not very fun) without taking time to build up character levels, learn skills/spells, and buy better gear between boss encounters, particularly since some of them can be incredibly random with their spells and attacks.

Edit: And when I say "incredibly random", I actually like that aspect of boss encounters. I don't like going in knowing that on their first turn, they're going to do exactly the same thing every time. And I love how annoyed I get when I run into 3 of the same monster, yet the game sometimes has them in 2-3 separate groups so that I can't use group-based spells/attacks as effectively. It keeps things random enough to where each battle feels fresh and not simply a canned encounter.
 
Mejilan said:
I think I put over 150 hours into DQVII, and had it not been for succeeding in getting it working on my PSP, I'd have never finished it! Amazing game, though.
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Mejilan said:
After finishing every dungeon and boss battle (including the optional ones) and putting 150 hours into DQVII, I didn't have the energy to fuck with anything as boring as the monster park!
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I'm sorry. I just don't want to misunderstand. I thought you liked it to the point of trying everything or something. Sorry about that.
 
Urban Scholar said:
Red Scarlet if you're reading this...how?! Good luck to the OP
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Scarlet, Aeana and Error had a marathon thread over Christmas 2006 and they all did it. Then there was another thread some summer (2007?) where they did it again. It's not so tough to do if you have the time to really sit down and play them (and know exactly what to do).
 
Holy shit :lol
I spent nearly a month doing just DQ1. Granted it was an unusually busy month, but still... I suppose if I were doing a speed run it would be different. But since this is my first time through all of these games I'm taking my time and savoring the full experience.
 
Philia said:
I'm sorry. I just don't want to misunderstand. I thought you liked it to the point of trying everything or something. Sorry about that.
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I love DQVII, but it's by far the most bloated game in the series. To the point where some of the content is purely unnecessary IMHO. It's the primary reason why I'd love to see a remake of the game. Tone down some of the pacing issues and rebalance the job system, and others. It can be pretty unapproachable at times, and that's never a good thing for such a niche genre/franchise. At least, in the Western world. Like I said before, it probably would have remained the only DQ I never finished had it not been for the advent of PSP homebrew and the ability to play it on-the-go. I loved almost all of those 150 hours, but back in the PSOne and PS2 days, I never got past 40 hours before moving on to other games. Portability is an amazing thing.
 
Carlisle said:
Holy shit :lol
I spent nearly a month doing just DQ1. Granted it was an unusually busy month, but still... I suppose if I were doing a speed run it would be different. But since this is my first time through all of these games I'm taking my time and savoring the full experience.
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Absolutely, take your time. You'll enjoy them more. I always take an inordinate amount of time with new DQ games.
DQ1 taking a month is pretty crazy, though! It's a one-sitting game for me.
 
I would love to join, but I never ever got started what I planned to do 5 years ago. Eventually I hope to get to play Dragon Quest 1 & 2 remake, along with the third game.
Gotta finish number 7 (got stuck) and yet to buy the Dragon Quest 5 remake (considering that game is my favourite one in the series).
 
Although DQ1 only took me 2 days to finish (and about 4 for DQ2), DQ4 took me the better part of 6 months to finally complete. My wife and I were in the middle of looking for, purchasing, moving into, and furnishing our first home, so I just got quick fixes of it here and there, but I was always compelled to come back to it vs. giving up or starting over.

FF used to be my favorite RPG series until I played through the DQs. Now there's no question that DQ is my all-time favorite. It's also the first RPG series that has made me buy a bunch of series-related merch! LOL
 
The biggest surprise for me so far is how quickly I came around to absolutely loving the music. Like I said in the OP, I've played bits of VII and VIII... I thought the music was good, but still leagues below Uematsu and lightyears below Mitsuda.

But goddamn, all I've played are 1 and parts of 2 with their simple CHIPTUNES and I'm completely and hopelessly hooked on anything and everything Sugiyama... yeah, the orchestrated VIII ost didn't do it for me but the freaking 3-track chiptunes blew me away. I find myself humming the themes all the time now. I scoured youtube for the Symphonic Suites, which subsequently nuked my face off. I just can't get enough of it.

I think it's another example of the magic of the series, wherein I just wasn't able to really begin appreciating it until I went back and played the first one. Since then everything about the series has started clicking for me in a weird prophetic sort of way.
 
I just replayed DQ 1 and 3 last year (well, and the DS version of 5 too), so I'll pass even though I'd love to play a DQ game again. But it's not too long until DQ IX :)

I wish you best luck, though, and to be quite honest I doubt that you'll be able to finish all of these games as you've planned. I really love DQ, but I think it's a series you get tired of rather quickly if you play too many games of it in a row.
 
Carlisle said:
The biggest surprise for me so far is how quickly I came around to absolutely loving the music. Like I said in the OP, I've played bits of VII and VIII... I thought the music was good, but still leagues below Uematsu and lightyears below Mitsuda.

But goddamn, all I've played are 1 and parts of 2 with their simple CHIPTUNES and I'm completely and hopelessly hooked on anything and everything Sugiyama... yeah, the orchestrated VIII ost didn't do it for me but the freaking 3-track chiptunes blew me away. I find myself humming the themes all the time now. I scoured youtube for the Symphonic Suites, which subsequently nuked my face off. I just can't get enough of it.

I think it's another example of the magic of the series, wherein I just wasn't able to really begin appreciating it until I went back and played the first one. Since then everything about the series has started clicking for me in a weird prophetic sort of way.
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Strangely, you aren't the only person I've seen say this. It's pretty interesting, and I wonder why exactly it is. But I do know that it's fun to play them in order and see how the series evolves as you go. You might not see all of that since you're playing remakes, but you'll still see some of it.


wrowa said:
I wish you best luck, though, and to be quite honest I doubt that you'll be able to finish all of these games as you've planned. I really love DQ, but I think it's a series you get tired of rather quickly if you play too many games of it in a row.
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Well, different strokes of course, but I don't ever get tired of DQ games. I've participated in several marathons and my love and enjoyment doesn't really diminish. Seeing the changes between games with the last one fresh on my mind is part of the fun for me for marathons, though, so I can imagine if someone doesn't enjoy that aspect, they might get tired of them. Or any game series, really.
 
I started Dragon Quest VIII a few days ago, it's my first DQ game. I really like it and I'm spending waaaayyy too much time exploring rather than continuing the story, the overworld is huge.
 
Carlisle said:
The biggest surprise for me so far is how quickly I came around to absolutely loving the music. Like I said in the OP, I've played bits of VII and VIII... I thought the music was good, but still leagues below Uematsu and lightyears below Mitsuda.

But goddamn, all I've played are 1 and parts of 2 with their simple CHIPTUNES and I'm completely and hopelessly hooked on anything and everything Sugiyama... yeah, the orchestrated VIII ost didn't do it for me but the freaking 3-track chiptunes blew me away. I find myself humming the themes all the time now. I scoured youtube for the Symphonic Suites, which subsequently nuked my face off. I just can't get enough of it.
Click to expand...

Not that surprised, really. I-IV have FUCKTACULAR music, especially III & IV. Many of IV's tunes are downright heart-rending, and it still has the best battle themes of the entire franchise. III has some nostalgically delicious tunes pulled from the original that really get to me. And the songs are recycled for all the right reasons! Some of my favorite OSTs ever. V was also pretty amazing, but not QUITE as good as I-IV, IMHO. VI, again, had some amazing tunes, but represented an overall decline in quality that's continued through to the present days. VIII and IX have soundtracks bordering on forgettable except for the occasional song here and there.
 
wrowa said:
I just replayed DQ 1 and 3 last year (well, and the DS version of 5 too), so I'll pass even though I'd love to play a DQ game again. But it's not too long until DQ IX :)

I wish you best luck, though, and to be quite honest I doubt that you'll be able to finish all of these games as you've planned. I really love DQ, but I think it's a series you get tired of rather quickly if you play too many games of it in a row.
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Yeah that's something I'm a little concerned about. I'm not sure how much I can take before I die. I don't want to end up forcing myself to keep playing and ending up hating the whole thing. So I'm taking it slow. Since most of these are on handhelds, it's easy for me keep playing something else on a console as well so that DQ isn't my main focus all the time. Helps break it up a bit too. And I haven't been playing too often or for very long stretches when I do play. Granted, I'm still early in the series so focus isn't too important yet, and it's easy to take my time and still finish a game relatively quickly.

But yeah, good thinking! I promise to take a break if I find myself choring through this :D I just want to experience and enjoy it. DQ is my largest backlogged series so if I can do this, then knocking off other series like Xenosaga and Legacy of Kain will be a breeze :lol
 
You'll get burned out by VI VII and VIII likely. They are great games, but I would need some sort of break between games like VII and VIII.
 
Mejilan said:
VI and IX are the only mainline games I've yet to finish (for obvious reasons)
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This.

PandaPandaPanda said:
I played and beat 7 one time, and it took a long time.

Never playing it ever again.
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And this, although I'll gladly play the inevitable remake.
 
RurouniZel said:
Alright, time to go through these guys. Bought 'em in Japan 2 years ago.
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You're going to hate yourself if you try to play that version of DQ2. No battery, and 52-character passwords. :( (It was my first DQ game, too. I was so (un)happy to hear about the changes made for the English release later on. -_-)
 
Kishgal said:
You're going to hate yourself if you try to play that version of DQ2. No battery, and 52-character passwords. :( (It was my first DQ game, too. I was so (un)happy to hear about the changes made for the English release later on. -_-)
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Oh son of a... >>
 
RurouniZel said:
Oh son of a... >>
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Yeah. The English version of DQ2 got the destruction of Moonbrooke intro part and battery saving for the English version. DQ1 got upgraded more dramatically, actually. Its Japanese version also doesn't have battery saving (though the passwords are shorter), but more than that, you can't face different directions in it - the character always faces the screen - so you have to choose a direction to talk/search in. 3 and 4 should be just fine, though.
 
Kishgal said:
Yeah. The English version of DQ2 got the destruction of Moonbrooke intro part and battery saving for the English version. DQ1 got upgraded more dramatically, actually. Its Japanese version also doesn't have battery saving (though the passwords are shorter), but more than that, you can't face different directions in it - the character always faces the screen - so you have to choose a direction to talk/search in. 3 and 4 should be just fine, though.
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Actually I did play the first one... but not the other three. But I'll have no problems playing the 1st one again. XD
 
I just did this myself (minus VI and IX, I live in the U.S.) from late December through early March. I have a full time job and didn't play every single day, so I couldn't just plow through in a month, but I had a really good time with it. I had already finished all of them multiple times before (except VII) so I knew what I was doing for the most part.

It's such a fun set of RPGs, enjoy! Try not to get burned out on VII.
 
I think I'll pass on this one. I really view dragon quest like a nice palate cleanser. Nice every once in a while but do it too much you'll get sick of it.
 
It is definitely a noble goal. Very happy with my DQ series playthrough after my FF series playthrough. I need to do another series playthrough. After I finish DQ9 and FF13 I think.
 
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