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Dragon Quest IV, V, VI for DS announced !!
- Thread starter neo2046
- Start date
bmf said:
The thing is, and this is the key to what Aeana's saying... it's not just that Dragon Quest fans (and they are substantial, mind) like the traditional turn-based menu-driven battle system, it's that Dragon Quest is one of the very few series left that still maintains such elements.
I don't know if you've been noticing, but over the past few years -- over the entire past console generation, actually -- turn-based menu battle systems have become rarer and rarer and it seems like something near extinction at this point. Frankly, it's great that there are some things out there like Dragon Quest, various Atlus games, Mistwalker... that still provide what people want.
I was still pretty interested, if nervous, to see what came of the original DQIX plans, but I will say I absolutely felt some relief when he said he was going back to the old way. DQ really is a trendsetter in this industry and it always has been (look at Namco's post-DQIX Tales announcement!), so if it ditched turn-based I could see that being almost a death knell. Thankfully there are still plenty of other series that experiment, and thankfully Horii himself still feels very free to experiment with DQ spinoffs like DQS.
Aeana said:
Not just coming off DQVII... coming off DQV and DQVI as well, I think. Each of those games employed some sort of "trick" to their world to make the game scenario and setting really unique from most RPGs. Dragon Quest VIII had no such "trick," and partly because of that it felt like one of the most traditional settings to a DQ game in a long while.
But I think that was part of its charm, in a way. The cursed castle and princess, the evil magician... it felt like exploring a traditional, familiar fairy tale, like visiting the place you always read about as a child. And one other thing I liked was in the contrast to how DQVIII presented a feeling of history vs. how VII did it -- in VII, obviously, you could see the history of the world playing out, but in VIII, the history was more of an implied thing: wandering around the countryside, you'd see these ruins built into the landscape, completely untouched by the plot and with no backstory to justify their presence except that they felt natural there because this is, of course, a very old world. There were lots of little minor touches like that which lent an air of authenticity to the world and helped inspire the imagination of the player (me).
So exciting... Handheld remakes are the best!
A bunch of friends at work have bought DSes for various games, and it'll be nice to show them some good old fashioned DQ goodness (hopefully in English).
'Course now I feel guilty for never quite finishing VIII. Guess I'll have to plug in the PS2 again.
A bunch of friends at work have bought DSes for various games, and it'll be nice to show them some good old fashioned DQ goodness (hopefully in English).
'Course now I feel guilty for never quite finishing VIII. Guess I'll have to plug in the PS2 again.
Dragon Quest VIII was just wonderful...I had never played a DQ game until VIII and I have got to say I was left in awe. It carried such a classic feel but at the same time the game oozed charm and you cold feel the craftsmanship that went into the game. It is one of the few games in which I have lost myself in its world that is presented to me. As of right now it is my favorite RPG of last gen, but I have a lot of RPGs to play... including the upcoming Persona 3 and Growlanser games.
Don't have time right now to read all 14 pages, but I am *stoked* to hear this news. Even though I've played through V and VI in Japanese, I prefer playing JRPGs in English if they're well localized.
For me, Dragon Quest V is the best (lots of twists and turns in that), but VI is great as well.
I never thought I'd see this day.
For me, Dragon Quest V is the best (lots of twists and turns in that), but VI is great as well.
I never thought I'd see this day.
Forgotten Ancient
Banned
I loved pretty much everything about Dragon Quest VIII aside from the loading times and lack of customization. It seems like a minor thing to gripe about, but loading times almost killed the game for me, as I'm an impatient person who loves to level grind.
And I wasn't exactly a fan of the alchemy either. But other than that, the game was amazing, and something that didn't really have an equal for me in terms of fantasy and fun exploration last generation (unless you count WoW). The art style, scenery, music, humor, and animation were all top notch. It was just fun to explore a huge overworld again. Final Fantasies last gen didn't really do that.
I know it's blasphemy around here, but IV was actually one of my least favorites ONLY because you couldn't control your party members (at least in the NES version). Everything else about it - characters, story, monsters, and pacing were top notch.
Oh, and II has my favorite opening music in the series.
And I wasn't exactly a fan of the alchemy either. But other than that, the game was amazing, and something that didn't really have an equal for me in terms of fantasy and fun exploration last generation (unless you count WoW). The art style, scenery, music, humor, and animation were all top notch. It was just fun to explore a huge overworld again. Final Fantasies last gen didn't really do that.
I know it's blasphemy around here, but IV was actually one of my least favorites ONLY because you couldn't control your party members (at least in the NES version). Everything else about it - characters, story, monsters, and pacing were top notch.
Oh, and II has my favorite opening music in the series.
Forgotten Ancient
Banned
Aeana said:
Yeah, my game genie book at the time didn't have codes for Dragon Warrior IV and I knew little of the internet.
I still have the game, but no NES. Any idea if the remake allows you to control your party yourself? Did the PSone remake have that option?
Forgotten Ancient said:Yeah, my game genie book at the time didn't have codes for Dragon Warrior IV and I knew little of the internet.
I still have the game, but no NES. Any idea if the remake allows you to control your party yourself? Did the PSone remake have that option?
Yeah, that's what I meant with my above post. The remake lets you set AI per-character, including manual control.
OokieSpookie
Banned
Alright time to summon Dragona and other ds lite people, I have done that which I said that I would not do.
Someone suggest a good non FF jrpg to cut my ds lite teeth on.
Someone suggest a good non FF jrpg to cut my ds lite teeth on.
Aeana said:
I've NEVER understood the love 5 has. I have not played the PS2 remake to be fair (which everyone says is awesome), but DQV for SFC ranks as my 2nd least favorite DQ game just above DQ1. I'll still get it on DS, don't get me wrong, but I think you all are crazy.
ethelred said:
I would probably agree, but EO is a pretty hardcore dungeon crawl, it's not for everybody, even people who normally like RPGs.
Dragona Akehi
Retired
ethelred said:
.
TekunoRobby
Tag of Excellence
Etrian Odyssey is godly. Best handheld RPG in quite a while. And yes, so far IT IS the best RPG of 2007.
Forgotten Ancient
Banned
you Etrian fans are killing me. Maybe I'll have to give it another go
It just felt like such a grind fest and those notorious enemies were owning me very early in the game.
I don't have a lot of time per day to devote to games...and EO killed a weekend. RPGs are my weakness, and EO was my kryptonite. I keep telling myself to stay away, yet I keep wanting to go back and play.
It just felt like such a grind fest and those notorious enemies were owning me very early in the game.
I don't have a lot of time per day to devote to games...and EO killed a weekend. RPGs are my weakness, and EO was my kryptonite. I keep telling myself to stay away, yet I keep wanting to go back and play.
Dragona Akehi
Retired
Forgotten Ancient said:you Etrian fans are killing me. Maybe I'll have to give it another go
It just felt like such a grind fest and those notorious enemies were owning me very early in the game.
I don't have a lot of time per day to devote to games...and EO killed a weekend. RPGs are my weakness, and EO was my kryptonite. I keep telling myself to stay away, yet I keep wanting to go back and play.
It's sooooooooo awesome.
Forgotten Ancient
Banned
camineet said:
Yup. I miss the days where RPGs could be simple, fun, and still engaging. Many these days are more a trial in figuring out a system than actually being fun.
Pokemon, Etrian, Dragon Quest, Earthbound, Lufia 2, and the older Final Fantasies are fine examples of simple systems that were just plain fun.
Why anyone wants EVERY game to adopt some complex matrix of leveling and customization while putting a greater focus on cinematics than gameplay is beyond me. There's room for both.
Date of Lies
Banned
Forgotten Ancient said:
One of my biggest gripes with FFX & FFXII
Forgotten Ancient
Banned
Reilly said:
Man, if I saw the thread, you bet I would've been in there.
jaundicejuice
Member
ethelred said:
For a good couple of years spanning the time between releases of Chrono Cross to Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne I thought I was pretty much done with Japanese rpgs. I played a few in that time period but I thought I was pretty much done with the genre.
The SMT games ended up luring me back in to the genre with their weirdness, their dark plots, neat twist on classic gameplay, their difficulty, etc, but playing DQVIII kind of shocked me because it made me realise how much Japanese rpgs have changed over the last two generations.
I can't really speak for the Dragon Quest series as a whole, but VIII is not an archaic game the way some try to infer. It certainly IS oldschool in many ways--the most obvious examples being random encounters and the turn-based combat--but it also brings (what I think) so many new things to the table. What other Japanese rpg has had a to-scale world for you to explore? In how many other rpgs is there less emphasis on grinding and power leveling? Where skills are more important?
I never felt like I had to grind, grind, grind while playing DQVIII, I always seemed to do enough leveling up while exploring. Besides there's just a point where the experience you get from average monsters in a given area isn't rewarding enough to make grinding worth while. If you used the right skills even the most seemingly powerful boss could be taken down.
I used to be a proponent for radical change in the Japanese take on the genre, yet now all I seem to see is just that and find that kind of disconcerting. It's nice to have something classic/oldschool like Dragon Quest to play through.
ethelred said:
VIII felt like I was playing through a familiar, charming childhood fairy tale. I liked that it was free of the angst and bullshit that seem to plauge so many other rpgs. It didn't badly try to tell an "emotionally challenging or philsophically deep" story, it was just...simple, charming and filled with so many wonderful characters. I loved that, there's no pretense, it was just a simple fairy tale.
The fact that VIII had this huge to-scale world meant a lot to me, it was probably one of the game's bigger draws for me.
To people who knock the DQ series for remaining what it is, they do make all sorts of quirky side games within the series--like Rocket Slime, Joker and Swords--and if that isn't enough for you it's not like there aren't tons of other rpgs, that do radical things, to play.
Having one series that acts as a bastion for classic, oldschool gameplay isn't a bad thing.
neo2046
Member
Hmmm... yeah. I wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't pointed it out.john tv said:
DQ's IV V and VI had the Roman numerals directly behind the main logo, but still in front of the silhouette shadow that's unique to each game. DQ VII lowered the Roman numeral and made it more prominent, presumably because those long numbers were blocking the view of the large ship in the silhouette.
The DQ IV PSX remake kept DQ IV's proper logo, but then the DQ V remake on the PS2 moved the "V" down like DQ VII and VIII.
Now they've moved the rest of the numbers down. But VI's shadow was just a simple drop shadow, so I guess they thought it didn't stand out enough, so they gave it a crazy spin.
I agree, it looks worse like this. Simple can be ominous. "Why doesn't VI have an icon? Something that sets it apart? What, a shadow? What shadow? Oh, that one. Why does it have a shadow? Is it dark? Does it mean something special? Is something hiding in there?"
As is, it just looks like DQ VI didn't have anything unique going for it, and Enix is trying to cover it up.
thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
Crow-kun said:
I`m not saying it wasn`T half assed. I`m saying that S-E, in some fashion, is giving the PSP support.
Crisis Core is looking surprisingly good, though. You can`t deny the game looks really really promising.
(it should, considering how long it took)
DQ on DS is just heaven for me. Now I know what I`ll be doing at work instead of actual work. :lol
Dragona Akehi said:
Never heard of it, but after looking at reviews, it looks like old school bliss, like manna from Heaven.
Ordering it now. Thanks, all.
Technically speaking, I don't think auto-mapping is a cheat, in much the same way that I don't think having a little man inside the DS rolling dice and telling me the results is not cheating. But I'm usually the mapmaker in D&D groups, so I kinda of like that feeling, and I also kinda liked doing all the notations in Wizardry 8 of where what is.
=O
Ordering now. I miss the good old days. Turn-based, lots of stats, lots of customization within rigid classes, map-making, and absolutely bug**** hard with lots of grinding? SOLD!
* * *
Also, I really, really loved DQVIII - beautiful aesthetics coupled with strongly traditional gameplay = win.
I haven't played IV, VI, or VII. I loved V a lot - it's probably my favorite, and I would buy it the second it becomes available in the U.S., published in English.
Edit: On second thought, regarding Etrian, two last questions before Amazon does whatever voodoo magic it takes to get the thing to my door - a) how is the story? b) How long is the game?
Magicpaint
Member
Fantastic news. The DS really is reinforcing its position as the game machine in Japan.I haven't played Dragon Quest IV, so a chance to have a go at it on DS is fantastic. I guess I won't have to struggle setting up my PS2 in a way that it can play PS1 imports, thankfully. :/
DQVr was fantastic on PS2 and one of my favourite jrpgs ever, but I'm a bit worried about the DS remake. That had a full orchestral soundtrack and really fast battles and smooth looks, I guess DQIII GBC turned out fine enough (coming after DQIII SFC), and the history with DQ remake has been great so I guess we'll see.
I'm sort of in the minority on this, but DQVI is my favourite in the series, tied with III and Vr (but if I had to pick one, it'd probably be it!), I mean yeah the useless jobs get in the way, but it was huge and I loved its concept through and through, I'm very curious about the DS remake, but also really, really excited too. I wonder what engine they'll be using for this. I wanna see shots of both V and VI DS.
Oh and there is IX on the way too... holy shit. DS is a Dragon Quest machine.
Excellent post I pretty much agree with everything you said.ethelred said:
Date of Lies said:
Those overworlds are a thing of the past and honestly RPGs only had that because of hardware limitations.
Where do you people get this crap? The FFT remake also has new scenarios, and a co-op multiplayer mode that has a shitload of awesome maps, including one where you fight like 10 Algus's. If that doesn't sell you on it, then you have no taste.