water_wendi
Water is not wet!
i seriously loved the first Dragon Warrior. i had two copies, one that was purchased and one from Nintendo Power. i loved going over the guides, reading about the monsters, weapons, and armor, checking out the cool freaking art. Look at this:
How bad ass is that? The Dragonlord looks absolutely wicked.
Anyways, when i first heard about Dragon Warrior 2 i not only knew the game would be mine but it was going to be so awesome! Little did i know that DW2 was going to be my first devastating gaming disappointment.
First off, let me sum up the good. First off, the box art is really sweet and a big step up from the first games box art.
And second, having a party is a great step forward for the series.
Also putting Hargon symbols on some of the enemies was a cool touch.
And thats it for the positives. Everything else about this game is a step back for the fledgling series. i credit DW2 for killing DW outside Japan. Whether or not its true doesnt really matter. It feels true.
Here is the list of the negatives.
1) The world size. Now there are other issues that might be more important but this is a personal matter. i remember reading about how the world of DW2 was four(!) times the size of DW1. Holy hell that is gigantic! When i got a look at that map that came with the strategy guide, sure enough, Alefgard is there and its positively minute.
Imagine my sinking heart when my young self found out that Alefgard is not only on a much smaller scale than what was in the first game but almost all of the landmarks are gone. Towns and dungeons alike.. almost all are gone. The land is basically barren except for Tantegel and Charlock.
Now i guess the game is technically four times the size of DW1 but that includes the vast and empty ocean. i had a major case of frowny face when i discovered the truth.
2) The party. How this is implemented in DW2 is just not fun. Your main character is at such a level advantage once you assemble them all it essentially means you have to "re-grind" where you were just grinding. The Prince and Princess also have basically fuck all to equip for weapons and armor so there are very few upgrades and the upgrades that are there place them many magnitudes lower than you in terms of power. They are going to die. A lot. And leveling them doesnt give a noticeable power increase.
3) The god damned grinding and speed. i was going to put these as two separate categories but they kind of go together. Battles are slow. Leveling is slow. Moving is slow. The game in one word: glacial. In the first game, battles didnt exactly move at a break neck pace but they at least went along at a decent clip. In DW2, however, you have a party and you are fighting multiple monsters instead of the 1v1 of DW1. If a targeted monster dies before another party member hits it you get a result similar to Final Fantasy where the attack is "Ineffective."
So you have a super slo-mo battle system. How do you make it shine? Require tons of grinding, of course. This is the reason people dont replay this game. Got all your Crests taken care of? Ready to go to Hargon an take him out? Not so fast. If you want to actually make it to him you are going to have to grind for hours upon hours. Dozens of hours in a game that makes minutes feel like eternity. Think about it.
4) The graphics. Now im no graphics whore. And i also dont care that the game looks very much the same as DW1. The problem comes in with the combat (again). In the first game this is what a battle screen looked like:
Its both vibrant and interesting. Compare that to the battle screen in DW2:
No background. No nothing. Just emptiness. DW1 did this for some battles but in DW2 its every damn fight. Lack of something just makes things dull. Reminds me of Wizardry. Which would be fine if i wasnt spoiled already, i guess.
i could probably rant on and on about this game but ill just stop here. i see reviews or hear people talk about it fondly and i almost do a double-take because i dont remember things like that at all. ive been replaying it lately determined to beat it as an adult and put this horror behind me forever, once and for all, but even as a kid this game was a nightmare. Am i alone in thinking DW2 completely sucks?
How bad ass is that? The Dragonlord looks absolutely wicked.
Anyways, when i first heard about Dragon Warrior 2 i not only knew the game would be mine but it was going to be so awesome! Little did i know that DW2 was going to be my first devastating gaming disappointment.
First off, let me sum up the good. First off, the box art is really sweet and a big step up from the first games box art.
And second, having a party is a great step forward for the series.
Also putting Hargon symbols on some of the enemies was a cool touch.
And thats it for the positives. Everything else about this game is a step back for the fledgling series. i credit DW2 for killing DW outside Japan. Whether or not its true doesnt really matter. It feels true.
Here is the list of the negatives.
1) The world size. Now there are other issues that might be more important but this is a personal matter. i remember reading about how the world of DW2 was four(!) times the size of DW1. Holy hell that is gigantic! When i got a look at that map that came with the strategy guide, sure enough, Alefgard is there and its positively minute.
Imagine my sinking heart when my young self found out that Alefgard is not only on a much smaller scale than what was in the first game but almost all of the landmarks are gone. Towns and dungeons alike.. almost all are gone. The land is basically barren except for Tantegel and Charlock.
Now i guess the game is technically four times the size of DW1 but that includes the vast and empty ocean. i had a major case of frowny face when i discovered the truth.
2) The party. How this is implemented in DW2 is just not fun. Your main character is at such a level advantage once you assemble them all it essentially means you have to "re-grind" where you were just grinding. The Prince and Princess also have basically fuck all to equip for weapons and armor so there are very few upgrades and the upgrades that are there place them many magnitudes lower than you in terms of power. They are going to die. A lot. And leveling them doesnt give a noticeable power increase.
3) The god damned grinding and speed. i was going to put these as two separate categories but they kind of go together. Battles are slow. Leveling is slow. Moving is slow. The game in one word: glacial. In the first game, battles didnt exactly move at a break neck pace but they at least went along at a decent clip. In DW2, however, you have a party and you are fighting multiple monsters instead of the 1v1 of DW1. If a targeted monster dies before another party member hits it you get a result similar to Final Fantasy where the attack is "Ineffective."
So you have a super slo-mo battle system. How do you make it shine? Require tons of grinding, of course. This is the reason people dont replay this game. Got all your Crests taken care of? Ready to go to Hargon an take him out? Not so fast. If you want to actually make it to him you are going to have to grind for hours upon hours. Dozens of hours in a game that makes minutes feel like eternity. Think about it.
4) The graphics. Now im no graphics whore. And i also dont care that the game looks very much the same as DW1. The problem comes in with the combat (again). In the first game this is what a battle screen looked like:
Its both vibrant and interesting. Compare that to the battle screen in DW2:
No background. No nothing. Just emptiness. DW1 did this for some battles but in DW2 its every damn fight. Lack of something just makes things dull. Reminds me of Wizardry. Which would be fine if i wasnt spoiled already, i guess.
i could probably rant on and on about this game but ill just stop here. i see reviews or hear people talk about it fondly and i almost do a double-take because i dont remember things like that at all. ive been replaying it lately determined to beat it as an adult and put this horror behind me forever, once and for all, but even as a kid this game was a nightmare. Am i alone in thinking DW2 completely sucks?
