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Dragon Quest 11 releases tomorrow
Anyone else excited for the next installment in the franchise? DQ11 is the first US console release of a mainland DQ game since DQ8 on ps2 in 2005. I've been playing DQ5 on Android for the last few months and it still holds up!
I'm glad it's coming out on PC. I might have to try it. The part of the review where he talks about it being a relaxing game that can be played a few hours at a time really appeals to me since that's pleasantly different from how I'd normally play.
Edit: And bought. Thanks for the recommendation!
How does DQ compare to FF? I have to admit I haven't played it before.
DQ is much more conservative/traditional in terms of design. Battles in DQ are still turn-based, whereas FF has turned toward real-time action for your viewpoint character with scripted companions. Character designs are by Akira Toriyama instead of Yoshitaka Amano and Tetsuya Nomura. The protagonist is still the strong, silent type.
Playing a DQ game after a bunch of FF and MegaTen titles is like picking up Tolkien after binging on Michael Moorcock.
Hmmm, I like the comparison... I will keep an eye on DQ, but first I still need to (start and) finish Zelda BotW and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. So plenty of time to see how DQ XI fares.
Thank you really very much for taking the time to explain DQ to me 😊
If you're looking for a first Dragon Quest, I'd recommend IV. At the time it was fairly groundbreaking, the narrative had you playing as your character's eventual teammates first before you play as your customized character. In many chapters you would visit some the same towns after some time had passed and you could see the results of the character's actions on the day to day life of the people of the world. Very cool world building for it's time.
The character customization was limited to gender, but at the time it was pretty unheard of that you could choose to play a female character in computer role-playing games, especially on consoles.
The party system is fairly interesting too, there's way more characters than what you can have active in your party, so they stay in a wagon that you travel with and practice inside of it, gaining XP at a similar rate to your active characters. But the wagon is too big to go everywhere, so you need to balance all that out.
The series was very good until 3D gaming became huge. Like @demifiend mentioned, it didn't evolve well like some franchises did (FF, Zelda, etc).
I disagree. DQ VIII on the PS2 was an excellent entry, easily as good as FF XII, SMT: Nocturne, Persona 4, and Disgaea. But 3D Dragon Quest is a JRPG for people who buy Macs but live in their terminal app (or their heavily customized emacs). It seems odd to people who aren't used to it, but it works just fine.
It depends on what you mean by "evolve well". I played DQ XI for an hour before bed last night, just long enough to get through the introductory dungeon. As long as you're fine with turn-based gameplay, everything works just fine.
Agree to disagree. I personally think VIII is the weakest link in the series.
Even if VIII is the "worst Dragon Quest", I'd rather play a bad Dragon Quest game than a "good" Gust/Compile Heart/Idea Factory/Kemco JRPG.
hmm looks very appealing... but a bit expensive at the moment.
On a related note: What are some good JRPGs that I should play if I've only played the FF series and I only have a shitty laptop?
Chrono Trigger is a classic of the genre and should probably be at the top of your list if you've never experienced it.
Dragon Quest has a lot of great installments over its history. IV, V and VI all hold up very well if you want some classics that won't break the bank.
The Earthbound/Mother series is very fun. Earthbound/Mother 2 is probably the most accessible of the series, I would start there and if you find it fun, you can brand out to the other two.
Skies of Arcadia is a good 3D JRPG, if you don't want to do 2D games. It has an interesting battle system for airship fights.
The Fire Emblem games are good but I’m not sure if any of them are on PC
I’ve only played them on DS