Random Gaming Thoughts

[Flake]

Just out of curiosity, how many Dragon Quest games have you played through? I don't see anything there, especially from parts III-VI, that is really any different pacing-wise from other RPG series. Even Final Fantasy.

I'm also not much of a fan of Final Fantasy V, so... yeah, different strokes and all that.

As a kid, I made it all the way through Dragon Warrior I and at least most of Dragon Warrior II. Ah the days when I had that kind of free time!

About 10 hours of Dragon Quest IV on the DS, around 5 hours of DQ V and DQ VI (also on the DS). I've never played DQ VII. My best success so far would be DQVIII and DQIX with the better parts of 20 hours between the two. I appreciated their art style and some of the modern conventions they tried to add to the classic formula but they still felt so incredibly outdated, even when they were new.

And that's my problem with all of them: They feel slow, there is no feel of 'reward' for continuing to play. The plot is interesting but it takes more than a good story to justify how much time those games demand.

[prfsnl_gmr]

FYI...DQIX is one of my very favorite games, and I sunk nearly 150 hours into it (and there was still a lot to do when I forced myself to quit).

[Nemoide]

I feel like the DQ games have the JRPG formula so perfected that playing them is their own reward. I do a fair amount of grinding in the DQ games, but I'm always engaged even while fighting normal monsters. Most JRPGs just have you select attack, attack, attack, etc. In DQ, you might have one character attack a large group to do more damage overall even though it's spread out, while another character attacks a single monsters but with enough damage to take it out in less time. I love that!

Hell, I don't even really mind my time in the casinos trying to win enough tokens for awesome equipment.

The only game in the series that I consider a real drag is DQ II. It technically expands on the first one but just isn't as good as the rest of the series. I've never played the NES version of the first one but I really liked the GBC version as an early, minimalistic kind of JRPG. DQ III is where the series really gets amazing but I'd recommend playing at least the first one first since those first three have (loosely) connecting stories. DQ IV's mechanics aren't as much fun but it gives you real characters and a better story, so it's a totally worthy entry in the series. And since DQ IV is also the first game to not have any story connections to the earlier ones, it also helps establish the tone of the series as a series.

[Sarge]

Interesting, Flake. Oh well, we've all got different tastes! Me, I love 'em. Although I will admit I didn't particularly enjoy parts of Dragon Quest IX, either. There were MMORPG components that snuck in there (obviously presaging Dragon Quest XI), and I didn't like that at all. They're a lot of busywork, so I mostly ignored the little optional quests when possible.

Now I'm even more curious as to what your favorite RPGs are! (I can already tell you my choice for favorite JRPG of all time is an obvious one: Chrono Trigger.)

[GSZX1337]

I instead decided to name my site after an incredibly handsome man.
http://www.davidkylescott.com/

He's not so handsome.

[Damm64]

Thanks guys, ill follow the order Popo suggested. I saw a video that was comparing the NES and GBC version of dragon quest and the portable had a bit less grinding so that's better for me.

Today i traded marvel super heroes (3ds version) for adventure time (the one that looks like zelda 2) and so far the later is far the better game.

[Flake]

Now I'm even more curious as to what your favorite RPGs are! (I can already tell you my choice for favorite JRPG of all time is an obvious one: Chrono Trigger.)

In the context of the conversation, I'll assume we're talking exclusively about JRPGs. It's a genre that I mostly left behind a long time ago because I just don't feel like JRPG developers have a clue any more. When I was interested in JRPGs, though, I'd probably say the five that I enjoyed the most were Star Ocean:2nd Story, Secret of Mana, Legend of Mana, Chrono Cross, and Final Fantasy VI. With the exception of the Chrono series (which has been cruelly neglected), it kills me to see what those other 3 franchises ended up becoming.

[Sarge]

I can't disagree. For the most part, this last generation of JRPGs, especially on console, has been a wasteland.

I like all the games you listed to various degrees, although Cross is probably my least favorite. It's still pretty darn good, though. My brother and I exchanged gifts that summer for our birthdays, and he got Chrono Cross and I got Legend of Mana. Of course, I ended up the one beating CC and he LoM... which tells you who each of us was really buying for! (Actually, it didn't matter, as we both benefited from them.)

FFVI is my favorite FF, easily. It was also my first SNES game. Snagged it with my SNES at a yard sale for $55. That was a happy day.

[Flake]

The problem is that while Japanese developers did amazing things in the 80's and 90's, they seem completely reluctant to innovate in an era where they have to compete in a meaningful way with developers in other countries. The only exception to that is Nintendo and even then, you could easily say that Nintendo isn't necessary being innovative - but that they are just doing what they habitually do and constantly re-imagine games around their incredible stable of mascots.

I honestly do not understand how the software and hardware development culture that so completely nailed it for nearly two decades straight managed to fall apart so completely.

If any of us got in a time machine and went back to 1995 and explained to our younger counterparts what gaming is today, our younger selves would never believe it. And it's not just JRPGs. This is a problem across the board for Japanese devs

- Capcom sells half finished games almost exclusively and ignores Megaman
- Sega is always nearly out of business and does best when they publish on Nintendo machines
- Konami is making the video game equivalent of snakes and ladders (on purpose!)
- Squaresoft bought Enix and developed an obsession with belts and hair spray
- SNK is out of all business except for Pachinko and KOF when whichever company that has most recently purchased their scavenged hide allows them
- Nintendo makes Mario and Zelda and Mario and Zelda. Occasionally Metroid and F-Zero characters get a cameo

These are the guys who at one point owned at least 80% of the home console and arcade markets. You don't lose that within 20 years without also losing your way. I have no idea what happened, though.

[Erik_Twice]

I think we must accept that Capcom, Konami, Squaresoft and Sega are no longer vested in game development, they all scrapped most of their development studios years ago and decided to focus on publishing or gambling.