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Exhuminator wrote:

alienjesus wrote:Dragon Quest isn't even that great anyway

They get better.

Yes, yes they do. It's actually pretty impressive what they pulled off for a game that effectively codified a genre. (Of course, I know you're just messin' with us DQ fans a bit.)

Gunstar Green wrote:9 and 10 are definitely harder than the original 6 since they were going after the hardcore audience and Inti Creates designers tend to be sadists.

I also feel they are harder simply because they are cleaner and more polished. There are no overpowered Metal Blades, bosses are less likely to fall into dumb easy kill patterns and so on.

Dragon Quest is one of those rare series (actually, the only one I can think of off the top of my head) where the modern games outshine the retro ones. Parts VIII and IX are two of the greatest JRPGs ever.

Ack wrote:

prfsnl_gmr wrote:VERY UNPOPULAR OPINION:

The Japanese gaming industry produced so many Dragon Quest clones for the Famicom in the late 1980s and early 1990s that (1) Nintendo's decision not to localize them was justified and (2) the majority of the Japanese developers creating games for the Famicom during this period were creatively bankrupt.

Welcome to video game production 101: rip off someone else.

1970s - Every game is a rip-off of Pong!
1980s - Every other game is a rip-off of Pac-Man.
1990s - Every third Japanese game is a rip-off of Dragon Quest; Every third American game is a rip-off of Doom/Wolfenstein.

BoneSnapDeez wrote:Dragon Quest is one of those rare series (actually, the only one I can think of off the top of my head) where the modern games outshine the retro ones. Parts VIII and IX are two of the greatest JRPGs ever.

I loved VIII, but I actually didn't like IX as much. And I still think III, IV, and VI are the best in the series. Of course, I also refuse to admit any RPG has topped Chrono Trigger... but none has.

From a presentation standpoint, though, there's no question VIII is the best in the series. Incredibly majestic stuff, and it's got loads of character. Although VI for SNES is absolutely fantastic-looking for the era.

I was never wild about VII, but I'm happy to see it's getting a 3DS release. It feels like a game that would work better on a handheld - it's absolutely huge, and like IX, best played in little spurts. It was hard to get into that groove on the PSX.

BoneSnapDeez wrote:I was never wild about VII, but I'm happy to see it's getting a 3DS release. It feels like a game that would work better on a handheld - it's absolutely huge, and like IX, best played in little spurts. It was hard to get into that groove on the PSX.

That's my take on it. I'd never sit in front of a console to do that many hours prisoner to the TV even in my most game heavy days I could not with an RPG. The closest was around 100hours with PSO on DC with dial up, but that was even over 2 characters and much of it online -- alone I couldn't take 20 hours of that.

I'll get that DQ game just for fun but I have no delusions about ever coming near finishing it. As it is now it's hard enough for me to find the few hours to knock off old gameboy games as it is.

Well, I was a hardcore DQ fan, and I'd waited since Dragon Warrior IV to get another game in the series (nine years!), so I lapped it up. Except for that brutally slow opening sequence. Felt like I'd been ripped off until the game got rolling.

The last game I put that much time into was Xenoblade. Somehow I managed to put in 99.5 hours... which is not something I necessarily relish again. I don't think I'm going to go quite as silly with XCX. Plus, I think there's a lot less (none?) missable quests.

DQ's I've beat and what I'd rate them:

DQI on GBC = 8/10
DQIV on DS = 8/10
DQV on DS = 7/10
DQVIII on PS2 = 9/10

I really enjoy the series. I intend to beat every single player mainline DQ entry in some form or fashion before I die.

I don't think there's truly a "bad" game in the entire series. Models of consistency, they are. The only one that might count is the original version of the first game, but even that is less bad, more just "dated".