RPG Progress Report

[BoneSnapDeez]

Last summer I played Dragon Quest IV, V, VI, and IX on the DS all back-to-back. I regret nothing.

[Jagosaurus]

'ppreciate it OSG. I finished grad school in may of '12 & have been playing RPG pretty heavily since.

Isn't the PS2 DQV all in Japanese?

I've recently gotten into handhelds bc so many great RPGs are now handheld. The PS2 is a RPG powerhouse as well though, esp if you consider the amazing PS1 library.

[OSG]

'ppreciate it OSG. I finished grad school in may of '12 & have been playing RPG pretty heavily since.

Isn't the PS2 DQV all in Japanese?

I've recently gotten into handhelds bc so many great RPGs are now handheld. The PS2 is a RPG powerhouse as well though, esp if you consider the amazing PS1 library.

Agreed, and your welcome.

Yes, the PS2 Dragon Quest V is all in japanese but so is the PSX DQ VII I am playing now. Apparently though there was a english patch made for DQV PS2 though I have not tried it yet so I can not say how complete/well done it is.

I am learning japanese myself on my own time using my own methods so I can have an easier time playing imports and enjoy many of the games that never came out here. Or be able to play the more "complete games" that released in japan only that never made it here "like Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, and Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix(I own both imports and beat both games and the extra's make them well worth playing and much better than the versions we got here).

Also, lots of import games are cheaper than the US Versions...especially PSX RPG's for example as well as PS2 games. Like for example Dragon Warrior VII for US PS2 seems to cost $30+ whereas the import of Dragon Quest VII I gave about $7-$10 for. So you can see my motivation there as well as reasoning.

Learning Japanese is NOT easy and its going very slow for me but im having fun with it and enjoying playing the games I have/am. So that's what is important. Hope that answers your inquiry well enough .

[BoneSnapDeez]

The Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermillion

I really don't have much to say about this game. There are very few dungeons, you spend most of the time traveling from town to town among pathways.

The game is absurdly linear. You know the RPG cliché of trapping you in the first town until you talk to the king or whatever? Well the game does this constantly - in every single town. Even on the overworld. "We shouldn't head this way, we have to go here instead..." "We can't leave town until we do this....." Even when your lead character is alone he muses - "Hmmm..... wasn't I supposed to do this first?"

I (clearly) haven't had to consult a walkthrough or FAQ yet, but I did today just to see how much of the game remains. I estimate I am halfway through.

Anyone else ever play this?

[pierrot]

Last summer I played Dragon Quest IV, V, VI, and IX on the DS all back-to-back. I regret nothing.

What's to regret? That sounds great. If I had the focus to be able to do that, I would.

[Sload Soap]

So, FF13 will eventually open up and be more like a normal JRPG at some point then?

Yeah, XIII is way linear compared to a normal JRPG like VII. I mean, in VII you have so many choices when you hit that world map. You could walk straight to Kalm... or you could zig-zag to Kalm... or you could just never go to Kalm and not progress the game at all! Ah, freedom.

Right. Except when I get to Kalm I can visit shops and talk to NPCs at my leisure. I can even leave and go out onto the world map to grind some battles. These are choices denied to you by XIII's incessant pushing of the player in the direction it wants to go. FFVII is like Morrowind compared to XIII.

My problems weren't just with the tube anyway; the plot was dull and drawn out, and I didn't enjoy the combat system. It felt more like a football management game than a JRPG, except without any of the depth of either genre.

Anyway, I've started a new game+ of Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen. So far I'm blasting through it and the new fast travel options are making it so side quests are actually worth doing.

[Jagosaurus]

Last summer I played Dragon Quest IV, V, VI, and IX on the DS all back-to-back. I regret nothing.

What's to regret? That sounds great. If I had the focus to be able to do that, I would.

Bones, how is DQIV? I think the 3 story idea is cool... almost like 3 games that come together at the end... but not sure I'll like leveling up a hero/main character to suddenly switch to another low level character & start over. Work well or no?

[pierrot]

Last summer I played Dragon Quest IV, V, VI, and IX on the DS all back-to-back. I regret nothing.

What's to regret? That sounds great. If I had the focus to be able to do that, I would.

Bones, how is DQIV? I think the 3 story idea is cool... almost like 3 games that come together at the end... but not sure I'll like leveling up a hero/main character to suddenly switch to another low level character & start over. Work well or no?

The characters keep their levels once they all join up in chapter 4. That's also when the main character becomes fully playable. The beginning of IV can feel kind of slow, especially in chapter 3, but I really liked it overall. The bonus content added to the endgame in the PS1 and DS remakes are really nice as well; feels very similar to the endgame content in VIII.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Last summer I played Dragon Quest IV, V, VI, and IX on the DS all back-to-back. I regret nothing.

What's to regret? That sounds great. If I had the focus to be able to do that, I would.

Bones, how is DQIV? I think the 3 story idea is cool... almost like 3 games that come together at the end... but not sure I'll like leveling up a hero/main character to suddenly switch to another low level character & start over. Work well or no?

It's awesome. I played through the NES version years ago, and I really enjoyed the mechanic. (To this day, it remains my second favorite 8-bit RPG.) Also, you get the band together for the final act; no effort leveling any of the various characters is wasted. (Moreover, assembling a party of characters you developed at the end of the game is a great feeling.) Finally, all of the characters are so different that starting a new section of the game is a fresh experience, and I really looked forward to the beginning of each new chapter in the game.

[pierrot]

Oh, I think I forgot about the twins. Was chapter 4 Torneko's chapter? His is the one chapter I really hate.