Dragon Quest

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

Dragon Quest 1 is a beat for beat take on Ultima.

Play Ultima 1-4 if you want to actually understand how RPGs evolved because Dragon Quest was directly coping Ultima's systems and the Japanese hung onto it longer than the West.

Legend of Zelda is also inspired by Ultima. The Bullshit PR story about Zelda being inspired by his childhood exploring caves is a fucking lie, Legend of Zelda is really about how Shiggy spent his manchildhood playing Ultima and removing the turnbase battle system in favor of an action based one. The Reason why Zelda II is the black sheep is because he heavily cribbed from Ultima far more than the last one because around the time Zelda II was being made Japan already went crazy over Ultima and Dragon Quest.

Dragon Quest is the bastard lovechild of Ultima and his asian warbride, Dragon Quest 11 follows the same mechanics as the original Ultima games did. But Ultima died when EA bought out the company, therefore all that remains is Dragon Quest.

Mind you OG Ultima came out in 1981, the same year as stuff like Quest for The Rings. Ultima was the grandaddy of all modern RPGs and JRPGs, it fucking dominated everything else that was out there at the time.

I've played Ultima 1-4, which is also why I find DQ fascinating because of how much of a different beast early JRPGs were compared to western RPGs. Ultima 1 is a bit closer to Dragon Quest but even then there are significant differences: fighting on the overworld for example placed you in a tile-based combat system while fighting in dungeons featured the more traditional first-person view that you do see in Dragon Quest. There was also more plot progression in Ultima; you had to get a time machine and to do that you had to become a space ace which involved going into space and destroying TIE Fighters. That isn't to say Dragon Quest had no plot progression, but it's a lot looser than Ultima (and Ultima was already pretty loose as it was). And that's not even getting into the food system present in Ultima.

The way I see it, the early JRPGs were far more stripped down in terms of mechanics compared to stuff like Ultima to the point I consider them wholly different experiences. I can see where they got the inspiration though, and I am aware that Ultima and Wizardry were both hugely popular in Japan.

 

[Stab You in the Back]

Dunkey did a dunkview of DQ11. As someone that's been wanting to try the games he brings up the exact points that stops me from trying them.

Dragon Quest XI (dunkview)

These games are really popular in Australia. dunk store https://dunkeyscastle.com/ with https://www.youtube.com/user/heorotlinea and https://www.youtube.com/...

www.youtube.com

There isn't any need to grind in DQ XI until the very last boss. Dunk got destroyed by the octopus, but I think he might have been doing some segments out of order and ended up fighting the octopus before he was meant to. There's an order in which you're supposed to clear events during the open-world portion of the game, but the game doesn't tell you what that order is so its an easy mistake to make.

That said, the game also has an excellent auto-battle system which trivilizes the time and effort you'll spend grinding. You can literally read a book while battles play out its that easy.

 

[Black Waltz]

There isn't any need to grind in DQ XI until the very last boss. Dunk got destroyed by the octopus, but I think he might have been doing some segments out of order and ended up fighting the octopus before he was meant to. There's an order in which you're supposed to clear events during the open-world portion of the game, but the game doesn't tell you what that order is so its an easy mistake to make.

That said, the game also has an excellent auto-battle system which trivilizes the time and effort you'll spend grinding. You can literally read a book while battles play out its that easy.

there's also the fact that dunk is biased towards these types of games

 

[Scandinadian Bacon]

Right now I'm just grinding to get stronger. What I would like to do is complete the Erdrick trilogy then go on from there, maybe to Dragon Quest V or VIII.

You might as well keep playing them through in order. They only get better or at the very least remain consistent.

I did not consider the DQ1,2,3 remakes on the Switch. They looked like those vomit iOS remakes and I don't think my heart can handle more of those.

 

[First Aid Kit]

I don't watch dunkey much, only know him does video games youtube for comedic value, not for serious. Since I prefer watching streamers to see how is the game.

With last year drama with Octopath traveler how he deliberately playing the game wrong to prove his preference not liking JRPG mechanic, I'm just getting a bit skeptical of him being "it's 100% for comedy" or "actually feeling that way and brushing it off as not being serious". Although, from this video, it definitely has better vibe compared to Octopath, he enjoys monster design, maybe the story and letting you choose when to fight monsters.

Someone complains Dunkey being lazy and using other people footages for his video, so I'll just point out time stamps for each different main protagonist name.

0:47 - Zafrin.
2:20 , 2:41, 3:39, 4:37 - Davilas.
3:00 - Ekon (even with copyright at bottom right) then having gameplay with Japanese text right after.
3:21, 4:35 - Khojin (same copyright) then at 3:26 Zafrin name appears. This part is funny to me, he said Octopus boss started one-shotting his party, meanwhile I see one of party characters, Veronica, was really low on health and other characters didn't take that much damage. At the 3:21 part, party levels are a bit higher than the 3:26 part, yet they are taken higher damage, probably due to different attacks from the boss.
4:31, 4:42 - Dugson.
At 4:07, there is "Xcagegame" watermark at bottom right for Octopath.
Other than that, mixing bunch of clips, so some parts have PS4 UI ("triangle" for tactic) or Switch UI? ("B" for dismount, and bestiary).

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

I did not consider the DQ1,2,3 remakes on the Switch. They looked like those vomit iOS remakes and I don't think my heart can handle more of those.

From my research, the Switch versions are ports of those, but those are also based on the SNES ports.

I don't mind it so much myself honestly, but that might be because I've had so little exposure to the series.

 

[Marissa Moira]

There's a rumored physical NES DQ Trilogy coming to PS4 in the west, but outside of a listing in the ps4 game database by dataminers there hasn't been any news of it appearing.

 

[Scarlett Johansson]

The world wonders ...

If you are a wamman, would you have sex in this bed if a guy you just met took you back to it?
View attachment 971803

Bless you Null.

 

[Product Intervention]

It helps that Dragon Quest didn't throw out the entire battle system after 9. I started XI last week and it plays exactly how I hoped it would.

Agreed. Dragon Quest still retained a lot of its old charm.

The biggest problem I have with Dragon Quest games moving forward is that they've been too easy. Also they have taken away things like "missables", which tells you how far gaming has crumbled. God forbid the kids have to replay the game because they missed an encounter or some goofy time-limited item.

Now you know and that's why they invented NG+.

 

[Marissa Moira]

The biggest problem I have with Dragon Quest games moving forward is that they've been too easy. Also they have taken away things like "missables", which tells you how far gaming has crumbled. God forbid the kids have to replay the game because they missed an encounter or some goofy time-limited item.

Now you know and that's why they invented NG+.

No fuck you I hate that shit.

Post game is where you go back and find shit you missed, you're talking about an 80-90 hour game

Missables going away is a good thing.

You can miss some of the medals but you can farm them from enemies so it really doesn't matter. There are rare spawns in DQ11 that you can miss/bypass very easily since some only appear for certain weather conditions. There also ones that have an incredibly low chance at spawning. I spent a good few hours finding all the rare enemies and finishing all the side quests in the process.

Leaving secrets to explore at the player's leisure is the way to go or you get people designing games around purchasing the strategy guide which was bullshit.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

Just beat Dragon Quest 1. Final boss was way easier than I expected. The game as a whole was kinda easy, but I was playing the remake so I'm pretty sure it's a lot easier than the original in general. That and I spent a lot of time grinding. In total I think I died like 3 times.

I purchased 2 preemptively because I had a feeling DQ1 was going to be short (it was), and I'm already impressed with how it evolved from 1. That said I'm a little worried because I've seen a lot of people online claim that it's the hardest one, and a lot of people specify that the hardest part is the final part of the game.

 

[MrTickles]

I've completed DQ11. Skip everything that came before because it makes those redundant in every way. DQ11 takes all the good from jrpgs, chucks out the crap and gives it a few more modernizing touches. As somebody that hates the combat in Japanese jrpgs (eg final fantasy) DQ11 tickled my balls and kept me happy from beginning to end. Even those that like jrpg's are loving the fact DQ11 has finally moved forward with the formula.

 

[Sable]

Just beat Dragon Quest 1. Final boss was way easier than I expected. The game as a whole was kinda easy, but I was playing the remake so I'm pretty sure it's a lot easier than the original in general. That and I spent a lot of time grinding. In total I think I died like 3 times.

I purchased 2 preemptively because I had a feeling DQ1 was going to be short (it was), and I'm already impressed with how it evolved from 1. That said I'm a little worried because I've seen a lot of people online claim that it's the hardest one, and a lot of people specify that the hardest part is the final part of the game.

If you like the evolution from 1 to 2, 2 to 3 is even better.

I AM a huge sucker for class systems though.

 

[Billy_Sama]

If you like the evolution from 1 to 2, 2 to 3 is even better.

I AM a huge sucker for class systems though.

I played III on the GBC and it was one of my favorite handheld experiences on the system next to Pokemon and Zelda. I might just outright buy it on the switch to play it again.

 

[Islamic Creampie]

I played III on the GBC and it was one of my favorite handheld experiences on the system next to Pokemon and Zelda. I might just outright buy it on the switch to play it again.

As far as I know, the Switch version ditched the Pachisi boards, the monster medal collecting and the Ice Caves bonus dungeon. If that stuff matters to you.

Still debating picking up the physical collection. I own the NES and GBC versions, but having an updated copy with QoL improvements on a modern console would definitely be nice.

 

[Product Intervention]

No fuck you I hate that shit.

I don't believe you and I think you're just making it up.

Farming mini medals as a positive? You reached too far bro. Do you even know what mini medals are?

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

If you like the evolution from 1 to 2, 2 to 3 is even better.

I AM a huge sucker for class systems though.

Out of curiosity, is the class system similar to FFIII? I've always liked how that game handled its job system.

 

[Sable]

Out of curiosity, is the class system similar to FFIII? I've always liked how that game handled its job system.

Basically, you start the game with just the Hero in your party, and can choose to recruit/drop off members in the first town. You can choose their class, name and gender.
Later on in the game, you come to a place that lets you reclass- at level 20 or higher, changing class will set that character's level to 1, halve their stat total (and so be much stronger than they were at level 1) but they get to keep their spells.

So in effect with some job switching you can end up with a Warrior that can cast some spells in a pinch, or a Mage with more Strength/Resilience to help keep them alive. The hero can't class change, but he/she really doesn't need to because they can do everything- they're not quite as good a warrior as a warrior (though not by much) and can use more equipment and can cast a bunch of spells.

The systems became more complex in later games, with DQVI instead having a sort of job point system where you can qualify for new vocations by improving old ones- killing enemies that weren't too much weaker than you gets you better in the vocations you are. VII's system was also similar, but in addition to that it's kind of unique in that when you kill certain monsters, they'll sometimes drop their hearts, allowing you to become monsters as well- and for more advanced monsters you can either master a branching path/combination of old ones, or just grab more hearts.

IX's is different. You recruit characters as in III, but once you change classes, it resets you to level 1...but only in that class. If you swapped back to your old class, that class would have its old level.
The only thing you keep between classes is abilities and passive buffs from skill point spending (getting skill points from levelling) but this means if you're clever you can swap characters to some classes they won't need, get them some easy early/mid levels depending on where in the game you are, and use the skillpoints in jobs you will need. There's also the ability to swap to level 1 in a class once it reaches 99, but you almost certainly won't reach this during the main game and you wouldn't need to.

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

I've completed DQ11. Skip everything that came before because it makes those redundant in every way. DQ11 takes all the good from jrpgs, chucks out the crap and gives it a few more modernizing touches. As somebody that hates the combat in Japanese jrpgs (eg final fantasy) DQ11 tickled my balls and kept me happy from beginning to end. Even those that like jrpg's are loving the fact DQ11 has finally moved forward with the formula.

Unless there is some..major game changing gameplay mechanic they introduce halfway through the game..it is 95% the same gameplay as 8 was.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

Basically, you start the game with just the Hero in your party, and can choose to recruit/drop off members in the first town. You can choose their class, name and gender.
Later on in the game, you come to a place that lets you reclass- at level 20 or higher, changing class will set that character's level to 1, halve their stat total (and so be much stronger than they were at level 1) but they get to keep their spells.

So in effect with some job switching you can end up with a Warrior that can cast some spells in a pinch, or a Mage with more Strength/Resilience to help keep them alive. The hero can't class change, but he/she really doesn't need to because they can do everything- they're not quite as good a warrior as a warrior (though not by much) and can use more equipment and can cast a bunch of spells.

The systems became more complex in later games, with DQVI instead having a sort of job point system where you can qualify for new vocations by improving old ones- killing enemies that weren't too much weaker than you gets you better in the vocations you are. VII's system was also similar, but in addition to that it's kind of unique in that when you kill certain monsters, they'll sometimes drop their hearts, allowing you to become monsters as well- and for more advanced monsters you can either master a branching path/combination of old ones, or just grab more hearts.

IX's is different. You recruit characters as in III, but once you change classes, it resets you to level 1...but only in that class. If you swapped back to your old class, that class would have its old level.
The only thing you keep between classes is abilities and passive buffs from skill point spending (getting skill points from levelling) but this means if you're clever you can swap characters to some classes they won't need, get them some easy early/mid levels depending on where in the game you are, and use the skillpoints in jobs you will need. There's also the ability to swap to level 1 in a class once it reaches 99, but you almost certainly won't reach this during the main game and you wouldn't need to.

Okay that is completely different from what I was expecting, and honestly it contextualizes just makes DQ so fascinating to me. For years the only big JRPG series I've played was Final Fantasy, and I was expecting DQ to offer a similar experience, and to some it extent it shares superficial similarities to the first 3 FFs, but it is a whole different beast. Like the job system; FF3 and 5 both offer a job system but it's nowhere near as complex as what you just said.