Dragon Warrior

This was the first RPG I ever played and also (arguably) the first real console RPG. Since then I've played pretty much exclusively PC games. Nevertheless, stumbling across the Dragon Warrior theme music on youtube the other day, brought back what are perhaps my fondest ever gaming memories. Now, I'm seriously thinking about picking up a playstation 2 to try some of the later iterations in the series (known as Dragon Quest in Japan).

Is anyone familiar with this series (I think DQ VIII is the most recent version released in NA)? Does it still feature a free roaming open world and turn based combat? Have they improved on aspects such as story and character development?
Oh, and I almost forgot, would it appeal to a cynical hard bitten computer gamer who hasn't touched a console in 15 years and who groans and grumbles about even the best PC RPGs ever made?

I'm fairly familiar with the series. I played through Dragon Warrior I-IV years ago on the NES, - still have the original cartridges and manuals in fact.

Only DW VII (PS1) and Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PS2) have been released since the days of the SNES (Not counting Gameboy\DS). DW VII is pretty tough to to find, and you can expect to pay at least $35-$40 for a used copy on Ebay. DQ 8 can be purchased for around $20 on Amazon or Ebay.

I acquired both games within the last 6 months (actually ended up with 2 copies of VII) with the intention of playing them. Needless to say, lack of free time has prevented me from playing much of either. DW VII is considered one of the best RPGs ever made for the PS1, and sold almost 4 Million copies in Japan. It doesn't differ much from the earlier games, just that it has 3D graphics in towns and on the overland map, and you can rotate the camera. Battles are still in a two dimensional first-person view. The game is huge though, and supposedly takes over 100 hours to complete. DW VII is generally considered the best game in the series by most fans.

Dragon Quest VII is slightly different in the fact that the camera moves around a bit in battle (you can actually see your chacters), and the game uses cel-shaded graphics. The game also has full voice acting during most dialogs. It was the fastest selling Japanese PlayStation 2 title ever.

They are great games III, IV, and V are all great games that are a lot of fun to play through.

I epsecially love how you play different characters, one character is even a merchant who has his own shop and you get to sell weapons to adventurers, aa good old talon the merchant. Great games!

I've only played #4 on the DS, will play #5 next month. Great game!

Never heard of it, sorry.

I guess I came to gaming after that.

I as well have played I-IV as well as VII (only got about ~30 hours into it). I recently traded my PS2 for a Wii and then I heard the announcement about the next Dragon Warrior coming on the Wii (!Not DQ Swords). Excitement followed

I've been wanting to play the Cursed King but I'll wait till they can emulate the PS2 or someone gets tired of theirs in my family.

Geist said:

This was the first RPG I ever played and also (arguably) the first real console RPG. Since then I've played pretty much exclusively PC games. Nevertheless, stumbling across the Dragon Warrior theme music on youtube the other day, brought back what are perhaps my fondest ever gaming memories. Now, I'm seriously thinking about picking up a playstation 2 to try some of the later iterations in the series (known as Dragon Quest in Japan).

Is anyone familiar with this series (I think DQ VIII is the most recent version released in NA)? Does it still feature a free roaming open world and turn based combat? Have they improved on aspects such as story and character development?
Oh, and I almost forgot, would it appeal to a cynical hard bitten computer gamer who hasn't touched a console in 15 years and who groans and grumbles about even the best PC RPGs ever made?

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I got DQ8 and if it wasn't for one 'feature', I might have liked it. As it happened, that 'feature' made me stop playing the game just like 1 hour into it. Basically, like in Wizardry 1, you can only save the game in town. They may say it's more challenging this way... bullocks! There is no challenge in having to go through 10 random battles to fight a boss, die and having to do it all over again.

I did get a PS2 years ago, and have enjoyed many turn-based RPGs there. Gladius, Suikoden 3, Star Ocean (not turn based but not action/combo based either), Ar Tonelico, Persona 3 are all good. Wild Arms series are all ok (I liked Alter Code F or whatever, but then 4 and 5 added some hex fight I didn't really like). There are many others I enjoyed but their name escapes my mind now. You can check a list of reviews at http://www.rpgfan.com/reviews-ps2ed.html

wolfing said:

Wild Arms series are all ok (I liked Alter Code F or whatever, but then 4 and 5 added some hex fight I didn't really like).

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Alter Code F is actually a remake of the original Wild Arms for the PS1. Wild Arms was the first rpg released on the Playstation. It wasn't anything groundbreaking, but it was a fun ride.

Got Dragon warrior when I was real little. It reminded me a lot of the game my Dad sometimes let me play on his Apple ][e, "Ultima III"

I think it was 3 or 4 that was the last NES release. Great game. Another good NES one I loved (mind you I was like 8) was "Destiny of an Emperor". The NES Ultimas really sucked. 5 so much so I finally got my dad to get this computer called a "486 PC" so I could get his old Apple (but then Ultima VI and VII got released, and I needed a 486 )

It's kinda rare these days I really like a JRPG, but still look back fondly at games like Suikoden, Earthbound, Final Fantasy 6 (3 in the U.S.), Chrono Trigger, and Breath of Fire. Between BoF series and Destiny of an Emperor, I think Capcom had an under appreciated talent for RPGs.

The thing to understand with the Dragon Quest (formerly known as Dragon Warrior in the US) is that it is extremely traditionnal. A lot of things are carried over from games to games, like the main theme, sounds effects, monsters and NPCs, even annoying flaws like having to go to a church in town to learn how many experience points a character need to level up. Thus, I don't think DQ will ever have a real-time battle system; DQ9 was supposed to have one, but it was reverted to a traditionnal turn-based system after complaints from the fans.

Another thing is that this series is VERY popular in Japan, easily outselling Final Fantasy by far. Any game with the Dragon Quest name is a guaranteed hit over there. This was particularly obvious with the release of DQ7 on the PSX. The game looked not only dated, but just plain horrible for the most past (although some bits like the monsters were rather nice looking and well animated). It also featured few new features and a rather ordinary storyline. It still became the best selling PSX game ever in Japan. Most games that would do that in the english speaking world would be going very shortly in the bargain bin.

Don't get me wrong, though. I love Dragon Quest. I'm a traditionnalist too . I definitly enjoyed DW7 on the PSX despite its flaws. It's nice to see a franchise that stay faithful to its roots, unlike some other like Final Fantasy where the latest game have basically nothing in common with the first ones.

I just bought DQVIII for $6 at a gamestop about two weeks ago. Like the above comment, I despise the "save only in town" mechanic, another VERY bad game design choice that I've often dropped entire series for. However, it was very similar to DQ/DW1, in execution, and brought me back to when I spent some time playing around with that game.

Despite the games having two of my pet peeves with RPGs, particularly jRPGs, and from a design standpoint extremely bad, stupid, and moronic design choices (worthy of being beaten before being fired for), they still tend to be fun. They have a certain charm which makes up for the bad design.

I've played Dragon Warrior/Quest 1, 2, 3 & 8. The first 2 are very simple and short games but are still a lot of fun to play through. The 3rd has the same basic plot and feel but is much bigger.

And then there is a large gap in my DQ history, lol. Bringing me to DQ VIII, one of most polished, fun and well animated/voice acted "old-school" style console games in recent history. I really recommend picking this one up.

The series hasn't changed a whole lot over the years (though to my knowledge they've experimented a bit with storytelling/time in one or 2 of the ones I haven't played) so basically with DQ VIII you're getting the same classic style of game play and nothing revolutionary as far as mechanics.

It does feature a fantastic 3D engine which kinda gives the Oblivion vibe (visually) in terms of a very large open area with far away vistas. The graphics are great, the characters are well animated and the voice acting is also excellent. The writing is also pretty good and there's some humor sprinkled throughout. And the characters all have very distinctive and extremely likeable personalities

It's also challenging as the older games are - run off too far and you'll meet some enemies that will crush you (as it should be). Tactics also factor, unlike some JRPGs where you can keep spamming the same 1 or 2 spells or moves over and over. Of course like in the older titles if you didn't level too much you may have to grind a little to be able to defeat some of the bosses, but overall it's tolerable unlike say FF XII.

As soon as I'm done with the FF IV DS remake I will be picking up DQ 4 which also came out recently (the next installment in the series (9) is being made for the DS exclusively).

Relayer said:

(the next installment in the series (9) is being made for the DS exclusively).

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That is an absolute joke imo. There's no way a new game in a series like that should be regulated to appearing only on a portable.

JDR13 said:

That is an absolute joke imo. There's no way a new game in a series like that should be regulated to appearing only on a portable.

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Why? DQ8 was PS2 only ... and aside from the PS2 there is no bigger install base than the DS. So I would say that 'why limit your audience by 50% by putting it on the low-selling PS3 and X360?' would be a more reasonable question ...

low selling xbox 360? heh nice. Ps3 I understand...but xbox 360?

txa1265 said:

Why? DQ8 was PS2 only ... and aside from the PS2 there is no bigger install base than the DS. So I would say that 'why limit your audience by 50% by putting it on the low-selling PS3 and X360?' would be a more reasonable question ...

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Because it's going to be an inferior product, that's why. A new Dragon Quest game deserves the graphics, audio, and size that only a next gen system can give it imo. I certainly understand what you're saying though. It's a shame that such a thing will always be dictated solely by profit potential.

I wish they would at least make a PS2 version of it as well.

Is it really a negative thing that they are making it to the DS ??

I think many of the 2d SNES games or even the NES games are superior to many of the new 3d games, and lasts much longer also!

GothicGothicness said:

Is it really a negative thing that they are making it to the DS ??

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For many people, yes. It's not the fact that they're making it for the DS, so much as the fact that's it will be only for the DS.

you can also play DS games on the PC, if you bought the game and play it on the PC, I have no problem with it, but it is true it is a legally "grey" zone.

rune_74 said:

low selling xbox 360? heh nice. Ps3 I understand...but xbox 360?

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Compare to worldwide sales of the Wii - yes.

However the DS make the Wii look small potatos. Remember we are talking about a game that is Huge in Japan and the sinlge most popular "console" in Japan is the DS. At this current time Nintendo would appear to rule the world (of consoles). (Just a shame the Wii doesn't have better graphics)