Dragon Quest XI - Review @ Pixelkin
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tekulte
Sentinel
It sure sounds like the kind of game I'd love to play (being able to easily avoid enemies appeals greatly to me), but $60?
lostforever
SasqWatch
Its about $40 here
https://www.greenmangaming.com/game...n=cj&CJEVENT=ea674c1dc70311e8826701930a18050c
it can still be cheaper if you got the right discount vouchers.
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Love - don't think so, like - maybe, not care - most probably.
Pixelkin.org said:
1. Endless respawns
2. Invisible sea trashmobs aka "random encounters" you cannot shove off every time
3. Backtracking to unlock doors you couldn't before getting half of the main story done
4. Checkpoints
5. Click like a dozen of times to save game on those very checkpoints
6. Grinding, if not for rare trashmobs to finish grindy sidequests then for mats
7. MIDI music. LOL
8. Hair is as expected, horrible, but it's physics? Never seen it made so bad
9. Sidequests are like… Not wanna see something like that ever again
Two positives though, characters are not Hollywood plastic but ugly and of course, puff puff!
I can understand an outdated mediocrity being someone's "nearly perfect RPG". What I didn't expect is such reaction from someone who is supposed to be a professional reviewer.
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Winterfart
Passenger
Not so much. It's mostly old stuffs but it's pleasant enough.
It has already been said here, but the crafting system is pretty clever. I generally dislike crafting in games but this time it was genuielly fun.
lostforever
SasqWatch
1. Endless respawns - Not an issue as you can easily skip them.
2. Invisible sea trashmobs - Yes but % wise, nothing to worry about.
3. Backtracking to unlock doors you couldn't before - Yes but nothing important in their and its there to annoy people like joxer!
4. Checkpoints - Most JRPG have this system no?
5. Click like a dozen of times to save game - They could have done better PC port sure.
6. Grinding - Optional content and I never did any of them. Again to annoy joxer!
7. MIDI music. LOL - Yes give you that! But there is mod to get rid of it and its on steam.
8. Hair is as expected - no comment!
9. Sidequests - yes skip those.
I never played any Dragon Quest XI games or many JRPGs but I had lots of fun with this game.
2. Invisible sea trashmobs - Yes but % wise, nothing to worry about.
3. Backtracking to unlock doors you couldn't before - Yes but nothing important in their and its there to annoy people like joxer!
4. Checkpoints - Most JRPG have this system no?
5. Click like a dozen of times to save game - They could have done better PC port sure.
6. Grinding - Optional content and I never did any of them. Again to annoy joxer!
7. MIDI music. LOL - Yes give you that! But there is mod to get rid of it and its on steam.
8. Hair is as expected - no comment!
9. Sidequests - yes skip those.
I never played any Dragon Quest XI games or many JRPGs but I had lots of fun with this game.
tekulte
Sentinel
Was there anything about it you liked? The description makes it sound more or less like a typical JRPG. And aren't mobs easily avoided, or was the reviewer exaggerating?
Insofar as grinding goes, any game other than games-on-rails have grinding to some extent. My concern is if it's necessary to level and advance the plot. If it's just for rare mobs or mats, or when someone enjoys the combat, that's a "feature" tons of games have. Couple that with the (alleged) ease in avoiding mobs and it really doesn't sound like a negative.
Winterfart
Passenger
When you travel on land, you can avoid all encounters (boss or quest related mobs excluded).
But when you're at sea, you get the old infuriating JRPG random encounters system. This system is the sole reason I never played old JRPG.
The good news is that sea travels are a tiny part of the game and you can skip most of them with teleporttion spells. But still…
lostforever
SasqWatch
When you travel on land, you can avoid all encounters (boss or quest related mobs excluded).
But when you're at sea, you get the old infuriating JRPG random encounters system. This system is the sole reason I never played old JRPG.
The good news is that sea travels are a tiny part of the game and you can skip most of them with teleporttion spells. But still…
Just for emphasis so tekulte doesn't get discouraged as its a very good game to play
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I stated above what two things I liked.
What you call typical jrpg I call outdated designs as those designs are not jrpg specific but date from ancient hardware that couldn't ever follow the current world state regardless of the country of origin.
Erm… I was explaining why the game is not near perfect RPG. A perfect would be something where complaining is outright impossible as everything is awsome, interesting, engaging, challenging and great. Nearperfect would be something where by nitpicking it does contain stuff not done great.
Ignoring issues and excusing them with "those are optional" is like saying a dumpster is a treasure trove, just ignore smells, dirt, bacteria and mold.
You had fun. Okay. Good for you. But that up there is supposed to be a professional review.
The game is not near perfect anything and I cannot recommend buying it.
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Hate to break it to ya, but "professional reviewer" is an oxymoron when it comes to gaming and pretty much everything else (movies, TV, books etc.). But that's why we have "The Watch..." to cut through all the noise of the next "professional reviewer" tripping over themselves to use the word "trope," ironically, yet again, as they snipe the game they're reviewing for being "tropey."
I played the first four Dragon Quest games (or as they were called here in the States, "Dragon Warrior"). I even did a write up contest for Dragon Warrior 2 and won a free copy of Dragon Warrior 3 (which I still have, box and game manual still in great condition) when it came out… it was and remains to this day the only contest I've ever won…
I stopped playing Dragon Quest games after finishing number 4 as well as not playing any JRPGs whatsoever since then (circa early 1990s) because I got really tired of all the random battles and to a lesser degree, I got really tired of all the menu navigating in console JRPGs.
But I have to say, after all these years, and after taking a look at Dragon Quest XI, I might just pick it up. Seems I can avoid at least some encounters if I want to and while the PC port isn't that great, it's not utterly terrible looking either, at least from what I can see on youtube.
Ovenall
SasqWatch
This is pretty much the first JRPG I've ever played. It's fun, it's relaxing, it's cute and colorful. I got it because of the stellar reviews and I wanted something less grim and more colorful for a change.
But there are zero choices or consequences. It's not really an RPG, it's a cartoon you watch where you have to go certain places and fight /kill certain things to unlock more episodes. I asked around online about this and apparently, that's the general way JRPGs are done, so it's not new—or even a negative.
I don't need to be making heartrending, nail biting, do or die choices every hour. But I just feel really disconnected from what's going on in this.
It's fun. It's engaging and still compelling, and it's well made. But It's not at all what I think of as an RPG. Yes, you can build the different characters in a few different ways, but story-wise, it's a linear cartoon.
But there are zero choices or consequences. It's not really an RPG, it's a cartoon you watch where you have to go certain places and fight /kill certain things to unlock more episodes. I asked around online about this and apparently, that's the general way JRPGs are done, so it's not new—or even a negative.
I don't need to be making heartrending, nail biting, do or die choices every hour. But I just feel really disconnected from what's going on in this.
It's fun. It's engaging and still compelling, and it's well made. But It's not at all what I think of as an RPG. Yes, you can build the different characters in a few different ways, but story-wise, it's a linear cartoon.
Why do people make a freaking big deal over 'puff puff'. From the videos I've seen it seems totally lame and obnoxious.
Just finished the game last night. It was very enjoyable, yes the story overall is the typical "you're the chosen one, you need to save the world", but the sub-stories were fun. Art is pretty, combat was standard turn-based goodness. There is instant-travel to most of the world so backtracking is a non-issue. Hell you can sometimes teleport to two points in the same area. Crafting is fun, not as fun and deep as an Atelier game but definitely better than the standard "gather ingredients, click craft".
On the negative side the default difficulty is easy, and you can't change it after you start the game, but I skipped 90% of mobs so near the final 25% or so of the game it was challenging enough. Finished the game at level 50 and the bosses were fun and scary.
I wouldn't say it's "near-perfect", but it is a good game.
On the negative side the default difficulty is easy, and you can't change it after you start the game, but I skipped 90% of mobs so near the final 25% or so of the game it was challenging enough. Finished the game at level 50 and the bosses were fun and scary.
I wouldn't say it's "near-perfect", but it is a good game.
Carnifex
SasqWatch
I played some of the earlier games in this series, but haven't gotten to this one as of yet. Not actually sure I will try it.