Dragon Warrior/Quest

[Lamia]

A series I am only just now getting into. I can't believe I've missed out on it all these years! I want to be 7 for the Playstation... I hear it's 120 hours of gameplay and has 160 job classes!

Right now I am playing through DQ5... After I beat that I will go play DQ6 and then go buy 7...

Let me tell you, V rocks. The battle system is awesome. I love being able to recruit monsters in your party in a non pokemon way. They're not my pets, they're my allies, soldiers fighting with me.

Anyway, it's said that DQ rivals Final Fantasy in importance in RPG history. DQ being Enix's big RPG game... There's a law passed in Japan saying that DQ games can only be released during the holiday or weekends because kids have been known to skip school to purchase these games!

In short, I'm very enthusiastic about this series. What do you think of it?

[DJZen]

Well I've only recently gotten into DW/Q myself, and I've started with the first one. I'm liking it even though the levelling up can be painful. I thought it would be different from FF but it's actually very similar, only the battle system is first person perspective.

As far as its importance in RPG history, it's VERY important. Dragon Quest was the first real console RPG. It defined the whole genre. Final Fantasy took the concept and made it much broader. This is why these are the best selling RPG series. In fact, in Japan, Dragon Quest has always outsold Final Fantasy. In fact, it sells so wildly that there ARE laws in place about when they're allowed to release DQ games. However, in America, it sells fairly poorly these days. This wasn't always the case. In the earlier days of the series (DW I-IV) it was fairly popular, and the animated series even made its way to American television.

There are many ways in which this series is very significant that frequently get overlooked.

It was the first real definitive console RPG.
It was the first RPG with an animated series (not counting Dungeons & Dragons, which isn't a video game).
It was the first game series with the feature of enemies becoming playable characters, which predates pokemon by several years, and is possibly a contributing factor to that game (which sells faster than ritalin in a highschool).
the entire series has outsold the FF series worldwide, even with fewer installments.
Part of the resaon it has sold more is because it has a lot more remakes than FF.
It also has more spinoffs than FF including Torneco: Last Hope, Slime Mori Mori, and Dragon Quest/Warrior Monsters.
So far it is the only RPG to have a playTV spinoff.

I'd come up with some more, but my gums are bleeding pretty heavily and my cats are fighting, and I need to decide which to take care of first.

[Lord Chainsaw]

I'm a bit biased towards the old Dragon Warrior games because those are the games I grew up with.

People could say Dragon Warrior I was better, or Final Fantasy I was better, but I think it's all a matter of which game you grew up with. Myself, I believe Dragon Warrior I runs circles around Final Fantasy I, but I'm sure my opinion would be different had I played Final Fantasy I when I was younger.

I loved the characters. Even if there were only two real characters in the game (Gwaelin and the Dragon Lord) they were still damn well developed for being the first console RPG. Gwaelin's perseverance in trying to win the heart of the hero "Do you love me? Oh but thou must!" Or something along those lines.

Then of course there was the scene at the bottom of Charlock Castle that to this day is one of my favorite scenes in a video game. That is of course Dragon Lord's proposal, which reveals a good deal about his character.

Dragon Warrior II was damn hard. III was my favorite. The party controlling AI from IV rubbed me the wrong way. Haven't played V and VI, VII turned me off due to the fact that it was two and a half hours before I got into my first battle with some slimes.

Dragon Warrior Monsters is an awesome game. Addicting as hell. I didn't play some of these Japanese DW games, so it was cool to see exactly how the final bosses in those games looked. We got gipped on DWM 1 though. Apparently there was supposed to be a 99 floor dungeon where the boss would be Dark Dream (The Darkdrium) but it was cut for some unknown reason. Instead the game's hardest dungeon is the Dragon Dungeon, which is pitifully easy. Monsters 2 is good too, but I didn't get into it as much as I got into the first. I liked the idea of the keys, that was really neat.

All in all I'd like to see the Dragon Warrior series continue, but they've really got to do something about that battle system. I'm sorry but it's atrocious. Times change. It worked back in the day but it is time to evolve.

[DJZen]

Well, fortunately, there will be a DQVIII. Unfortunately, I'm very out of the loop about news on that series. I have yet to find an DQ/W equivalent to EoFF.

[Del Murder]

VII was a snoozefest and too hard. I don't mind a challenge, but this wasn't a fun challenge, it was a 'why am I playing this crap?' challenge.

I like the rest though. I (1) was cool because of the history there, II was ok, III was the best and very worthwhile, IV was good too but like Chainsaw I was a little turned off by the AI party controlling. I've started a game on V and the monster thing is pretty neat, though I prefer characters.

The main gripe I have is there is too much leveling up time involved and the battles aren't innovative enough that it doesn't get boring (unlike the FF games). I can't wait to see what Square's influence can do with the series.

[DJZen]

I'm guessing more diversity in the class abilities, but they may not change the battle system. Some people don't like to muck with classics. Then again, Enix's remakes of the DQ games were even more mucked with than Square's remakes of FFI, II and IV.

[Deri]

I'm still a newbee in the RPG genre in general. I used to have an NES and a Sega Genesis back in the day, but I was playing mostly games like Castlevania, Ninja Gaiden, and sports games like Madden '95. A friend of mine tried getting me into RPGs on his Commodore 64 but every game he showed be sucked. (Bard's Tale, Times of Lore, etc) It wasn't until like two years ago when I bought a Gameboy Color and the only games that I had to choose from was Dragon Warrior I & 2, and Dragon Warrior III. I've been hooked on RPGs ever since. I tried playing DW I on the NES later on but wasn't impressed with it. I liked the GBC's graphics a little better. A few months later I bought a GBA, because they lowered the price, and I'm currently playing I and III as well as Golden Sun I. I'm also playing FFVII, and FFX. But the whole point I'm trying to make is the Dragon Warrior series is what got me hooked on the RPG genre. (and now I'm also hooked on the FF series as well.) :p

[DJZen]

Considering the GBC version came out like 10 years later, I would HOPE it had better graphics. It's also a redone version with lots and lots of new things. This is why I decided to play the NES version first :)

[theundeadhero]

You mention playing 5 and 6. Is there anywhere I can get an English copy?

[DJZen]

Illegally on the intermanet.

[theundeadhero]

Can you provide a link?

[theundeadhero]

For a translation patch for 5
http://www.dejap.com/so.php

For 6
http://www.geocities.com/noprgress/

For a rom
http://sportandgame.cscoms.com/dq/dqrom.html

gee, thanks

[Chzn8r]

Yay, those links will be here until a mod gets here :P Don't worry I support DQ/DW like you wouldn't believe ;)

Anyways... the first thing Lord Chainsaw says (about being biased) totally describes and prefaces everything I could say about this series (I started the last big topic about this in this forum). Between DW and FF, I prefer the consistent goodness of DW as a whole. It's the perefect RPG formula and feeling for me. I have liked every one I've played (beaten all but 5 and 7). Of course I haven't even graced the Slime, Torneko, or DW Monsters series yet.

I'm currently playing through 7, I've clocked about 33 hours and I've still got a ways to go on the first disc. I don't plan to do a completist game, though (all zoo stuff, immigrants w/ different towns, monster book, all job classes, casinos, style competitions, etc...), just beat it a bit above average or so (probably take me 80 hours I'm looking at).

[theundeadhero]

Ahhh, they have no reason to delete them. It's on topic, Dragon Warrior in an Enix game so it fits in the forum, and what can they say about linking to roms? EOFF has links to FF Roms on it so that would be hypocritical. Maybe they should put links up for the games.

[Lord Chainsaw]

I hear some pretty weird stuff about 7.

Supposedly there's an optional boss you can fight named God, and you have to beat him in a specified amount of turns. Sounds fun. Too bad I'll never actually have to time to sit through 50 hours of leveling to really enjoy the game.

And it's funny when I say that, because I've clocked in at least 2000+ hours of leveling collectively over all the MMORPGs I play. Maybe grindin' is just one of those things that is better done when you've got buddies to talk to while you're doing it.

[DJZen]

Agreed, this is why I like "tag-teaming" RPGs. Basically, when you want to start playing again, you hit your friend on the back of the head as hard as you can and grab the controller before he can find his glasses. That way you have someone with you to make the levelling up less dull. If this friend tries to leave at any point, just press the button on his shock collar. It'll change his mind right quick.

[Del Murder]

Who says we can't be hypocritical? Anyway, I have no problem linking to roms of games you can't buy in the US. It's their fault for never releasing them. I've played V and it's ok, but not as good as the other 4 (except II maybe).

[Dark Ekonis]

the greatest dragon warrior/Quest site I have seen is www.woodus.com, otherwize known as the dragons den. I have enjoyed both DW and FF as a child, I finished the first 4 installments of DW and am working on VII, I would like them to remake all of the for the PS in english so I can enjoy them all again, on the other hand I am also a FF fan I can't really tell which is better, they both have their own style and I love them both in their own ways. Kinda like pizza and Icecream, both are great but have their own place at the top of my list...

[ManThong]

My first RPG was Dragon Warrior Monsters. I still love that game. I still remember being overjoyed when, in my first game, I got a WhipBird through breeeding and hit 999 HP in like 20 levels. And even following copy in every other file I started, I breeded for a WhipBird. And then I'd eventually add a Roboster, which I bred into a GoldGolem, and a GoldSlime. It was crazy hard to lose with a WhipBird and GoldSlime's Ironize skill. :P

DWM2 was a huge let down. Too much focus on adding new monsters not enough on making it an enjoyable story. It just got too tangential from the original thanks to two new monster families and loads of new attacks.

DWM3: Caravan Hearts sadly won't be coming to America via original release (perhaps as a re-release). It came out March 28, 2003, 3 days before the merger. Looked pretty good. Seemed like it was going to take some stuff from DW7: you could win monster hearts from fighting monsters and you could use them to synthesize better monsters.

There's supposed to be a DWM coming out for the DS, but I only learned of that from a magazine the other day. I really should research that . . . perhaps if this one's successful, there'll be some re-releases in order. :)

DW4 never came to America as an original release or a re-release. It was supposed to be re-released for the PS1 in America, but Heartbreak Inc., the amply named publisher bankrupt before translating enough of the text for an American release, couldn't finish the project. No other company took the project up.

DW7 was a bi of a letdown. I spent 90 hours on that game and I was only about halfway done. I had trouble beating Graco V and eventually stopped playing the game out of boredom. I eventually sold it when I decided I probably wouldn't pick it back up. I don't entirely abhor that decision.

I played the DW 1 and 2 re-release for the GBC as well as the DW 3 re-release. I thought that DW 3 was very good, but I din't finish it, unlike the other two. It had more minigame wise, but was a bit too complex and sometimes boring to keep playing. DW 2 was superb and DW 1 is worth giving a chance, especially since the two games are probably running for $15 now. :P

I'm really looking forward to DW8. The graphics look great. The games being developed by Level 5, same makers of the Dark Cloud series. Anyone who knows those games will know that the game'll look great. Also, I should hope that a good four or five years will be enough to perfect the story of the game. It's just been way too long for us fans.

[theundeadhero]

DW 4 is an NES and probably gameboy remake game. I hav the nes version along with 1-3. It's 5 and 6 that didn't make it.

[DJZen]

There is no GB remake of DQIV :(

It got a remake for PS1 that was GOING to be translated, but the developer essentially bailed on Enix, leaving them with a mess of code that they tried to reverse engineer, but couldn't. This was only one more dissapointment that DW fans had to live with. There was some hope that with the merger, SE would have the fund to properly port some of the DQ games to America, but this seems like it won't be the case. SE has completely neglected to port two DQ games thus far (neither of which had seen any previous american release), but it looks like we may yet see a DWVIII. Hopefully this will show SE that there IS American interest in the series, and spur them to release DWV and Slime Mori-Mori (neither of which is for an out-dated system).

[Dark Ekonis]

when DQ VIII hits the states I will go and buy it, and I hope everyone else does to, that might inspire S-E to release the originals 1-6 on the PS in the same manner that FFVII inspired them to re-release 1-6. Just a thought.

[Flying Mullet]

I'd only be interested in IV-VI on the playstation as the Gameboy remakes do enough for me for the first three. Although I will say that the Dragon Warrior series is the perfect emulator series so that you can speed up the game when leveling but slow it down for the story.

[theundeadhero]

I have a confession to make. I haven't beaten DW 1 in almost 10 years. I'm so ashamed.

[Queen Anthai]

I adore Dragon Warrior I-III. I played Dragon Warrior before I played Final Fantasy, except I could never ever beat it. A good ten years later, I picked up the GBC re-releases and whomped DragonLord. It was just too easy. :( So I borrowed my sister's old NES and dug out my copy of DWI and was floored by how much I loved it on its original platform. I love having things re-released and portable and all (I'd BETTER get Dawn of Souls this morning!), but nothing compares to the challenge of kicking a game's ass as God and Japan intended it to be kicked...8-bit style!! :love:

And Dragon Warrior III is my favorite. So versatile!

[Dark Ekonis]

I have finally beaten DW VII, I am now working on the bonus dungeons

[theundeadhero]

:)?

[Yuffie514]

the best Dragon Warrior games i've played are 7 and DW Monsters. i'm an Enix fan, but the DW battle animation has never changed. it could use some change.

[Flying Mullet]

I have finally beaten DW VII, I am now working on the bonus dungeons
Congratulations. :) Beating DW VII is quite the undertaking. Now finding all of the shards fo rhte bonus dungeons isn't easy, but it's worth it when you get into the bonus dungeons.

[skystje]

Well you all are DEFINITELY in for a treat.

Dragon Warrior series pwns! I STILL play the venerable series. Only thing is I wish I could find the 5th and 6th installment of the series, missing a lot out of the series :(

I beat the Dragonlord in the first one at the maximum level of 30.. with a BAMBOO STICK!! My cousin had the original idea hehe.

It is indeed the beginning of all RPG's and it is the old style RPG that I grew up with and had tons of fun with.

Old style rpg I derived from the definition of RPG I came up with when the Dragon Warrior series and Final Fantasy series was in its early stages to clear up confusion between different generes (hence Legend of Zelda was NOT a true RPG, it was an ADVENTURE by my definition)

The later final fantasy series does indeed fit my definition of "old style RPG" (final fantasy 10, FF X-2) and Dragon warrior is the reason why we have such awesome games today, and it is just as fun to see where the roots come from. enjoy!

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

I'm currently playing Dragon Warrior VII, it's pacing could be a bit faster but I'm rather enjoying it. I do wish I weren't always so strapped for cash though, you just don't earn enough GP in that game.