Since DQ11 just dropped, I figured it was time we did one of these. Of the entries you've played, rank them from worst to best and give an explanation why.
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Since DQ11 just dropped, I figured it was time we did one of these. Of the entries you've played, rank them from worst to best and give an explanation why.
Playing DQ11 just now so I can’t rank it yet, but from the main games I’ve played to this point, I’d say:
9. DQII - it’s not that I don’t like the game, it’s just that I think it drags the most. It lacks the absolute simplicity of DQ I while also not really doing much to stand out yet - no interesting character progression systems, etc. Still, it’s fun to play and I particularly love the world map for the same reasons I generally prefer DQ’s overworked to FF’s - you actually have to figure out your way around them.
8. DQIV - like with II, it’s not that I don’t like it - again, it’s just a bit more dated than others. Like II, it was revolutionary for its time, this time due to the chapter structure and multiple POVs, which was revolutionary for its time since the characters actually had personalities, but I just don’t think they hold up by more modern standards. Still by no means a bad game.
7. DQIX - this one I’m a bit more salty about since it’s more modern, and yet I still enjoyed it more than the previous two I mentioned. I loved designing your party, I like the class system and the fact that the skill system is woven into it songlehandedly makes it my favorite version of the latter. The story has very cool biblical themes, but it sadly lacks some punch due to the lack of actual characters in the party - Stella just can’t pull the game on her own. Plus, not a huge fan of the segmented world map. I imagine I could’ve liked this game far better if I had friends around to take on the post-game stuff with, but then again, multiplayer isn’t exactly what I look for in DQ.
6. DQI - the game may be incredibly primitive by today’s standards, but it’s its absolute simplicity that makes me love it so much. You have one character, your goal is clear from the start, and your world is tiny. It’s a game for maybe two or three longer sittings, and that’s great. You can blast through it and it feels so rewarding. There’s good reason why this is a classic.
5. DQVII - a game that kind of caught me off guard with what an absolute time abyss it is. Nevertheless, DQVII showcases what is perhaps DQ’s most defining trait at its finest - and that’s mini stories in each town. While the segmented nature of the world might make it feel a bit constrained compared to other games in the series, it feels right at home if you approach it like a good, episodic tv show. The vocation system is also back, and that’s cool. Also, I just love the cast.
4. DQV - definitely one of the most unique stories in gaming and one I really feel anyone should play. Still, time skips and childhood trauma aside, DQV is just incredibly fun to play thanks to monster collecting. While I mostly stuck with the human characters, it was really cool to have some monsters join you from time to time, and seeing them kick ass where your humans failed because they’re just right for that specific job is just incredibly satisfying. I also love that your main character uses a staff and wind magic here, cluing you in on how exactly this DQ subverts expectations.
3. DQIII - this one felt truly epic when I played it. Few games feel so immense to me, and yet DQIII is never overwhelming. I loved the vocation system which, while basic, gave me plenty opportunities to create a really broken party. Of particular note are the world which is based on the real world geographically, making for some really endearing parodies of real world locations, as well as how it connects to the rest of the Erdrick trilogy. Plus, that battle theme!
2. DQVI - my love for this game is really the hardest to logically explain. It’s really about how well the game ties all of its elements together. The dual world is very fun to explore, the cast is endearing, the vocation system is probably my favorite in the entire series, and the soundtrack is the absolute best one in the entire franchise. It may seem like a typical fantasy adventure - and by all accounts, it is - but it’s handled so masterfully I can’t help but gush. DQVI is a breathtaking adventure from start to finish.
1. DQVIII - for the longest time I was telling myself I’d never put this game in this spot. It was the first DQ I ever tried and I sucked at it - it took me playing the series in order from I to really get hooked on the series, so I really didn’t expect to love it quite so much upon returning to it on the 3DS, but I really did. DQVIII has the absolute best main plot in the series with an actually interesting antagonist for once, as well as a core cast of main characters that form a tightly knit group that bounce off each other so perfectly you can’t help but feel like you’re on an incredibly road trip with your best friends. Speaking of road trips - the world in this game is absolutely outstanding and what I feel is missing in DQXI a bit. It’s a sprawling SNES RPG world map, just in 3D and to scale. It makes much more of a difference than you might think.
5. IX
I don't remember anything about this game. I beat it when it came out. And outside of making your characters and my monk being broken as all hell, I don't remember a thing. None of the plot points or towns or any NPCs. Outside of Stella and that's just because of Fynn.
4. VIII
The cast is fantastic. I love the story and world. The antagonist is great. But boy howdy is it slow. During the second half, it takes forever for anything to happen and that's before it all comes grinding to halt near the end. And leveling is so slow. If you're not grinding on Metal Slimes, the battles hardly feel worth it. And you can't respecc. So once a point is spent, it's gone.
3. V
I loved going through the hero's life. You can get married to two important people in his life (or Deborah). You play with his kids. And you get to see the world change around him. It's a very heartwarming game.
2. XI
I loved every moment of this game. The cast of characters was great. And it made me feel things a game hasn't made me feel in a long time. And I loved the skill tree. The thing that's stopping it from taking the top spot is a very minor thing, the post-game pacing. The post-game bosses are balanced to be taken on at around Lv80 or so. You reach the post-game in your high 50s. The hero was 56 in my game. So you have to stop what you're doing and just grind. And the pacing up to that point was fantastic.
1. VII
I played it on the Playstation along time ago. And just couldn't get into it. Made it to like the second or third island and returned it to the rental store and never picked it back up. Then I played it on the 3DS and loved every moment of it. Like Fynn said, it's very episodic and that's my favorite thing about it. And the vocation system was fun. And I loved the normal battle music.
Although my track record for actually continuing to play a DQ game and finishing it is..bad, I'll still go ahead and post. Excluding 1-3, 7 and 10 because I've never played them (I have 7 for 3DS, but can't play it on my current 3DS because of the region lock :p )
6. IV - The one I dropped the quickest. I guess it was a combination of outdatedness and the story not hooking me. Honestly I don't remember much about it, just that I abandoned ship very fast.
5. IX - I dropped this pretty quickly too, as I just wasn't into what this game was going for. Creating your own party, the multiplayer angle, the relative lack of actual characters. Only reason this is above IV is because it felt less outdated.
4. VI - I had my doubts about putting this here to be honest, because although I did drop it quickly, it was because of circumstances at the time. The immediate story hook at least had me wanting to see what it was about, but yeah. I'd like to revisit this some day and actually give it a proper chance. It would most likely put it ahead of the next one on this list.
3. VIII - Okay, the first one where I actually got pretty far. Incidentally, it was also my first DQ game. I liked the way the overworld worked, especially since at the time I'd played a bunch of other RPGs that got rid of a lot of exploration. Beyond that, I thought the gameplay was..serviceable. The story, however, did nothing for me, nor did the characters. I dropped this somewhere around..probably 60-70% through the story, and that was after already pushing myself quite a bit to keep playing despite not liking it that much.
Which brings us to the DQ games I can actually be positive about.
2. V - Okay, besides the monster recruiting part, which I did very little of, I don't remember much sticking out here gameplay-wise, so I'm assuming it was pretty standard. That's okay, I don't mind standard. What I loved was the story, (SPOILER)where you go from being a little kid all the way to being a hero who has kids of his own. The passage of time is often ignored in JRPGs, but in this game you feel it full force, going back to places after years have passed. Plus actually handing down the hero baton to the next generation. At the time i played it, i hadn't experienced any story like it, and I thought it was pretty amazing.
1. XI - I'm a bit over halfway in this one I believe, but it's already my favorite. I really like the characters, I really like the gameplay, I really like the story (but won't elaborate on this since it's still a new game :p ) and I won't deny the massive graphical boost compared to previous games helps.
I haven't played most of these games in ages, but going from what I remember:
Dragon Quest 2 - Getting to Hargon's Castle.
Dragon Quest 4 - For as much as I love the characters in the game, and the idea behind Saro, the game, mechanically, doesn't really do anything for me. Not being able to control your characters is extremely annoying, and the character development freedom of the previous game is gone. Kind of like an FF3 vs. 4 thing.
Dragon Quest 6 - This is a weird game for me because, while I don't remember disliking anything about it, I always stop playing it for one reason or another part way through. Mechanically there isn't anything I dislike about it, but it just doesn't do anything to hold my attention.
Dragon Quest 8 - See above, only I really like the cast. I have a save file hanging around somewhere near the end of the game, so I'll get around to finishing it some day. Probably. Maybe. If I don't just start over.
Dragon Quest 1 - Basically what Fynn said -- the game is a simple, no frills RPG with some interesting little bits (rumor has it you might not have to save the princess . . . :roll2). It and the original FF are my go tos for quick little RPGs, with FF1 being for my more ambitious moments.
Dragon Quest 9 - I . . . didn't initially get behind this game, but once I hit the Dharma shrine it rapidly grew on me -- I am a complete sucker for DQ3 style character creation, and the story wasn't too terrible. What really ended up getting me were the bonus dungeons though, especially once I found out the final bosses from previous games popped up, and I spent waaaaaaaaaaay to much time with that stuff.
Dragon Quest 3 - DQ3 is basically my favorite RPG on the NES, and easily my favorite in the series. I love exploring the world for all the orbs, I love effectively creating my own classes, I outright adored the second world and ending reveal. <3
Perhaps, but thou must love her if you do save her.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rez09
Attachment 75663Quote:
Originally Posted by Lord GolbezPerhaps, but thou must love her if you do save her.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rez09
I'm deeply insulted by the DQ4 opinions enumerated thus far in this thread. I don't feel like explaining why I feel the way I do about all these games at the moment, but I roughly place them in tiers:
Sinful: 10
Bad For DQ (aka Very Good): 2, 6, 7, 9
Good for DQ (aka Very Very Good): 1, 8, 11
Great for DQ (aka Otherworldly): 3, 4, 5
Editor's Note: I have only played the oldest possible English release of any of these games (yes, that includes fan-translations of 5 and 6) except for DQ4 which I finally played the remake of, also.
I guess I'll do my own list, from least favorite to my all time favorite:
8. Dragon Quest IVSorry to break it to you Spuuky but I'm going to add onto the IV trout talking pile. This game has just never really grabbed me. Like the Chapter element was neat but I felt only two of them were actually really good. I think my biggest issue is that the early chapters set up some interesting character/story payoff but by the time you reach the final chapter, the game treats the whole cast like they were generic heroes you rolled in a tavern, so the game ends on a really weak note for me. I also wish it had a few less characters for gameplay purposes as I seriously neglected a few people I liked as characters but found useless in battle. I will give it props for having one of the best villains in the series, but no one plays DQ for the villains... The other issue is that it's sandwiched between two better entries that have more to offer mechanically. I still have a soft spot for Ragnar and Torneko, but I honestly never liked the cast very much.
7. Dragon Quest IIThis used to be my least favorite until I replayed the original NES version two years ago and it still has that kind of fun charm that DQI has. I'm also just surprised by how much Japan loves this game cause the amount of fan art it has is staggering and makes the cousin trio far more interesting than the NES was capable of showing. The final boss is cheap as all hell, but I have to give the game props for laying down the gameplay groundwork the Japanese console RPG would follow for almost two decades.
6. Dragon Quest IXDQIX has a nice premise and starts off really cool, but my beef really has to do with the game's nature as a "pick up and drop" gameplay experience. IX is easily the most tedious entry in the franchise with the possible exception of DQX since MMOs follow a similar formula. The story missions are nice and the supporting cast is weird but colorful, yet I can't help but feel burnt out by all the Job class leveling and hunting down rare drops, or doing the game's bajillion pointless side missions. I didn't even get to the Grottos because I was too burnt out by the end, and I just quickly finished the game for the sake of it. It's higher than the previous entries because the gameplay has a lot more depth to keep you occupied, even if I feel it is also the game's biggest problem. I also enjoyed making my party, especially being able to design their looks.
5. Dragon QuestThere is something absolutely charming about this entry. I don't know what it is, despite being the most basic and simple, it's honestly just fun to blast through and being an early JRPG means that you can just finish it in about a day if you want if you know what you're doing. It also does have some really clever design elements like using the locket to find the armor, the side quest to rescue the princess, and the fact the background lore tells an interesting story about Loto. It's still a charming entry I think of fondly.
4. Dragon Quest VIIIVIII always felt like a step down for me from VII in terms of content and the more streamlined character customization, but the cast is stronger and the world design is easily one of the best in the franchise. There are still some locations in this game that I feel nostalgic for. Sadly, VIII kind of showed me that I really hate "follow the bad guy" plotlines and the story never really grabbed me. Hell I never even bothered with the post game event that finally explains what is up with the MC. Still the cast is one of the better ones in the franchise and several of the smaller arcs in the game are pretty cool. Also DQVIII's "less is more" Item crafting pot is the way to go.
3. Dragon Quest VIIThe first DQ game I ever finished, VII suffers a bit of the same problem as IX in that it might have too much content, but the game is a bit better balanced about it. My first foray in DQ style job classes, I honestly love this games classes above some of the later interpretations of them. The story is also really clever and I like how the cast seem like they were designed to purposely break RPG molds. It's like some of the previous NPCs from earlier games were given the chance to star in their own game. VII also has my favorite plot in the series. Its clever and actually has a few cool twists in it that kept me surprised and entertained, not to mention the DQ formula worked really well with the story set-up. The game also introduced, and still has the best incarnation of the "Build a Town" sidequest.
2. Dragon Quest VI was honestly surprised because I had so many people hyping this game up before I played it that I honestly worried I would be let down, but DQV holds up incredibly well. The time skip/family element of the game was pretty clever and the bride choices were all pretty good. The time skipping part also made backtracking more interesting as you checked to see what changed in the time you left. Of course the best part of the game for me is the monster recruiting and team building it allows. Scratched that MegaTen itch I have and DQ honestly has a pretty awesome monster gallery that made it fun to try and hunt down certain monsters to build your team. If I'm going to nail the game for anything, it's that the third act is mostly a miss. The game overloads you with less developed human characters despite the act you've been spending most of your time building your awesome monster team, and DQV might have the weakest final villain in the franchises history. I honestly have to Google his name every time I try to remember who he was and what he was trying to accomplish because he's that unimportant to the narrative.
1. Dragon Quest IIIStill my favorite entry and still one of the most ahead of it's time in terms of design and clever plot twists. I like the fact you can build your own team like FFI, but have the option of job classes and min/max stat upgrading. The series formula debuted in this entry where each town is beset with it's own problems and issues which link together the overarching plot. I enjoyed piecing together the MC's father's journey and it actually has a story payoff towards the end. The third act twist is one of my favorite in the game. The villains have real presence in the story and are pretty snazzy boss fights in their own right. The remakes added in a bunch of cool features that make this game stronger and best of all, DQIII upsets the balance of the series and actually has one of the best third acts in the franchise.
10) Dragon Quest II. Sorry, just don't see anything admiring about this game. The game has a pretty harsh monster and monster rate and just doesn't have the charm of the original to be favorable. In short, it's not all that fun.
9) Dragon Quest I. I've played the SNES version of this one and while I didn't understand a lick of Japanese, the game was still pretty loveable, even though it's incredibly simple and basic. While it's grind- heavy, the game knows how to keep you going. It just feels like a simple adventure game.
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8) Dragon Quest VI. This game just felt disappointing and a bit messy and rushed. It has potential, but apart from that, it's a bit lackluster. However, it's not bad, it's not a nightmare, just a dream that you wake up from and think "....oh...."
7) Dragon Quest VII.
DQ VII is quite the legendary big RPG game, while it feeds you up on RPG goodness, it can overstay it's welcome, and can burn you out near the end. DQ VII is good, but it's also exhausting. Also, this game has my favorite DQ male hero. I adore his hat. He's best boy.
https://static.cnews.fr/sites/defaul...?itok=0IKEc05I
6) Dragon Quest V. This game can be quite heartbreaking and harsh at points. You are in for a wild ride with this one. While other DQ games are quite lighthearted, the main character of V can't seem to catch a break. Be ready for some "oof ! " moments. Though, it's a good story, all the way through. DQ V has a rather ideal "Pokemon " like system, where you can make monsters join you in your quest, while fun at times, I miss the normal RPG like party.
https://dragon-quest.org/images/thum...DQVSNESArt.png
5) Dragon Quest III. This game is so good. While it might seem pretty average at first- the more you go along and the more you try and get out of your father's shadow, the more you come invested into this game. Also, points for this game for giving birth to the RPG Job Class System before FF3.
4) Dragon Quest VIII. I don't have any nostalgia for this game, but playing it recently, I had a good time. I loved the humor, the British translation, and voice- cast which was adapted for later DQ translations and games. Also, Yangus is just one of the best DQ characters ever. I was a little uncomfortable with how Jessica was treated though- I don't mind sexualization in games IF the character ( male or female ) is an adult. Jessica seemed and acted like a teenager. Some of the costumes for her are just.... nope. While this game is good, I just like other DQ games more. As said, I don't have any nostalgia for it.
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3) Dragon Quest IX. One of my favorite RPGs ever due how you can just be free with costumes and create your own party. Want to make OCs? Sure. Want to DQ your friends? Sure. I love that freedom. However this is a double-edged sword of course, as this means no personality for your cast, everybody is just there. Though I just love the freedom you can have with said party, and the NPCs are the "characters " in this game, they are the ones who keep the story following. The townspeople and the NPCs are what gives the game the personality that it's lacking.
2) Dragon Quest IV.
DQ IX used to be my top fav- and then I played this game. I enjoy how you get to really know the main cast and their "chapters " rather than just following the MC along, like the typical RPG. You get to really know Alena, the twins, the chubby salesman Torneko, and the pink knight Ragnar. Their story and their struggles. The female version of the hero is also my fav DQ hero. She's cute and badass.
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1) Dragon Quest XI. Yes, this new Dragon Quest is my new top favorite! I just love how adventurous it feels, how it has a good story and loveable and warm cast so far. Though this may change as the game is loooooooooong af, just like DQ VII. Time will tell, whether or not this stays as my top or DQ IV becomes the victor. I do see "RPG Burnout " as a negative.
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I just wanted to say, bless this thread. We may all like different games in the series more, but seeing so much love for this fantastic set of tales just warms my cold little heart so much
Worst (I'm not going to number this, because I haven't played all of the series and won't be giving specific rank numbers to games I haven't played) - Dragon Quest - Yeah, the first one. As people have said before there might be something to say for the simplicity, but not much. I used to mockingly call this game "Level Up Warrior" because that pretty much sums up the game. Literally, probably 95% or more of this game is simply leveling up so you can be powerful enough to survive the next area. The plot can be summed up as "reach the dragon lord and defeat the dragon lord." I know Dragon Quest plots typically boil down to there's a big bad evil and you have to defeat it, but in this case there's no fleshing it out. No characterization or other party members to converse with. No little side plots for all the towns you visit (there's barely any towns here anyway). Just procure some items to reach the boss, rescue a princess as the one and only side quest, and kill the boss. There's lots of other games that have a pretty simple gameplay mechanic that do far better than this. It's not trout, but there's absolutely nothing in it to make it compare positively against any other game in the series.
The others. I've only played part of DQIV, DQVI, and DQIX, but they are, whatever their faults, all clearly better than the original. I don't have enough info to rank these individually, so I'll merely say they murkily fall between the first one and the ranked DQs. I imagine the DQII and DQIII are also better than the first, but I don't believe I've ever played those at all.
4. DQV- I didn't finish this one, but I got close enough. It's the only one I haven't finished that I'm giving a number rank to because I was like 90% through it when I put it down. No particular reason, just had some other things I wanted to play and haven't gotten back to it. This one is pretty good. Definitely a step up from the first with a more fleshed out story, some nice subplots for the towns that you travel to, party members. It's still DQ and it's still very simple. Story's nothing to write home about, not even in execution, but it's fun to play.
3. DQVII - This ventures more into territory of games I really like. Again the plot is a fairly simple save the world plot, but the various sealed off islands/continents is an interesting plot device to work in gameplay mechanics of a gradually more open world. Loads of subplots, since you basically have to save each new area you visit in the past for it to appear in the present. Better characterization here than in previous DQ games I've played, which really helps carry the kind of cliche simple plot.
2. DQXI - I'm enjoying this game a lot, and it may turn out to be my favorite. Still, since I'm only about midway through the game (if the rumors are to be believed), I'm going to reserve ranking this higher until later. I've seen enough to put this above DQVII, because the plot, pacing, and characters are worlds better, but it's not quite enough for me to decide on whether it unseats my favorite....
1. DQVIII - I absolutely loved this game and it's probably the reason I even gave most of the other games on this list a shot. Prior to this game I was pretty prejudiced against the DQ series. The overall plot here is still basically as cliche as any other DQ game more or less, but the execution takes it to new heights. Characters and character interaction are great. Yangus is tops. Ultimately the game manages to put just enough interesting side stories, character interaction, and pacing to keep a plot of chasing the big bad and then finally going to defeat the bigger bad exciting throughout. DQXI is on track to be even better, but the bottom half has to be as solid as the first to meet that goal.
Oh shuush. You don't have a cold heart. Don't be so emo. :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Fynn
Oh no, it’s cold as in ice cold. I take no prisoners, ya feel?
If you keep watching it, you'll eventually see an appearance by almost ever major character in the series, except for Aria from DQVII and DQIII Heroine/Loto. Also, before you get too excited, this was a Japanese arcade game from a few years ago that eventually was ported to the Wii and never left Japan.
Sometimes Youtube comes through and finds you a gem when you go looking for certain things.
Those live action commercials they make are something else
You know, in hindsight, after I popped IX back in for a little more fun time, I need to re-arrange my list. I actually think IX is my least favorite entry, just because it combines the two weaknesses I have with IV and VII: an unsatisfying story combined with a tedious grind that makes playing it for long bouts of time exhausting. Like I tried to play a little more and realized how much I still had left to do in the post game and I'm already debating about slapping IV in to give it another shot instead cause I keep playing IX to only realize I have better things to do with my time.
FFIV has the best cast and either second or third best story and definitely the best world structure of any DQ
I'm just going to have to disagree here. I would argue VIII has a better cast and III and VII easily have the coolest world structures with the two worlds of III and it's killer plot twist; while VII has the sporadic world that is neatly pieced together and interconnected the further you go in.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spuuky
IV starts off strong with a few hiccups here and there, but the fifth chapter is just a poor conclusion to all the setup from the previous chapters. Though I would concede this is more an issue of the game's meager platform than due to the writing. IV had a bigger concept than the NES could handle at the time is the main issue. It still has the most memorable villain in the franchise.
WK knows what’s up
Heck, I’d even go further than that and say that, while IV’s cast was the best at the time, there wasn’t a single DQ afterwards (sans IX and maybe X) that didn’t have a better cast than it. Like WK said, though, it’s more a matter of the platform than the writing though.
I'm just sitting here wondering what DQVIII and IV you could possibly have played that would make the likes of Yangus, Angelo, and Jessica better than DQIV's. It's truly a mystery. I would compare them to DQVI but even though I 100% completed that game I literally can't even remember all the party members.
Do the games before DQIV even count as having casts?
The girl Warrior and Priest from III are two of the most popular characters.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lord Golbez
I mean, the cast of IV have plots. The casts of VI and VIII have that AND they have personalities. Yangus and Jessica are pretty much the pinnacle of character in the DQ series
And I love the DQ cast. Carver, Millie and Ashlynn have character arcs that are very closely tied to the main plot and the MC’s personal journey so they really feel like your companions. I can’t even remember why your party joined you in IV. Was it because you’re the chosen hero?
Just as I'm trying to figure out what super edition of IV you must have played cause as I said, IV's cast has a few outstanding characters but the other half are kind of boring, and then the game makes them all act like generics at the most critical point of the plot, largely undermining what character development the game tried to give them. Even then, I only feel like Ragnar, Torneko, Alena and Kyril get any real fun character moments. Borya is kind of boring and the twins aren't really that engaging beyond being eye candy in the official art. The MC is one of the less interesting in the series and the VII hero pulls off the "bastard child of a star-crossed lovers" shenanigans far better imho. Largely because his parents actually have some depth to them whereas the IVMC's parentage is told through secondhand accounts.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spuuky
VIII's cast is actually pretty fun since the hero has the mystery about why the curse doesn't work on him as well as his relationship with the princess which helps give him more characterization than most DQ heroes get, Yangus is hilarious being a simple-minded bandit turned to bungling gentleman, Jessica is a nice fiery mage in a series well known for it, but she gets her interesting moment when she gets possessed by Rhapthorne later in the plot, and Angelo's backstory and relationship with his half brother is actually developed well enough that he could have been the main hero of a different series if he wasn't stuck in DQ. Hell, even the King is a fun bumbling figure and his interaction with the rest of the quirky cast is actually fun. They're charming, and the cast is small enough to make is easy to see their feelings one what transpires in the plot without even needing to rely on the Talk command.
What makes their cast stronger is largely the fact the game stayed consistent with actually letting their personalities shine through during the course of the whole story. As I've said before, IV's largest issue is that it spends half the game making you care about the cast before you get to Chapter V and suddenly the game makes it feel like you're playing a really stripped down DQIII without any of the clever story points or an actually engaging MC. It's almost like IV was two different games haphazardly put together and the resolution of all the story arcs made in the beginning are completely lackluster. Did you kill Balzack and avenge the Twins? Yes, but the game treats him like any other generic boss you fought up until then and after, no fanfare or the Twins getting an extra line or two about accomplishing their goal. Find the Zenthia Sword with Torneko? Guy never says a peep , his own wife retains more characterization by the last chapter than he does. I can't even remember if the game ever explained what happened to Alena's kingdom because the last chapter is so dry and uneventful until the very end when Psaro finally enters the picture. Hell Ragnar is like the only person who gets some closure and that's only because his new goal by the end of his arc is finding the Hero, which he obviously does. tThat's the issue, it's easy to forget how fun they were in their own stories cause the game sucks any joy or personality from them and that's like the point in the game you really should be doubling down on that type of stuff. IV's cast is quaint, like FFII's cast, but I would hardly try to argue FFII's cast is superior than some of the later entries in FF outside of them being so lightly characterized that it's easy to argue that none of them are annoying.
Depends on whether you only count playable characters or not. DQII's playable cast have some background and quirks going for them, but not so much to really flesh them out as characters, the fan art community gives them more personality than the actual game did. DQIII's main player cast are largely generics, but the supporting cast whom you follow the smaller stories for are actually decently fleshed out for an NES title. Loto might be whatever your imagination makes them out to be, but their father Ortega is shown to have some personality and figures like Kandar, Orochi, and even Zoma actually have quirks that make them standout in the story.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lord Golbez
If you thing the likes of Yangus and Jessica are "charming" instead of "people you have to tolerate to get through the game" I guess that's where we disagree.
Oi Gov ! You don't think Yangus is a charming fella ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Spuuky