Dragon Quest 11 for Switch (and also general series appreciation thread)!
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Dragon Quest 11 was pretty much my game of the year in 2018, and I had a feeling the Switch version would be delivering more than just a port of what we already had. After yesterday's Nintendo Direct highlighting all the new features, I can say with certainty that I'll be double dipping on this game, because it's just that good.
What's that? I can swap between the normal 3D gamemode or a classic 2D version on the fly that was previously in the Japanese only 3DS version? I can now choose between the original or orchestral versions of the soundtrack? There's gonna be NEW STORY CONTENT FOR YOUR PARTY MEMBERS?
This game was already brimming with content on its first pass, and it's unbelievable how the Switch version is gonna offer even more for us. Sure, it's not going to be quite as pretty as the PS4 version of the game, but I can handle some downscaled textures in what still looks to be a really nicely handled port of a gorgeous game.
Anybody else jazzed as heck for this coming out in Fall? Also, while we're at it, let's finally get some Dragon Quest representation in Smash Bros. It's been overdue for quite some time, considering it's pretty much the biggest video game franchise ever in Japan.
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I really enjoyed my time through Dragon Quest XI, and I am glad that most of the quirks that brought it down (hi sound design) are being brought to a modern time. It was a game so proud of itself for just being a good JRPG, and it absolutely oozes charm. Whilst it lacks innovation, it doesn't really need or tout it because it's just so glad to be a celebration of a classic story, and that's more than worth it to me. Also Sylvando was legitimately the greatest character of 2018 and is... just so, so great.
That said, I stopped after
Mordegon's Defeat. I really was enjoying the endgame, that being "bad things have happened, now live with the consequences and loss, move on, and make a brighter tomorrow with what you have". Going back in time, reversing Veronica's death, eliminating the memories you and your party forged together (especially with Hendrick) rubbed me entirely the wrong way, and I found was antithetical to the very positive messages of moving on and growing stronger that the game was trying to tell. I get why it's done - gotta be able to grind everyone up, can't have someone be dead for that - but I feel it honestly damages the product.
Best Dragon Quest game is still V though. If anyone's looking to get their toes wet in the series, it's available on mobile devices and is excellent. It popularized the monster recruitment system that Pokemon would go on to ape, and has a surprisingly personal story with writing and pacing that is still impressive from a modern view, especially for a game made in 1992! Theming is done so, so well, and themes of growing up, tragedy, and growing stronger are so good. Also Debora best girl.
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Dragon Quest was a franchise that, for a very long time, I knew absolutely nothing about. Back when DQIX came out, a friend of mine picked it up and was practically devoted to it for months, and that was the first time I'd ever heard of the series. Later, I picked up Fortune Street after seeing that it was actually not a ridiculous/boring Mario Party clone and is actually a genuinely fantastic virtual board game, but I never really had any interest in the Dragon Quest side of things.
About 4 years ago, however, I started to gain some vague interest after hearing good things about the series from a Youtuber I'd been following for a short while, and 2 years ago I decided to just go ahead and jump into the original game on NES. Apart from having to adjust to the extremely clunky menus, (And the dedicated 'Stairs' command) I was pleasantly surprised by how charming the game was, and I had a lot of fun with it. I moved on to Dragon Warrior II shortly afterwards and was really impressed by how much more advanced it felt than the first game, (Actual cutscenes and party members!) although I personally still prefer the first game overall. I actually needed a guide to get through most of the game, but I also just have a very poor memory when it comes to remembering the layout of world maps these days.
About 9 months ago, I started playing Dragon Warrior III, and yet again I found myself really impressed by how ambitious the game was for being on the NES, mostly the day and night system and the character creation/recruitment system. (Also shops actually warning you if a character can't equip something you're about to buy for them, thank god) I actually bought DQIX, (Which I've sunk a ton of hours into despite probably only being like...40% through the story) the DS remakes of IV, V, and VI, as well as the 3DS remakes of VII and VIII last year, hoping to play them all in order after I've finished III. I even pre-ordered DQXI last year for PS4 despite not owning the system, just to support the franchise coming out here in the west. I donated the copy to my friend, who has also had a vague interest in the series, but is very bad about finishing the games he already has. (Sorry and you're welcome to him) I'm most definitely going to pick up the Switch version as soon as it comes out, and I'm stoked for the new content that S is adding. I do hope that the other versions of the game get updated with these features, or at least get offered it as DLC, though. Seems a bit lousy to keep so many great new features/tweaks exclusive to just one platform's version of the game, even if it's the main one I care about, personally.
tl;dr I'm a pretty new Dragon Quest fan, but I really love what I've played of the series and can't wait to check out the rest of it. I'm hopeful Square has stopped being stupid in regards to marketing the franchise in the west and actually bothering to release them outside of Japan, but Square will probably always have squirrels for brains.
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Glad to hear that you're enjoying the series! I don't have much experience with the series as a whole besides my short time with IX on the DS. It was pretty chill from what I remember and I liked that you choose which classes joined your party and name them as well. I had everyone in my party named after someone from school and we'd go on an adventure through the first dungeon. It was darkest dungeon all over again but with less death!
Eventually I started to lose interest and since I was playing with an emulator I ended up losing my saves later down the line when I reinstalled my OS and didn't back them up. i enjoyed my time with the game, but I haven't had any motivation to go back and play through what I did.
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So... my appreciation of the Dragon Quest series actually owes much to two things. The first is a really, really old game (from Square) for the gameboy, that was, in the west, called The Final Fantasy Legend. I'm sure most people know it already, but it bears mentioning this isn't a Final Fantasy game at all. It's the first game from the SaGa series. The relevant traits of that game that eventually led me to playing a Dragon Quest game basically revolved around the party customization. You could choose from a few classes and such, and go with nearly whatever kind of party combo you wanted to. Aside from Pokemon and another game of a similar type, this was the only RPG I owned where you could customize your party like this. And, well, the concept behind pokemon was not really the same anyways. The second thing was that a friend lent me his copy of Dragon Warrior 3 on the GBC for just a little while. While I didn't get anywhere near, well... anything, I did really like the party customization features, and I did enjoy my time with it. So I kinda just like remembered it as a game that had really good customization and with a pretty good normal-rpg system. And while I tried to find a copy for myself, I never did find one. Oh well!
So one day, I was on a summer vacation trip, and I had only brought my DS, and I really just wanted a game that had a customizable party. And I was walking through a mall, and made an obligatory stop at Gamestop, and they had this advertising going for this new game called Dragon Quest IX. And the main selling point? Customization. And, well, clothes. So of course I bought the game. I loved it. I sank several hundred hours into it. I got all the clothes I possibly could. I made weird parties. It was amazing!
And, well, that's when I noticed the sad fact that the west never really got most of the Dragon Quest stuff. A friend of mine's shown me some of the older dragon quests, and man, I wish I had the patience for old-school grindfests because, man, they do look awesome. But I'm glad I've gotten to see them and I will make sure I eventually get some of the DS/3DS ones. And I'm certainly getting the Switch DQ X1.
So yeah, I haven't played much of Dragon quest aside from IX. But then that changed when Dragon Quest Builders happened. And, of course, I like Minecraft too. So I figured that the mix of Dragon Quest and Minecraft would be awesome, and if it wasn't, it'd be at least cute to watch. Plus... character customization. It was amazing. And then Dragon Quest Builders 2 happened. Which made it a lot more Dragon Quest and a little more refined-minecraft. And... I don't think I'm going to stop playing that game ever.
