Hey folks, what is everyone playing this week? Are you trying something new or returning to a previously played game or genre? How are you liking what you’re currently playing?
Hey folks, what is everyone playing this week? Are you trying something new or returning to a previously played game or genre? How are you liking what you’re currently playing?
I’ve been playing Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen for the first time. This is my first experience with the Dragon Quest series, and my way of dipping my toes into JRPGs. I’ve completed the first two chapters and I’m enjoying it so far. It’s pretty straight forward gameplay and doesn’t require much thinking. The story isn’t exactly riveting yet. The translation is a bit rough, but that makes it kind of humorous. Thankfully it’s still easy to follow what the characters are saying. I’m not seeing much replay value in this one though.
I absolutely loved it. I wanted to try each of the Dragon Quest series and started from the 1st (single-player), then 2nd (three dedicated characters), and 3rd (party-based with classes), and watched like the development of how they handled keys (single-usage & type, up to dedicated & multiple types), and inventory slots (to shift something you have to give it to someone else, or else everything below it to someone else and then back again), and so on. 4 was the culmination peak of it all before moving to a different console iirc in 5, with such an enormous storyline moving over several chapters each with entirely different characters, until they start merging later on. The auto-battle feature was truly horrific and you may want to read a guide or else you can get stuck in the final battle, like I am talking full-on idiocy i.e. casting insta-death spells at the final boss, entirely uselessly. For someone who likes grinding and story though - and why would you play an “older” JRPG like that if you do not!?:-P - it is a fantastic game. Poor graphics, especially by today’s standards, but a fascinating into the past when it must have all been so “new”. On the other hand, everything I am saying here is in regards to the NES game, so if you are playing a re-release somewhere, a lot of that could have been improved.
If not, other alternatives to get a feel for JRPGs without needing to grind as much are Chrono Trigger (very short game, heavy story, very easy progression that makes grinding entirely optional, one of if not THE best game of all time in fact! bad gfx but think of it as a “choice” as in comic book style and it makes it more bearable, plus it’s even true b/c they were really bad even for its day), or Dragon Warrior/Quest 7. Another thought that does require a bit of grinding but is still old are the Lufia series.
You could also try Suikoden I & II! Cult classic
Thank you for the suggestion! I tend to like more adventure types, like Breath of Fire or even Zelda, more than war-themed ones (although I made an exception for Destiny of an Emperor b/c it’s based on real historical events, even if loosely), but I see where this game was done REALLY well, so a very solid thought!:-)
I see why you mentioned it: the intention behind it does seem exactly like the Lufia series, really putting in the time to tinker and make it RIGHT, like it tries to go beyond a mere “game” for enjoyment, possibly crossing over into a master of its CRAFT (whether it actually reached that lofty ideal seems highly debatable, but in any case the attempt alone is worthy of some respect imho).
I am just leaving this out there if anyone wants to learn more: Suikoden II - The Best RPG You Never Played.
I’d like to bring your attention to Crystal Project on Steam. It’s honestly one of the best jrpg games I’ve played in the last 5 years. It’s less story driven than the DW/DQ series, but it is platformy and very exploration based. I haven’t played since the balance patches, but the game was about everything I could possibly want in an exploration jrpg. It’s more Final Fantasy like, but it scratched a deep itch I didn’t know I had.
I don’t even have Steam installed on my computer, but maybe I should do that just to check this out, thanks for sharing!:-)
FF5-like job system, on steroids - woot!:-P video review.