March 2019 Playthrough - Dragon Warrior / Dragon Quest

[Link41]

The stairs also took some getting used to for me as well. Why could it not have been just automatic? lol

[Disposed Hero]

I feel like I made some significant progress yesterday. I made it to level 15 and am currently at Charlock Castle with the Erdrick's Sword, Erdrick's Armor, and Silver Shield equipped, which I believe is the best equipment in the game if I'm not mistaken. I haven't made an attempt at the Dragonlord yet, but I'll probably need to grind out a few more levels before I'm ready to take him on. I'm hoping to knock this one out this weekend!

[singlebanana]

I feel like I made some significant progress yesterday. I made it to level 15 and am currently at Charlock Castle with the Erdrick's Sword, Erdrick's Armor, and Silver Shield equipped, which I believe is the best equipment in the game if I'm not mistaken. I haven't made an attempt at the Dragonlord yet, but I'll probably need to grind out a few more levels before I'm ready to take him on. I'm hoping to knock this one out this weekend!

Yeah, you have the best armor/weapon set. Not sure the DL can be beaten under level 20, but who am I to challenge the great Disposed Hero??  Ha ha!

[Crabmaster2000]

I feel like I made some significant progress yesterday. I made it to level 15 and am currently at Charlock Castle with the Erdrick's Sword, Erdrick's Armor, and Silver Shield equipped, which I believe is the best equipment in the game if I'm not mistaken. I haven't made an attempt at the Dragonlord yet, but I'll probably need to grind out a few more levels before I'm ready to take him on. I'm hoping to knock this one out this weekend!

Yeah, you have the best armor/weapon set. Not sure the DL can be beaten under level 20, but who am I to challenge the great Disposed Hero??  Ha ha!

A guy on Nintendoage finished it at 19 couple days ago.

[Disposed Hero]

Seems like 18 is the absolute minimum unless you do some extreme RNG manipulation. I wasn't really planning on attempting it before learning Healmore anyway.

So I'm assuming that Charlock Castle is the best late-game grinding location? I know metal slimes can be found elsewhere, but I've only encountered a couple and haven't had any luck killing them.

[GrayGhost81]

I did all my power-grinding in Hawksness. I figured I could one or two shot everything there for an average of 40 exp a pop. Very low risk of status effect spells.

Didn't try the castle, though. Let us know if that's better!

[Crabmaster2000]

I did all my grinding from 15-21 just outside Cantlin so I could drop into the Inn as needed.

[douglie007]

So between this playthrough and my nes playthrough of dragon Warrior 3.. I'm back on the DQ train, finished up DQ6 and started 7.  Maybe I'll be up to 11 by the time it comes out on the switch.[img width=700 height=340]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190316/5d5782b3d35f595808abb42af0f2539c.jpg[/img]

[Disposed Hero]

I ended up moving down to the area south of Hauksness for my end-game grinding for the time being. The enemies seemed significantly easier and give almost as much XP as the tougher enemies that you encounter in Charlock & Hauksness, so I think it's a bit more efficient. There's also the off chance of killing metal slimes, which is nice when you can pull it off. Out of the dozens I've encountered, I've killed a whopping two of them so far!

[Disposed Hero]

[img width=700 height=525]https://i.imgur.com/GRJcKuF.jpg[/img]

Finally knocked this one out this morning! I think I have quite a bit to say about it, so I'll make a longer post later, but I'm glad to have finally played this game after all this time.

[Disposed Hero]

Since JRPGs have always been my favorite genre of video games, it always seemed like a no brainer that I would at some point go back and play the granddaddy of them all. As such, this is a game that has always been in the back of my mind as something I should play, but given its age, I always thought it would be too primitive for me to enjoy. While it is primitive compared to many other games, I'm glad to say that it never felt quite so archaic that is was unplayable.

On the contrary, many gameplay elements felt like standard fare for an early RPG, and in some ways it actually seemed ironically streamlined and progressive. The fact that you only had one party member and only ever fought one enemy at a time made battles simple and fairly quick. Equipment dealers automatically buying back your old equipment helped make item management less of a hassle. Granted, technical limitations of the time were likely responsible for these 'features,' but it felt refreshing when compared to some other titles. And sure, the game has some quirks. For example, the menu system was clunky, and many of those options could have just been relegated to a simple button press as every other JRPG has done since.

And what about getting teleported back to the king whenever you die instead of getting a game over? I thought that was a nice touch, and I believe is something that has persisted throughout the series (although the king got changed to a church in later entries). I liked that it was a tradeoff that gave you the choice of keeping your progress but losing half your money, or just reloading your save if the financial loss was too much. Admittedly, during the early game, I pretty much always chose to reload my save because all of the gear was so expensive and I needed the cash, but after I had bought everything and money was practically useless, dying just didn't seem like a big deal anymore.

I tend to agree with both points about the grinding. On one hand, I did find it to be relaxing and addictive, and I often found myself saying I would just do one more battle then quit for the night, only to keep playing for another 30 minutes or so. This is where the game's simplicity works in its favor; if the battles were longer and more complicated, grinding would have felt far more tedious than it already did. However, at the same time, it is also a little disappointing to look back at the game and realize that there really wasn't much to it other than the grinding. There are very few actual important events that take place, and the grinding really feels like an attempt at padding the game's length.

The final boss was a bit of a disappointment, at least in terms of actual battle mechanics. It's pretty much just a war of attrition to see who will die first with no real strategy other than heal whenever my HP got low, and at level 19 it was really just a matter of luck. I guess there weren't many options considering how primitive the game is, but I still wish there was a bit more to it. The boss sprite and exclusive boss fight theme were cool though, and the fact that it was a two-phase fight was kind of neat.

After having played a few Dragon Quest games now including the most recent iteration, it's really cool to see so many familiar themes that have persisted throughout the series' entirety. Many of the classic enemy designs are still used in the modern titles, and I even recognized some short audio cues, such as the level up chime. After seeing how so many of the classic RPG franchises have evolved (for better or worse) and have changed so drastically, it's nice to see a series that sticks so closely to its roots.

While there are many valid complaints that can be levied against the game, I still found a lot to enjoy and really liked the game overall, and I'm willing to overlook most of its faults considering the time that it was released. For 1986, this game is really nothing short of amazing and is one of the real innovators of the gaming world, laying the groundwork and foundation of an entire genre. If I had been 10 years old in the late 80s, I could see myself getting way into this game and losing an entire summer to it, so it's no surprise that some of you guys have this love for it. Although I'm really glad I finally played it, I don't think I would ever revisit the NES version, but I would really like to instead play one of the remakes for a more streamlined experience.

This was a fun ride and I'm glad to have finally experienced it after all this time. Thanks for picking this one, guys!

[Duke.Togo]

It's nice to hear the perspective of being new to DQ1, and I think you are right in your thoughts on it. Looking back from where we are now, it seems stripped down to be sure, but I was of the right age back then and it was a new experience. I had played some C64 text adventure games, so it wasn't a totally foreign experience for me, but the graphical element was really nice.

If you ever feel the urge to go back, I really can't recommend the Super Famicom version enough. Nicely streamlined, better graphics that still feel true, nice takes on the music, and much less grindy.

[Link41]

Now I want to track down the GBC version at some point.

[singlebanana]

Here is our question of the month guys!  We are recording this weekend, so be sure to answer by Saturday to have it read on the show. And please remember to keep your answer to a Twitter-like response re: length.    

What console or PC game from your past do you cherish the most and why?

[Crabmaster2000]

What console or PC game from your past do you cherish the most and why?

Mega Man 3. It's my comfort food that I can slam through in less than an hour whenever I just want something I know will hit the spot. Best Soundtrack, Best Master Robots, Best Levels, Rush, Sliding, E-Tanks, even has the Mega Man 2 Master Robots in it (if you're into that sort of thing). Amazing game through and through.