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 After Dragon Quest III's unmitigated triumph, Yuji Horii and his team were faced with the two questions that almost inevitably follow success. "Can we do better? And if it can be done, then how?" Dragon Quest IV attempts to answer these questions, and whether it does so or not seems to depend on who you ask. Whereas you can draw a direct line from progress from I to II to III, IV almost feels like a side-grade, a different evolutionary path, taking a step back in one aspect in a bid to take two in another. Of course, as always, the question is made more complicated by context, especially considering the timing of the North American releases. Let's look at a release timeline for Dragon Quest, Phantasy Star and Final Fantasy games of the era. - February 1988: Dragon Quest III is released for the Famicom in Japan. - March 1989: Phantasy Star II is released for the Sega Mega Drive in Japan. - February 1990: Dragon Quest IV is released for the Famicom in Japan. - March 1990: Phantasy Star II is released for the Sega Genesis in North America. - April 1990: Both Phantasy Star III (Mega Drive) and Final Fantasy III (Famicom) are released in Japan. - July 1991: Phantasy Star III is released in North America, and Final Fantasy IV (Super Famicom) is released in Japan. - November 1991: Final Fantasy IV is released for the Super Nintendo in North America. - March 1992: Dragon Warrior III is released for the NES in North America. - October 1992: Dragon Warrior IV is released for the NES in North America. DW4 wasn't just released near the end of the NES generation: by the time of its NA release, it was competing with massive, high-quality 16-bit JRPGs on superior consoles. In that sense, it's no surprise that it ended up being the last Dragon Warrior game released in America for eight years, until Dragon Warrior Monsters for the Gameboy Color in 2000 and Dragon Quest VII for the Playstation in 2001. Looking at it in another way, in Japan DQ4 didn't have to suffer from being stacked up against FF4. To sum up the release craziness, imagine a triple-A company releasing a big-budget main installment of its flagship series on the Playstation 3 two years into the Playstation 4's life cycle. Talk about a different era, eh? Alright, here are a few more things I'd like you to keep in mind before we start. First off, in case you're new to this LP series, I've just completed playthroughs for Dragon Warrior I through III, which you can find here, here and here. Dragon Warrior IV's storyline is not meaningfully connected to the previous games so it's not as important to get caught up as it used to be, but hey, it's nice to have context sometimes. On top of that, I like to have characters from the series pop in from time to time to offer color commentary, and it might not make much sense to you if you haven't met them yet. Just to be clear... These folk are from DW1:   These are from DW2:    Aaaand this is the DW3 crew:        In terms of mechanics, as far as I know DW4 hasn't been "figured out" nearly as much as the previous games were. For example, I won't be able to go into individual monster AI routines or spell resistances or exact ranges of magic damage as I did in the previous LPs, and I'll have to make educated guesses on some topics based on a combination of personal experience and assumption that 4 does things roughly the same way 3 did. In terms of characterization, I know that some of the game's remakes incorporate a "party talk" option, where characters can have conversations among themselves about various topics depending on plot progression and such. I've never played any version of DQ4 where party talk was included, so while I have a fairly good grasp of everyone's basic personality, my interpretation may (and likely will) differ in various details from established canon. I'll only play around with what the NES release gave us, because it's the one I'm familiar with, and I do hope this doesn't cause too much distress to veterans of later versions! And finally, as usual, I'm putting up a strict spoiler policy. Which is to say,  no spoilers allowed. If you're not sure if something is a spoiler or not, assume it's a spoiler. Remember: fail-safe, not fail-deadly. Those who infringe upon this policy will learn the meaning of Absolute Destruction at the moment which brings me the utmost satisfaction, and future generations will remember with great awe their foolishness and the spectacular manner in which oblivion became them.Okay then, that'll do. The labors of Erdrick's bloodline may be accomplished, but we're not done Warriorin' Dragons yet. Let's do this. --- Table of contents Episode 1: The royal soldier Episode 2: Crime Scene Investigation: Izmit Episode 3: Unlikely ally Episode 4: The Eye and Shadow Episode 5: The tomboy princess Episode 6: Sacrifice Episode 7: Hostage situation Episode 8: Why did it have to be elves? Episode 9: The sacred geometry of chance Episode 10: Test your might Episode 11: Capitalism, ho! Episode 12: Lakanaba Jones Episode 13: Sneaking around for a fox hound Episode 14: Merchant by vocation, messenger by occasion Episode 15: The rising tide lifts all boats Episode 16: Growth + Profit = Grofit! Episode 17: The alchemist's daughters Episode 18: Friend of the family Episode 19: True royalty Episode 20: The spoils of vengeance Episode 21: The Hero Episode 22: You don't tell me what to do! Episode 23: Faith Episode 24: Tourist trap Episode 25: Vanquishing the horrible fire Episode 26: Business secrets Episode 27: The green-thumbed king Episode 28: Confidence boost Episode 29: Pride goes Episode 30: Lighter than air Episode 31: Someone please listen to me Episode 32: Riders on the dragon Episode 33: Evolution and regression Episode 34: Comedians in carts getting casques Episode 35: Overdue retribution Episode 36: The tower maiden Episode 37: Deputized under duress Episode 38: Who lives in a chest under the lake? Episode 39: I don't wanna be me anymore Episode 40: The great one Episode 41: Something terrible Episode 42: We all float Episode 43: Beyond prophecy Episode 44: There's a lady who's sure... Episode 45: Journey to the center of the Earth Episode 46: A ploy for time Episode 47: Glitzy interlude Episode 48: To the peak Episode 49: I know what I need to do Episode 50: Visitors FrankZP fucked around with this message at 13:50 on Apr 11, 2019 |
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Oct 24, 2018 18:47
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 Music: Overture   Music: Interlude Aaaaaand here we go again.    : That can't be right, there's no Z in there.: Like that matters, kid. Just sit your butt down and stay quiet.: ...kid?: She is your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-aunt, dear.: So, what can I call you, then?: Madam or milady will do.: Ah... Understood. The selection of female-only equipment in DW4 is better than it was in DW3, to the point where picking a dude comes at actual gameplay cost... but we've just had nearly forty updates of lady hero, so let's switch things up a little.  There is occasionally stuff going on in battle that I wish I had more time to read in detail, especially with some uncommon magic effects and such, but on the whole I still can't imagine playing these games at anything less than maximum message speed.    : Wait, what? Ragnar? Who's Ragnar? What happened to Francois? I'm already emotionally invested here!: ...that was quick.: Last time we saw someone's name get picked, we found out she was our ancestor!: Or, well, this could be one of those new storytelling techniques I've heard about! Maybe... let's see... a non-linear narrative with multiple point-of-view characters!: Glynn, we're bros and I love you, but you have to know that I understand maybe half the stuff you say.: Color me pleasantly surprised! I would have pegged it at a third.Curiously enough, Ragnar is one of the possible randomly-chosen names for the default Soldier waiting at Luisa's Place at the start of DW3. But there is no relation.   Music: Minuet : I bet Ragnar's second from the left on the bottom row.: ...cute.     : You must have heard the rumor that children have been vanishing recently. The mothers from Izmit Village came to me in tears this morning begging for help. As the King of this country, I cannot ignore this problem any longer. Find the cause of these disappearances and report to me! Go, my soldiers!: Well would you look at that. A bunch of children disappear, and the king mobilizes his troops to investigate. How downright sensible!: I still keep my notion that kings are dicks... but maybe the jury's out on Lord Burland here. As the other soldiers begin to leave, a woman immediately rushes to our side.   : That's my duty, ma'am. Worry not, the king's men are here to help! : They're alive! I know it!   The mother returns to the eastern wing of the castle as the other soldiers file out the front gates. One of them seems to be lagging behind, though.  : Hmm! Whatever works for you, I suppose.    Now this is something new for DW4 that is easy to overlook: characters can now have scripted movement patterns. With so few exceptions you can count them on the fingers of one hand, for DW1 through DW3, characters in castles and villages either stood in place or took one step in a random direction every few seconds. But here, many characters have specific routes they follow, some of them surprisingly elaborate. The two castle guards here patrol the entrance hall, walking from the center of the gatehouse to the outer gate then back again. It's not a huge thing, but it adds a surprising amount of life to the places we'll be visiting, and I'll point out the most interesting instances as they come up.   We could leave right away, but the bulk of the soldiers are already en route, and it wouldn't hurt to see if anyone here in the castle has any useful information for us.  : We won't let you down, Your Majesty.   Typical early game beginner's info, of course. Oh, while I think of it, let's look at our menus right quick.  DOOR makes a triumphant return. I know I was pretty hard on that command in DW1, but here it actually serves a purpose that we'll see before long. The other new element is TACTICS.  For now it only allows us to reorganize our marching order, which isn't much help at the moment since Ragnar is alone. This option was under STATUS in DW3 though, which didn't make a lot of sense. And speaking of STATUS...    DW3 gave us the option to look at our entire party's current and maximum HP and MP values at once, but comparing attack and defense power required going in each character's full status screen. Now we have also an option to see everyone's main combat stats in one place.   Ragnar's class is indicated as "Soldier", and that's no lie. His abilities follow the DW3 Soldier archetype to the letter: high Strength, tons of HP, excellent heavy equipment selection, low Agility, no magic skill whatsoever. : Ah, a man after my own heart.As far as anyone has been able to discern, DW4's stats and battle formulas basically function the same as their DW3 equivalents. -Strength is added to your weapon bonus to determine your attack power. -Half of your Agility is added to your protective gear bonuses to determine your defense power. -Vitality does nothing by itself; how much Vit you gain per level determines the possible range of your max HP gain. -Intelligence still also does nothing by itself, having the same influence over MP gain as Vit has over HP gain. -Luck governs ailment and debuff resistance. Ragnar also starts with a Copper Sword and Leather Armor, which is classic Soldier starting equipment: not great, but better than most. Alright then, back to the castle.   : Yes, of course, that's obvious.: You'd be surprised... We're finally allowed to look inside objects in an adjacent tile! Pots and chests of drawers are no longer completely decorative, but I'm pretty sure bookcases never have anything worth looking at. : Why I never! This particular one is empty. We'll be checking every drawer in the world one by one, though. That's what heroes do.  Ah-ha!   This old man spends some time reading at the table, goes to the easternmost bookshelf after a while, then resumes his reading.  : It would be wise to find out if something like this ever happened before. Please do let me know if you discover anything!  : They're alive! I know it!: We will find them. Have no fear.   : It's nothing that a good blade can't solve, I'm sure. Now... if only I could get my hands on such a blade, we'd be set.      : If they go into their work blindly, they might be the ones falling behind me, my lady.   : Haven't the others already left for Izmit Village?: You know I work better alone. There's no opening that door without a key, and besides, Ragnar wouldn't make it three steps into that trapped room before dying.    : Let's hope it's only monsters. If we have a gang of human kidnappers on our hands, they could be hiding in plain sight. Since we went to the second floor and returned, the king and his minister have returned upstairs.      : Wherever you go, find one... and record your progress on the Imperial Scroll of Honor.That's right! We no longer need kings to save for us; any House of Healing attendant will do the job. This is actually a big quality of life improvement.  : Yes, well, I did just start, Your Highness.: You must find the cause of the disappearances at once. I am counting on your good work, Ragnar. I do like how this throne actually looks throne-like, instead of being made up of generic "fancy chair back" tiles.  Whew, alright then, time to go.   We have two cool things going on here. First off, of course, is the lavish gate-opening animation. The second one is more subtle. Remember this?  In DW3, when there was a castle inside a town, it was represented by the usual 2x2 castle tiles, which was a fine compromise for the time. But here, Burland Castle is an actual large-scale fortress.  : Aye, that it is. Makes a man proud to serve! : I... I suppose it wouldn't hurt. I won't be one to judge you by your age. If you think you can keep up, please feel free to accompany me. : Really!? I shall follow you then.  The old man does follow us... but very slowly.  : I understand. Please take care of yourself. He keeps following us around at a distance, but nothing else comes of it.    : Unfortunately he can't spend much on your equipment.: ...yes. Well. Yes.: Accumulate gold to buy more powerful weapons and armor. Be sure to equip yourself with them after you buy them.Ragnar has 50 gold to his name, not quite a royal bounty. : Nah, that's exactly a royal bounty.  That's the usual basic item shop fare. I'm not sure when we'll start having to worry about poison, but historically it's always been sooner than I thought, so let's buy one Antidote Herb right away.    Being a Soldier, Ragnar can equip everything here... but not on his usual pay. The Club offers +7 attack power, the Copper Sword +12, the Thorn Whip +14, and the Chain Sickle +20. Considering we already have a Copper Sword, upgrading to the Whip would probably be a waste... but that Sickle is pretty dang expensive. It's worth noting that in previous games, only item shops would offer to buy stuff from you, but here all stores have the option.    Ah, there's the goold old House of Healing. REVIVE, DETOXICATE and UNCURSE still work as we know; SAVE is new and extremely convenient, and INFORM...  Speaking to a king to save our game used to require that we sit through them telling us how much experience we need to level up every time, but now we only have to hear it if we want to.   : Hmm. Maybe those responsible for kidnapping children are beginning to move on to adults. Bold fiends!: Tell me if you see him!: Certainly, ma'am.  Sensible inn price for the starter town.  : ...right. Yes. Thanks for your counsel, citizen.  This old man slowly walks from his house to the well and back.  : Nnnnnno?: Some doors aren't locked. They open without a key.And that's the use of the DOOR command: you need an option to open unlocked doors, which actually didn't exist in the series before now.  Now this is neat. When you walk in front of the counter here...  ...the merchant immediately runs to you.   DW4 now has separate armor and weapon stores! Seeing as there are more options now, this is quite welcome. Leather Armor offers +12 defense, Chain Mail +18, a Leather Shield +4, a Scale Shield +7, a Leather Hat +2, and a Wooden Hat +6. Ragnar can equip all of this of course, but the variety is extremely welcome for possible future party members, as caster-types can now equip the lighter types of shields and helmets.    : But why do children vanish?: It's possible that monsters aren't responsible. Or... that... Hmm. Could children be leaving town on their own?   : Sadly, it is. : I'm not a kid anymore, so I guess I'm safe.: Best not take unnecessary risks either way, young man. Let us soldiers sort this out first. Aaaand that's it for daytime Burland.  Music: Ragnar's theme : Wait, he's just leaving on his own?: Yeah. What of it?: That seems foolhardy!: Sometimes you just have to have a go at it solo, you know what I mean?: But what about the other soldiers?: Gone on ahead, I guess.: Solitude is the price of gathering information!: He'll be fine. He's clearly a sturdy sort.: Right, this would be something else if he was just one squishy wizard. No offense, Gwen.: None taken, I'm quite fond of having a meat shield around. : This is new! Let's see... : Gah. Don't we have the budget to write on both sides of the sign? : Good thinking, my liege. That'll do it.
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Oct 24, 2018 18:48
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 We know there are monsters outside, so let's spend some time making sure Ragnar's fighting skills are up to snuff. It won't hurt to make a bit of coin either. We know Izmit is on the other side of a cave, so maybe we can just find that cave and see how things are going.    Here's a notable technical improvement: animated background layer tiles! For the previous games, all animation was limited to the sprite layer, but not anymore. It's not used very often to my recollection, but when it is, it's typically to good effect and I'll point it out as we go.   Music: Battle for glory Welp, had to happen sooner or later. Dig that battle theme though! Good grief, what a triumph. Aaaaanyway, one Diverat. Diverats come with up to 14 HP (all monsters appear with between 75% and 100% of their max HP, as usual), with 11 attack, 2 defense, and 7 agility; they're squishy, but they're fast and hit reasonably hard, and they can spend a turn attempting to summon another Diverat to the fight. This is actually a pretty tough first encounter. Presumably we'd be running into weaker monsters if we had stayed in the immediate Burland region. That said, it hits Ragnar for 2 then 1, and he hits back for 7 twice. Soldiers are hella tough!   Stag Beetles are weaker in almost every way, with up to 9 HP, 9 attack, 5 defense, and 3 agility. They're no threat unless they show up in great numbers, but we won't run into more than two enemies at a time for a while yet.   It's quite possible to make it to Izmit on your first trip, but I want to have a look at Burland after sundown, so we'll just keep getting in fights on this side of the river for a bit.  Ah, now we're talking. Slimes come with up to 8 HP, with 9 attack, 5 defense, and 3 agility. Giant Worms are a bit tougher, with up to 11 HP, 10 attack, 6 defense, and 2 agility. Ragnar will usually one-shot the former and two-shot the latter. Monsters don't calculate their defense power from their agility as player characters do; their agility is only used to determine the order of actions in combat, which is useful for designing fast and fragile creatures like the Diverat above. As far as I can tell, initiative is rolled the same way it was in DW3: everyone rolls between 25% and 100% of their agility, and the highest numbers go first. All monsters in the Burland region have a chance to drop Medical Herbs, which is helpful but hardly game-breaking.  Oooh, first critical hit! I expect it's still a flat 1 in 32 chance per attack.  This battle gets Ragnar to level 2, for 4 Strength, 1 Vitality, 1 Luck, and 2 HP. That'll be a Soldier level alright.  It's not much longer before the sun goes down.       : Ugh, you knave! Get out of here! : We'll find him. Worry not.        Of course it is.    Being a royal soldier, we have free run of most of the castle at night.  One guard makes his rounds on the ground floor.  : That's why you're paid for it, young man. : ...that's not a good sign.  : It is proper for us to dream of valor, but not while we're on duty!  : Hmm? Did you find something?: The present weather resembles that of past times when monsters reigned.: Ah. Well. If you can find a way to locate the missing children by examining weather patterns, do let me know.  Welp, that's it. Better hit the hay.  We have 78 gold to our name, so we could splurge on a Leather Hat, but... nah. We only pick up an extra Medical Herb, and we are on our way.   Music: Underground dungeon  Yeah, those are still no danger.  Cool drops though.   Oof, a Healer already! At least this one's alone. Healers have up to 16 HP, with 13 attack, 8 defense and 12 agility, making them easily the strongest creatures we've seen yet. Of course they can cast Heal, and they have effectively infinite MP. The fight takes about a dozen rounds, with Ragnar getting hit twice for 4 damage each.    A fight against a pair of Diverats gets Ragnar to level 3, for 3 Str, 2 Vit, and 4 HP. It leaves him with 13 HP too, so we'll probably use an Herb after the next fight.   Can't have too many of those at this point.   : I spent the whole day pumping the townsfolk for information. I wonder what's your excuse.    This might be the first time in the series a chest containing 40 gold isn't a huge disappointment.     Aaaand we're out. That wasn't too difficult, and the guaranteed Medical Herb is a big help if you didn't stock up in Burland. : I've never liked the look of that old tower, but unless the local children took swimming lessons, I don't see how it would be related. Diverats are still pretty dangerous; a single 3 damage hit is nothing to worry about, but it adds up!  : Ah, right, better follow the coast then.    Music: Town   Considering Ragnar can only count on Herbs to regain HP, it might be worth it to spend some cash on Fairy Water at some point (if you'll remember, it prevents encounters with foes of a lower level than your main character), but we have better things to buy for now.  Still affordable, but we pass for now.   : Oh! Do you think you could help us with this missing children situation, then? : A chosen one will soon appear somewhere in this world.: Ah, so, that's a no, then. Thank you for your time. : Dang, that bath sure is fancier than Kol's. Nice!    : I'm sorry to bother you, good sir, but might you have any information in regards to the missing children? Anything could help. : ...shoes? Well, alright then. Thank you. : That poor innkeep must be overwhelmed by worry and grief. Better solve this case quickly!  : It seemed like a wise course of action. Wait, are you the only other soldier who decided to come here? Good grief!: The tower west of here looks suspicious. I wonder how we can get in.: It could be a red herring. I doubt the children would have been taken that far.   : Yes, criminals are often afflicted with curious cases of amnesia once they are within reach of justice. : He acts like a child. He must have been through some ordeal.: Hmm. Like a child... Ah, a House of Healing. We drop a save. I can't stress how much nicer it is to be able to save at the local healer's now.    : You cut a pitiable figure, I must say. But my hands are tied. The law is the law. Oof, that's some expense right there. Bronze Armor is +25, Half-Plate is +30, and the Iron Shield is +12. Hopefully we won't need to grind for all that. I do drop 120 on a Wooden Hat for now, since it's the best headgear we've seen yet.   Unlike in DW3, where the attack and defense values displayed in the corner only updated if you pressed A to select the piece of equipment, here it updates in real time as you move the cursor around. It's little things like this that really show polish and attention to detail.  The Boomerang is +18 (only two points weaker than the Chain Sickle), and the Iron Spear is +28. Strangely enough, you can "throw" the Boomerang using the in-battle ITEM command instead of just the FIGHT command, but doing so offers no special advantage: it still hits a single enemy for the same damage. Obviously I'd like to go straight to the Spear, but just as it was in DW1, we'll get the upgrades we can afford, not the ones we want. Oh hey, I just noticed the animated fountain.  Neat.   : He vanished like smoke before my eyes!: Oh, so we might be dealing with supernatural criminals after all. Hmm. Maybe the innkeep was on to something, then. Nothing here.    Heh, here we have a little kid being chased around the room by his teacher.    : Well this takes me back. : Perhaps we can talk at night.: Right, I'll be back, then. Thank you. : I'll be a royal soldier someday.: We'll be glad to have you, boy. : My apologies! : He flew away into the sky.: Hmm. I'm sure he did.And that's all of Izmit for now.  : So. Children playing with shoes, flying into the sky, and vanishing before their parents' eyes. This is going to be more complicated than I thought. Better do some reconnaissance until nightfall, I suppose.    That's everywhere we can reach on foot: no dungeons, no caves, only that lone tower on the lake. We better find some more leads in Izmit, or this investigation is at a standstill.   : Hmm... : Right then, my apologies. Don't let me keep you, I'm just going to check on something in the back. : I'd agree with you, but if it truly is impossible, then we've already failed our king and our people. We have to keep looking.  : What do you think you're doing? : Are you quite sure about that? : Keep quiet, and I'll tell you something.: No promises.: I saw the man in the underground jail before... in the Castle Town of Burland... maybe.: Hmm. Did you, now?: Why don't you go back there?: Maybe I will.  : Alex! That's Flora's husband's name! If the children are beyond my reach, maybe I can sort this out at least. : Are you Alex, by any chance? : You really are acting like a child, aren't you? I don't know what you've been through, but maybe it's connected to the disappearances.  : Who's doing this? What do they want?: Oh I quite intend to find out. Leave it to us!    : Children always have secrets. : Do you have any insight for me?: I believe the children know something.: Or... someone who acts like a child might, at least. I believe I have a plan. For now though, do excuse me, I'll be leaving early tomorrow.   : How are you still here!? : I'd offer to help, but at this point you really need to establish a baseline of competence and get out of this yourself.Ragnar reaches level 4 on his way out of the tunnel, for 1 Str, 2 Vit, and 4 HP. Stat gains on level up are still random within a range appropriate to the character's archetype, so every once in a while you'll get a dud like this.   : Ma'am, I found your husband in Izmit. He's... been jailed for theft. : Take me there, please!: It's the least I can do. Let's go. Flora will now follow us around, but she's no warrior, and she won't participate in combat.   Whuh-oh, Babbles show up around Burland after sunset. They have up to 12 HP, with 11 attack, 9 defense, and 8 agility, still with the ability to inflict the poison status ailment with their standard attacks. This effectively makes them the most dangerous of all the creatures we've seen yet. They do have a chance to drop Antidote Herbs, at least.  : Ah, now that's the spirit of a true Burland man-at-arms!    Flora rushes to the cell as soon as we reach the prison.  : Don't you recognize me? I'm Flora, your wife! : ............: Don't you even remember this? Smack!: ............: Whoa!: Oof, trouble in paradise right there.: Eh, if it works, maybe it's worth it...: ...Flora!: Yes, it's me!: Welp, there you go.: What came over me? I must have lost my mind in fear after being attacked by monsters. Soldier, thanks for finding me.: All in few days' work, citizen.: I remember... hearing this from some children... the secret playground is 4 steps to the south and then 4 steps to the east of the village signpost.: ...the secret playground? Ah, I don't like the sound of this.: Something may be there. You'd better check it out.: Be careful, Soldier.: Right, I'll be going, then. Thank you for the information.We stay the night at the inn, and leave in the morning.  : What was it? Four, and...  : Here we are, then. The game is afoot, but playtime is over!: Better workshop that one, mustache man.
FrankZP fucked around with this message at 20:02 on Oct 24, 2018 |
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Oct 24, 2018 18:48
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Ground floor! Woo woo! Excited to see where this one goes!
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Oct 24, 2018 19:29
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Sees that new Dragon Quest LP has been created. Pounces immediately. I've heard a few things about this game, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it stacks up compared to the other games you've played so far. Welcome back, Frank, and hope you enjoy your playthrough!
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Oct 24, 2018 19:35
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YEESSS! Can't wait to see how this goes. Thanks in advance FrankZP!
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Oct 24, 2018 19:39
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I've been playing this on on iOS but the graphics feel so... mushy. I greatly miss the classic famicom look.
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Oct 24, 2018 19:50
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I was very happy when I got an alert on my phone that this LP was up!
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Oct 24, 2018 19:55
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While this king is more conscientious than most so far, he is still remaining true to the principle of ensuring his one competent champion has to grind like a motherfucker. I am fairly sure this principle unites the entire DQ universe.
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Oct 24, 2018 19:58
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Night10194 posted:While this king is more conscientious than most so far, he is still remaining true to the principle of ensuring his one competent champion has to grind like a motherfucker. It more seems to be that nobody in the setting is competent aside from the party and maybe one or two NPCs. Everyone else mostly just relies on the fact that monsters don't attack towns, or is mysteriously hanging out in the middle of an incredibly hostile wilderness with no explanation given as to how they survive.
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Oct 24, 2018 20:17
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To be fair unless they are in the starter town stepping outside is probably suicide. Imagine the poor schmuck who lives in Rimuldar and decides he wants to be a hero. He is level 1 but works hard at his job and gets enough to buy a sword and some armor. He steps outside and is immediately eaten by a wolf.
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Oct 24, 2018 20:20
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This one is absolutely my favorite of the old school games. It's good to see the original version again; it's been too long.
idonotlikepeas fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Oct 24, 2018 |
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Oct 24, 2018 20:33
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Awwwwww yeah. Been waiting for this one.
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Oct 24, 2018 21:17
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Happy to get into this early. Once I clear up more time I should get back to DQ11.
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Oct 24, 2018 21:20
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I was four when this game came out and it might literally be the first RPG I ever played? So don't mind me I'm just going to hang out and ooze nostalgia on everything. I don't recall if it came with the game or was obtained separately, but we had a big ol' world map, a monster list, spell list, and an illustrated item/equipment list. By the time I hit high school those charts were more tape than paper and felt like the most authentic ancient documents a child could own. I also played the crap out of the DS version but I don't want to start the 'accents good/accents bad' slapfight in another guy's LP so I'll say I liked both. Also growing up with DQIV and FFVI as my first RPGs gave me unrealistic standards for how many games would let me play as a heroine but that's also a long digression we don't need.
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Oct 24, 2018 21:31
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The start of this game has a lot less combat than the others, it seems. Lots more figuring out what went on, first. Nifty!
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Oct 24, 2018 21:43
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Gloomy Rube posted:The start of this game has a lot less combat than the others, it seems. Lots more figuring out what went on, first. Nifty! Oh, there's plenty of combat. encounters on the overworld are still common as hell, and in dungeons it's ramped up to 11. It got even worse in 5, and with less ways to reduce encounter rates.
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Oct 24, 2018 21:57
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The king sent eight soldiers on a job that was actually appropriate for them. This is by far the best king in the franchise yet.
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Oct 24, 2018 22:08
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quote:: I still keep my notion that kings are dicks... but maybe the jury's out on Lord Burland here. No. All kings in DQ are dicks. It is known.
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Oct 24, 2018 22:10
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Ohhh I'm so pumped to see this! As much as I adore Dragon Quest 3, this game was my favorite NES game as a kid. I cannot wait to see where this goes. Ragnar is fairly simple, you hit things, occasionally you have to hit them twice, but he is a good introduction to newer players on how the game works. He's a safe character since he has a large amount of hp to start, he can wear fantastic gear (such as that swanky wooden hat!), to bolster his defenses, and he's reasonably quick for a meathead. Krumbsthumbs fucked around with this message at 22:13 on Oct 24, 2018 |
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Oct 24, 2018 22:11
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Heck yes! I’ve been waiting for this! I finished DQ2 last week and I’m stoked for more Dragon Warrior Questin’. I wonder what Ragnar here will accomplish.
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Oct 24, 2018 23:13
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That's an impressive mustache you've got there.
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Oct 25, 2018 00:03
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Oh, there once was a Soldier named Ragnar the Pink~ Glad to be here at the start. Once I finish DQ11 I’ll probably get this and play along.
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Oct 25, 2018 00:51
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Peanut Gallery's getting a lil crowded
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Oct 25, 2018 02:03
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Ragnar: tough enough to wear all pink armor and just dare anyone to say anything about it.
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Oct 25, 2018 02:26
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megane posted:That's an impressive mustache you've got there. I like to think Ragnar is always frowning super hard
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Oct 25, 2018 02:32
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Alright! I've been looking forward to this starting. I played this once when I was little but barely remember it now, so I'm excited to see how it holds up.
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Oct 25, 2018 02:47
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 A new FrankZP DQ LP! The first three were fantastic, looking forward to the adventure ahead of us. Considering how expansive and wonderful DQIII was, even if IV is a sidestep it will still be great.Still want to meet Francois though...
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Oct 25, 2018 02:59
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Woo ground floor! My favorite LP series is back! So Ragnar McRyan and the people of Burland all have heavy Scottish accents in the remake. Really heavy, I could barely tell what people were telling me at times. Also I love this game it's really good. Took longer to grow on me then 3 did but when it did, it grew fast.
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Oct 25, 2018 03:31
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This is pretty well put-together for an introductory quest. Your fellow soldiers all have reason to be at various points in the critical path, and I like how they joke about why you're armed so modestly.
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Oct 25, 2018 04:22
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I think Dragon Warrior IV is my favorite out of the NES games; DQ8 will always be my favorite (especially because I can play it on my 2DS now!) but I truly think this is the best of the NES generation. (It doesn't really help that I kinda dislike DQ5 and had a rough experience with DQ6.)
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Oct 25, 2018 04:48
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You know, while the US release timing pretty much hosed Dragon Warrior right from the start, I'm kind of wondering if there was ever a way for the series to get a major root in English-speaking territories. I mean, maybe if Enix skipped over 1 and 2 and released 3 in 1989 (but then the whole latter part of the game lacks the punch of nostalgia and is just... another world.) The thing is Final Fantasy wasn't that big a deal at first either, and it didn't really get a major following until the release of II/IV, which was a pretty good looking game for it's time and made use of all the new cool stuff the SNES could do like mode 7. By contrast, the next game in the Dragon Quest series, V, was released after FFIV and it's... not as nice looking. DQV is fantastic, don't get me wrong, but it's not a looker.
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Oct 25, 2018 04:59
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Aw yeah, looking forward to this. Edit: and add an NES disassembler/analyzer and a teardown of DQ4 to the list of projects I don't have time for. *sigh* idhrendur fucked around with this message at 05:27 on Oct 25, 2018 |
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Oct 25, 2018 05:22
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I had started playing this just after you started your DW I LP; I'm looking forward to seeing if you do things any differently than I did. I finished my run of DW III about two levels lower than you did, then beat DW I in the hiatus. I just started on II. I'll admit, for a long time I liked IV more than III, and I still like how much more polished this game is, but I think III has held up better in the long run, for reasons we'll be getting to. IV is definitely the easiest of the first four games, however, by quite a long shot. And it's still fun.
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Oct 25, 2018 05:32
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Camel Pimp posted:DQV is fantastic, don't get me wrong, but it's not a looker. What do you mean, it's the best looking NES rpg! ... it just happened to get released on the snes. Oops.
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Oct 25, 2018 06:00
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Ragnar will save all the childrens. Yes. Also hooray for more Dragon Warrior!
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Oct 25, 2018 06:00
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Glad to see you back  . Bit of a pity that there's only three games or so where the hero's gender is even a choice, and we've already seen two of them.
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Oct 25, 2018 06:49
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Definitely excited to be on the ground floor of this one. DQIV was my favorite when I was a kid, so I’m looking forward to your take on it!
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Oct 25, 2018 08:00
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One thing I'll say for the older games, at least the characters have skin tones. I know it's because of the 4-color limit (one of which is "transparent"), but man, most of those sprites do not look that good with white skin tones. But hey, competent kings who actually care about their people? Guards who actually do their drat jobs? What heretical nonsense is this?
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Oct 25, 2018 11:32
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Patter Song posted:Ragnar: tough enough to wear all pink armor and just dare anyone to say anything about it. Ragnar: The one true ally
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Oct 25, 2018 12:49
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