Dragon Quest games

[JamesS]

I've been playing Dragon Quest IV on the DS for the last week or so, and I'm really enjoying it, so I fancy trying out some of the other games in the series.

I've got barely-touched copies of both DQVIII and Dragon Warrior VII. Which one's generally considered the best of the two? Is there any plot reason to play one before the other? I read somewhere that IV-VI follow on from each other, but I don't know if that applies to the later games.

Also, I see there're some spinoff games on the DS - Rocket Slime and DQ Monsters. Are these worth a look?

[nickgodfrey]

There's a really good Retronauts that discusses all things Dragon Quest. Here's the linky:

http://download.gamevideos.com/Podcasts/Retronauts/R092408.mp3

Some minor spoilers.

[Mad Gear]

Rocket slime is good but very RPG lite, deffo worth a play through (can be finished fairly quickly).

Dragon Quest VIII is one of my fave RPG's of all time. Put in over 100 hours on that bast. I did start DQVII ages ago but never got into it, looks nasty now. As for DQ Monsters i had a go at it and it never managed to grab me, it's a bit Pokemonish.

[NemesiS]

Dragon Quest 8 was fantastic when i first played it years ago and if you have never played it, then do so as its brilliant first time through.

But i went back to it about 6-12 months ago for another crack and found the random battles unbelievably annoying. Times have changed for me regarding RPG's and the random battles was something that should have been left in the 90's, the DQ series being some of the worst.
FF12 improved upon it no end by allowing you to avoid battles at the expense of levelling up which in itself caused its own problems when you got in dungeons. It would be interesting to see what other peoples opinions of random battles are these days?

But for a first timer going through the DQ series, they are great.

Oh, also i would go for DQ8 over 7 for pretty much the same reasons as the poster above. Just be prepared to put about 75hrs+ into it, haha, its massive.

[toythatkills]

I love random battles, but that's an argument for another thread.

By all means start with Dragon Quest VIII, it's an excellent introduction to the series (ignoring that you've played IV) but I'd be aware that VII will feel fairly aged next to it. This is mainly because of its graphics though and if you've got a PSP to play it on it won't be nearly as bad.

There's no plot running through VII and VIII so you can play them any way round.

Dragon Quest I, II, and III are loosely linked, and IV, V, and VI are together too, so I'd play those two sets in order, but aside from that they're standalone.

I should probably finish III.

[Champloo]

VII and VIII are unrelated, and VIII is a much better game in just about every way. I'd probably go so far as to say that it's the best JRPG I've played. The battle system is great, there's a massive amount to do, and so much effort clearly went into the script, voice acting, graphics etc. It lasts ages but never drags. I must have put 150 hours in and was still incredibly sad to see it end.

VII was decent, and probably one of the better RPGs on the PS1 (from what I played), but I'd save it till you've played VIII. It doesn't have any of the charm of VIII - the translation is dire, the characters really don't have any character, and the towns and regions you visit are all different, but still a little dull. The battle system is fine, but the game isn't as well paced as VIII; you'll be grinding a lot, and the dungeons tend to last longer and are less varied. That said, I didn't manage to see it through to the end (I put over 50 hours in, but it's allegedly huge), and I did play it right after VIII so the formula may have been starting to dull a little for me by then.

Either way, start with VIII, and move onto VII later.

[Daragon]

I have to echo the thoughts already provided - VIII is a sublime game and easily my favourite RPG on the console.

The story is very well done, the characters are memorable and you eventually get used to the random battles.

[ste]

IV / V / VI are very, very very loosely tied, you won't miss anything playing them out of order or skipping one.

V is fantastic. The English version of the DS remake is due in early February - highest possible recommendation if you're enjoying IV, it's widely considered the best in the series.

VII is literally 150 hours+ long, it's best played in bursts every now and again like watching a weekly TV show. VIII is long, but a lot more focused and uh... better.

[JamesS]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm going to start VIII again tonight (I did play a few hours when it came out but got distracted by something else and never went back to it).

Definitely getting V when it comes out. This sort of game seems to suit a handheld really well, as you can put it on for 10 minutes and kill a few monsters to pass the time. It's actually quite nice to play such a traditional RPG again, too. A lot of newer JRPGs seem to have moved over to more realtime combat systems, and most don't even seem to have proper world maps any more.

[SuperBeatBoy]

I agree with what everyone else has said here. Not a single person who has posted i haven't disagreed with in any way.

DQ is probably my fav rpg series. I much prefer it over FF. It just exudes huge amount of charm and character. Whereas the latter exude in depressing melodramatic nonsense, not that i'm saying its a bad thing. I just prefer the other by miles.

DQV is probably the top game i'm looking forward to next year next to P4.

[nakamura]

Im not the biggest DQ fan. But really enjoyed VIII. Its a little long winded and repetative but looks amazing and the music is about the best. Story is ok too, not one of the best.

The problem for me is the batte system feels so old. I like turn based systems but this feels very 80s. Random battles also don't bother me though I prefer the system in FF12.

[toythatkills]

The problem for me is the batte system feels so old. I like turn based systems but this feels very 80s.

Intentionally so.

[zathras]

I agree with what everyone else has said here. Not a single person who has posted i haven't disagreed with in any way.

DQ is probably my fav rpg series. I much prefer it over FF. It just exudes huge amount of charm and character. Whereas the latter exude in depressing melodramatic nonsense, not that i'm saying its a bad thing. I just prefer the other by miles.

DQV is probably the top game i'm looking forward to next year next to P4.

Completely agree with this. My first DQ was VIII, and I'm now playing through IV on the DS. Fallen in love with the series.

[vertigo]

Currently playing IV too even though it's extremely creaky, which is sort of obvious given where it came from. I'm undecided on it yet as I've only just started the 3rd chapter.
I do have one major annoyance with it, though (I wouldn't be me if I didn't). You can't tell whether your most recent save was the main one or the suspend one without checking the times on them and you can't check the time on your suspend save without launching it and going into the status menu and checking your wagon screen. And there's no soft reset, so you have to restart the DS if the main save was more recent. Annoying.
The Scottish dialect text is just able bearable but the Russian 2nd chapter irritated me because it sounded more like cave speak and made everyone sound a bit thick rather than foreign.
Other than that, it's decent enough in a standard JRPG way to hold my attention but just sedentary enough to cure my insomnia.