Patch
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Posts posted by Patch
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Started yesterday and if any indication that I like this game is needed the n I can say that I have 9:23 hours played just from yesterday.
Don't really feel like I did much during that time, just levelled a bit and called it good when I met the giant cleavage showing Jessica at the port.
I'm like that too. I'll spend an hour or two one evening and then wonder 'What did I actually achieve today?'
Cool that someone else is playing too, although at this rate, you'll be finished long before me. I'm just over the 40 hour mark and I've been playing for weeks.
You do want to do the casino, there's loads of good stuff there, like the Gringham Whip, the best whip in the game and if I remember right the Falcon Blade which helps for Metal Slime hunting. You just gotta save and reload a lot. It takes a while but it's certainly worth it.Those would be useful indeed. Sounds like a second-play-through kindathing. Or when I get overwhelmingly defeated by bosses perhaps.
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You're an awesome player, Patch! Yes, I think defeating that boss without multi-heal puts you in the the upper ranks!
Cheers! Let's ignore the fact I hadn't noticed it was there...
As for the casino, I didn't bother with it until the post-game, but it was a little bit more fruitful than I expected. There is a method on Roulette that didn't earn me enough to claim the top prizes, but I think it would have let me buy all the equipment I needed.I probably won't bother with it much either. I figure the only way to make money from it is to constantly save / reload until a profit is made. Which is a bit tedious and feels like cheating.
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Yep, playing further, I found there is one by a crossroads near Argonia Castle that only comes out at night.
More progress:
King Clavius tasked me with escorting Prince Charmles to the Royal Hunting Ground. This was pretty easy, and at last the Bazaar is underway.
Realising I had no money again, I was worried the Bazaar would disappear at any moment. But thankfully after a few overnight rests and some continent hopping, it's still there. Good job too, it will take me a while to raise the funds to buy everything I want. Thankfully the whip and boomerang were cheap, but the armour is dear.
I suppose I could always try some casino ventures, but I've avoided this so far.
So after 'recharging' the magic mirror, it was off to the Dark Ruins. I thought after all the levelling up I had done (primarily as a means to get more gold to buy equipment at Argonia Castle) it would be a breeze. The dungeon was only mildly challenging but the dungeon's boss was epic to say the least.
I killed his second form with less than 10MP for the Hero and Angelo left. 0MP for Yangus (after sharing it with the others) and about 27 for Jessica. Annoying thing was I discovered Angelo had this especially useful spell called 'Multi-Heal' just before I killed him. Maybe killing him without using it is some kind of record? I haven't lost a battle yet.
Thought I'd make a few montages of the more humorous bits (click images for bigger pics).
Charmles' Incentive:
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Charmles in Action:
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Dhoulmagus!
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I could have made it up, who knows
OK, you've redeemed yourself slightly. Maybe I won't have to hunt you down after all.
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<Massive Spoiler>
Gah, WTF did you do that for? I didn't ask what their relationship was and I didn't want to know. You should have spoilered tagged it at the least. Do you crave attention that much?
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All Dragon Quest since the first one are like that...The relationship between them two is exactly the same as the relationship that is in Dragon Quest Original with the hero and princess.
I'm sure you're right. Your comment implies there *is* a relationship between them then.
It's not, it's a monster that's out in the world near Argonia Castle, so yeah, more for the monster team.Sorry Grazza, there's probably a proper name for them. It's in the area NE of Argonia Castle.
Are these 'Monster Coin' monsters random at all? Or do they always appear in the same place reliably every time? I could have sworn one appeared on a path that I had travelled a few times and never seen before.
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I haven't updated this thread for a while. I've been playing Dragon Quest regularly for a while now. An hour or two every couple of nights has seen me get about 30 hours in now.
In my last update, I had briefly explored Castle Trodain. Since then I have completed that section, got the harp from the mole mines, floated my ship and visited Baccarat and the Sabretooth Cat house. I'll never walk again!
On my way to Argonia Castle I stopped off at a tent and spent all my gold on improved weapons and armour. Ten minutes later I arrived at the castle to find a shop selling even better equipment, with only ten gold pieces to my name. Grah! And thanks to the Alchemy Pot's vast potential, I haven't had the courage to sell anything for fear of losing out on an uber-item.
Ah well, it's given me the chance to explore and level up a bit - something I've meant to do as I've been struggling against the most recent catalogue of enemies.
So when I've done that, I'll be looking for the prince who is hiding in Argonia Castle. Again.
This being my first Dragon Quest game, I have been pleasantly surprised by the vast amount of Slime types in the game. I think some of the game designers must have serious mental issues. There's your regular Slime, a She-slime, Liquid Slime, Metal Slimes, Metal Liquid Slime, Cure Slimes, Heal Slimes, Slime Knights, Metal Slime Knights, King Slimes and even a mini-boss called the Slime Creator (contrary to common sense, killing the Slime Creator does not stop the slimes a-coming). What next? Androgynous Slime? King Metal Liquid She-slime knight?
The Alchemy Pot can now take 3 items, though this has served only to make my head hurt all the more.
It was nice to see Princess Medea in her human form, if only for a while. There was also a hint of some relationship between her and the Hero. Very intriguing. I hope this and the non-cursing of the Hero is a hint at an interesting plot point and not just a throwaway remark.
And finally, here are a couple of chuckle-worthy pics. And one pretty one.
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Cool. This could be the closest we'll get to having an actual life-size monkey ball peripheral.
wow that guy cant control it in the gameplay trailer.. hmm my worry is they'll make the game too easy to force balance board into it. I certainly will be only using the controller anyway.Maybe the Balance-Board levels are aside from the main levels?
Based on past console Monkey Ball games, the chances are that this will be just as hard as the others. More so if you force yourself to use only the balance board for the whole game! Just imagine the wire grinds on A15 and E9 using a balance board!
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Yes indeed. The boomerang and whip can be so satisfying, especially if you kill a whole set of enemies with them, after whittling them down with the others.
I saw mention of a Fisticuffs-only walkthrough somewhere recently. Something to save strictly for my fifth play through the game...
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Good stuff, good stuff! I hope I didn't spoil it for you talking about the outfits etc. Glad to know you're still enjoying it.
Not at all. It's mainly the story that I would consider spoiler material. I hope you don't mind me hijacking your thread like this (it seemed wasteful to create a new thread).
A bit more progress since last time:
Last time, I had finished the Maella Abbey section, seeing the abbot die and Dhoulmagus take off again.
Next I headed to Wisher's Peak (though I didn't know it was called this at the time). I navigated through the ledges and caves to get all the treasure and then ascended to the top of the mountain. Finding nothing there made me realise I had probably done this before the game had told me to. D'oh. Still, it kept me at a reasonably high level of experience to avoid having to consciously level up (something I haven't had to do since the very beginning of the game).
Off to Ascantha then, to find the king still distraught two years after the death of his queen, followed by the task of getting to the top of Wisher's Peak. Argh!
Knowing that there has to be a full moon when you get to the top, I made sure I set off at night, thinking I will get to the top before the night is out. Then a strange thing happened:
As I ascended from the river up to the base of the mountain, the sky changed from a deep blue night sky to an orange glow. Naturally I figured this was the morning sky and that I took too long to get there. So I Zoomed back, rested overnight and set off again, this time in the morning.
I watched the sun in the sky the whole time; it didn't get very high in the sky by the time I reached the same place, but sure enough, the sky was an orange glow again. I waited for a while and it turned to a nighttime sky!
What this means is that the game is scripted to give you an evening sky when you get to that point, in effect helping you by not forcing you to wait until night. I had, of course, mistaken this evening sky for a dawn sky and zoomed before I realised what had happened!
Annnyway, the Moonshadow Land was very pretty. The king was shown a vision of his queen again and the mourning period officially ended.
Off to Pickham then, for what was probably the best bit in the game so far. The atmosphere and turn of events were really interesting. There is an alley with a strongarm who demands 10 gold coins for passage through it, but he only does this at night. In the day, he is lying on the floor sleeping. A laugh out loud moment came as I approached him one time and just before speaking to him, night turned to day, and he was suddenly flat on his back to the left of me!
A jaunt to Sexy Red to recover Medea turned into a quest for a stone hidden inside the Swordsman's Labyrinth. This was a really interesting dungeon with one extrememly frustrating moment (door on a spring, hole behind you) and one Eureka moment (swordsman statues pointing the way up). The Trap Box boss was the trickiest I've faced and the first time one of my characters died (Jessica). However, I still managed to maintain my perfect unbeaten boss record.
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Back to Port Prospect and across the desert to Trodain Castle, which I've just started. There was a mild surprise to learn during a flashback that the King and Medea were saved from death bu the magic circle in the Sceptre room and yet The Hero survived somehow. Dun dun duuun!
I've got the map and the Magic Key (hurrah!), but time constraints forced me to Zoom and save.
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Still loving the game. Trode is working on the Alchemy pot again, Jessica has the Dancer's Costume. Still using a boomerang and a whip and ignoring Fisticuffs like the plague!
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Probably my most watched Youtube video of ALL TIME.
Seen it three times now.
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I haven't had much time recently, but I have made some progress since my last update.
I've now got the fourth and final character in my party: King Trode! His headbutt move is awesome! Nah, of course I mean Angelo.
I fused a boomerang and iron nail to get the reinforced boomerang. So far I haven't seen the point in using any other type of weapon. With only two monsters, the Hero deals more damage in total than with a sword or a lance. With four or more monsters, I can wipe them out in two or three turns. And where it's weakest - the boss / semi-boss encounters - I tend to be using the Hero to heal everyone instead.
Perhaps there will be a lack of strong boomerangs in the future, but for now, very happy!
I thought the secret underground passage to the Abbot's house was good. Great monsters, nice design, tricky boss and an elusive Metal Slime - I tried for half an hour to find one and beat one, just so I could add it to the Bestiary. Finally got lucky, found one and it didn't notice me. I had no idea it would be worth 1350 experience! That and the Treasure Chest monster reminded me of Shining in the Darkness for the Megadrive.
Speaking of monsters, I love reading the semi-serious descriptions of the monsters in the Bestiary. For example:
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Capsichum (Notice the 'chum' part!)
A distinctive monster shaped like a pepper. In their culture, two
is always better than one, so they stick together with the help of a large
skewer.
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Slime Knight
Angry at seeing their slime-friends bullied by swaggering
adventurers, these courageous little monsters swore an oath to defend them.
Oh, and the Puppeteer - hands down (heh) the funniest monster I've ever seen.
So I finally got a good look at Dhoulmagus. They did well to make him feel so sinister in a game of this graphical style. Those eyes burn into me. He follows the typical role of a seemingly invincible nemesis - vanishing here, appearing there, blasting people left, right and centre. Makes you wonder if you'd have a chance against him.
I can add another shock moment to my list:
Shock 1: Brutal killing of Jessica's brother Alistair.
Shock 2: Angelo throwing King Trode into the Iron Maiden. Funny though.
I've done some backtracking and opened a few chests and fought a few monsters. It was very satisfying killing the Axoraptor.
Got the World Map, which is nice. If only there was a way to see all the treasure chests. There's Yangus' Nose for Treasure ability, but I haven't got this to work yet.
I'm 15 hours in, and I'll reiterate that I'm purposefully taking my time with the game.
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Make sure you create her best outfits, like the Divine Bustier!
And the Bunny Ears presumably.
Oh yes, this is not a kids' game at all. The whole series tackles mature themes in an unpretentious way. I reckon killer kirby will agree with me on that!
Yep, I have let the cartoon trappings and light-hearted banter fool me into thinking this was a kid's game. I look forward to more shocks.
This was generally the point at which I started loving the game even more. I mean, sailing out to sea to fight a giant squid who talks to his tentacles... It just spoke to me somehow!LOL! I felt similarly drawn into the game at this point, mainly due to having a third character involved, and there being less of a linear exploration path. Also, learning Zoom, like you mentioned in an earlier post.
The Bronze Knife. Then, when you get another Iron Nail, combine it with the Boomerang. I really recommend this. It's not cheating, in my opinion: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=583527&topic=40808249Thanks! That's a very thorough guide and will be extremely useful. I can see there being a lot of cool items to miss out on without it. And it will probably significantly help those who are struggling with hard bits in the game?
There are loads more puns to look forward to!Actually that's one thing that has impressed me about the game - the translation is top-notch, with some very subtle humour.
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Dang, I miss the weekend stuff that happens here.
Happy Birthday for like, ages ago.
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I made a fair bit of progress over the weekend.
I hopped across the bridge to the Alexandria region and popped in to the next town. I had a feeling the missing Jessica would be the buxom girl on the front of the game case.
At last, getting a first look at the Dhoulmagus felt gratifying, but at the same time disturbing. The manner in which he killed Alistair was cold and brutal - not what I was expecting at all! I don't blame Jessica for turning her back on her family for vengeance.
In quick order, I marched to Port Prospect and didn't have any trouble with the Khalamari. I think levelling up at the beggining for that boomerang has allowed me to march quite quickly through rest of the game. So far anyway.
So now I've finally seen Trode's secret project - the Alchemy Pot. The potential for this sounds amazing. By the way, anyone know what I should combine with the nail, given to me by one of the less salubrious ferry passengers?
Next stop is Simpletown (Simpleton?)
p.s. Kirby, I now recognise your avatar. I think the Slime variations are hilarious. Bubble Slime, She-slimes, etc...
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You may not get that many skill points, but that's just an idea of what it's nice to have eventually. Spears are good for levelling-up and essential for two of the post-game bosses (unless you're level 65).
Thanks as always for the tips. I'll be concentrating on finishing the game first and foremost. Based purely on the length of the game as it is, it will take considerable drive and determination for me to continue playing after that! Much appreciated though, mate.
Are you enjoying the music, Patch?Yes indeed - I haven't mentioned that yet. The music is a mixed bag for me. At first I loved the orchestrated feel, then I found it to be irritatingly repetitive (probably down to me levelling up in the same areas at the beginning) and now I'm very much enjoying it again. I haven't been able to get it out of my head all day today! I need to open up some more areas I guess.
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I've now completed the Waterfall Cave, defeating the hilarious Hammer Head dude along the way. I was at level 8 and didn't have any trouble with the boss. Thankfully Yangus woke up from being cursed fairly quickly.
I did the side-quest mentioned by Kirby; I thought I would have trouble with this due to red / green colour blindness, but thankfully the distinction was obvious!
I'm 5 hours in, which might seem like a lot, but I spent quite a while trying to get enough gold to buy the best equipment from town including the boomerang, before attempting the Waterfall Cave. I'm glad I did - the 'rang made short work of most battles.
I can't kill the raptor creature outside town yet though. He's a bit hard. I did run past him for the nice item though!
Next stop: Checkpoint.
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I'm saying Zelda is a big hitter... Stop trying to act like the mature judge figure, I'm saying that because I think Daz only plays the big adventure stuff the Wii offers rather than getting stuck in with these sorts of games on other consoles.
Hmmm. I was going for 'comic troll' figure.
OK, tell you what. I'll stop acting like a mature judge when you stop acting like a religious convert.
The problem with buying games is that there's always newer ones around the corner but if we did all take a step back and went through our game collections then we might not go out and buy new games so much.Spot on for me. I almost always complete every game I start. And some to their absolute limit. Take Metroid Prime 3. I completed it, then completed it on a harder mode collecting 100% and I still intend to complete it again on the hardest difficulty at some point. I like to er, milk my games for all their sweet tasty goodness.
I still intend to finish Zelda I on the VC, so it will be a long time before I admit there is nothing on the Wii to play.
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Maybe I like more longevity in my games than you Daz. You are more the person to want an instant buzz once you've loaded the game in rather than sit there getting down to the knitty gritty.
Tell me if that's not the case, but let's just say we're very different.
Yes!! At last you've accepted that you're two different people with different tastes! Finally we can move on...
I think in a way you're limiting yourself by buying more games if anything, only delving onto them if it's a big hitter like a Zelda or whatever...NOOOOOOOO!!!
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Nope, but I just got the PC version of chapter one for free. I can tell you it is also jerky and lacking in audio clarity on my laptop.
The mouse seems to take half an hour to catch up with me. Is this normal?
Hmm, that's odd. So the Wii version is as faithful a port as can be expected! I wonder if Dave's supercomp runs it better.
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but you never know. Stranger things have happened.
Confirmed: Goldeneye 2010 Q1 release
Seriously, that is sad news indeed. For a game that sold ~8 million, you'd think someone would be willing to make a huge effort to overcome those groinal injuries.
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Wow, you replied to everyone in this thread. I think I'm beginning to see why you don't have much time for games...
Haha, I hope we're not the same person. I like being me, and I'm going to take a game and say that I think you like being you. So, let me be me and you be you, ok? NO U.
That got me thinking. Could we actually be the same person, Fight Club style, with me having no memory of posting the FLink posts and you having no memory of posting the Patch posts? Ummm, no, probably not.That's an interesting point...children having access to three consoles. That is class parents buying stuff for their kids to keep them happy, haha. It happens. I think my parents wanted to keep me and my brothers happy, so we ended up getting a Megadrive and a SNES. I mean, some people only had one, but I was lucky.Aha, you have brothers and I don't. So there we go. Not the same person. I didn't have to waste all that profound thinking time earlier then.
Come to think of it, we had a Megadrive and a SNES. As children, we had time to play all the games for them, many times over. As adults, we all have varying amounts of free time and differing urges to play videogames. Some would justify needing multiple consoles for the large library it affords them. I would justify needing only one console because I barely have time to play the games I want on that.
But do we need three? I think different people have different circumstancesWoah! Didn't I more-or-less just say that? Back to the profound thinking again then...
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Haha, though I was fairly certain I would enjoy it, I wouldn't have minded otherwise as I bought the cheap Platinum version.
Thanks for the tip. Sounds like this game is going to last quite some time.
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Also the fact that you don't have to buy an overpriced wireless adaptor and of course have the loudest, biggest, ugliest, most fragile hunk of junk in your living room/bedroom
But then how would I do the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs?
Anyone else waiting for Tales of Monkey Island Part II - Siege of Spinner Cay? PC heads have had it for a while now. It seems a little odd to force us Wii-owners to wait for longer, pay more and suffer an inferior version with jerkiness and lack of audio clarity.
Dragon Quest VIII - Why is it So Good?
in General Gaming Discussion
Posted
Progress recently has been slow thanks to a busy life and some gold-collecting duties (the indispensible Magic Bikini cost a fair bit. Those Japanese designers really want you to work for it, don't they?).
Went to Rydon's Tower which had a great set of seesaw-and-statue puzzles, though as with nearly all dungeons so far, I was left wanting a little more complexity and length. What's good about the dungeons in this game is that they are varied. Some have bosses, some don't. Some require thought, some don't. Some are short, some are long.
Back to Arcadia for a showdown with Evil Jessica. By the way, did anyone else get creeped out by David's attitude in the game? His grovelling, subservient nature in the face of Dominico's sadistic pleasure was one thing, his refusal to see anything but gratitude to Dominico was another and his gruesome eventual fate yet another. I liked that it was refreshingly atypical of this type of character - that is, a descendant of a historical hero is rarely so misguided.
When you look behind the cartoony presentation of the game, I think this qualifies as another example of Grazzy's DQ adult themes; I'm adding it to my list of shocking moments.
Shocking Moments
1. Alistair's brutal death.
2. Trode being flung into the Iron Maiden.
3. David's oppression, true identity and eventual fate.
Back to Evil Jessica. By this time I was pretty far levelled up and she wasn't a problem. And then, the moment where she drops the staff and, surprise, surprise, someone else picks it up. I wonder if anyone has watched this scene and successfully resisted the urge to shout at the telly for someone to notice the sceptre.
Ah well. Sir Leopold ran off, presumably to try and kill the next of (not Hyrule's, honest) Seven Sages.
So on to the staple of all great RPGs - the snowy area. The Magic Bikini for Jessica will keep her nice and warm. I've now arrived at Orkutsk, with the visitors walking 'as if they've been going round in circles'. There's another shop with even more expensive gear. I think I might give it a miss this time and focus on the story a bit more.