Grazza

Arguably, the only thing we need to think about is procreation, followed by essential things like eating and sleeping. Other than that, it doesn't really matter!

Everyone is scared of death, everyone, but I don't think about it. The only thing we can do is try to achieve what we want in life. If we focus on that, surely we're less likely to think about death? Besides, I honestly think the Universe and reality are stranger than we can comprehend, so I wouldn't write off ghosts, other dimensions and such, just because you believe religion lies to you. Regarding the thread, no, I don't worry about my existence. There are things I think about, though, that would cause many people to see me as insane - aliens, other dimensions and such. It's not that I totally believe in them as such (I'm not one of these people who believes in everything paranormal), I just like to discuss theories. There must be some big discoveries to come that would sound insane if you described them now. It's like the Earth being spherical and the Earth orbiting the Sun - people didn't believe either of those, and yet they're true. Basically, don't worry, just do your best.

What a top class and addictive game this is! I'm compiling a happy list of ways this has improved over Dragon Quest VIII. The DS may not be very powerful, but Level 5 have thought carefully about what they could improve, and they've done it brilliantly: * All weapons and armour visible - OK, they are not very visible on the overworld, but it works a treat in the cutscenes and is an important improvement. * Skill trees much more transparent - I don't have to waste points guessing what abilities I might get. * Characters customisable by skills and profession. This may be the best, most satisfying skill system yet - deeper and more flexible than Dragon Quest VIII, but not as complicated as Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker. In theory I can make my characters experts in one field and carry it over to another. * Alchemy - So much better it's unbelievable. Recipes are more plentiful, easier to find, and you just select one and it automatically makes your item. Best of all, it's instant. Yes, it stays in one place, but the time it saves you is well worth using a Chimaera Wing to get there. Just to balance that off, a small grumble. As killer kirby says, the overworld is to the correct scale (unlike the NES and SNES remakes). However, I would say the overhead view this game has is not a very good compromise between that and full 3D. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker is also on the DS and the environments are fully 3D with a lower camera angle and full, rotational camera control. As others have said there is a lot of slowdown in Dragon Quest IX when you have all your party with you, so presumably it strains the DS significantly. Personally, I would rather use my imagination for the enemy monsters and party members if it meant we could have full 3D environments instead. That said, I realise the overhead view may be to enable to the multiplayer (and no, none of my friends own this game!) But really, it's only a small grumble.

Honestly, I can see why you say that, but I don't really care about story or other things that might be considered "big". Nintendo will try different themes and stories, and sometimes it'll be better than others. I'm happy to go with the flow. What I complain about totally seems like nitpicking, but nitpicking is finding faults just for the sake of it, whereas I only complain about things that genuinely ruined my enjoyment. The feel of the controls affected the entire game for me. In previous games, part of the joy was how much control I had over Link, running around, swinging the C-stick to get whatever camera angle I wanted; going into 1st-person whenever I wanted to get a better view; stopping, pulling R and looking round with my shield. To take that flexibility and freedom away greatly lessened it for me. And quite frankly, there's a great deal of principle involved - it was meant to be a GameCube game, and the only reason it shouldn't have felt like one was if the developers genuinely wanted to try something new, regardless of the Wii. I know we both loved Spirit Tracks, Ronnie, and I didn't complain about any of that stuff because I don't expect it on the DS, but I did on the GameCube.

Increase the chances of critical hits, apparently. From the other games, I base my entire strategy around critical hits!

I'm following this "max out or nothing" strategy too. I did put a few points into Swords (I've got Dragon Slash and Attack +10), but I'm now trying to max out Deftness instead since I learnt exactly what it means. In fact, if I was being super efficient I'd probably make all four members Minstrels and max out their Deftness before I changed them into something else, but that's possibly going a bit too far, isn't it?

As Jonnas said, my problem is that the GameCube version (and it shouldn't even have been a "version") didn't control like a GameCube game. I'm sure it's a technical limitation. The town was originally intended to be viewed from a lower angle. However, Nintendo knew Wii owners wouldn't be able to shift the camera, so they decided to make it bland and overhead instead. See, that's fair enough. There's no right or wrong with whether you should like a game or not. My problem is the objective, technical standards of Wind Waker have not been matched yet. The Wii couldn't handle Wind Waker, that's my point. For a new Zelda to match the control set-up achieved with Wind Waker, the controller would need two analogue sticks and L + R triggers. Like many developers said back in 2005, it just doesn't have enough buttons. Thankfully this could be solved with Nintendo's next console if it had rotational input (ie. a gyroscope) in each hand. In the meantime, there is no way Skyward Sword could ever be as controversial as Twilight Princess, because people know the limitations of the Wii and what to expect.

That rings a bell. I have memories of full 3D rotation as well as "fixed" areas. I love Stella too, she fits in perfectly with previous Dragon Quests and her name is a good pun! I'm not going to criticise the Japanese fans on the other things though, as they may be right. We'll see... Those are pretty odd shops to try (retail park?)! Try GAME, Gamestation or Tesco! A glowing review, very well written! I don't agree with the line "...the removal of potentially weak main characters..." because Dragon Quest characters have never been weak. From what I've played so far, it is better to have set characters rather than ones you make yourself, but that's a small point. I enjoyed reading it.

I agree with you (apart from the fact I'm including Wind Waker, which I'm not sure you are). Well, this is a rather complicated issue. At the most negative end, you have Zelda fans who think it should always have realistic graphics, Link should always have a horse and there should always be Gorons, Zoras etc. At the other extreme, you have people who think any criticism is nitpicking. Personally, I'm in the middle. Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask and Wind Waker were so brilliant, I see no point in finding small faults within them. Same goes for most of the 2D games. I know Nintendo are going to explore different themes and the games are going to be different every time. All I expect is for the game to be good for the machine it's on. Twilight Princess, though, was way off. It was quite fair to expect it to be as good as Wind Waker, albeit with a different style. It was meant to be a GameCube game, so I expected it to have controls and design as good as one. Unfortunately, Nintendo ported it to a machine with an inferior controller, then ported it back again. It's no wonder this is the most controversial Zelda when you had loyal GameCube fans waiting for it for years, and then Nintendo ruined it at the last minute. Most of its faults are evident with a walk round Castle Town. Here you have a town that was once meant to be 3D, and yet is now seen from a forced, overhead perspective. There is no camera control, you can't go into 1st-person perspective and there are enormous loading times between each section, where the screen goes blank for several seconds. Throughout TP, Link does not raise his shield if you press R, and you can't change its angle either. It feels like an itch I can't scratch. It's not fair, it shouldn't have happened and it won't be corrected until Nintendo have a controller as versatile as the GameCube's. I don't know how people can not notice those things, but oh well, I'll have to be content to be in the "Bad Zelda Fans" club.

So many of us bought an XL for IX! That all sounds very bizarre...! Regarding Dragon Quest IX, I'm loving it so far. One thing that surprised me was that the villages and overworld feel very much like IV and V. I know they're all DS games, but they feel the same, even down to controlling the camera with L and R, and how much you can do so. Thankfully, the combat feels like DQ VIII, with some minor changes/improvements, but nothing that seems significant yet. The pacing is very fast, also feeling like IV and V. I beat the first boss at Level 6, and yet I hadn't done any grinding. I got to that level much faster than in DQ VIII. Not sure if that's a good thing or not, it's just an observation. Thankfully, I have noticed the first big improvement over DQ VIII, and that is the way you can see how many points you need to put into each skill to earn a new move, and which one it'd be too. In DQ VIII, you had to guess what skills you might get in each category. It was either a jump in the dark or GameFAQs! And Rez, I can see you're tempted! If you like turn-based RPGs at all, this is essential!

I don't care about the timeline, I only complain if something genuinely lessens the enjoyment for me.

So did I! I was playing Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker and got a little bit of eyestrain (it's just a weakness of mine), so I got up the next day and traded it in for an XL! Fantastic screen, worth it to see IX at its best. Speaking of DQ IX, mine arrived today! Haven't been this excited for a game since Twilight Princess (I get most excited when I loved the previous one). There is a PEGI warning on the back for violence, but not for swearing, sexual references or gambling. Hope they haven't take these out, as it all adds to the colour.

He's not eloquent enough to upset people. Why can't people understand not everything's black and white? There are many shades of grey. Just because someone criticises something doesn't mean they don't like it. I don't care if something's cartoony or realistic, I just want Zelda to get better every time and exceed the technical standard set by Wind Waker (which it hasn't yet). I'd say the "Zelda is always perfect" crowd are the deluded ones.

Good stuff, very good stuff! The graphics will go up a generation, so it'll feel like a sequel anyway! Hope I get my DQ IX tomorrow... I did a rather rash thing and traded in my DS Lite for a DSi XL. Crazy, I know, but the bigger screen is invaluable for me.

Good stuff, Retro Link!

Oh dear! Beating the Dragovian Lord was the hardest (but still fair) thing I've done in an RPG. The post-game boss in Etrian Odyssey was harder, but I couldn't call that fair (and I haven't beaten it). And yes, anyone who really loves this should get a PS2 and DQVIII whilst they still can. When I recommend this game, killer kirby says I'm "forcing it down people's throats"!

The area before the final cave is fantastic for levelling-up - lots of metal slimes, and all the enemies give good EXP anyway. It might be worth trawling that area with a Gigantes and an Orc, both equipped with a critical hit weapon. I found this to be a brilliant way to level up. As for the boss being at the end of a difficult dungeon, yes, that's true, but what's that blue-bottled thing called that gives you your MP back - a Magic Potion or something like that? Take a lot of them with you, do your healing, fill up on that and you're as good as new. Can you take your wagon too? Put a couple of Cureslimes or Healslimes in that, and they can do your healing for you.

I was the same until I read how to do it on GameFAQs. Honestly, spare yourself the frustration. It's almost impossible unless you know the secret technique:

It's not just you - money is the only thing I have to grind for in Dragon Quest. Other than that, the games flow beautifully (IV and V anyway). If you really want to finish it quickly, maybe just stick to the items that have good elemental and magical resistance, like Dragon Mail etc?

Fantastic, that's exactly what I wanted!

Well 120 Stars is the standard completion rate for a 3D Mario. Depends whether you're enjoying it at all, but there's definitely a lot more challenge in the game. As for Star 241, it is quite easy. I did the Hammer Bros part first time and thought "This is easy, it's just psychological. Don't be intimidated by them". Then I couldn't do it for Star 242.

It's not something I thought was necessary either. With random battles, I have no problem imagining that the monsters are in the area. It seems to allow greater appreciation of the environments. I'm playing Dragon Quest Monsters on the DS at the moment, and the only real benefit of seeing the monsters is that they run away from you if you're much stronger than them. I don't know if that's the same in IX? Of course, that coding could be programmed into random battles too.

The Falcon Blade? I think you might have to win it or buy it at the casino. Do any of them know Helm Splitter? I prefer that because it's a non-magical way to lower defence. Of course, it only affects one enemy (unlike Kasap), but it's totally reliable.

It doesn't have very good critical hit potential though (unless I'm wrong), therefore it's not much good for fighting metal enemies. I'm playing Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker (a massively complicated game, if ever there was one), and I'm noticing the themes and skills they give the different monsters is quite consistent through all the games. In Dragon Quest VIII, for example, I could never win Rank S in the Monster Arena with My Three Golems, because they're unreliable for critical hits. I much prefer the Gigantes. However, of course I would recommend picking up a Golem in Dragon Quest V, as it's available long before the Gigantes. Yeah, but presumably S.C.G. would pick up the US or European version, so that's what's available. It's not like I don't recommend IV, I just think V is better. Hopefully they'll remake all of them for the 3DS (or PSP2). I'd buy them again. Well, thank you for that then! Maybe people are right to complain in general, if they think a game is less than it should be...?

I'd have loved a B&M flying coaster at Thorpe too. Shame they built Saw, to be honest. I'm glad to hear the seats on the 2012 coaster won't rotate. Hopefully it's more like a Floorless than a Dive Machine too - don't want it too steep with a holding brake! Maybe 70 or 80-degrees would be ideal? As for the water ride, does Chessington still have a Top Spin? Sounds like they'd have that rather than buy a new one. I hope it's not though - the best water ride I've been on is a portable rapids slide, and there are bigger ones by a company called ABC that look great.