Dragon Quest I, II & III are heading West on September 27th!

[Julius]

The Erdrick trilogy is officially coming to the West on September 27th, the same date as Dragon Quest XI S's release, via the Nintendo eShop - day-and-date with the Japanese release! 

Only US prices are up so far:

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Dragon Quest - $4.99

Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line - $6.49

Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation - $12.49

For those wondering, a physical edition is available to import from Asia which comes with an English language option, which is available on Play-Asia. This version is due to release next month. 

Here's Square Enix's press release on the titles:

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Upon its release in 1986, the pivotal Dragon Quest series became a cultural phenomenon, accumulating a large, passionate fanbase of millions worldwide, and set the standard for the RPG genre. This modern collection of the classic titles features simple and intuitive controls that mimic retro gameplay, paying homage to where the legacy began.

The iconic Erdrick trilogy begins in the acclaimed Dragon Quest where players begin their voyage as the “Hero,” a descendant of the valiant hero Erdrick in an epic journey through the historic realm of Alefgard. Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line takes place a century later, where the young prince of Midenhall embarks on a journey to find the other two descendants of Erdrick in order to defeat the nefarious Hargon. The third and final title in the Erdrick trilogy, Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation, takes players through the land of Aliahan, where a young hero has been charged with an impossible task of slaying Baramos, the master of darkness.

EDIT: And yes, I know we're talking about it in the Switch thread...but it feels deserving of its own! 

Edited September 16, 2019 by Julius

[S.C.G]

I'll be there once the "decent graphics patch" arrives.

[Jonnas]

3 hours ago, Julius said:

I know we're talking about it in the Switch thread...but it feels deserving of its own! 

I agree.

[Hero-of-Time]

I finished the first game last week ( as seen in the Gaming Diary thread ) and started playing the second game on Tuesday. I'm still early on in the game ( just found the Silver Key and picked up the Prince of Cannock as a party member ) but i've been really enjoying what i've played so far. Getting the Prince was a bit of a chew on though. I was running all over the place trying to hunt him down.  Also, I love the little outfit the MC wears. It's absolutely adorable. 

Whilst I did enjoy the simplicity of the first game, its nice to get back to fighting multiple enemies at a time and having some more party members in my crew. My next task is to get the Prince up to the level that the MC is.

There's been a couple of instances very early on where the Dragon Quest charm has come through in the writing of the game. I did snap a couple of images of said instances but I forgot to upload them. 

[Hero-of-Time]

I put some more time into the game today.

Spoiler

I've now got a full team of 3 and have spent a lot of time just grinding levels and getting the best gear I can for them. I also finally managed to beat a Metal Slime. It was much easier to do when you have 3 people to fight with. I was happy to see that a Puff Puff scene was in the game. Tradition is tradition, after all.  

I had an absolute nightmare earlier on. I was trying to find a sunken pirate ship in the sea that housed something that I needed. I spent ages on the boat looking for it. I went back and forth, sailed around areas I wasn't supposed to be in and even tried zooming back to town and starting from scratch. I eventually had to look up online just what the hell I was doing wrong and it turns out I answered a bloke's question wrong and in doing so stopped the treasure from appearing. What a weird thing. 

Anyway, still enjoying the game immensely. 

[Ike]

2 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I had an absolute nightmare earlier on. I was trying to find a sunken pirate ship in the sea that housed something that I needed. I spent ages on the boat looking for it. I went back and forth, sailed around areas I wasn't supposed to be in and even tried zooming back to town and starting from scratch. I eventually had to look up online just what the hell I was doing wrong and it turns out I answered a bloke's question wrong and in doing so stopped the treasure from appearing. What a weird thing. 

Ah, yeah. That's a really obscure event flag.

[Hero-of-Time]

Dragon Quest II is now done and dusted.

Spoiler

 

 

I really enjoyed it. It's my understanding that the game isn't really well liked among DQ fans and I fail to see why.  Sure, there are things that are a little obscure that I had to look up, and the latter dungeons have a killer enemy spawn rate. Other than those two things I couldn't really pick fault with the game. It certainly felt like a more fleshed out game when compared to the original.

The last boss took some beating. I failed on my first attempt and I figured I just wasn't a high enough level. Some of the moves he was pulling off were practically killing my team in one shot. It was a constant fight just to keep everyone alive. I ended up backing out and then grinding a few more levels in the surrounding areas. That was enough to take him down on my next attempt. I just had Adam as the main attacker, while the other two were pinned down as healers and buffers. The fight was still a bit tricky due to the randomness of who went first during a turn. I hate it when JRPGs do that because it makes it really hard to time what moves are needing to be used. Still, I got the victory and seen the end credits.

That's 2 down and 1 to go. I may wait a little while before tackling the final part of the trilogy. If I do play and complete it that would mean I have finished DQ 1-6 this year. Dare I also try to finish 7,8,9 and 11 before the year is out....  

[Jonnas]

I personally found DQ2 quite clumsy. DQ1 feels well designed for what it is, but DQ2 has weird stuff like not being able to choose targets in battle, or the fact that the world map is optional. Might be the Switch version corrected that? But most of all, it feels like a blur in my mind. I still remember most of the stuff I did in DQ1 (like Key items, locations, the ability to have a threesome, etc.), but in DQ2, there's a lot I struggle to remember. Like the pirate ship you mentioned, and I definitely don't recall seeing that puff-puff dialogue anywhere (the GBC translation was different, but DQ1 and DQ3 still had "powderpuff" references).

Time will tell whether I will feel the same about DQ3, but for now, I think it trounces DQ2 handily.

[Hero-of-Time]

4 minutes ago, Jonnas said:

I personally found DQ2 quite clumsy. DQ1 feels well designed for what it is, but DQ2 has weird stuff like not being able to choose targets in battle, or the fact that the world map is optional. Might be the Switch version corrected that? But most of all, it feels like a blur in my mind. I still remember most of the stuff I did in DQ1 (like Key items, locations, the ability to have a threesome, etc.), but in DQ2, there's a lot I struggle to remember. Like the pirate ship you mentioned, and I definitely don't recall seeing that puff-puff dialogue anywhere (the GBC translation was different, but DQ1 and DQ3 still had "powderpuff" references).

You still can't select what monster to target but the world map isn't optional anymore. You have it right at the start of the game and with a press of a button you can view it.

[Ike]

I think a lot of it was down to how unbalanced Rhone was and you could get wiped out without being able to do anything about it. I think they finally balanced it for the mobile version but I've not made it that far in that version.

[Hero-of-Time]

2 minutes ago, Ike said:

I think a lot of it was down to how unbalanced Rhone was and you could get wiped out without being able to do anything about it. I think they finally balanced it for the mobile version but I've not made it that far in that version.

That area is still pretty rough. It's a big jump in difficulty in comparison to the previous areas and if you're not prepared it will still kick your butt.

[Jonnas]

Is that the final area? I do recall it being a heck of a gauntlet to get through.

[Hero-of-Time]

I started the third outing today. 

I didn't know that the game started the way it did, with you needing to answer questions and then get a character trait based on your answers. I was also unaware that this entry allows for you to create your own party and give them jobs that you want them to have. I thought long and hard about who should be on my squad and in the end I came to the conclusion that only the elite should join me on my quest. N-E Dragon Quest fans assemble!

I figured with Ike, Grazza and Jonnas being the big DQ fans on this forum that they would be best suited to join my party. Grazza is a martial artist, Ike a mage and Jonnas a priest.

I haven't really moved the story forward at the moment. I just spent a fair bit of time levelling up and getting the best gear I could afford. The team are all around level 7-8 at the moment. Jonnas and Ike seem to be levelling up quicker than everyone else. I'm not sure if this is because of the job class they are or the character trait that they received. Maybe both? 

It's early on but I can already see that this game is certainly the closest to the later entries of the series. Things like being able to attack certain enemies, having the AI take control of your team and having the heal all option available are options that i'm happy to see in the game.

I'm looking forward to digging further into the game.

 

[Ike]

The level growth is just based on class.

 

 

 

Not sure how I feel being old, but does that mean I'm wise?

[Jonnas]

Huh, it's the same party I had! Except my Fighter and my Mage were ladies.

(That handsome moustache is an accurate representation of myself)

Here's a tip: supposedly, enemies prioritize the first person in your party, then the second, and so on. So you might want your sturdiest defence on the front (my Fighter's HP definitely absorbed a lot of damage for my mage's sake).

4 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Jonnas and Ike seem to be levelling up quicker than everyone else

It's our chiselled physique underneath those robes.

[Grazza]

21 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I figured with Ike, Grazza and Jonnas being the big DQ fans on this forum that they would be best suited to join my party. Grazza is a martial artist, Ike a mage and Jonnas a priest.

 

Love it!  I may be a bit slow, but I make a good shield.

 

Really looking forward to playing this sometime, actually.  I gave up on Android, but will enjoy it more on Switch.

[drahkon]

@Hero-of-Time Seeing as you've played these three games quite recently would you recommend them?

I'm tempted to get one. The first is 3.99€ right now but I've heard it didn't age well. You know how much I enjoyed DQXI and the general Dragon Quest Feeling™, would I get enjoyment from the first installment of the series?

[Jonnas]

Dragon Quest III might be more up your alley. DQI is an interesting game on its own right, but DQIII is basically what codified the rest of the series,so if that's what you're looking for, I recommend III.

[drahkon]

50 minutes ago, Jonnas said:

DQIII is basically what codified the rest of the series, so if that's what you're looking for,

It's not particularly what I'm looking for. Just wondering whether the first one is a good game in itself, as I've read that lots of gamers aren't really feeling it.

I think I'll get this later today.  

[Ike]

A lot of its mechanics are from that time (1 v 1 battles, limited inventory, grinding, you need to play attention to NPC dialog, some classic tricks are used) but the game hasn't aged badly and is still perfectly playable. This version is a bit easier as well.

If you care about the story, you need to play all 3 in release order.

[drahkon]

20 minutes ago, Ike said:

A lot of its mechanics are from that time (1 v 1 battles, limited inventory, grinding, you need to play attention to NPC dialog, some classic tricks are used) but the game hasn't aged badly and is still perfectly playable

You had me at "grinding"  

Bought it and will give it a go soon  

[Ike]

11 minutes ago, drahkon said:

You had me at "grinding"  

Bought it and will give it a go soon  

At least it's the cheapest and shortest so if you don't enjoy it then at least that saves some time & money. It created the genre so at least you get to experience it just for historic reasons.

[Jonnas]

2 hours ago, drahkon said:

It's not particularly what I'm looking for. Just wondering whether the first one is a good game in itself, as I've read that lots of gamers aren't really feeling it.

I think I'll get this later today.  

DQI is a perfectly fine game, yes. I played the GBC version, and I loved it. It feels a lot like the original LoZ, if that game was turn-based, and had clues that actually made sense.

From a story perspective, it's also good to get familiar with the first one, I think that one gets referenced more often than DQIII

[drahkon]

Played DQI for a bit and it's great.  

Love the way it starts: "Yo, whazzup. I'm the king, the world is going to shit, you're the hero. Do your thing." And off you go  

Gaming back in the days was full of magic   No highly detailed map, no quest marker that pinpoints the exact location where you can find the tiny dust particle that unleashes your true potential, NPCs that either say "go ahead, thief, take what you want. My life's in shambles anyway" or tell you of a certain thing you need that is found in a place you've never heard before.

You instantly realize how much handholding there is these days. Sure, some of it is necessary because games are way more complex now, but still...it's a little too much.

I adore this game already  

[drahkon]