This game tries to be like Dragon quest VIII and it kinda succeeds but it's not as good. Overall it is a great game and of course it has much better graphics.
(BacklogBeat's Game Club - Q2 2024 nomination)
Still an absolutely quintessential JRPG experience and all of the QoL improvements make the game even better (I can't believe the orchestrated soundtrack wasn't in the original, Sugiyama was a clown). The game still has glaring issues like bland dungeon design among other things but man, what an adventure. I really miss the non-gimped visuals but this is still a fantastic way to experience the game.
Still an absolutely quintessential JRPG experience and all of the QoL improvements make the game even better (I can't believe the orchestrated soundtrack wasn't in the original, Sugiyama was a clown). The game still has glaring issues like bland dungeon design among other things but man, what an adventure. I really miss the non-gimped visuals but this is still a fantastic way to experience the game.
I have had over 5 playthroughs of this game between my first playthrough on 3DS and all the other versions, I never actually got around to playing the Definitive Edition till recently and man, They weren't lying when they said this was a "Definitive Edition" except for ONE thing I'll get to later.
Battle Speed selector is great, Fun-Size forge being used anywhere(Also being able to get buyable items even if you don't have them on hand), I played with JP voices and thought they were great, I actually used a mod for more variety in the music which if you're on PC I highly recommend that but if not the music is fine.
As for that one thing I have an issue with is The World of Tickington and really it's just a small nitpick, in the DS version of the game when you went there if you for example enter Dragon Quest IV world, the cast would look like DQ IV sprites and so on, was such a cool little feature that I'm sad is gone from the definitive edition, also I'm sad the monsters in Tickington weren't animated like the DS remake Dragon Quest games but outside of that it's really cool to see this brought back for console!
Onto the meat, I feel like this cast truly is an all-star cast, No one is really wasted and everyone contributes something. It's REALLY REALLY hard for me to choose a favorite character in this game it's just such a well balanced cast. Probably my favorite in any video game. I also like the small things they do with the Hero in cutscenes to kinda give him some flavor.
There is so much I want to say about this game but it really is a near perfect game and it's flaws don't really bug me that much, I have an even bigger appreciation for this entry after playing through every single mainline DQ(Including DQ X) It really does reward those who have played every entry.
Here is to hoping that in the future we get older DQ games preserved and on modern hardware so more people can experience this legendary series.
Battle Speed selector is great, Fun-Size forge being used anywhere(Also being able to get buyable items even if you don't have them on hand), I played with JP voices and thought they were great, I actually used a mod for more variety in the music which if you're on PC I highly recommend that but if not the music is fine.
As for that one thing I have an issue with is The World of Tickington and really it's just a small nitpick, in the DS version of the game when you went there if you for example enter Dragon Quest IV world, the cast would look like DQ IV sprites and so on, was such a cool little feature that I'm sad is gone from the definitive edition, also I'm sad the monsters in Tickington weren't animated like the DS remake Dragon Quest games but outside of that it's really cool to see this brought back for console!
Onto the meat, I feel like this cast truly is an all-star cast, No one is really wasted and everyone contributes something. It's REALLY REALLY hard for me to choose a favorite character in this game it's just such a well balanced cast. Probably my favorite in any video game. I also like the small things they do with the Hero in cutscenes to kinda give him some flavor.
There is so much I want to say about this game but it really is a near perfect game and it's flaws don't really bug me that much, I have an even bigger appreciation for this entry after playing through every single mainline DQ(Including DQ X) It really does reward those who have played every entry.
Here is to hoping that in the future we get older DQ games preserved and on modern hardware so more people can experience this legendary series.
First DQ game - so far about 40 hours in. Very charming and cozy, but I dunno how I feel about three dozen hours of what amounts to agonizingly slow narrative setup. Also Japan's politicians need to band together and make a law that requires JRPG music loops to be longer than one minute.
Update: I don't typically get around to JRPGs, so I had a good cackle when 53 hours in (during a moment meant to inspire awe an wonder) a character says, "Many trials await."
On the whole, I enjoyed the game's warm, tender tone, its charming characters, its poignant mini-stories that cultivate themes of perseverance and understanding, and, of course, Toriyama's ever-iconic artstyle. Even if the "subversive" elements of the story felt a bit too light for me, it's unpretentious, cozy-blanket medieval fantasy storytelling - takes me back to when I was a kid and would excitedly get up early on Saturdays to catch the morning cartoon programs. While I do enjoy it, I admit for the length of the tale I'd hope for something more enriching (and for certain elements to not fade into the background for large chunks of game). I do wish there were more scenes of the party members interacting with one another - even just bits of dialogue in the overworld would have been nice.
Gameplay-wise, the battle mechanics are delightfully old-school-yet-refined, and I was pleased at how little grinding I had to do (up until the end, that is). Also, running overworld enemies over with the horse never got old.
Update: I don't typically get around to JRPGs, so I had a good cackle when 53 hours in (during a moment meant to inspire awe an wonder) a character says, "Many trials await."
On the whole, I enjoyed the game's warm, tender tone, its charming characters, its poignant mini-stories that cultivate themes of perseverance and understanding, and, of course, Toriyama's ever-iconic artstyle. Even if the "subversive" elements of the story felt a bit too light for me, it's unpretentious, cozy-blanket medieval fantasy storytelling - takes me back to when I was a kid and would excitedly get up early on Saturdays to catch the morning cartoon programs. While I do enjoy it, I admit for the length of the tale I'd hope for something more enriching (and for certain elements to not fade into the background for large chunks of game). I do wish there were more scenes of the party members interacting with one another - even just bits of dialogue in the overworld would have been nice.
Gameplay-wise, the battle mechanics are delightfully old-school-yet-refined, and I was pleased at how little grinding I had to do (up until the end, that is). Also, running overworld enemies over with the horse never got old.
The game has very good story, good characters, very good soundtracks and there are so many features that makes insteresting to play, BUT you'll have to grind well if you want to be strong enough to not suffer from hard parts of the game.
its early game is a bit hard until Jade becames your party member and after that it becames literally "Jade game", thats because she deals so massive damage and there's no reason to not use her as primary party member. Hopefully at late game other characters deals same damage as her if builded correctly and you wont be able to be braindead that point.
So, about the new things it added to the base game is
Voice Actors, orchestra version of soundtracks, some "filler stories" at mid game, possibility to change between 3D game and 2D game, new mounts, new outfits, some QoL like calling horses and forging anywhere (and now you can buy some material during forge) and new dg that you can challenge secret boss.
its early game is a bit hard until Jade becames your party member and after that it becames literally "Jade game", thats because she deals so massive damage and there's no reason to not use her as primary party member. Hopefully at late game other characters deals same damage as her if builded correctly and you wont be able to be braindead that point.
So, about the new things it added to the base game is
Voice Actors, orchestra version of soundtracks, some "filler stories" at mid game, possibility to change between 3D game and 2D game, new mounts, new outfits, some QoL like calling horses and forging anywhere (and now you can buy some material during forge) and new dg that you can challenge secret boss.
Maybe this game just wasn't for me, but the fights themselves weren't all too fun, but the obscene amount of grinding necessary forced them upon me. The episodic nature of the story was cute and was what kept me going.
I'm really really really mixed in many ways with this one, even though I like a majority of it. The cast is awesome, you feel connected to all the characters and their conflicts. The cutscenes are great, the presentation overall is spot on. Great enemy variety. The game feels large scaled with a grand adventure: lots of towns and areas. The story sometimes went in unexpected directions. The gameplay overall is really fun.
But, here come the negatives. I cannot stand the music. I hate it. I hate how often it is looped or copy pasted. One town theme, one boss theme, for like, 95% of the experience. It makes every area feel more hollow, less special, and it grates on your ears. You'll find yourself switching between the OST's so you don't drive yourself crazy. This is a big one for me and it turned me off to many moments that could have been more impactful.
Also, this game did not need to be so long. The last third is just so unecessary. You feel like it's such a big investment to get to the 2nd part of the game. Then when you see there's like 40 more hours to go you just wanna shelf the damn thing.
They seem like minor gripes but they really hamper the overall experience. Which is a shame because the game is pretty damn good. But parts of it really needed to be retooled.
But, here come the negatives. I cannot stand the music. I hate it. I hate how often it is looped or copy pasted. One town theme, one boss theme, for like, 95% of the experience. It makes every area feel more hollow, less special, and it grates on your ears. You'll find yourself switching between the OST's so you don't drive yourself crazy. This is a big one for me and it turned me off to many moments that could have been more impactful.
Also, this game did not need to be so long. The last third is just so unecessary. You feel like it's such a big investment to get to the 2nd part of the game. Then when you see there's like 40 more hours to go you just wanna shelf the damn thing.
They seem like minor gripes but they really hamper the overall experience. Which is a shame because the game is pretty damn good. But parts of it really needed to be retooled.
Yeah this game's vanilla as hell, but it's like some nice Haagen Dazs vanilla you know what I mean?
Not fan of the story pacing, but better carried out than other games with a similar plot.
I liked it!
I liked it!
Au début je kiffais de zinzin puis la hype est partie dommage... le jeu reste vraiment cool et c'est mon premier DQ récent (j'ai joué un peu y'a longtemps sur DS), l'univers est incroyable, les personnages un peu moins, mais c'est l'histoire qui m'a finalement fait décrocher
Kosa mæ egentlig ganske bra, men contentet som e på slutten føles så jævlig u-inspirert ut, e generelt bare fette kjedelig og føles bare ikke verdt det.
10/10
WIP: 29/03 Finised Act 1
quite enjoyable so far. combat is pretty simple yet entertaining, getting some nice combos and taking advantage of scenarios with team members. I definitely wish you could fine-tune how you party auto-battles though, the options provided are quite limited which often leads to team-members doing things you did not want, and having every party-member follow orders makes combat feel too slow IMO. e.g. I wish i could make veronica always buff her MM before sending off attacks, or I wish I could make Serena prioritise doing buffs when she doesn't need to heal anyone, instead of just doing a pointless wand attack that only ever seems to wake up an enemy Erik has just put to sleep lol.
Story is quite generic but its entertain and engaging enough. Plenty of cliches but its still endearing, I do wish the party interacted with each other a little more, e.g. when you arrive in Gondolia and Veronica / Serena immediately side with Sylvano to go waste time, fun stuff like that but I think the party expands too quickly for anyone to properly develop so far...
WIP: 21/04
Really enjoying the story much more in Act II so far, does make me wish there was more character development in Act I BUT still really enjoy seeing the party members develop and change and be given purpose n shit. Combat becomes much more entertaining with crazier abilities being added to almost everyone. At this point Erik still feels a little lame to play with, his schtick of "apply debuff, apply clone buff, do big attack, repeat" is pretty repetitive and at this point that's all he can do, he has basically no other abilities.
quite enjoyable so far. combat is pretty simple yet entertaining, getting some nice combos and taking advantage of scenarios with team members. I definitely wish you could fine-tune how you party auto-battles though, the options provided are quite limited which often leads to team-members doing things you did not want, and having every party-member follow orders makes combat feel too slow IMO. e.g. I wish i could make veronica always buff her MM before sending off attacks, or I wish I could make Serena prioritise doing buffs when she doesn't need to heal anyone, instead of just doing a pointless wand attack that only ever seems to wake up an enemy Erik has just put to sleep lol.
Story is quite generic but its entertain and engaging enough. Plenty of cliches but its still endearing, I do wish the party interacted with each other a little more, e.g. when you arrive in Gondolia and Veronica / Serena immediately side with Sylvano to go waste time, fun stuff like that but I think the party expands too quickly for anyone to properly develop so far...
WIP: 21/04
Really enjoying the story much more in Act II so far, does make me wish there was more character development in Act I BUT still really enjoy seeing the party members develop and change and be given purpose n shit. Combat becomes much more entertaining with crazier abilities being added to almost everyone. At this point Erik still feels a little lame to play with, his schtick of "apply debuff, apply clone buff, do big attack, repeat" is pretty repetitive and at this point that's all he can do, he has basically no other abilities.
Extremely long game, but it never really drags. I was engaged all the way to the end and then some.
Love and charm wrapped up into one 70+ hour RPG
Dragon Quest XI S (PS4) has finally wrapped up after 120 hours, although there's plenty of side content left unfinished. To me, DQ XI feels like a comforting retreat for those seeking a straightforward adventure to save the world after a long day at the office, without the need for complex storylines or frustrating gameplay mechanics. It's pure escapism into high fantasy that feels refreshingly charming and heartwarming, with a well-paced gameplay and story progression that you can feel even if you only have 2-3 hours to spare each day.
I highly recommend playing the Definitive Edition for the enhanced quality of life features. The improvements are substantial, from the orchestrated soundtrack to the ability to fast forward through battles and craft anywhere, significantly enhancing the game's pacing. The story and character arcs also feel more fleshed out and complete, with elements that would feel sorely lacking if absent. Unlike some other re-releases like Ni No Kuni, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 Royal where additional content can feel shoehorned in, DQ XI's additions seem more like cut content that should have been there from the start, making it truly deserving of its "definitive" title.
However, I do have several criticisms, particularly regarding Act 3. While it offers insights and interesting moments, it often undermines the dramatic writing and character arcs established in Act 2 for the sake of a premature and overly tidy closure. There's also a noticeable amount of reused areas with minimal cosmetic changes for post-content, and the spread of recipes right before the endgame forces players into a last-minute scavenger hunt for ingredients. Additionally, the forced grinding towards the end feels rather unnatural and disrupts the flow of the narrative.
One other disappointment is the lack of vocal OSTs during scenes where characters are shown singing. It's a missed opportunity considering how memorable such moments can be in games like Grandia 2 and Ar Tonelico.
Overall, DQ XI is a JRPG that "overstays its welcome" in some aspects, but it's also undeniably complete and packed with content that justifies its full price. My score: 4/5.
I highly recommend playing the Definitive Edition for the enhanced quality of life features. The improvements are substantial, from the orchestrated soundtrack to the ability to fast forward through battles and craft anywhere, significantly enhancing the game's pacing. The story and character arcs also feel more fleshed out and complete, with elements that would feel sorely lacking if absent. Unlike some other re-releases like Ni No Kuni, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 Royal where additional content can feel shoehorned in, DQ XI's additions seem more like cut content that should have been there from the start, making it truly deserving of its "definitive" title.
However, I do have several criticisms, particularly regarding Act 3. While it offers insights and interesting moments, it often undermines the dramatic writing and character arcs established in Act 2 for the sake of a premature and overly tidy closure. There's also a noticeable amount of reused areas with minimal cosmetic changes for post-content, and the spread of recipes right before the endgame forces players into a last-minute scavenger hunt for ingredients. Additionally, the forced grinding towards the end feels rather unnatural and disrupts the flow of the narrative.
One other disappointment is the lack of vocal OSTs during scenes where characters are shown singing. It's a missed opportunity considering how memorable such moments can be in games like Grandia 2 and Ar Tonelico.
Overall, DQ XI is a JRPG that "overstays its welcome" in some aspects, but it's also undeniably complete and packed with content that justifies its full price. My score: 4/5.
It's really tough coming off of a marathon of RPGs right into this, having just played Persona 5 and Final Fantasy X. Both have incredibly intricate stories and characters, plus a couple neat quirks to keep the turn-based combat fresh. Dragon Quest has very little of this. The Pep Powers learned by each character feel like slightly upgraded Limit Breaks that somehow feel more random and less powerful. There's just not enough consequence for choosing to fight one way or the other. I love the different weapon classes you can choose from, but I don't love that all of them kind of feel the same to use and upgrade. I acknowledge that some of this was due to the game being incredibly easy. Easy games don’t usually demand much variety in approaching combat situations if one or two spells or techniques do the trick for every fight, and the same can be said here. I think replaying the game on “Draconian Quest” mode next time would greatly enhance this aspect.
The story evokes a Saturday morning cartoon with its villain-or-new-town-of-the-week structure that eventually builds up to reveal an overarching evil force at play. It's definitely charming, and I love that this colorful world is juxtaposed with splashes of really, really dark and sad moments to create a pretty compelling contrast. At the same time, when Rab or Erik show an inkling of growth or an opportunity for us to get to know them better, I always felt like the game shied away from it before we got in too deep.
Every ounce of me wants to adore this game. I love the art style, I love the traditional RPG tropes that it capitalizes on and doesn't apologize for, I love the voice acting, and I even love some of the characters too. But for me, the aesthetics do so much heavy lifting for an overall experience that's otherwise just "OK".
2024 EDIT: All things considered, in 2022 I was stranded with my partner in Kingman, AZ for 3 days with not much else to do aside from staying in at the Motel 6 and playing this game on my Switch. For all its flaws, Dragon Quest XI will always hold a special place in my heart for this.
The story evokes a Saturday morning cartoon with its villain-or-new-town-of-the-week structure that eventually builds up to reveal an overarching evil force at play. It's definitely charming, and I love that this colorful world is juxtaposed with splashes of really, really dark and sad moments to create a pretty compelling contrast. At the same time, when Rab or Erik show an inkling of growth or an opportunity for us to get to know them better, I always felt like the game shied away from it before we got in too deep.
Every ounce of me wants to adore this game. I love the art style, I love the traditional RPG tropes that it capitalizes on and doesn't apologize for, I love the voice acting, and I even love some of the characters too. But for me, the aesthetics do so much heavy lifting for an overall experience that's otherwise just "OK".
2024 EDIT: All things considered, in 2022 I was stranded with my partner in Kingman, AZ for 3 days with not much else to do aside from staying in at the Motel 6 and playing this game on my Switch. For all its flaws, Dragon Quest XI will always hold a special place in my heart for this.
I thought the new content would be worth the price of admission. It was. For me. I might be biased.
Insanely long.
There's no easy way to describe what this game did to me.
9+
I started off feeling uneasy, but in the end, I was fully immersed in this story, in which, unfortunately, there are some parts that feel a bit like 'filler content' around the middle. However, if you push past those, it opens up a horizon of adventures in a world on the brink of an abyss. What a well-crafted RPG!
classic jrpg whimsy in the modern era
I used to be in the Dragon Quest community. Actually met some close friends there. And for some reason, this game was really contentious there. Like people were debating about if this game was good or not all the time. And, fuck it, I'm just going to say it. This is one of the best RPGs I've ever played. It's just paced so well, the difficulty curve is perfect, the characters are a lot of fun, the world is a blast to explore. Sure, Act III is a bit of a drag, but at that point, you'd had 80 hours of some of the most fun RPGs ever. This is the RPG I'd recommend to someone who doesn't play RPGs. It's just comfortable.
This might actually be my favorite game of all time, definitely my favorite RPG. It's just some comforting to play.
"Do I please thee, good sirrah? Am I fair in thine eyes? Then mayhap thou wouldst accept from me a heartfelt puff-puff?"
The Grandfather of everything RPG is back baby! Akira Toriyama's (RIP to the GOAT) second claim to fame in video game form is still fantastic to this day. The ol' turn-based formula has never let me down to this day and DQ11 shows that it can still kick ass with a critical hit! Simplicity has never felt so good! The supreme form of the 11th release is absolutely packed with content up the wazoo! All of the playable cast members have some fantastic lines and moments, with Erik, Sylvando, and Jade being my favorites. And it is nice to hear the soundtrack in its orchestral form, a welcome change from the original. Both this and 8 are amongst the most fantastic and charming RPG titles to this day!
The Grandfather of everything RPG is back baby! Akira Toriyama's (RIP to the GOAT) second claim to fame in video game form is still fantastic to this day. The ol' turn-based formula has never let me down to this day and DQ11 shows that it can still kick ass with a critical hit! Simplicity has never felt so good! The supreme form of the 11th release is absolutely packed with content up the wazoo! All of the playable cast members have some fantastic lines and moments, with Erik, Sylvando, and Jade being my favorites. And it is nice to hear the soundtrack in its orchestral form, a welcome change from the original. Both this and 8 are amongst the most fantastic and charming RPG titles to this day!
This review contains spoilers
im so conflicted on this game. most of the time, I love this game so much and think it really shines in its simplicity. i saw someone else refer to this game and dragon quest as a whole as "mom's homemade cooking" and I couldn't agree more. at least with this entry, I still haven't played a ton of the series at this point.
a lot of people might write off the "you're the chosen one??????" plot since its such a beaten to death trope at this point, but they still manage to weave in a fair amount of unexpected twists and turns that I didn't really expect from a game like this. im not talking metal gear or anything here, but ill just say i was surprised to find myself tearing up more than a few times.
however. the BIG however. is that all this tight gameplay with charming characters, etc. feels stapled onto a game design/environmental design model that should've evolved three console generations ago.
for instance, its really cool that you can just play this entire game in 2d mode! they really never had to do that at all and it must've been a ton of work for something that you can just ignore completely! but the fact that a 2017/2019 AAA RPG can be boiled down into a pseudo-16 bit mode shouldn't be possible. it feels like the game isn't really pushing itself to be something thats only possible nowadays.
now im not saying snes rpgs are old and bad, that'd be absolutely stupid of me. but if you look at something like ff4/5/6 compared to ffxvi, you can tell theres been so much experimentation and attempts to try new things. for better or worse, ill admit. but you can't lie to me and say that everyone should still only be using spell charges this far into the series, even as someone who enjoyed them in ff1
and I already know dragon quest earns its reputation through its traditional gameplay and mechanics, which I do like, but there's still ways to make more interesting stuff without going full ff7 remake insane-atb style combat, yknow?
my other fault with the game revolves around its story and act 3. I don't hate it like other people, but I feel like it completely undermines what you worked for in act 2. I love a happy ending just as much as anybody else, but it went way too far for me. something that I loved doing in act 2 was the feeling of slowly liberating the world from darkness and starting from basically nothing. having to find your old party members all over the continent. its cool to see! as well as the new bosses that tie into most of your party and their arcs. its all told and paced well. mwah.
now imagine most of the character defining events of part 2 that took their time setting up and resolving themselves with enjoyable writing and cutscenes being smushed down into like. half an hour. and all the characters in those scenes feel like wooden boards who barely have any emotional reaction to what happens since the game needs to get a move on and bring your party back up to speed.
theres new moments for sure, like with hendrik, but most characters tend to understand, come to grips with their dilemma, and find resolution within a short paragraph or so. having all of act 2 play out again in full would've been exhausting for sure, but there had to have been a better way to do this. also, whenever a character goes "woah this event seems really familiar" I swear I can feel the hero look at the camera with a sly grin like he's in the office since he doesn't tell any characters about what's going on and its frustrating.
I would've preferred a healthy mix of things from act 2 and 3. keep most of the consequences from act 2 and stick with the theme of overcoming loss and continuing to fight when the deck is stacked against you, but bring back the endgame boss shit from act 3 and the expanded worldbuilding and history of the luminary. you can give some characters a happy ending again with magical luminary bs, but keep Veronica and other bigger characters who's deaths were part of the plot dead.
basically this shit is so fucking awesome but every now and then it just feels like im playing a top down snes rpg that was directly translated into 3d which leaves some parts of the world feeling kinda open and lifeless, especially compared to its modern day peers. it also unfortunately backpedals on a lot of its more impactful decisions in the end which makes me kinda go back and forth on the conclusion of the story. excited to see what dq12 does if we ever see more of it, and im excited to dig into more of the series in the meantime
a lot of people might write off the "you're the chosen one??????" plot since its such a beaten to death trope at this point, but they still manage to weave in a fair amount of unexpected twists and turns that I didn't really expect from a game like this. im not talking metal gear or anything here, but ill just say i was surprised to find myself tearing up more than a few times.
however. the BIG however. is that all this tight gameplay with charming characters, etc. feels stapled onto a game design/environmental design model that should've evolved three console generations ago.
for instance, its really cool that you can just play this entire game in 2d mode! they really never had to do that at all and it must've been a ton of work for something that you can just ignore completely! but the fact that a 2017/2019 AAA RPG can be boiled down into a pseudo-16 bit mode shouldn't be possible. it feels like the game isn't really pushing itself to be something thats only possible nowadays.
now im not saying snes rpgs are old and bad, that'd be absolutely stupid of me. but if you look at something like ff4/5/6 compared to ffxvi, you can tell theres been so much experimentation and attempts to try new things. for better or worse, ill admit. but you can't lie to me and say that everyone should still only be using spell charges this far into the series, even as someone who enjoyed them in ff1
and I already know dragon quest earns its reputation through its traditional gameplay and mechanics, which I do like, but there's still ways to make more interesting stuff without going full ff7 remake insane-atb style combat, yknow?
my other fault with the game revolves around its story and act 3. I don't hate it like other people, but I feel like it completely undermines what you worked for in act 2. I love a happy ending just as much as anybody else, but it went way too far for me. something that I loved doing in act 2 was the feeling of slowly liberating the world from darkness and starting from basically nothing. having to find your old party members all over the continent. its cool to see! as well as the new bosses that tie into most of your party and their arcs. its all told and paced well. mwah.
now imagine most of the character defining events of part 2 that took their time setting up and resolving themselves with enjoyable writing and cutscenes being smushed down into like. half an hour. and all the characters in those scenes feel like wooden boards who barely have any emotional reaction to what happens since the game needs to get a move on and bring your party back up to speed.
theres new moments for sure, like with hendrik, but most characters tend to understand, come to grips with their dilemma, and find resolution within a short paragraph or so. having all of act 2 play out again in full would've been exhausting for sure, but there had to have been a better way to do this. also, whenever a character goes "woah this event seems really familiar" I swear I can feel the hero look at the camera with a sly grin like he's in the office since he doesn't tell any characters about what's going on and its frustrating.
I would've preferred a healthy mix of things from act 2 and 3. keep most of the consequences from act 2 and stick with the theme of overcoming loss and continuing to fight when the deck is stacked against you, but bring back the endgame boss shit from act 3 and the expanded worldbuilding and history of the luminary. you can give some characters a happy ending again with magical luminary bs, but keep Veronica and other bigger characters who's deaths were part of the plot dead.
basically this shit is so fucking awesome but every now and then it just feels like im playing a top down snes rpg that was directly translated into 3d which leaves some parts of the world feeling kinda open and lifeless, especially compared to its modern day peers. it also unfortunately backpedals on a lot of its more impactful decisions in the end which makes me kinda go back and forth on the conclusion of the story. excited to see what dq12 does if we ever see more of it, and im excited to dig into more of the series in the meantime
Juego precioso. Buena duración, personajes e historia; buena jugabilidad. Un muy buen RPG por jugar.
hero is high all game
Near perfect game except a few issues with that third act feeling like it undoes everything. It's still one of the best RPGs I have ever touched and worth the 70 something hours I put into it.