Astaldar
2003
1999
Well, I'm converted! This was my first Dragon Quest game, and I can safely say that I regret not giving these games more attention sooner! Dragon Quest's strongest and most enduring quality is that it doesn't try to be anything other than the most quintessential JRPG, and it is only striving to refine and perfect that tried and true formula.
While i can totally see people writing this off as overly vanilla, it's anything but. Everything about this game is so endearing, it's almost intoxicating. Rab and Sylvando are absolute MVPs.
Clocking in at 81 hours upon defeating the Act 3 boss and obtaining the true ending, at no point did I ever feel the game was dragging along, which says a lot about a JRPG as this genre is packed with games that end up bring glorified endurance tests. With additional playthroughs, I will most likely be bumping this up to 5 stars.
While i can totally see people writing this off as overly vanilla, it's anything but. Everything about this game is so endearing, it's almost intoxicating. Rab and Sylvando are absolute MVPs.
Clocking in at 81 hours upon defeating the Act 3 boss and obtaining the true ending, at no point did I ever feel the game was dragging along, which says a lot about a JRPG as this genre is packed with games that end up bring glorified endurance tests. With additional playthroughs, I will most likely be bumping this up to 5 stars.
2023
A 5-star game trapped inside of a 2-star game. The actual monster battling, leveling, and synthesizing are phenomenal and offer a lot of depth for dedicated players, but just about every other aspect of the game falls apart in real time, which ultimately diminishes the strengths of the game's core mechanics.
The graphics, while being wildly mediocre at best, are forgivable since everyone knows DQ games are made on a budget of exactly $2.67, are also combined with horrible framerate drops and general choppiness that is impossible to ignore.
The lack of any real world building, side quests, and general overlapping objectives leaves players with a bland narrative that is not presented well or even coherently at all. That being said, if Monster battlers are your thing, you'll enjoy it since the game delivers in that regard, but stay away otherwise.
The graphics, while being wildly mediocre at best, are forgivable since everyone knows DQ games are made on a budget of exactly $2.67, are also combined with horrible framerate drops and general choppiness that is impossible to ignore.
The lack of any real world building, side quests, and general overlapping objectives leaves players with a bland narrative that is not presented well or even coherently at all. That being said, if Monster battlers are your thing, you'll enjoy it since the game delivers in that regard, but stay away otherwise.
2023
Yeah, that's a video game! An absolute joy from start to finish, even as someone who is not into rhythm games or rhythmically-inclined (to put it lightly). Definitely gives jolts of early 2000s Dreamcast-era nostalgia!
On repeat playthroughs as I go up in difficulty I can see myself bumping it up to 5 stars. Can't recommend it enough!
On repeat playthroughs as I go up in difficulty I can see myself bumping it up to 5 stars. Can't recommend it enough!
2023
Improves on nearly every issue the first game presented, which is incredibly refreshing to see! It still doesn't quite hit the mark in terms of overall story quality and consistency, though it is leagues better than OT1 in that regard. Since Square Enix obviously took feedback into heavy consideration when developing this game, I'm super hopeful that a third installment will be an absolute home run. The love that goes into games like this needs to be experienced by more people.
2021
Does a great job of re-capturing a lot of the lightning-in-a-bottle qualities that made the original Psychonsuts stand out while smoothing out the gameplay. While it may not have the same level of bite as the original, the improvements to gameplay more than compensate. My only gripe is the wonkiness in the combat, but even that isn't super hard to look past.
2016
2022