| RolStoppable said: Dragon Quest won't find a bigger audience in the West because most people who play it don't finish it and RPGs that don't get finished aren't favorably spoken of. What's at fault is the typical EXP progress that makes Dragon Quest games seemingly drag on forever after you've hit level 30. Mob after mob is thrown at the player, lots of time is spent on battles, but the level rarely goes up anymore and therefore progress is miniscule in the second half of any DQ game. The abandonement of random battles since IX has made the games only a bit more bearable, but they still firmly sit in the area where games get put down and never back up again. The games might not require the player to go out of their way to grind frequently, but that doesn't mean it's fun. Stat growth is an important part of RPGs, but DQ routinely flatlines. As I like to say, those who consider Dragon Quest a great series are people who use Final Fantasy as benchmark. In that context they are correct, but Dragon Quest XI is yet another entry that can be a 7/10 game at best. Enjoy the first half because it's well done, but the quality gradually drops afterwards and doesn't pick up again. |
I feel the exact opposite about XI. The first half is traditional DQ fare. If it had stopped after the first half ti would have been an ordinary DQ game. The second and third acts were more interesting I think. Dragon Quest XI has pacing similar to that of Final Fantasy VI, even to a point where the game references a FFVI soundtrack "Searching for friends".
I don't see how so many people are saying XI is grindy, I never had to sit in an area and grind to progress the plot. It sucks that DQXI takes long to get interesting, but I don't think the first half was better than the second by any stretch of the imagination. DQXI has also been spoken highly of...it has an 89 MC. I'm genuinely curious as to what players suggest the series needs. More Waifus? More Freind Trees, Tea time, dating?
