I never used any kind of guide what so ever for NES Zelda. I discovered everything as a child when me and my buddy would play it.

If I played it now I would still remember which walls to bomb and bushes to burn.

Wow, alot of disappointing stories that were handled way better than I would have. I just want to throw in that I have almost 130 hours logged in and I still haven't really gotten tired of it. My only hope is that Nintendo runs a few more tag events, because I really don't know anyone near me who has the game and I'd really like to try out the multiplayer.

Well, I've been lucky to find some tag events organized by a VG store in a mall near where I live. If I had to wait for Nintendo to organize those events, then I would never get tags.

The multiplayer is okay, you get an EXP bonus, depending on the number of players in the party (when it's 4 human players, you get up to 1.3x the normal amount of EXP) and you can share treasure maps and open blue chests on the current world that you're visiting.

The best thing about tagging though, is when you tag over 30 people. Your inn gets upgraded to the maximum, and it opens up two extra floors and a basement with a celestial fountain which gives 10 random alchemy ingredients (or mini-medals) each 60 minutes. The best ingredients that I saw there were Enchanted Stones and Astral Plumes.

I'm glad you enjoyed the game so much.

Although I wasn't expecting a negative review. Who would play a game for 140 hours before they realize they hate it?

I can't help but compare Dragon Quest IX to another DS game that came out this year, and that's Pokemon Soul Silver/Heart Gold. Both games are extremely charming and addictive, they are both simple to grasp yet complex in their own way, and in my case, they are the only 2 games on the DS that I can easily play for countless hours without rest. If I had to decide though, Dragon Quest IX wins, and it is easily in the top 3 RPG list of this gen.

Uhhhh, negative review?

Yeah. It's really annoying that everyone here are bashing the game.

At least, give it a chance and play 200 hours before you call it quit.

Ahh, gotcha.

This is the second video game I've ever played in my life.  DQ8 was the 1st.  So, it's really interesting to hear your take on the comparison between the games in this series.  Friends have given me DQ4 & DQ7 to play through, so I've got a ways to go before I can add to the comparison discussion.

But, I have logged 270 hours on DQ9 so far (I know, I'm totally obsessed.)

I found my first Moai Minstral in a Lv. 65 Cave Grotto.  It took forever!  On the plus side, after all that, the Luminary quests are easy by comparison!

As far as where to grind, I originally started with Liquid Metal Slimes on Slime Hill and tried over 100 times to get a King Metal Slime in the Tower of Nod.  But I finally hit the mother load when I met a guy at the Chicago Comicon who Cavassed for Guests with me and gave me a Grotto map that was originally from Japan that had 11 floors and guess what --- the 11th floor is populated exculsively with King Metal Slimes!  Needless to say, I'm grinding like crazy right now and maxing out my character vocations to Revocate every class just got a lot easier!