RPG Genre Discussion Thread

[lestatdark]

mjk45 said:
@lestatdark,
You being super experienced DQ gamer do any of them compare favourably with chrono trigger i would be guessing DQV but haven't played it YET!
or is there enough difference in playing style to make that difficult

Well, each Dragon Quest game can be individually evaluated, given that they only share battle systems and name, as their stories differ. It's the implementation that makes all the difference. As for the first 3 DQ games and DQVII you have your average save the world situation, Dragon Quest V took a step down from that cliche and dwelved on the entire generational struggle of a single family bound to destiny.

Quality wise, I pretty much consider DQV to be on par with Chrono Trigger, because both implement the story and the nuances behind it in the same masterful way. Although, that's as far as I can compare them, because the rest differs too much.

Battle system likeness will be dependent to each gamer's palate, since it's perhaps one of the slower RPG battle systems ever concieved. You'll have to plan and ponder each individual action with much thought, or else you're chances to suceed, in even a simple battle against Slimes early on in the game, will be severely reduced. 

And DQ games, DQV also, rely too much on an insanely high random encounter rate, which makes things even harder. Sometimes it can be very unforgiving, like you surviving a particular hard battle against normal monsters, be left without much HP and MP, and then get into a random battle in which every enemy cast THWACK (instant party death spell, 50% chance to suceed) and it's game over.