Jumpin said:
1. Dragon Quest 1 was the first console RPG, it essentially fused elements from the proto-RPGs Ultima and Wizardry, and developed them into a world that reflects Yuji Hori's own mind and past projects. Add in Akira Toriyama's art and Koichi Sugiyama music; and there was Dragon Quest. The major difference between this new genre which Yuji Hori had created and previous games, was mostly that the previous games didn't have any story, if they did, then it was mostly as a footnote in the instructions as an excuse to go on an adventure. Yuji Hori gave his game an actual narrative. Not only that, but older proto-RPGs required players to type out commands on a keyboard, whereas Dragon Quest developed a very simple menu-interface which Wizardry and Ultima ports later copied - their original versions did not have these interfaces. Gameplaywise, the game featured a single hero. It remains to this day as one of the most influential games in history, as the interface and formula used is still fairly central to RPGs where-ever they are made. 2. Dragon Quest 2 gave the user a hero plus two allies to use, and featured an improved story. 4. Dragon Quest 4 went back to a character driven party, but did it in a unique way where all of the other characters had a chance in the spotlight, not just the main character. Each of the characters played central roles in a chapter, and they all ended up together in the last chapter with the hero. 5. Dragon Quest 5 is my personal favourite of the series - although it was previously 4 for years and years - the DS introduced me to it. Essentially the story follows the life of the main character. The main character starts of at the age of 6 and it goes through his life. In the middle portions the player gets to choose a wife from multiple bachelorettes, and then the main character has children which he can fight alongside with in the later parts of the game. 6. Dragon Quest 6 features two parralel worlds, one is the "dream world" and the other is the "real world". The interactions that occur between worlds have an impact on the overall story. While Dragon Quest has often had multiple worlds to this point, it has never been to this extent. Hopefully we'll see adaptations of the other three as well: 7 pushed into the realm of PSX-era RPGs, whereas Dragon Quest 8 pushed into the realm of PS2 era RPGs, and Dragon Quest 9 began pushing into the world of co-operative RPG play - and really marks the beginning of new roads to be taken in the console RPG genre. |
You bastard. You made me want this collection to be localized even more.
A flashy-first game is awesome when it comes out. A great-first game is awesome forever.
Plus, just for the hell of it: Kelly Brook at the 2008 BAFTAs