Thursday, July 22, 2010

Dragon Quest IX

In my recent bought of fanwankery about the Final Fantasy series, I said something along the lines of "Final Fantasy's development teams are run by monkeys* and the 'Dragon Quest IX' team is an example of people who know how to make a proper RPG".  Funny thing that, because at the time I hadn't played a single second of "Dragon Quest IX".  I just sorta had a very good feeling about it.  And since my gut has been right about the games I play nine times out of ten, I figured that a "good feeling" was enough to recommend it prematurely.  Now having played a few hours of "Dragon Quest IX", I know for a fact that once again my gut was absolutely 100% correct in every way as usual.  This game is awesome!

I mean, this is just about the best game I've played all year, I love it!

And that's so surprisingly considering how really basic this game is.  Nothing this game is any way more advanced than say, "Chrono Trigger" which came out fifteen years ago.  I mean, its a turn-based RPG straight out of the SNES days.  Its like my last post was accidentally a wish upon a star, and now the Blue Fairy has come down and delivered it.  Its crazy.  Well, it isn't exactly my idea of a perfect modern RPG (if this were in fact "Final Fantasy XV" I don't think I'd be half as enthused with it), but this is about as good as this genre gets.  Even as it celebrates the classic RPG formula it adds in new details that these games should have thought up years ago.  The gameplay is simple (hardly more complicated than "Final Fantasy IV DS" from two years ago), the storyline is entertaining enough without being an obstacle to overcome to get back to the gameplay, and the graphics are easily the best performance the DS has ever given.  Read on if you want to know more, but already my recommendation is complete and unconditional.

Your main character is a mute hero who is little more than a tiny little digital avatar of yourself.  But this isn't simply Zelda-style where you inhabit the body of Link, no it goes deeper.  You customize your character from beyond name, but also to gender, height, hair color, and face.  So you have the option to create a character from a whole slew of Akira Toryama stock characters**.  Do you want your hero to be Ayla from "Chrono Trigger"?  Well here you go.  Do you want Gohan from "Dragon Ball Z", Namek haircut?  Thanks to this system, you got your wish.  Most tempting, you can even make L from "Death Note" - even though Toryama didn't even draw that manga!  But the main character isn't the only character you can design:  you create every single playable character in the game.  So when it came time to create my party, I made just four dudes in the classic RPG party formation:  two physical attackers, one healer, and an offensive mage.  And yes, one of them was indeed L, now returned from the dead to help me defeat the forces of cartoony evil.

But even this is not the entire story.  Your characters actually wear the items you equip to them.  Usually in an RPG you can give a character a Mythril Helm, but all that will change is a few stats in the menu.  However, "Dragon Quest IX" goes in and actually changes your character's appearance - something I've personally been asking for from RPGs for years now.  If you give them hat, they'll be wearing that hat.  I know lots of games have certainly done this before, but I never played them, so this is something of an exciting notion to me.  If you want, you can have your party wander right into the throne room decked out head to toe in full combat gear.  Its a very liberating feeling, like this is actually your party and your story, not the main character's party and not the story of some pretentious Japanese author half a world away.

Bad news for perverts like myself:  you can't strip your female characters completely down.  When your characters are equipped with nothing they wear a T-shirt and shorts. (sigh)

In story terms you play as Whoever You Want, who is the guardian angel for a small town.  Whoever You Want's job is to fly down to Earth, and protect the villagers while doing random acts of kindness.  Its a nice feeling knowing that the people down there depend on you to clean up after them, protect them from monsters, and are always thankful when you make their lives better.  Its a great feeling to help people, even little digital ones.  I would have loved this game if the whole thing was nothing but a dozen hours of watching over these dozen people, but in order for this to be an RPG, something needs to go horribly wrong.  A mysterious power attacks Heaven, causing Whoever You Want to fall right off to Earth where he/she awakes in human form.  Now its time for Whoever You Want to somehow make your way back to Heaven, defeat whatever evil force is out there, and of course, along the way keep on doing his/her job of protecting humanity as best you can.  Along for the ride is everybody's favorite video game cliché:  an unnecessary Fairy Companion!  Thankfully this Fairy knows to shut up most of the time, so don't worry.

The story isn't over-arching or character driven, sadly.  Voice acting is gone as well, as are most inter-party relationships***.  These are a consequence of having a party full of mute generics who largely cannot affect the storyline.  If you're the type who desperate needs a love story for your RPG to be entertaining, than this game isn't for you.  Try "Final Fantasy IX" if you haven't already.  I mean, if you desperately need inter-party interaction, you can just use - you know - your brain and imagine some yourself.  Make your own story!  For everybody who didn't walk out in a huff and curse my name as they slammed the door, keep on reading.  Though I have yet to find much of an overarching plot beyond "go to town, fix town's problem by defeating boss X in dungeon Y", what storyline there is so far is actually quite compelling.  Yeah, the characters are all out-of-party, but there's been at least one truly touching scene so far, which I have a feeling will not be a lone event.  There's a great mystery here which I cannot wait to see resolved.

Plus the entire game has this overall feeling of silliness and unseriousness, which is sorely lacking from the glib whine-fests that the last couple Final Fantasy games have been.  The enemies are straight out of Kindergarten picture books - its all so goofy as to be completely lovable.

In gameplay terms the game is more or less the standard Job Class-based RPG with just one major variation that I am eternally thankful for at the start of every battle:  no random battles.  Enemies do not just pop out of nowhere while you're exploring, but instead spawn around the field, attacking your party if they spot you.  The higher your levels the less likely weak enemies will try to attack you - they even run away.  Random battles are the most awful punishment God gave Adam and Eve after the Fall.  Look up the word "misery" in the dictionary and you'll see just two words "random battles".  Plus even though the battle system is more or less turn-based, your characters don't spend the whole battle stuck in solid rows like this an 18th century battlefield, they run around and attack the enemy in visually appealing actions.  Gameplay-wise this is completely meaningless, but it makes playing so much more dynamic and fun.

One minor complaint here though:  they messed-up the item system.  Each individual character has to be given a dozen or so items that they can use, and no others.  So there's this huge annoying thing to manage.  Gotta give this guy nine potions and then this other guy an Ether and blah blah blah.  I just don't use items in battle and avoid all this nonsense.

Another issue I have here is how despite how cool the appearance changing feature is, it also has a negative consequence:  you have to juggle stats with fashion.  I can never bring myself to equip helms because they cover up the lovely hair styles and colors I picked for the characters.  Sometimes I just won't wear equipment because they're so ugly.

But little issues aside, "Dragon Quest IX" is the best original RPG you'll ever find on the Nintendo DS.  Its closest cousin is the half-assed "Final Fantasy IV" remake (read my walkthrough if you want to know more about that sad chapter in my life which I would prefer not to relive) and it blows right past that game in just about every way.  It may not be a major new paradigm shift for video games, but its still really fun.  It may not have the world's best plot, but what plot it has is exciting enough to keep my interest.  There's a mystery here that's keeping me guessing the entire way.  So unless this game cheeses out pathetically in the later hours, this is my final word on this game.  I don't think I'm going to go Dragon Quest crazy and play every single other game in the series like I've done for some other RPG franchises in the past, but this one right here, this is a classic.  BUY IT!  BUY IT!

Update:  At the time of this post's writing three days ago I didn't yet have a ship to sail along the oceans of the world.  Well, a doll just gave me one (long story), and I've discovered something odd about the high seas.  RANDOM BATTLES.  There are random battles in the water!  What the Hell??  The only reason I bought this game was because it looked like a cool classic type of RPG that notably removed the worst feature from the RPG formula, random battles.  And here they are!  They just snuck 'em into the game right under my nose.  Nobody told me "there are no random battles - except for the oceans".  They just said "no random battles".  A thousand Japanese nerds complained that the random battles were removed, and yet none of them said anything about this.  The world lied to me.  And they're just annoying as you'd imagine.  Lucky thing its only when you're sailing, but still one random battle is too many for my taste.  Goddammit.



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* This should be made clear:  the vast majority of programmers and designers who make video games are probably all brilliant, competent, and immensely talented people who did their jobs with excellence.  They deserve a medal for making a game as graphically complex as the average Final Fantasy come into existence at all.  But its the other 1% (who I suspect are the guys at the top) who just railroad these productions right into a sand dune.  I mean, there had to be just one guy who decided that FFXII should have nothing but random chests everywhere.  So that meant that a team of very talented people had to spend months making complex algorithms created chest spawning and the random treasures, and they did their jobs perfectly.  But that doesn't mean that having random chests still isn't ANNOYING AS HELL!!!  So one guy makes a good game decidedly worse.  See how just a few of these decisions can absolutely ruin a game?

** I think the character creation system may indeed be the one that Akira Toryama uses himself, sadly.  The guy really does only have like six human faces.

*** There probably could have been an internal system of generic characters conversing amongst each other and building relationships automatically like its a "Fire Emblem" game.  But since the party is limited to only four members, I don't think this would have been practical.  Maybe they can do something like this in "Dragon Quest X".

31 comments:

  1. I'm planning on picking this game up soon. How many save files does it hold?

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  2. I'm saving for a new PSP since my old one was stolen, and I'm NOT missing out on Birth by Sleep. However, if I somehow manage to get hold of extra cash, I will definitely give this game a buy. I didn't like Dragon Quest VIII very much on the PS2 and I won't be playing Dragon Quest X because I don't have a Wii, but I think it's worth it to give this series a clean slate and give it a shot. Nice semi-review!

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  3. Hmm. Well, that changes things somewhat. Though i have heard that multiplayer is a huge part of it, so maybe I'll pick it up just for that.

    I'm also looking forward to Birth by Sleep, however, I won't be picking it up until about a week after it's release. It drops on my father's birthday, so not only will I be busy that day, I'm planning to spend a lot of money on his birthday gift, so I'll be broke until late the next week.

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  4. Final Fantasy Crystal Cronicles: Ring of Fates had the Appearance Changing system too, and there I actually skipped some of Meeth's best armor in the game just because it made her look like an idiot. And is it like Dragon Quest V? I picked that up and greatly disliked it...

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  5. Can I make a party of Ayla, Chrono, Marle, and Magus?

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  6. Those are some pretty serious Death Note spoilers you're giving out there. What class did you make L? Now, excuse me while I descend into a lowly pit of fanboyism, but now I'd like to forget about your review and even Dragon Quest IX altogether and say what class I think the entire main cast of Death Note is, with the absence of Misa Amane:

    L - Black Mage
    Light - Red Mage (maybe a Beastmaster)
    Mello and Near - Black and White Mage respectively. Can Twincast.
    Matt - Green Mage
    Teru Mikami - Dark Knight
    Soichiro - Paladin
    Aizawa - Warrior
    Mogi - Black Belt
    Kiyomi Takada - White Mage
    Rem and Ryuk - Summons
    The SPK - Biggs, Jessie, and Wedge collectively
    Matsuda - Magikarp

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  7. Why not throw Jessie and James into the SPK too?

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  8. And what would Subdirector Yagami be?

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  9. Misa could be a Seer, not much for the class itself as for the name as her only role is to see peoples' names and be annoying

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  10. @Uppfinnarn:

    Most of the SPK just play a small role and then die, like Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie from Final Fantasy VII. Jessie and James are bumbling fools, not the kind of person Near would recruit.

    Subdirector Yagami's first name is Soichiro, the paladin. I made him that because he's really stalwart and noble and stuff. It's also kind of a reference to Roamin, the crime-solving Rank Eleven paladin.

    I guess Seer would be appropriate for Misa, as she does get her power from a book, but I'd prefer we just forget about her. She was replaced by Kiyomi Takada, so let's just put that whole mess behind us.

    While I'm here, I'd best say something about Dragon Age: It looks really good. I always like character customization, and I really love the ad campaign with Seth Green. Something about a voice announcing, "You know who does understand? ME!" and then Seth Green appearing out of nowhere tickles my fancy.

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  11. Dragon Age: Origins was a pretty good game. At least the first half of it was. My Xbox 360 broke before I could finish it, but I plan to continue playing after I get it repaired. I should let you know that I usually hate American RPGs, even other Bioware ones (I really disliked Mass Effect), but Dragon Age has good writing, a fun battle system, and it's got quite a bit of political intrigue. At times it reminded me of A Game of Thrones (which I picked up after it was suggested here on this blog).

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  12. @Drake:

    I meant to say Dragon Quest. I was actually thinking as I wrote it, "Don't say Dragon Age, don't say Dragon Age!" How embarrassing! I actually know nothing about Dragon Age, aside from it has a radial menu system. I really like radial menu systems. It's a lot more seamless than menu systems which are non-radial.

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  13. Hah, I'm happy you like the game. You didn't mention how grinding makes the game easy as shit. I just got the 6th "magical quest item" and at least one of my characters is level 99. I grinded like CRAZY. I hope I'm not close to the end of the game, because I just kind of ruined the difficulty. As for my characters...

    Level 98 Minstrel Roxas (my main hero)

    Level 99 Mage Meryl (named after Meryl from MGS)

    Level 99 Martial Artist Tiamcha (named after Tien and Yamcha from DBZ)

    Level 96 Warrior Gokule (Goku and Hercule from DBZ)

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  14. My bad, that above post was actually me, something screwed up with google.

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  15. Try playing Mount&Blade. It's a pretty damn good RPG and has the best horse riding system I've ever played. Although don't get the one in stores, get 0.751+crack from someplace and then go to the Mount&Blade unofficial file repository and look for Expanded Gameplay. I think it's a game you'd like.

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  16. I bought Mount and Blade: Warband a week ago. Funny you should mention it.

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  17. Blue, you need to play more western RPGs. Pretty much all of them have character customization, no random battles, and visible equipment. A few recommendations: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (I cannot recommend it highly enough), the Mass Effect series, and Dragon Age: Origins. Actually, anything ever made by Bioware is awesome. Also, while I have never played it myself, I have heard that The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is even better than Oblivion.

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  18. Morrowind is better than Oblivion, but both can get on your nerves. If you're not a fan of sci-fi already, you probably won't like Mass Effect all that much. Dragon Age: Origins, on the other hand, is one of the best RPGs (Eastern or Western) I've played in years.

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  19. And Dragon Age was kind of a spiritual sequel to Baldur's Gate, another great CRPG game, though a little dated, and the battle system may get on your nerves, as it's kind of a less sophisticated version of Dragon Age's.

    And then there's Planescape:Torment, which takes place in the same universe as Baldur's gate, and has one of the most expansive, awesome, and original stories I've ever seen in a video game. It is VERY story based though, with a lot of reading and only three required fights in the game.

    And Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines was pretty great too, though you need a fan-made patch to get rid of some glitches, It had a great ending.

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  20. Regarding Vampire the Masquerade, I tend to distrust video games based on role playing games. The only good one I've played was Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone, which was written by R. A. Salvatore (the author of the Drizzt books).

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  21. All three of the games I recommended were based on role playing games (: What have you played that disappointed you?

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  22. I tried Baldur's Gate (the console version, though), and a D&D game for the GBA. I believe I once played part of a Werewolf game, but I'm not sure if it was affiliated with White Wolf or if it just had similarities.

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  23. Yeah, I probably should have mentioned that the console version is completely different, and not nearly as good.

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  24. Oh, that's bad news because I never play computer games. NEVER EVER. I like being able to buy a game, putting it in a slot, and being able to play it from then on any time I want without any chance of failing. Computer gaming gives you a thirty hour install time, nine billion glitches, infuriating piracy protection issues, and eventually a heart attack from rage. I know from experience, which is why I haven't played a PC game since "Roller Coaster Tycoon 2". Its over, man. Over.

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  25. Too bad. I guess it might actually be for the better though, since getting twelve year old games to run on your computer can be really annoying.

    Why Roller Coaster Tycoon 2? I don't remember ever having any problems with it.

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  26. In that case, you should get Oblivion instead of Morrowind. Morrowind is PC only, but you can get Oblivion on PS3 and XBox 360.

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  27. While not strictly an RPG, Iji is an insanely fun 2D platform-shooter in the style of Metroid with some pretty cool RPG elements. Its moral choice system is especially cool, but I won't go into that, as it would kind of ruin the experience. It can be found for free at remar.se/daniel, and requires no more installation than extracting a .zip file. I recommend giving it a look.

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  28. CthulululululululululululululugoddofmadnesssFebruary 1, 2011 at 12:34 AM

    Good western bioware CONSOLE ggame that is a fracking AWESOME rpg: Fallout 3, yes, there is an xbox version. it is HIGHLY customizable. you can be good, evil, somethign in between, whatever the fuck you want. You have to follow a storyline mind, but even then, it is a great wstory, wiht a lot of options, and numerous alternate endings. hell, you can even say "fuck it" and avoid the Noble sacrifice by making one of your party members do it!

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  29. I just bought dragon quest 9 and apeared to be a glatiator but my frends say i should be a minstral so what i am asking you is this normal

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