Frankly speaking, my first game in the Dragon Quest series was Dragon Quest VIII on the PS2 when I borrowed the aforementioned console and game from my friend a few years back. I think I only played it for about 5 hours, only barely making it past the first town, first dungeon and back. I didn't like the series at all back then: gameplay was slow (I think I was spoiled by the turn-based-cum-action hybrid RPGs and Dragon Quest is a faithful turn-based RPG), unintuitive menu systems (I had to go to the church to save, and I had totally no idea what the different options like benediction does at the church!), frequent grinding to buy the best equipment in town etc. And after a freaking 5 hours I was still at the first town with little plot development. Why am I even investing time in this game?! I thought so, and then I put that game down for good.
I had the same response during my first few hours of playthrough with Dragon Quest IX. The church was still there, turn-based battle system was still so sluggish and I still had to grind. But admittedly, the difficulty level was less steep in my opinion than its predecessor. And since Dragon Quest IX is the first game I got on an original cartridge for my new DS, I could not just put it down and shove it away like how I had treated Dragon Quest VIII. So I decided to gave this game more time, and I am glad I did. This game is really value for money and has its own charm. The monsters and spell names are rather humorous, and there is so much post-game content that I think I could easily spend 100+ hours on the game. I had a lot of fun with the multiplayer feature too: I was treasure-hunting (another really cool feature) with my friend trying to kill this boss called Shogum, who's an armored guy riding a huge pink slime. My friend's level was pretty low and she deals a mere 1 damage to the boss, so I told her, "Hey, I'll Oomph your character." And then we both laughed at how silly that statement sounded. (Oomph is a spell which increases a character's attack a lot.*wink*)
Let me digress a little: for that boss battle I had with my friend, in the end my friend's DS ran out of battery, so I was left in the middle of the really tough boss battle and got wiped out in the next 2 turns. Ouch to my virtual wallet.
There are other fun oddities which I had never appreciated in my previous encounter with Dragon Quest VIII. I could never understand how a monster dancing in front of my party in battle could make my own party member(s) get into the groove and start to boogie with the dancing monster! Although I still can't understand that's possible now, I laugh at it whenever that happens.
I heart Dragon Quest IX, but does not mean that this game is free from problems. Due to the focus on multiplayer feature for this game, though we are given the opportunity to customize our hero and party members (which I totally love this feature!), the party members no longer play a significant role in the storyline, and neither is there character development for the party members. It is a shame but I understand the game design decision made, and I think it is for the best.
In addition, although there has been much improvement in the menu interface (as other gamers on the Internet have claimed), it still feels a little clunky, like something is not quite right. It really bothers me why the Quest List is lumped under Battle Records in the menu; it does not seem to fit in with the other sub menus such as Wardrobe and Item List. I feel it should be placed somewhere else more significant, like under the Misc. tab, which can be viewed directly under the game menu. (Ahh~~ UI design is tough~~) Alchemy is a pain when you are trying to mass produce a certain item: you could only make a maximum of 9 of an item through alchemy at any time. Shopping can be a pain too: many of the shopkeepers just talk too much before they allow you the option to purchase their wares or to sell yours. The shopping interface only shows one of the stats that an equipment in the shop would boost or decrease. This was really troublesome, especially when I wanted to upgrade armor for my magic-wielders, whom I would try to fit them with armor that enhances their magic might or mending, and I would frequently buy armor boosting their defense but lowering their magic stats by mistake. All stats that would be affected should be displayed in the interface in my opinion. The church concept is cool but I still don't understand it. If they really want to have churches to save and etc, I would really appreciate if the little text box at the bottom explains the options I am given with when I talk to the priest in the church, instead of freezing at the previous statement the priest said, which nobody reads while browsing through the options anyway.
There are also some slight inconsistencies, which tends to be overlooked, like how my hero is supposedly the only Celestrian, and yet when I ascend to the Observatory (which I believe only the Celestrians could set foot on) my entire party is there when I try to save at their church, while I am seen running through the Observatory alone. In addition, it is a little funny to see some characters (like my party members) being 3D models with nice, proper textures, while some other NPCs are just sprites. The entire game is beautiful until you zoom up to one of the super pixelated sprites during a conversation or to take up a quest, and it felt like that spoiled the visuals of the game.
I also didn't like how my camera was limited, sometimes in towns and dungeons I could shift my camera in angles less than 180, otherwise I had no control over the camera view. Maybe I was spoiled by the other current games out there which allows us to either have 360 degrees control of camera or no camera control at all, but then again, this is probably a personal preference?
Phew what a long post~ All these love for Dragon Quest IX, I am sad to say, I am putting it on hold now to wait for my friend(s) to level up so that we can go multiplayer or treasure hunt together! In the meantime... I've turned my eye onto this...
The storyline is really good though the menu and shopping interface irritates me. The story feels really epic and having monsters fighting in your party was really cool! But a more detailed analysis should come another day probably. =))
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