TriforceBun's Dragon Quest thread inspired me to continue on my journey through the series. I've got a lot of catching up to do!

Technically, this is my first Dragon Quest game, since I played the first three games on NES as Dragon Warrior. I considered doing the same again for the fourth game, but I decided that with less time for gaming these days I'd go with the more modern version that I imagine requires a little less patience. Still, if anyone is playing the NES version, feel free to join in on my discussions.

Anyone have some thoughts on this game? I'm excited to play it.

DQIV is sweet. Well, I haven't played the DS game, but I did pick this one up on the NES back in the mid-'90s for cheap. FF3 and CT got me into the genre, but I was quite a fan of the original Dragon Warrior so I thought I'd enjoy this. Sure enough, I loved it, and I'd say it's easily the best NES RPG there is.

Now, if you're playing it on the DS, you should keep in mind that it's still an NES game at heart, so it won't be as in-depth as most 16-bit RPGs. But even so, it's got a really neat structure and some great moments that kept me playing. Taloon's (Torneko) section of the game was particularly unique, I thought.

@TriforceBun

Yea, and honestly I'm glad it's a faithful remake because part of the enjoyment of playing through these games in order is seeing how the series evolves. It definitely still feels like an NES entry, but with some interesting advances.

Ah shoot; Jargs, did you already start? Poop in my pants.

How much longer did I have to go on III?

@Mr_Mustache

Hey, yea sorry. I think you still had a ways to go in 3. You can take your time since you're sticking to NES games I imagine, but I've got several huge DS games on my plate so I had to press on.

@Jargon

No worries. Are you moving swiftly through? Maybe I'll sneak out soon. I could potentially put some hours on it this week, perhaps enough to finish! (I last remember doing that Book Thing and changing my Wizard to a Sage. WHAT A BEAST. I think I got hung up on the Japanese Dragon whose name I've forgotten, too.)

EDIT- OR, I could just start Dragon Warrior IV this week...and finish III some other time... I've played parts of IV before on rentals.

Jargon--where'd you get this game? I've been thinking about picking up the DS version for awhile now.

@TriforceBun

I'm playing my brother's copy. Not sure where he got it, it was long ago.

I've competed the NES version and I have the DS one too, but haven't played it. Definitely agree with Triforce bun, no question the best NES RPG around, and can compete with some of the earlier SNES RPGs. It'll be interesting to see what you think of it.

@TriforceBun It's $14.99 at GameStop, here's a store tracker for the game.

Hmm... not sure what I'm supposed to do right now. I'm at the Desert Bazaar. Nearby there's a tower, but there doesn't seem to be anything in there at the top. And I can't cross over to the other continent, because there's a guard in the way.

@Jargon Unless things have changed since the NES game, here's what I remember about that part in chapter 2:

When you got to the top of the tower, did you see something or someone flee? Did you search the area that they were in?

Just finished Chapter 2. So far, a fun RPG and I'm not sure if it's because it's a remake, but I haven't had to grind at all and it feels much more modern than the previous games in the series.

@Mop it up

I needed to see a little scene at the bazaar first that I had missed. After that I was able to do what you talked about.

Ah, sorry I couldn't be of help mate, I'm not terribly familiar with the game.

Made good progress in Chapter 3. Interesting section. On one hand, it had some of the most tedious stuff so far: Some grinding at the beginning, plus selling stuff at the shop in the beginning, and worst of all "negotiating" while selling armor (talking to the guy over and over until he offered a good price) in order to build up money to buy the shop. On the other hand, there was definitely some cool stuff that was a lot more interesting than what I've expected out of the series so far.

@Mop it up

No problemo. You keyed me off to the fact that something was supposed to happen at the top of that tower and since it didn't, I figured I must have missed something.

Just finished Chapter 4. I tried and tried to fight Balzack and couldn't beat him so I did some grinding and still couldn't beat him. Finally I looked online and saw I had to use the Sphere of Silence, which I totally knew earlier but had forgotten. Ugh

It's been less than 10 hours so far. If it's as long as RoyKoopa's review suggests (30-40 hours), then the remaining chapters must be much longer than the ones I've done.

Maybe it was less obvious to me as a kid when I first played the game, but the fact that the fifth chapter brings the party together to help out your named character kinda blew my mind back in the day. It's where the adventure really starts heating up!

I think I'm in the home stretch here. Of course you never know with RPGs. I'm a little over 20 hours in and while I've enjoyed it, I'm losing steam a bit, there seems to be more fighting than before. That's probably a bad sign for future Dragon Quests which I understand are much, much longer than 20 hours.

@Jargon You may also enjoy Fortune Street's version of that theme.

Beat the game! What an epic ending song, really good.

Or did I? Started Chapter 6 and I've got to say it feels very anti-climactic playing again so shortly after such a great ending and credits music. I guess I could hold off for a while but I want to get this game completely off my plate.