Dude, you are one of the rare UA-camrs where I watch pretty much everything you upload. Your vids have a classic UA-cam style comfort food feel. Nothing overcomplicated or heavily edited, just a guy sharing his unfiltered thoughts. Kinda reminds me what this website is about.
Yep. I'll never forget my first time climbing it. Final Fantasy III's final dungeon might be the worst overall experience, but that one is so long and unfair that it wraps back to being tedious again. This and Mt. Itoi in Mother 1 hit that sweet spot of being stressful and yes unfair, but also *just* compelling enough that you really want to power through and make it.
@@OnlineVideoSurfer Thanks for reminding me that mother 1 is on the Switch. Had a save on the Wii U but doing an out of town job. Was G3 in MH4U at the time last when I was doing an out of town job. Maybe motehr 1 will be a good time. Heard it kinda plays like a DQ2 with the crests but as bosses. I was wondering why there was a goofy looking dragon ealier game that was just stacked against me. That one kid in the cave felt so depressed.
I'm glad that I recently beat these for the first time. Despite the grinding of the first game and the ending stretch of the second, I found them to be super high-quality titles for the NES that, while guide games, stand with the likes of the two Zelda titles on the console for still being really fun despite the outside assistance being borderline necessary. Hope you go through 3 & 4 at some point in the near future!
I hope I'll have a similar opinion when I finally play them. Been meaning to do so, but decided to hold off for when the HD-3D remakes come out! I did something similar with the Phantasy Star series last year. These old JRPGs might not always be "fun" but they're at least interesting! Unless it's Phantasy Star 3.
Grinding was a new concept for myself and I am sure a lot of other people back in the day. We thought about grinding in RPGs the same way we thought about jumping in Super Mario Brothers or firing a gun in Contra. I think the first RPG I played where grinding wasn't really a thing was Chrono Cross for the PSOne. You could fight optional battles for materials or go on optional quests to gain additional characters, but you only leveled up by defeating bosses.
Jason! I freaking LOVE This channel man! Really gives me old JonTron, and PatTheNES Punk Vibes and as a fellow Floridian I thank you for repping the state with a great channel man keep going bro you are CRUSHING IT!
Im old enough to remember that I got Dragon Warrior for FREE. It was some promotion going on when Nintendo Power magazine came out. I was 7 years old - the fact that I got a full NES game in the mail, for free, absolutely blew my mind. This was the 80s! Unheard of at that time. Better believe I poured hundreds of hours into it in the dark basement with my friends. :D
I NEVER thought i would have played these games 10 to 20 years ago but after playing 11 and waiting for 3R, i ended up giving these a try, finished them, and overall had a really solid time! It's interesting to watch videos talking about them now, knowing exactly what the experience is, instead of just imagining some vague, cryptic relic of the past. At the end of the day they're still videogames and they hold up pretty well.
Mine were Eric and Gwen, which I have used as recurring character names in games I make as a game dev ever since. I started with the GameBoy remake version, my only other experiences with RPG elements before this being Zelda 2 and watching other kids play Pokemon for five minutes. RPG has been my favorite genre ever since.
As someone who grew up on Tim Rogers, 1UP/Jeremy Parish, and HG101 I really grok your vibes as the kids say. I still find a lot of interesting points and ideas in your videos even on stuff I'm aware of beforehand.
Discovering your channel and watching your DQ V and VI reviews inspired me to get into this series. I’ve now played through I-III on NES and am almost through IV. I have such an appreciation for these games now despite their age and clunkiness at times. I can’t wait to move onto V and VI and experience the rest of the series too! Your content is great, keep up the great work man!
I loved that insight on how the King is the dungeon master of Dragon Quest and thus its real protagonist. I feel if this where Tim Rogers, maybe he would have gone on a tangent about how you can't kill the King in Dragon Quest, but you can try to kill Lord British in Ultima, you will almost certainly fail, but you can try. This design quirk alone would set JRPGs and western RPGs in different directions, with Japanese games setting restraints on what you can do beforehand i.e. The UI itself doesn't let you target NPCs, while western RPGs let you do pretty much anything, encouraging thinking outside the box, with the developers setting road blocks and limits to your power, but players sneaky enough can circumvent those. I don't know I forgot where I was going with all this.
14:30 As an aside, I LOVE how the Dragon Lord breaks out of his enemy box and intrudes onto your UI - and seemingly attacking your HP gauge directly. It makes the fight feel a little personal, and it's a great touch.
I was an advanced, voracious reader as a young child in the 80's already. My favorite genres were sci-fi and fantasy. So obviously this nerdy shit was amazing to me, and none of the reading was a problem to me- in fact, it felt like gaming was going in a higher IQ, more intricate storytelling direction! I never beat it as a kid, but recently did complete it, and I absolutely think you had the exact right adjective: CHARMING! I kinda loved it, even though it's almost pointlessly simple by today's standards. My nostalgia overfloweth.
Yeah, I never thought anything of READING a game. I guess that was a different thing for some people, since maybe they mostly play action games. I don't recall ever thinking "why do I need to read things in this game". I also read a lot too. My first "big" book I read and finished on my own was The Hobbit, as a kindergartener, and my mom had already read I think every Narnia book to me, and I'd cleared out the majority of the mystery section of the kids floor of the library by that point or soon after. I didn't have an NES until first grade, but the NES came with Nintendo Power, which I of course spent a lot of time reading. Seemed like something that belonged from the beginning to me I guess.
My local video store would also send the player’s guide for DW2 and DW3 when you rented the game. You had to return both or the store would charge you full price to replace the game. It came with a little notice. Not that the game was ever available. You had to reserve a copy and could only do it for two nights, tops. Probably not too many people who played the game, but us who did were fanatics!
I got Dragon Warrior with my Nintendo Power subscription as well. The maps (for Dragon Warrior 2 too also for some reason), the booklets, etc.. you got with the cartridge was incredible. I miss that. Fond memories of that game. 🙂
Fun fact, according to RndStranger, Dragon Quest 1 actually wasn't a huge smashing success in Japan when it came out, it sold fine enough but it was more of a sleeper hit. It was Dragon Quest 2 that actually became the game of the moment and turned the franchise into a big thing (and then Dragon Quest 3 was even bigger and took it to legend status). With that in mind, it's kinda weird how people in English speaking UA-cam dunk on 2 so much, it's basically 1 but better in every way. Good video as always
DQ1 and DQ3 on SNES back-to-back is a really great time. You start out very simple and quick, despite some of the grind but all battles are one-on-one. Then everything gets turned up and enhanced in DQ3, with much more complexity (such as larger monster-groups), discovery, and exploration. Beginning and ending the experience in the same overworld is pretty enjoyable too.
16k IS a real milestone if you think in terms of powers of 2. Speaking of, 250 was the max HP value for those bosses because (I'm assuming) the devs didn't want to use a 16-bit variable for HP. And 255, of course, is the max value for an 8-bit variable.
Great review. I'm playing Diablo 4 and you made realize I'm just playing dragon warrior 112. I forgot I even played this game as a kid, but as I watched this video I remembered. Thanks for the nostalgia and reminding me where I originally got hooked to the grind of RPG games.
It's funny. My friend group always liked RPGs back in the 80s. Honestly, this was all that we had. Also for the reading, this was more imersive than a book, so the reading was par for the course.
I remember my mom checking the mail one day and was like "Ben- you've got a package" and, being a 8 year old who never got mail, was like "ok?". The only mail I EVER got was my monthly(ish) Nintendo Power. So my mom handed it to me and I opened it and it was (of course)... Dragon Warrior. As a fan of Legend of Zelda and Ultima 3, I popped it in an loved it immediately. It was way different than the action adventure of Zelda- alot slower- but it really pulled me in. What helped was the poster it came with showing all of the monsters from Dragon Warrior 2. The illustrated poser was just so damn cool.
Idk why but when I first played Dragon Warrior (acquired for free of course with my Nintendo Power subscription) , it immediately intrigued me. I was sucked in from the first play. Absolutely loved it.
I played Dragon Warrior after played Ultima Exodus actually. To me DW DID feel like a step backwards. I like creating my own characters, and having a party vs. just being one dude. And Exodus has a better soundtrack. however, I do understand the graphical upgrades along with the overall feel of DW having more polish. It wasn't until Quest of the Avatar that FCI got it totally perfected!!
I agree with you, except that Ultima Exodus is obtuse as hell! None of the NPCs say anything of consequence. There are three separate people who say "it's a good day for washing"!
@@Misa_Susaki The castle theme, Ambrosia, the overworld theme and town theme are really good in Ultima 3. The dungeon theme will melt your brain, however.
Very nice to see some grace afforded to DQ2. It's something of an awkward middle child between 1 and 3, but it's still cool and has a superb ost, maybe my favorite in the series.
Yay, new video! If you enjoy one handed grinding, I highly recommend the ASCII Grip controller. I don't think they made one for the NES, but there's one for SNES and Playstation for sure. Maybe more.
I got mine free with Nintendo Power, it took a while for me to warm up to it. Basically, the summer after getting it I was desperate for something to do ended up grinding it out. I still have it, surprisingly the battery still works and every once in a while I bust it out and complete it from my last save. I still know the path through the Dragonlord's dungeon
I am the only unlucky bugger in the US who did not get this through Nintendo Power. I seem to recall getting it and playing against a few slimes and not making any progress and quitting until a friend of mine brought over his copy and he got much further. I think this was before I understood the idea of leveling and experience and how playing and winning more than a few battles would increase my level and open up more progress. I did kind of get Dragon Warrior 2, but my copy did not come with the box and nifty strategy guide or anything because I got it from a local video store and ended up keeping it too long and we ended up just buying it from the video store. So, our copy had some hard cover case with a piece of paper cheat sheet version of a "manual" glued to it. I have a special place in my heart for both versions of these games and I know that I beat DW1 and I remember the experience. I had gotten to the Dragonlord multiple times and died many times before, but I had a friend over and thought I would show him the game. Just so happens that was the day that my attacks and healmores just lined up and led me to victory. I don't remember the year or the month, but I do remember it was a Friday the 13th and yes my name is Jason as well. DW2 on the other hand, I remember beating at some point, but I have no idea how as it seemed like an impossible task to beat all those guys with the instant kill moves, but I remember doing it at some point as I remember even being amused by one of the staff's names as I mispronounced it and it had a naughty sounding phrase in it at least to my teenage mind. IDK, maybe I ended up using Game Genie or something to beat it, but I do remember seeing the ending after beating the game, but I don't remember it being as hard... IDK, maybe I ran from the really scary enemies at the end.
Long time follower, I'm sad I just moved to Florida and I have a fellow retro nerd in the same state and haven't connected. Congrats on the channel success and growth. Keep it up. Pac man 2 for the win
DQ1 and DQ2 are great games given what they pioneered at the time, but I maintain that DQ3, DQ4 -- especially 4 -- and DQ5 are the best games in the series and some of the best JRPGs of all time.
I think the road to rhone was like oh this rhone place is like really bad news man. We are not messing around. Only played the GBC version but it had some grind to it but heard the rhone grind is even moreso in the NES title. I remember getting DQ3 for the GBC after seeing someone in the high school cafateria play it and he let me play it for a few minutes as long as I didn't overwrite his quick save save feature. Man that quick save stuff was tight for a portable title. Kinda like in FF7 rebirth or DQ11 and stuff. Honestly I got a used copy of DQ1 and 2 way later in life but I should have picked it up new back near the dec 2000 when I got a copy of legend of the dragon for the psx. Played a used copy of Super mario RPG earlier that year so that combat was tight.
One thing you didn't mention that I liked from both games is that after you beat the final boss, the game still isn't over. You have to walk all the way back to the first castle at the beginning of the game and talk to the king to end the game, but it's a peaceful walk with no monsters so you get to stop and appreciate the world you just saved. It also kinda adds to your theory that the king is the dungeon master of the first one at least. The other games turn that kind of journey back into a cutscene, which for something like DW4 is thankful that it happened but you kinda miss something when you aren't doing it yourself.
Yeah, the Prince of Cannok is a character you have to babysit for most of the game. He doesn't come into his own until you get better gear. Which his three best in slot items are all shop purchases: Falcon Sword (so he can attack twice, which ends up dealing more damage per round than with the Iron Spear), Shield of Strength, and Fur Coat (the most expensive armor in the game).
My nes in my childhood was a hand-me-down from my sister's boyfriend and his DQ was Dragon Warrior 3. I was spoiled with that one and played the absolute hell out of it, mostly because my older sister kept deleting my saves out of spite. Childhood nostalgia demand that I assure that that's my favorite Dragon quest game. Also, did ya have any plans when you reach the big 2-0 K subscribers? My suggestion is: Reviewing YIIK: a postmodern RPG.
I had a friend in elementary school in the 80's that when his family moved from Japan to the USA brought over his Japanese Nintendo. We would play Dragon Quest 2 and 3 for hour on. Good memories.
I loved Dragon Warrior as a kid. It was nice to play something that didn't require you to do everything perfectly, that you could see actual progress every time you played. In the days before GameFAQs and Mike's RPG center, you were kind of on your own, and the prospect of crossing a bridge, or even going too far from the castle was a harrowing experience. Am I strong enough yet? Those skeletons look a lot more scary when you aren't sure about whether you are strong enough yet.
It’s worth noting that a lot of the things dragon warrior did to streamline early computer RPGS were actually already done in 1st edition AD&D. Leveling up in dragon warrior and getting stats from weapons are straight from D&D (although in D&D you originally only got exp from earning money, not killing enemies)
Dragon Warrior II is absolutely a wonderful game! It's the hardest for sure, and getting to Rhone only dying once in my recent/only complete playthrough is my proudest gaming moment. Obviously I died countless times once I was in Rhone (everyone who's made it that far knows why) but the fact that I was more than leveled up enough and needed a critical to beat the final boss is amusing to me. The game is brutality, but that's what makes it great.
Dragon Quest V was intentionally skipped over for the US market because Horii and Enix thought a game about growing up, getting married, and starting a family wouldn't sell well here. Dragon Quest VI was fully localized as Dragon Warrior V, was set for Nintendo's QA testing, but then Enix of America went out of business. Some of their games, like Illusion of Gaia, got picked up by other publishers for a US release, but Dragon Warrior V got permanently shelved. Especially considering that to this day there is no complete fan translations for the SFC version of VI, Dragon Warrior V would be my holy grail of game prototypes should it ever be found/leaked.
No way man, I'd been playing Ultima Exodus (and getting fucking nowhere) and I read the AMAZING spread in Nintendo Power. My socks were blown off by this game, although I did need my dad to help with Ye Olde English. My friend Ryan and I were primed for RPG action. There were a few budding RPG nerds, even back in the late 80s. No, I didn't have a PC, what were we, the Rockefellers?
I first played Dragon Warrior around '89 or '90 at my best friend's house and BOUNCED off it hard. 9 year old me just did not get get turn based RPGs where I pick "Fight" out of a menu lol When i played Final Fantasy II (IV) a fews years later, everything clicked. I went back to the Dragon Warrior games after and adored them.
I know this is a warning flag to many. But if you haven't played Yakuza: Like a Dragon (aka Yakuza 7) you should. It's the perfect modern Dragon Warrior game and a parody all at once. Not to mention it's fantastic story, humor and set of loveable characters. (Previous entry lore optional).
This was the RPG that got me into the genre. I was too young to play this when it came out, but my uncle would play it around me. Once I could actually read, this shaped my idea of what video games should be.
Dragon Warrior was the first NES game I ever played. I loved it. Still a fan to this day. Unfortunately, my circumstances at the time prevented me from getting into the series again until the GBC and DS remakes. Otherwise, I would have absolutely been part of those disappointing sales numbers for 2-4 on NES.
I played the phone version of the game, and I remember going up to the cave to the final area and I was like lvl 20. That cave got me to 30 and I noticed the stuff in there gave double the xp of the highest xp things prior to that point on average (from like 200-250 xp to 500). Then the final area, things jumped up to give 1k+ xp per encounter. I ended up grinding to level like 40-50 before I did the final boss, just because the enemies gave such an insane amount of xp. I just stayed by the save point and grinded.
One of my least favorite RPGs. and a sequel that greatly improved but is srill by second least favorite game in the series. I hated Dragon Quest/Warrior I when I first played a cousin's copy when I was in elementary school. I had been playing Computer RPGs at a friend of the family's house and there were so many ways it was inferior to those. I only got the second game because I was still spending a week or two out of most years in the hospital and was desperate for games that were easy to play with an IV in one hand. But II fixed some of my complaints about I while III and IV are the high points of the series IMO. I actually didn't beat the first game until after I got the I and II collection for the Gameboy Color in high school.
Good review. DQ is my favorite series ever. Can't wait for DQ III 2D HD Remake and the first 2 too! When DQ 1 came out, i completed it in 15 hours in one day. my parents were pissed off when I told them I had beaten the game the day after Christmas in 89.
RPG's back then was a wild west, so to speak. It did well enough to put all 4 Dragon Quests on the american NES. I got the first one for free with nintendo power subscription. They were all great. You can actually see the previous maps and look at it grow as the games got bigger. Almost like Pangea concept. It was revolutionary at the time. You now have the luxury of the evolution of RPG's nowadays. If it wasn't for those rpg games, you wouldn't have the concept of rpg's you have now.
I loved the dragon warrior NES games and bought them as they came out. Sitting on the floor with my maps spread out and buying those new sets of armor or barely making it out of the dungeons....dragon warrior 2 blew me away. It was an epic adventure. I really loved it.
I love DQ2, it has a personality that was never recreated imo there are definitely *better* games in the series, I won't deny that because it would be ridiculous but DQ2 vibes hit different, y'know?
I have the most nostalgia for the original Dragon Warrior. I think Dragon Warrior 2 is the closest thing to that, just bigger and badder. I've only played 1-6 so far though, but I think this series is pretty cool, having a really new way of playing the game each time, while still solidly feeling like Dragon Quest every time. I've been really stalling out near the end of 6 for some reason. If I ever get it finished (I'm sure I'm pretty close) I'm trying to decide if I play 4-6 over again on the DS, or jump right to 7..... I think I want to play DQ5 again. I don't like how linear it is because of the storyline but the storyline is pretty cool, so.... IV was similar but the "chapters" were far less interesting story-wise than 5's linear parts. IV is cool when you get to the last chapter and finally control the hero, and you can game genie manual control of the party (I considered just quitting the game when I found out everything was AI once you got party members in that chapter).
@@anonamatron I think 4-5 are absolutely worth replaying on DS, 4 is generally an overhaul making the ai party an option like most later games (plus a post-game) and 5 has a couple story issues and weird logic smoothed over as well as just being the best version of the game with a couple new additions. as for 6, the DS version is similarly a general improvement but a mechanic or two got replaced.. but if you have trouble finding motivation to finish it the sfc version I can't say for sure if you'd enjoy doing it again. 7 is a can of worms, even more so depending on if you play the OG or 3DS version since they're different enough to count as playing a new version of the game rather than an improved version. I wish you luck in your DQ journey, friend!
@AnAverageGoblin I've finished 4 on DS. I really hate the accents and name changes, and I think the graphics are really ugly on the DS. I have a DQ 4 rom with party chat added back in though so I wonder if that's worth another play or not. I started playing the original and then a remake for each game a while back but when I finished 5 SNES I went straight to 6 SNES instead of playing 5 DS/PS2.
I love DW1 to this day. I never want to endure the pain that is DW2 ever again. The endgame was miserable, filled with death spells and super hard hitting hp sponges. I never finished the game.
The current switch version of both are still brutal BUT if the 2D/HD remake coming out NEXT years ADDS Physical skills to GO with spells for BOTH DQ 1 and 2 it will become less brutal.
DW was one of my first RPG experiences, followed shortly by the original Final Fantasy (huge upgrade); but I still really like DWII despite the ridiculous late game grind.
You're not supposed to randomly talk to the wall to find Roge Fastfinger. You can step outside his cell by bumping into the "wall". You can notice that the cell has no actual wall, just darkness that indicates an unexplored area. It's a trick that's actually used a few times in DQ2 and at least once in DQ1(To find Garin's grave).
I got this game free via Nintendo Power and I loved it. It was so different, and I loved it for being able to play at a casual pace. It meant you had to read the manual, you had to follow the maps, you had the reference cards. It was worth "learning" the game and lore.
Played the mobile Remake recently. I like how it carefully guides you through the world using over leveled enemies. You can feel Yuji Horii's hand guiding you.
Also, pro-tip: To really bring down the king a notch or two, go straight to the inn after you recuse the princess. Then, walk around town showing her off talking to the townsfolk. Puts him right in his place.
in the US, SEGA released Phantasy Star on SMS before Dragon Warrior arrived on NES. i loved DW, but even at the time i knew the game didn’t present particularly well because i’d beaten PS previously
Dragon Warrior was one of the most mind-blowing games at the time. We had never seen anything like this before. Everything was jump or shoot, or both... and these graphics were considered cutting edge at the time. Previous graphics included white paper and pencils, so this was pretty awesome by comparison. It's all important to consider that games taught us their limitations. Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, Link... Arcade, C64, you could usually go in one direction or stay on one screen, however, this was a game where you could go anywhere, linger, and revisit locations. Game characters rarely spoke and if they did, they didn't repeat themselves, nor was the information critical. The only stats villians had were how many hits it took to destroy them. These were foreign concepts back then to the Nintendo generation. Computer RPGs were something only a few people with COMPUTERS had access to... and back then there was no point and click and no one knew how to use the command line, there was no one to ask and no numbers to call in the phonebook so the barrier to entry for computer gaming was sky high. Only the REAL basement dwellers knew of those things. This is why retro gaming seems boring to most children today but in our day, new game paks brought new ideas. New graphics were mind-expanding experiences. Gaming was an EXPENSIVE phenomenon, something today's generation takes for granted. When you got a new game, you played it, period. We didn't know what sucked at the time, games were just variations of hard. We had nothing to compare experiences against. (I was born in 1980 btw) so people aren't exaggerating when they say the 80's was the best time to be alive. It was a generation of innovation and new ideas. I imagine that when aliens finally reveal themselves and their tech, you guys will experience the same renaissance. You won't know what sucks right away, you'll just know endless frustration as you attempt to work out a control scheme for a flying saucer designed by people from a nearly incomprehensible culture.
I was pretty disappointed in this myself when I first rented it a long time ago. The box with the dragon made me rent it but I was confused as hell by it. I got into RPGs 100% though w/ Final Fantasy 4.
1:45 O-M-G! I completely forgot I got this because of my Nintendo Power magazine subscription. It came with maps, monster stats, and a card with all weapons and cost. (Addendum- I see you talk about this later)
When I played Dragon Warrior on NES as a kid, I didn't have a concept of "video game genres" such as RPG, action, puzzle, adventure, etc. I was going off of the genres used in books and movies, and for me my favorite genre was "Fantasy". So my dad bought me fantasy games, Legend of Zelda, Little Nemo, Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy... it was those last two I fell the most in love with because they didn't require my uncoordinated child-skills to be honed for Nintendo-hard platforming or twitch reflexes, I could push through a whole game just by brute-force (grinding or persistence).
As someone who also got Dragon Warrior free with my Nintendo Power subscription, I already had a predilection for RPGs, thanks to my sister buying me the "red box" Basic set of D&D a couple years earlier. Sure, my first games for the NES were Mario/Duck Hunt, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!, and Excitebike, but the Dragon Warrior series and Zelda just drew me in (Crystalis as well, eventually). I was so caught up in these that I never even looked at the Final Fantasy series until I played FF7 in college, on my friend's PS1. To this day, I am still a fan of the DQ/DW series, and own all of the mobile versions, plus XI S on the computer.
Dude, you are one of the rare UA-camrs where I watch pretty much everything you upload. Your vids have a classic UA-cam style comfort food feel. Nothing overcomplicated or heavily edited, just a guy sharing his unfiltered thoughts. Kinda reminds me what this website is about.
That one long stretch of road from the end of the Cave to Rhone to the final save spot was probably the most stressed I have ever felt in an nes game.
Yep. I'll never forget my first time climbing it. Final Fantasy III's final dungeon might be the worst overall experience, but that one is so long and unfair that it wraps back to being tedious again. This and Mt. Itoi in Mother 1 hit that sweet spot of being stressful and yes unfair, but also *just* compelling enough that you really want to power through and make it.
I'd say that the ice cavern in Final Fantasy 1 would have a word with you, but no. That is accurate.
☝️🤓Uhmmm acktchtually , Final fantasy 3 isnt a nes game (just kidding dont hurt me)
@@remarkablehairdo3110 but... it is. unless you mean that is a famicom game, but same thing
@@OnlineVideoSurfer Thanks for reminding me that mother 1 is on the Switch. Had a save on the Wii U but doing an out of town job. Was G3 in MH4U at the time last when I was doing an out of town job. Maybe motehr 1 will be a good time. Heard it kinda plays like a DQ2 with the crests but as bosses. I was wondering why there was a goofy looking dragon ealier game that was just stacked against me. That one kid in the cave felt so depressed.
I'm glad that I recently beat these for the first time. Despite the grinding of the first game and the ending stretch of the second, I found them to be super high-quality titles for the NES that, while guide games, stand with the likes of the two Zelda titles on the console for still being really fun despite the outside assistance being borderline necessary. Hope you go through 3 & 4 at some point in the near future!
I hope I'll have a similar opinion when I finally play them. Been meaning to do so, but decided to hold off for when the HD-3D remakes come out!
I did something similar with the Phantasy Star series last year. These old JRPGs might not always be "fun" but they're at least interesting! Unless it's Phantasy Star 3.
Grinding was a new concept for myself and I am sure a lot of other people back in the day. We thought about grinding in RPGs the same way we thought about jumping in Super Mario Brothers or firing a gun in Contra. I think the first RPG I played where grinding wasn't really a thing was Chrono Cross for the PSOne. You could fight optional battles for materials or go on optional quests to gain additional characters, but you only leveled up by defeating bosses.
Jason! I freaking LOVE This channel man! Really gives me old JonTron, and PatTheNES Punk Vibes and as a fellow Floridian I thank you for repping the state with a great channel man keep going bro you are CRUSHING IT!
Im old enough to remember that I got Dragon Warrior for FREE. It was some promotion going on when Nintendo Power magazine came out. I was 7 years old - the fact that I got a full NES game in the mail, for free, absolutely blew my mind. This was the 80s! Unheard of at that time. Better believe I poured hundreds of hours into it in the dark basement with my friends. :D
Dragon Warrior... With a flight stick... these are the days.
I NEVER thought i would have played these games 10 to 20 years ago but after playing 11 and waiting for 3R, i ended up giving these a try, finished them, and overall had a really solid time! It's interesting to watch videos talking about them now, knowing exactly what the experience is, instead of just imagining some vague, cryptic relic of the past. At the end of the day they're still videogames and they hold up pretty well.
I named one daughter Gwaelin and the other Alena so my credentials are quite solid and I agree 2 is great.
You got some cool names for your companions. Mine were Artho and Illyth.
"You think you've seen everything, and then BLAAAM, SNOW, WOW!" -J.G.
I played it on the Switch last year, and I named them Cheems and Doge.
Biggest Crossover of 2024
Mine were Eric and Gwen, which I have used as recurring character names in games I make as a game dev ever since.
I started with the GameBoy remake version, my only other experiences with RPG elements before this being Zelda 2 and watching other kids play Pokemon for five minutes. RPG has been my favorite genre ever since.
Maybe I just want to stand here on the stairs, I don't actually want to go down. Thanks for empowering us DW!
As someone who grew up on Tim Rogers, 1UP/Jeremy Parish, and HG101 I really grok your vibes as the kids say. I still find a lot of interesting points and ideas in your videos even on stuff I'm aware of beforehand.
If you grew up on those guys, spoiler alert...you're a kid
0:09 that catch was unbelievably smooth, please tell me that was the first take.
@@DannyDeVoid what an absolute unit
@@DannyDeVoid I wasn't setting those up again
Discovering your channel and watching your DQ V and VI reviews inspired me to get into this series. I’ve now played through I-III on NES and am almost through IV. I have such an appreciation for these games now despite their age and clunkiness at times. I can’t wait to move onto V and VI and experience the rest of the series too! Your content is great, keep up the great work man!
I loved that insight on how the King is the dungeon master of Dragon Quest and thus its real protagonist. I feel if this where Tim Rogers, maybe he would have gone on a tangent about how you can't kill the King in Dragon Quest, but you can try to kill Lord British in Ultima, you will almost certainly fail, but you can try. This design quirk alone would set JRPGs and western RPGs in different directions, with Japanese games setting restraints on what you can do beforehand i.e. The UI itself doesn't let you target NPCs, while western RPGs let you do pretty much anything, encouraging thinking outside the box, with the developers setting road blocks and limits to your power, but players sneaky enough can circumvent those. I don't know I forgot where I was going with all this.
14:30 As an aside, I LOVE how the Dragon Lord breaks out of his enemy box and intrudes onto your UI - and seemingly attacking your HP gauge directly. It makes the fight feel a little personal, and it's a great touch.
yeah that's a great but little touch. It's actually kind of annoying in 2 because he blocks the princess' HP
I was an advanced, voracious reader as a young child in the 80's already. My favorite genres were sci-fi and fantasy. So obviously this nerdy shit was amazing to me, and none of the reading was a problem to me- in fact, it felt like gaming was going in a higher IQ, more intricate storytelling direction! I never beat it as a kid, but recently did complete it, and I absolutely think you had the exact right adjective: CHARMING! I kinda loved it, even though it's almost pointlessly simple by today's standards. My nostalgia overfloweth.
Yeah, I never thought anything of READING a game. I guess that was a different thing for some people, since maybe they mostly play action games. I don't recall ever thinking "why do I need to read things in this game".
I also read a lot too. My first "big" book I read and finished on my own was The Hobbit, as a kindergartener, and my mom had already read I think every Narnia book to me, and I'd cleared out the majority of the mystery section of the kids floor of the library by that point or soon after. I didn't have an NES until first grade, but the NES came with Nintendo Power, which I of course spent a lot of time reading.
Seemed like something that belonged from the beginning to me I guess.
My local video store would also send the player’s guide for DW2 and DW3 when you rented the game. You had to return both or the store would charge you full price to replace the game. It came with a little notice. Not that the game was ever available. You had to reserve a copy and could only do it for two nights, tops. Probably not too many people who played the game, but us who did were fanatics!
Whoa, I also played Dragon Warrior with a QuickShot "joystick".
I got Dragon Warrior with my Nintendo Power subscription as well. The maps (for Dragon Warrior 2 too also for some reason), the booklets, etc.. you got with the cartridge was incredible. I miss that. Fond memories of that game. 🙂
Fun fact, according to RndStranger, Dragon Quest 1 actually wasn't a huge smashing success in Japan when it came out, it sold fine enough but it was more of a sleeper hit. It was Dragon Quest 2 that actually became the game of the moment and turned the franchise into a big thing (and then Dragon Quest 3 was even bigger and took it to legend status). With that in mind, it's kinda weird how people in English speaking UA-cam dunk on 2 so much, it's basically 1 but better in every way. Good video as always
Yeah a lot of sales of 1 actually came after 2 surprisingly.
You can't understate how brutal Rhome is (I enjoyed it more than 3 actually)
So, you hate story games and reading, but your main thing is reviewing RPGs? BASED
That intro alone is worth a like.
DQ1 and DQ3 on SNES back-to-back is a really great time. You start out very simple and quick, despite some of the grind but all battles are one-on-one. Then everything gets turned up and enhanced in DQ3, with much more complexity (such as larger monster-groups), discovery, and exploration. Beginning and ending the experience in the same overworld is pretty enjoyable too.
I didnt watch you stream DQ2, therefore this "review" is invalid and I demand a refund
I watched the stream, he kept getting killed by a dragon
Why do they always look like this
The livestream ending with the publishing on the new video = chef's kiss!
i agree he said during the live stream it was coming soon but, this soon? epic
I had to stop watching Walking Dead Dixon when this came up!
Wow OSW is here? When did you guys get this in Ireland?
Thanks Jason, love the video and it was fun tagging along your journey during your DW1 livestream. Looking forward to your DW3 and 4 video.
16k IS a real milestone if you think in terms of powers of 2. Speaking of, 250 was the max HP value for those bosses because (I'm assuming) the devs didn't want to use a 16-bit variable for HP. And 255, of course, is the max value for an 8-bit variable.
Great review. I'm playing Diablo 4 and you made realize I'm just playing dragon warrior 112. I forgot I even played this game as a kid, but as I watched this video I remembered. Thanks for the nostalgia and reminding me where I originally got hooked to the grind of RPG games.
It's funny. My friend group always liked RPGs back in the 80s. Honestly, this was all that we had. Also for the reading, this was more imersive than a book, so the reading was par for the course.
Dont know why, but you just yelling and knocking the boxes over got a good chuckle out of me. Good stuff!
I remember my mom checking the mail one day and was like "Ben- you've got a package" and, being a 8 year old who never got mail, was like "ok?". The only mail I EVER got was my monthly(ish) Nintendo Power. So my mom handed it to me and I opened it and it was (of course)... Dragon Warrior. As a fan of Legend of Zelda and Ultima 3, I popped it in an loved it immediately. It was way different than the action adventure of Zelda- alot slower- but it really pulled me in. What helped was the poster it came with showing all of the monsters from Dragon Warrior 2. The illustrated poser was just so damn cool.
Idk why but when I first played Dragon Warrior (acquired for free of course with my Nintendo Power subscription) , it immediately intrigued me. I was sucked in from the first play. Absolutely loved it.
I always look forward to your videos, Jason. Especially related to my favorite RPG franchise of all time!
I played Dragon Warrior after played Ultima Exodus actually. To me DW DID feel like a step backwards. I like creating my own characters, and having a party vs. just being one dude. And Exodus has a better soundtrack. however, I do understand the graphical upgrades along with the overall feel of DW having more polish. It wasn't until Quest of the Avatar that FCI got it totally perfected!!
I agree with you, except that Ultima Exodus is obtuse as hell! None of the NPCs say anything of consequence. There are three separate people who say "it's a good day for washing"!
Ultima 3 has better music than DQ?? 😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮
THATS A HOT TAKE FOR SURE.
@@Misa_Susaki The castle theme, Ambrosia, the overworld theme and town theme are really good in Ultima 3. The dungeon theme will melt your brain, however.
Very nice to see some grace afforded to DQ2. It's something of an awkward middle child between 1 and 3, but it's still cool and has a superb ost, maybe my favorite in the series.
Yay, new video! If you enjoy one handed grinding, I highly recommend the ASCII Grip controller. I don't think they made one for the NES, but there's one for SNES and Playstation for sure. Maybe more.
Must resist jokes about what you do with the other hand...
@@anonamatron don't hold back, but be more creative than "haha masturbation"
My first experience with Graves, gotta say I like the presentation of this video--Reminds me of the good ol days of UA-cam. Dude gets my subscription
I got mine free with Nintendo Power, it took a while for me to warm up to it. Basically, the summer after getting it I was desperate for something to do ended up grinding it out. I still have it, surprisingly the battery still works and every once in a while I bust it out and complete it from my last save. I still know the path through the Dragonlord's dungeon
Great review! Got some fun AVGN vibes from the part with u using the flight stick and sippin beer lol
I am the only unlucky bugger in the US who did not get this through Nintendo Power. I seem to recall getting it and playing against a few slimes and not making any progress and quitting until a friend of mine brought over his copy and he got much further. I think this was before I understood the idea of leveling and experience and how playing and winning more than a few battles would increase my level and open up more progress.
I did kind of get Dragon Warrior 2, but my copy did not come with the box and nifty strategy guide or anything because I got it from a local video store and ended up keeping it too long and we ended up just buying it from the video store. So, our copy had some hard cover case with a piece of paper cheat sheet version of a "manual" glued to it.
I have a special place in my heart for both versions of these games and I know that I beat DW1 and I remember the experience. I had gotten to the Dragonlord multiple times and died many times before, but I had a friend over and thought I would show him the game. Just so happens that was the day that my attacks and healmores just lined up and led me to victory. I don't remember the year or the month, but I do remember it was a Friday the 13th and yes my name is Jason as well.
DW2 on the other hand, I remember beating at some point, but I have no idea how as it seemed like an impossible task to beat all those guys with the instant kill moves, but I remember doing it at some point as I remember even being amused by one of the staff's names as I mispronounced it and it had a naughty sounding phrase in it at least to my teenage mind. IDK, maybe I ended up using Game Genie or something to beat it, but I do remember seeing the ending after beating the game, but I don't remember it being as hard... IDK, maybe I ran from the really scary enemies at the end.
Always enjoy your content, thanks for sharing!
Loved the reference to HPRShredder's vids on the same games, he did a really great job with them (not unlike yourself!)
Man, I really love Dragon Quest 2.
Long time follower, I'm sad I just moved to Florida and I have a fellow retro nerd in the same state and haven't connected.
Congrats on the channel success and growth. Keep it up. Pac man 2 for the win
DQ1 and DQ2 are great games given what they pioneered at the time, but I maintain that DQ3, DQ4 -- especially 4 -- and DQ5 are the best games in the series and some of the best JRPGs of all time.
Congrats on the new crt
I think the road to rhone was like oh this rhone place is like really bad news man. We are not messing around. Only played the GBC version but it had some grind to it but heard the rhone grind is even moreso in the NES title. I remember getting DQ3 for the GBC after seeing someone in the high school cafateria play it and he let me play it for a few minutes as long as I didn't overwrite his quick save save feature. Man that quick save stuff was tight for a portable title. Kinda like in FF7 rebirth or DQ11 and stuff. Honestly I got a used copy of DQ1 and 2 way later in life but I should have picked it up new back near the dec 2000 when I got a copy of legend of the dragon for the psx. Played a used copy of Super mario RPG earlier that year so that combat was tight.
One thing you didn't mention that I liked from both games is that after you beat the final boss, the game still isn't over. You have to walk all the way back to the first castle at the beginning of the game and talk to the king to end the game, but it's a peaceful walk with no monsters so you get to stop and appreciate the world you just saved. It also kinda adds to your theory that the king is the dungeon master of the first one at least. The other games turn that kind of journey back into a cutscene, which for something like DW4 is thankful that it happened but you kinda miss something when you aren't doing it yourself.
I legit love that this video is 4:3 ratio. I miss that ratio.
Yeah, the Prince of Cannok is a character you have to babysit for most of the game. He doesn't come into his own until you get better gear. Which his three best in slot items are all shop purchases: Falcon Sword (so he can attack twice, which ends up dealing more damage per round than with the Iron Spear), Shield of Strength, and Fur Coat (the most expensive armor in the game).
I don't care much for DW 2, but the music is great and the boat? Amazing
My nes in my childhood was a hand-me-down from my sister's boyfriend and his DQ was Dragon Warrior 3. I was spoiled with that one and played the absolute hell out of it, mostly because my older sister kept deleting my saves out of spite. Childhood nostalgia demand that I assure that that's my favorite Dragon quest game.
Also, did ya have any plans when you reach the big 2-0 K subscribers? My suggestion is: Reviewing YIIK: a postmodern RPG.
I had a friend in elementary school in the 80's that when his family moved from Japan to the USA brought over his Japanese Nintendo. We would play Dragon Quest 2 and 3 for hour on. Good memories.
Awesome video homie! just getting into some of these retro titles my self. hope you had a great halloween.
Something i liked about this as a twelve year old:
The exploration....just getting to the next area
Cool vid man. Loved 1st one as a kid. It was so different to me. Introduced me to grinding.
OMG, I had that flight stick! Used it to play 1943.
I loved Dragon Warrior as a kid. It was nice to play something that didn't require you to do everything perfectly, that you could see actual progress every time you played.
In the days before GameFAQs and Mike's RPG center, you were kind of on your own, and the prospect of crossing a bridge, or even going too far from the castle was a harrowing experience. Am I strong enough yet? Those skeletons look a lot more scary when you aren't sure about whether you are strong enough yet.
It’s worth noting that a lot of the things dragon warrior did to streamline early computer RPGS were actually already done in 1st edition AD&D. Leveling up in dragon warrior and getting stats from weapons are straight from D&D (although in D&D you originally only got exp from earning money, not killing enemies)
You actually get experience points from both finding gold and killing monsters in OD&D
Dragon Warrior II is absolutely a wonderful game! It's the hardest for sure, and getting to Rhone only dying once in my recent/only complete playthrough is my proudest gaming moment. Obviously I died countless times once I was in Rhone (everyone who's made it that far knows why) but the fact that I was more than leveled up enough and needed a critical to beat the final boss is amusing to me. The game is brutality, but that's what makes it great.
Jason "King of the Algorithm" Graves.
Seriously. I've been watching videos about these two games for the last 2 days.
This is a stunning production Jason. I hope you review 3 the remake and original. Cheers.
Dragon Quest V was intentionally skipped over for the US market because Horii and Enix thought a game about growing up, getting married, and starting a family wouldn't sell well here. Dragon Quest VI was fully localized as Dragon Warrior V, was set for Nintendo's QA testing, but then Enix of America went out of business. Some of their games, like Illusion of Gaia, got picked up by other publishers for a US release, but Dragon Warrior V got permanently shelved. Especially considering that to this day there is no complete fan translations for the SFC version of VI, Dragon Warrior V would be my holy grail of game prototypes should it ever be found/leaked.
No way man, I'd been playing Ultima Exodus (and getting fucking nowhere) and I read the AMAZING spread in Nintendo Power. My socks were blown off by this game, although I did need my dad to help with Ye Olde English. My friend Ryan and I were primed for RPG action. There were a few budding RPG nerds, even back in the late 80s. No, I didn't have a PC, what were we, the Rockefellers?
I first played Dragon Warrior around '89 or '90 at my best friend's house and BOUNCED off it hard. 9 year old me just did not get get turn based RPGs where I pick "Fight" out of a menu lol When i played Final Fantasy II (IV) a fews years later, everything clicked. I went back to the Dragon Warrior games after and adored them.
The monstera looks great my guy.
I know this is a warning flag to many. But if you haven't played Yakuza: Like a Dragon (aka Yakuza 7) you should. It's the perfect modern Dragon Warrior game and a parody all at once. Not to mention it's fantastic story, humor and set of loveable characters. (Previous entry lore optional).
Got it free with Nintendo Power .
Jason is not a twink nor a bear but a Twunk.
This was the RPG that got me into the genre. I was too young to play this when it came out, but my uncle would play it around me. Once I could actually read, this shaped my idea of what video games should be.
Dudes coming in HOT after his short brake.
I highly recommend the SNES remakes of DQ 1&2
Is it less plodding?
@@Neil_Chapman Generally they have QoL improvements that don't trivialize the pacing/difficulty.
Dragon Warrior was the first NES game I ever played. I loved it. Still a fan to this day. Unfortunately, my circumstances at the time prevented me from getting into the series again until the GBC and DS remakes. Otherwise, I would have absolutely been part of those disappointing sales numbers for 2-4 on NES.
I played the phone version of the game, and I remember going up to the cave to the final area and I was like lvl 20. That cave got me to 30 and I noticed the stuff in there gave double the xp of the highest xp things prior to that point on average (from like 200-250 xp to 500). Then the final area, things jumped up to give 1k+ xp per encounter. I ended up grinding to level like 40-50 before I did the final boss, just because the enemies gave such an insane amount of xp. I just stayed by the save point and grinded.
One of my least favorite RPGs. and a sequel that greatly improved but is srill by second least favorite game in the series.
I hated Dragon Quest/Warrior I when I first played a cousin's copy when I was in elementary school. I had been playing Computer RPGs at a friend of the family's house and there were so many ways it was inferior to those. I only got the second game because I was still spending a week or two out of most years in the hospital and was desperate for games that were easy to play with an IV in one hand. But II fixed some of my complaints about I while III and IV are the high points of the series IMO.
I actually didn't beat the first game until after I got the I and II collection for the Gameboy Color in high school.
Good review. DQ is my favorite series ever. Can't wait for DQ III 2D HD Remake and the first 2 too! When DQ 1 came out, i completed it in 15 hours in one day. my parents were pissed off when I told them I had beaten the game the day after Christmas in 89.
RPG's back then was a wild west, so to speak. It did well enough to put all 4 Dragon Quests on the american NES. I got the first one for free with nintendo power subscription. They were all great. You can actually see the previous maps and look at it grow as the games got bigger. Almost like Pangea concept. It was revolutionary at the time. You now have the luxury of the evolution of RPG's nowadays. If it wasn't for those rpg games, you wouldn't have the concept of rpg's you have now.
I loved the dragon warrior NES games and bought them as they came out. Sitting on the floor with my maps spread out and buying those new sets of armor or barely making it out of the dungeons....dragon warrior 2 blew me away. It was an epic adventure. I really loved it.
Man, you did a spot on impression of my 8yo self 😂
I love DQ2, it has a personality that was never recreated imo
there are definitely *better* games in the series, I won't deny that because it would be ridiculous but DQ2 vibes hit different, y'know?
I have the most nostalgia for the original Dragon Warrior. I think Dragon Warrior 2 is the closest thing to that, just bigger and badder.
I've only played 1-6 so far though, but I think this series is pretty cool, having a really new way of playing the game each time, while still solidly feeling like Dragon Quest every time.
I've been really stalling out near the end of 6 for some reason. If I ever get it finished (I'm sure I'm pretty close) I'm trying to decide if I play 4-6 over again on the DS, or jump right to 7..... I think I want to play DQ5 again. I don't like how linear it is because of the storyline but the storyline is pretty cool, so.... IV was similar but the "chapters" were far less interesting story-wise than 5's linear parts. IV is cool when you get to the last chapter and finally control the hero, and you can game genie manual control of the party (I considered just quitting the game when I found out everything was AI once you got party members in that chapter).
@@anonamatron I think 4-5 are absolutely worth replaying on DS, 4 is generally an overhaul making the ai party an option like most later games (plus a post-game) and 5 has a couple story issues and weird logic smoothed over as well as just being the best version of the game with a couple new additions. as for 6, the DS version is similarly a general improvement but a mechanic or two got replaced.. but if you have trouble finding motivation to finish it the sfc version I can't say for sure if you'd enjoy doing it again.
7 is a can of worms, even more so depending on if you play the OG or 3DS version since they're different enough to count as playing a new version of the game rather than an improved version.
I wish you luck in your DQ journey, friend!
@AnAverageGoblin I've finished 4 on DS.
I really hate the accents and name changes, and I think the graphics are really ugly on the DS.
I have a DQ 4 rom with party chat added back in though so I wonder if that's worth another play or not.
I started playing the original and then a remake for each game a while back but when I finished 5 SNES I went straight to 6 SNES instead of playing 5 DS/PS2.
I love DW1 to this day. I never want to endure the pain that is DW2 ever again. The endgame was miserable, filled with death spells and super hard hitting hp sponges. I never finished the game.
The current switch version of both are still brutal BUT if the 2D/HD remake coming out NEXT years ADDS Physical skills to GO with spells for BOTH DQ 1 and 2 it will become less brutal.
Shiiiiiiiiet, new crt 😍
Another Jason Graves classic.
DW was one of my first RPG experiences, followed shortly by the original Final Fantasy (huge upgrade); but I still really like DWII despite the ridiculous late game grind.
Less than 14 hours, that's it. I'm doin it. It's time to DRAGON QUEESSSST
You're not supposed to randomly talk to the wall to find Roge Fastfinger. You can step outside his cell by bumping into the "wall". You can notice that the cell has no actual wall, just darkness that indicates an unexplored area. It's a trick that's actually used a few times in DQ2 and at least once in DQ1(To find Garin's grave).
I got this game free via Nintendo Power and I loved it. It was so different, and I loved it for being able to play at a casual pace.
It meant you had to read the manual, you had to follow the maps, you had the reference cards. It was worth "learning" the game and lore.
Played the mobile Remake recently.
I like how it carefully guides you through the world using over leveled enemies. You can feel Yuji Horii's hand guiding you.
Played it and instantly fell I love with it when it was released in Canada.
Also, pro-tip:
To really bring down the king a notch or two, go straight to the inn after you recuse the princess. Then, walk around town showing her off talking to the townsfolk.
Puts him right in his place.
in the US, SEGA released Phantasy Star on SMS before Dragon Warrior arrived on NES. i loved DW, but even at the time i knew the game didn’t present particularly well because i’d beaten PS previously
Yeah, but no one had a Master System, except for you.
@@TrevRockOne Weird aggression.
@@AnAverageGoblin just keepin' it real
@@TrevRockOne being an a-hole for no reason is not "keeping it real"
@@AnAverageGoblin you have a very low threshold for calling someone an asshole. How have survived on the internet without having an aneurysm?
You aren't ready for the greatest game ever made Dragon Warrior 3
was going to make a DQ5 joke but he already covered it and despite the incredible story of 5, yeah DQ3 is the greatest game ever made.
Dragon Warrior was one of the most mind-blowing games at the time. We had never seen anything like this before. Everything was jump or shoot, or both... and these graphics were considered cutting edge at the time. Previous graphics included white paper and pencils, so this was pretty awesome by comparison. It's all important to consider that games taught us their limitations. Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, Link... Arcade, C64, you could usually go in one direction or stay on one screen, however, this was a game where you could go anywhere, linger, and revisit locations. Game characters rarely spoke and if they did, they didn't repeat themselves, nor was the information critical. The only stats villians had were how many hits it took to destroy them. These were foreign concepts back then to the Nintendo generation. Computer RPGs were something only a few people with COMPUTERS had access to... and back then there was no point and click and no one knew how to use the command line, there was no one to ask and no numbers to call in the phonebook so the barrier to entry for computer gaming was sky high. Only the REAL basement dwellers knew of those things. This is why retro gaming seems boring to most children today but in our day, new game paks brought new ideas. New graphics were mind-expanding experiences. Gaming was an EXPENSIVE phenomenon, something today's generation takes for granted. When you got a new game, you played it, period. We didn't know what sucked at the time, games were just variations of hard. We had nothing to compare experiences against. (I was born in 1980 btw) so people aren't exaggerating when they say the 80's was the best time to be alive. It was a generation of innovation and new ideas. I imagine that when aliens finally reveal themselves and their tech, you guys will experience the same renaissance. You won't know what sucks right away, you'll just know endless frustration as you attempt to work out a control scheme for a flying saucer designed by people from a nearly incomprehensible culture.
I was pretty disappointed in this myself when I first rented it a long time ago. The box with the dragon made me rent it but I was confused as hell by it. I got into RPGs 100% though w/ Final Fantasy 4.
1:45 O-M-G! I completely forgot I got this because of my Nintendo Power magazine subscription. It came with maps, monster stats, and a card with all weapons and cost. (Addendum- I see you talk about this later)
I enjoy these games but I prefer the GBC versions of these games.
When I played Dragon Warrior on NES as a kid, I didn't have a concept of "video game genres" such as RPG, action, puzzle, adventure, etc. I was going off of the genres used in books and movies, and for me my favorite genre was "Fantasy". So my dad bought me fantasy games, Legend of Zelda, Little Nemo, Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy... it was those last two I fell the most in love with because they didn't require my uncoordinated child-skills to be honed for Nintendo-hard platforming or twitch reflexes, I could push through a whole game just by brute-force (grinding or persistence).
This game was revolutionary back in the day. Played it for so many hours. But what an absolute grindfest.
As someone who also got Dragon Warrior free with my Nintendo Power subscription, I already had a predilection for RPGs, thanks to my sister buying me the "red box" Basic set of D&D a couple years earlier. Sure, my first games for the NES were Mario/Duck Hunt, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!, and Excitebike, but the Dragon Warrior series and Zelda just drew me in (Crystalis as well, eventually). I was so caught up in these that I never even looked at the Final Fantasy series until I played FF7 in college, on my friend's PS1. To this day, I am still a fan of the DQ/DW series, and own all of the mobile versions, plus XI S on the computer.