/vr/ - Retro Games

Series rule of thumb: if there's a remake available, it's almost certainly better than the original. I only played the SNES and GBC remakes, but I've only heard good things about the PS2 and DS ones.

There's not that much difference between the remakes, so whether you choose DS over the PS2 version it's up to preference.
I think DW3 is a good starting point. 1 is too short and 2 is barebones.

To be honest, the people that bitch about certain versions of certain games really need to quit it. Some versions might have the upper hand in terms of visuals or content, but you can pretty much pick up any of the games and play them just fine.

But, if I had to give a list of preffered versions, then it would be this
DQ - SNES (fan translation)/GBC
DQII - See above
DQIII - SNES (fan translation)/GBC
DQIV - NES (PS1 remake was never translated, I personally don't care for the DS remake)
DQV - PS2/DS
DQVI - DS
DQVII - PS1, since the 3DS remake has NO LOCALIZATION

Honestly, the NES/Famicom originals are fine. The original DQIII and DQIV have aged really well.

Each version usually has something over the other. DQIII is a good example. The SNES remake has the best visuals, and adds mini medals and personality books, not seen in the original version. The GBC remake adds an extra class and some other extra things, but the visuals obviously aren't as good as the SNES version.

>>791341
The thief class is in the Snes DQ3 as well.

>>791348
Is it? I was under the impression that the thief class was a GBC exclusive thing. I've played the SNES version of DQIII before, but I must admit that my memory of it is a bit fuzzy.

Also worth mentioning, the GBC version adds some weird Monster Medals thing.

>>791297
As >>791341 said, but the DS remakes of DQ5 and DQ4 are broken. The pacing is completely off due to meddling with difficulty. Also the PS2 version of DQ5 is best version in every way possible.

DQ6 DS does not have this problem and is the definitive version, though.

The GBC remakes of 1, 2 and 3 are definitive versions. SNES versions have SNES graphics, but have slightly less content and aen't emulated well on the DS/PSP.

If you're looking for a good story, DQV is probably the best, with DQVII being interesting but slow paced and focusing on short plots centered around random villagers.

By the way, what the hell is a PUFF-PUFF?

>>791341
>>791392
Another note aboutthe NES version of DQ4. If you don't like having all your companions AI controlled in the 5th Chapter, there's a Game Genie code that will give you manual control over them.

>>791401
Tits in the face. Literally.

And the running gag is that it's someone else's tits int eh end, like the pretty masseuse's father's etc.

DQIV doesn't get as much love as it should.

>>791415
I thought its characters were the most popular in the series, at least in Japan.
Torneko the merchant even got his own spinoff.

>>791415
A shitload of people cite it as their favourite JRPG, so it does get a lot of praise. In DQGs back at /vg/ most people seemed to love DQIV over DQV, even.

>>791415
4 is my favorite of the series because it has the best character development, both for the protagonists and the antagonist. It's also one of the earlist JRPG's where the final boss doesn't come out of nowhere

>>791430
What's your favourite version of it?

Thanks for the help guys, looking at this thread it seems that Dragon Quest V will be my next stop, since it seems, by what you're saying, the most like VIII in terms of story/game balance - would that be fair to say? And it seems almost like "Phantasy Star III done right" with the multi-generational storyline deal.

Would I be getting anything less from the DS version than the PS2? I ask since I can use my flash cart for the DS much easier than I could emulate a PS2 on my laptop.

Also, what's the difference between the "Dragon Warrior version" and "Dragon Quest version" I keep seeing labelled on ROMs?

After that I think I'll go VI (DS), Then just up from that start on GBC (and IV on NES), then on to VII.

Is this a good plan to get the most enjoyment out of the series?

>>791419
>in Japan
Yeah, pretty much. Japan has a pretty big hard-on for DQIII and DQIV. Just kinda disappointed that most western DQ fans seem to only have boners for V and VIII.

>>791436
The NES version is the best version. While I liked that the DS toned down the grinding, the translation is played even more fast and loose than the NES version. Some town names were changed for no reason at all (e.g. Izmit Villiage was changed to Strathbaile). They added those wierd accents to the game which slows down reading comprehension and, imo, didn't really add anything to the game. Also, the thing I was most looking forward to in the DS version was the Party Chat, which got removed in western versions.

It's also interesting to note that the Japanese version of the game has English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian translations of most of the text already on it. You can use an Action Replay to switch the text. Interestingly, the Party Chat isn't translated, which might be the reason why it isn't in western versions.

The villain, who's nickname in Japanese is Death Pizzaro (デスピサロ), was originally translated as Necrosaro (which I think was a clever way to bypass Nintendo censorship). This gets changed to Psaro the Manslayer, which sounds too Rurouni Kenshin-ish to me. The only other censorship in the NES version is Churches being called "Houses of Healing" and the Puff-Puff "massage" being toned down.

I also prefer the original English version of the spell names. While the new names are closer to their Japanese version, they're set up as Japanese Onomatopoeia, which most don't make sense in English. Blaze, Blazemore, Blazemost is more descriptive of what the spell does than Frizz, Frizzle, and Kafrizzle.

And, the added Chapter 6 kinda just wrecks the overall story of the game, IMO. It is optional to play it, though.

>>791482
I'm somewhat indifferent to the name changes for Cristo/Kiryl, Brey/Borya, Nara/Meena, and Mara/Maya, but I'm still stuck on using the NES names.

The NES version of DQ2 was bullshit. There are monsters in random encounters that can instant-kill your entire party at once.

>>791519
I didn't have any problems with DQ2 until I made it to Rhone Cave and Plateau.

Is there anything more or better in a patched Japanese version that can't be gotten from a US release?

Dragon's Quest 8 not /vr/ related mass report

>>791547
>I'm a moron who can't read.

Thanks for letting us know.

>>791519
>>791523
so i heard you liked 100% chance instant gameovers, so i put one in your random encounters.

>>791598
>>791523
>>791519
Because of the various problems it has, I personally find DQ2 as the weakest game of the series. I prefer DQ1 over it.

>>791523
Rhone is literally RPG Hell. Holy fuck.

>>791652
It has the worse jump in difficulty I've ever seen in an RPG. Even worse than Mt. Itoi in Mother.

Does any other series follow the Wizardry philosophy of having quick, fast-paced battles with no bullshit? It's amazing how many jRPGs tried to follow the DQ formula without realizing that long battle cinematics make them utterly tedious.

>>791652
>>791675
Did you look at at walkthrough or something? Figuring out all that obscure stuff you have to do before you can get there is supposed to take several hundred hours during which you also get lots of exp.

>>791682
I think it was Final Fantasy that can be blamed for that.

Also, check out the Phantasy Star series, but avoid III unless you want to play them all, the woman who created it had no involvement and is barely canon.

>>791705
The only thing I used was a map of Rhone Cave because of the insane number of pitfalls in the one spot. The cave's monsters weren't that hard when I played, but difficulty jump when you get to the Plataeu is crazy.

>>791604
>Because of the various problems it has, I personally find DQ2 as the weakest game of the series. I prefer DQ1 over it.
The GBC remake doesn't have instakill spells or any other glaring problems.

I've jsut beaten it, actually. I'm not the bigest fan, AND I loved DQ1 (GBC), but I wouldn't put 1 over 2.

>>791705
>Figuring out all that obscure stuff you have to do before you can get there is supposed to take several hundred hours
Are you nuts? I beat DQ2 (GBC) in about 25 hours. The only time I consulted a walkthrough - ONLY ONCE - was concerning the town where you had to go outside the walls and tot he north to find a water gate thing.

>>791729
I figured it out myself by trial and error, it took me under an hour, and I was pretty much ready for the island as a result.

I got ready for the bosses, because I couldn't for the life of me figure what I was supposed to do at the demon castle after you use the statuette, so I walked around the island some more, maybe 1-2 hours in all.

I prefer the GBC versions simply because of the more muted colour scheme.

Still the NES Dragon Quests were nowhere near as bad as Phantasy Star I for colours.

>entire dungeons coloured bright teal, yellow and pink

>>791774
In the SNES/GBC versions they tripled all money and exp gains, gave the NPC better hints, added permanent stat boosters and made many enemies weaker like removing the sacrifice spell from the batboons.

If you didn't play the NES version, you didn't play DQ2.

I like using guides and crossing items and goals off of them, like a shopping list.
If I talked to everyone and looted all their drawers and pots and what I'm supposed to be doing isn't immediately obvious, I go straight to the faq.

Deal with it man, my fun my rules.

Did anyone else have an Adventure Log? Like, a scrapbook full of doodled things NPCs said and a map drawn on graph paper, complete with notes?

Could be such a pain sometimes, but made you feel like a proper adventurer.

>>791818
I used to have a piece of scratch paper to write quick notes down. I don't normally have to do that for JRPG's anymore, though.

>>791827
That's because JRPGs don't have exploration anymore.

>>791809
You're ruining your own experience. Why would other people have an issue with that? Your own problems.

>>791840
I'm still talking about old JRPG's. I played Mother not that long ago for the first time and I didn't need scratch paper.

I think I burned out of DQ.
Started the year playing every game from I to VI (plus Monsters and Caravan Hearts, since they are somewhat connected to VI and VII), and now I can't get into VII proper.

>>791879
>Trying to play 7 after all of that
Dude, you need to take a break before you play 7. 7 is a daunting game to playthrough by itself.

I'M DOIN IT BRO
I'M MAKIN IT HAPPEN

>>792164

>>792164

Last year I started to play DQ.I played DQ 1,2,3,5,6 and
they are all great

DQ 1 and 2 for NES are shit but remake for SNES is perfect

DQVI just crashed my Wii