DRAGON QUEST fever is running wild, thanks in no small part to the release of DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition (did they even try to come up with a shorter title) and the release of the mobile versions of DRAGON QUEST I-III on the Switch. All four of these games dropped on the same day, September 27th, a month that was already packed with tons of quality game releases. It was almost too much for my poor wallet to handle but thanks to some extra cash, I managed to snag all four DRAGON QUEST titles. Rather than fire up DRAGON QUEST XI S (extremely tempting seeing as how I was drooling over this game when they showed off that 2D mode), I opted to play a quest that I was somewhat familiar with because I knew it would be less time consuming, the original game that started it all, DRAGON QUEST.
Even for the standards of retro RPGs, DRAGON QUEST is incredibly basic. The game is light on plot and has no character development whatsoever. Heck, you don't even travel in a party. You are a lone hero traveling the world to save it from the evil that has been unleashed by the Dragonlord. Also, there is a missing princess to find (should you bother to find her at all). Fighting monsters (lots of them in fact), gathering information on what you need to do to complete your mission, the usual old school RPG fare. Except with DRAGON QUEST, it is very bare bones. This game was originally released in 1986, after all (1989 in America) and is very much a product of its time. And yet for all of the slim trimmings, DRAGON QUEST somehow managed to hold my attention when I first played it at the age of 14 and playing the mobile port on the Switch felt like coming home again.
I did not expect to set aside Link's Awakening or Super Mario Maker 2 for DRAGON QUEST. I thought I would play a bit of the game and and resume my current day titles. But the best laid plans and all that. Before I knew it, I was looking to find Princess Gwaelin, seeking the Mark of Erdrick to prove to all these idiot doubters that I was his descendant, and combing parts of the world I had never reached in the NES release.
When I had time to game, DRAGON QUEST is what I played. I was leveling up LOTO (a name that gives your character better stats), getting more money for better weapons and armor and stomping monsters that used to give me trouble as a teenager. A few encounters even had me sweating bullets. The Green Dragon that guards Princess Gwaelin is one tough customer and I honestly cannot remember the last time I've been on pins and needles in a retro RPG boss fight.
The Dragonlord was a heavy hitter in his final form. I was at level 21 when I faced him so I wasn't sure if I could win unless I was at level 30. When he went down, a dropped my controller and thew my hands up in the air with a huge smile on my face. It has been quite some time since I had that kind of reaction from vanquishing a final boss. When the credits rolled and I checked my Switch for the amount of hours clocked in for DRAGON QUEST, it read "Played for 15 hours or more."
I enjoyed every hour I poured into DRAGON QUEST. True, there is a certain satisfaction that comes from finishing a game you didn't beat when you were a kid/teen but I think it says something about an old game if you can have a blast with it even when you can see its obvious flaws. Yeah, this version has things that make it superior to the original NES release, but even taking those things into account, DRAGON QUEST is still a super old game, even with the modern day conveniences this version offers. But like Super Mario Bros., DRAGON QUEST is a game I can see myself coming back to on multiple occasions. DRAGON QUEST was 15 hours well spent. One quest has ended but another Dragon Quest has already begun and more are sure to follow.
Even for the standards of retro RPGs, DRAGON QUEST is incredibly basic. The game is light on plot and has no character development whatsoever. Heck, you don't even travel in a party. You are a lone hero traveling the world to save it from the evil that has been unleashed by the Dragonlord. Also, there is a missing princess to find (should you bother to find her at all). Fighting monsters (lots of them in fact), gathering information on what you need to do to complete your mission, the usual old school RPG fare. Except with DRAGON QUEST, it is very bare bones. This game was originally released in 1986, after all (1989 in America) and is very much a product of its time. And yet for all of the slim trimmings, DRAGON QUEST somehow managed to hold my attention when I first played it at the age of 14 and playing the mobile port on the Switch felt like coming home again.
I did not expect to set aside Link's Awakening or Super Mario Maker 2 for DRAGON QUEST. I thought I would play a bit of the game and and resume my current day titles. But the best laid plans and all that. Before I knew it, I was looking to find Princess Gwaelin, seeking the Mark of Erdrick to prove to all these idiot doubters that I was his descendant, and combing parts of the world I had never reached in the NES release.
When I had time to game, DRAGON QUEST is what I played. I was leveling up LOTO (a name that gives your character better stats), getting more money for better weapons and armor and stomping monsters that used to give me trouble as a teenager. A few encounters even had me sweating bullets. The Green Dragon that guards Princess Gwaelin is one tough customer and I honestly cannot remember the last time I've been on pins and needles in a retro RPG boss fight.
The Dragonlord was a heavy hitter in his final form. I was at level 21 when I faced him so I wasn't sure if I could win unless I was at level 30. When he went down, a dropped my controller and thew my hands up in the air with a huge smile on my face. It has been quite some time since I had that kind of reaction from vanquishing a final boss. When the credits rolled and I checked my Switch for the amount of hours clocked in for DRAGON QUEST, it read "Played for 15 hours or more."
I enjoyed every hour I poured into DRAGON QUEST. True, there is a certain satisfaction that comes from finishing a game you didn't beat when you were a kid/teen but I think it says something about an old game if you can have a blast with it even when you can see its obvious flaws. Yeah, this version has things that make it superior to the original NES release, but even taking those things into account, DRAGON QUEST is still a super old game, even with the modern day conveniences this version offers. But like Super Mario Bros., DRAGON QUEST is a game I can see myself coming back to on multiple occasions. DRAGON QUEST was 15 hours well spent. One quest has ended but another Dragon Quest has already begun and more are sure to follow.
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