Dragon Quest Swords - Feb 20Follow

Why does Dragon Quest still continue as a series? It follows the same antiquated game form time and time again. Stop forcing RPGs into cult status, they can be popular again!

I'm mostly excited about the fighting system where you actually slash at the monsters on the screen with the wiimote.

Reminds me a lot of this. I was amazed at how awesome a flash game could be when I first played this one.

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic was a good "First Person Swordfighter" too.
However, I'd lump DQ:Swords in more with games like The House of the Dead or Time Crisis, but with swords and magic.

Morrowind isn't always first person. Besides, it was hardly even a swordfighter if you played a mage or something.

I was the guy who decided to make Final Morrowind Fantasy with that editor thing.
I made a drg race with a bunch of jump power!

So I picked it up yesterday after work. I had read up on it enough to know not to expect an RPG.
I wasn't terribly impressed with it at first. It is, in a way, a very dumbed down RPGish type game and from that perspective, I was a little disappointed. You start out in town, you're given an objective, accomplish the objective, watch a little bit of story, get a new objective, replenish your items, upgrade your gear, and go back out. Wash, rinse, repeat. The "dungeons" are pretty much straight lines with an occasional decision to turn left or go straight here and there. The "random encounters" aren't really all that random. They're quite scripted in fact.
The problem is you're inclined to expect an RPG out of the game. Even though I told myself ahead of time it's not an RPG, I fell into that trap. That was the source of my initial disappointment. The more I played it though, the more fun I was having during the fights, especially the boss fights. Then it dawned on me that everything around the fights is just filler to get you from one fight to the next. My earlier comparison in this thread to The House of the Dead was really quite accurate. It's pretty much the same kind of game, but with RPG elements mixed in, and swords and spells instead of guns.
By the end of the night, I was having A LOT of fun. I was disappointed that I just by god had to go to bed, because I wanted to play more.
The trick is to just get over the fact that it's not an RPG, and play the game for what it is.

Other relevant points:
The controls in town are kinda clunky. You play with the single Wii controller, without a nunchuck, so you walk around using the D-pad. I'm not used to operating a D-pad with my right hand with any kind of accuracy. I grew up playing with controllers where the D-pad was in my left hand. Go figure. Luckily, the only time you have free roaming IS while you're in town, so it's not really an issue.
When you hit stuff, you have a gauge that fills up. Once it's full you can execute a "master strike," which is a special move that does considerable damage to everything on the screen. You have to follow the instructions on the screen to do the master strike. The first one gave me a little trouble because it said "Thrust your sword to the sky." I kept pointing my controller up, but it didn't seem to recognize that I had done it. Then I realized, it says "THRUST" your sword. So I shoved it straight up and THEN it recognized the movement. This was when I really started getting into the game. The Wii is really an ingenious console. It really puts you IN the game, which is what makes this game so damn fun.

Usagi gives this game: 1/2

I will most likely put Lost Odyssey on hold until I'm done with this game.


Edited, Feb 21st 2008 6:42am by Usagichan

At the risk of sounding like I'm back pedaling, When I say "I'm putting Lost Odyssey on hold," it's not to say that DQS is a superior game. I happen to like cutesy, cartoony, silly stuff over serious business. It's merely a matter of preference.
Compared to food, DQS is like a quick snack that you gobble up as fast as you can, then sit back and think about how tasty it was while you contemplate having another even though you know you shouldn't. Lost Odyssey is more like a really expensive meal served to you in a restaurant that's so fancy that you have to wear a suit and tie just to get in. You want to slow down and savor each and every bite, analyze the texture of the food as you chew, comment on the marble pattern of the meat, etc.
I just happen to hate wearing suits. :P

Probably. Last time I saw Tsukinomahou on Xbox Live, it said he had logged over 60 hours in Lost Odyssey and was still playing.
He's the type that will unlock all the content and get all the achievemnts in a game though.


Edited, Feb 21st 2008 12:29pm by Usagichan