Dragon Quest is a strange series for me. I played VI through an emulator using a fan translation back in 2001 or 2002. It was OK, but I could never get fully into it. I’ve heard often that VI was considered only OK by many fans and I think that explains some of it.
I am currently playing Dragon Quest V on my cell phone. It’s fantastic and a great mobile game. There are some issues since it is a cleaned up version of a 1992 game, but it is a lot of fun.
Anyway, Dragon Quest XI is almost here and is the first one released for PC to my knowledge. It scored the somewhat elusive 40/40 from Famitsu in Japan and it is a return to the single-player game that the series is best known for. Dragon Quest X was a MMORPG and IX, I think, had a lot of online content.
I don’t have a PC that can run it, but I’m wondering if anyone is looking forward to it. It really is the biggest Dragon Quest release in the US since Dragon Quest VIII, another one I never go to.
Note: It is coming to the Nintendo Switch, too, but has no release date. Xbox? No idea. I see no release info for that at all.
Slight hijack, but as a coincidence I’ve been playing Dragon Quest I on my phone. It’s a port of a very old and somewhat primitive game (it was the first in the series and the NES release Dragon Warrior was, I believe, the first real RPG for that system) but it was only a few bucks so I took a chance on it. It looks nice, with some updated but still nostalgic graphics (it’s about on par with the SNES/Super Famicom). And it has some improvements over the original, such as being able to quick-save everywhere. I’m digging it so far.
Sadly my favorite entry, Dragon Quest IV, hasn’t been updated in a couple years for the iOS and reportedly doesn’t work well on a new phone/OS (it will run in a tiny window on a high-res screen) so it’s not worth buying yet. I might check out V though.
I’ll look into DQ XI for the PC. I’m a fan of the series so I’m intrigued.
I have to say, V is super impressive. I wish I’d picked it back when I tried on on my old SNES emulator days.
DQV manages to tell a story of the main character as he ages from being a child, going through his teen years, getting married, and growing up and having kids. It’s really cool to see them try that.
And I find that DQV has a great monster recruitment aspect that I don’t remember being as good in VI. And DQVI used classes, but the requirements to achieve anything in those classes were way to high. Even Final Fantasy V made the classes more accessible.
I bought the game on release day, and I’m about 25 hours into it. So far, the game is very impressive: very bright and colorful, with an improved crafting and skill leveling system. The music is magnificent. Dragon Quest VIII was, in my opinion, one of the best console turn based JRPGs ever, and so far I think Dragon Quest XI will be even better.
I don’t know what else to say, since I don’t want to spoil the plot for anyone else. But have any of you played the game? If so, what do you think of it?
I have not played it, but am wondering: Is grinding required?
I don’t mind a bit of grinding, but I am about to give up on DQ5 because it appears to assume that you spend at least an hour or so between sections of the game leveling up everyone. It’s becoming boring.
As I said before, I’m only about 25 hours into the game, so I’m maybe one-third of the way through it. But so far, I can say that grinding is definitely not necessary for either experience or gold.
My primary basis of comparison is the excellent Dragon Quest VIII, the last major console based non-MMORPG in the series. In DQVIII, I felt that grinding was necessary a lot of the time. The alchemy pot took a lot of time and experimenting to get the best weapons/equipment. This is not the case in DQXI. For starters, the alchemy pot has been replaced by the fun sized forge, which doesn’t take a long delay before giving you your weapon. I found that I usually had plenty of gold to buy equipment and ingredients. In DQVIII, there was a lot of experimenting in crafting new equipment (unless you looked recipes up online). In DQXI, you can only craft new equipment when you learn a recipe for that piece of equipment.
I find the game to be relatively easy (so far, I expect this will change eventually). A major change between DQXI and the previous games in the series is that random enemy encounters are gone! Now, when traversing the overworld and dungeons, you can see the enemies populated in the environment. You can choose to attack them or avoid them. If, for example, you are low on health, you can avoid the enemies and return to a campsite or inn to rest up.
I love the game–it will be a contender for Game of the Year. I hope other people will weigh in with their opinions.
Would you believe I just bought this after all these years? I got it for Switch and got the definitive edition. It was this or Elden Ring and I just don’t have the strength to take on Elden Ring at this point(besides, price will come down later).
I wish Elden Ring would get a Switch release, anyway.
It took awhile to come(used copy, non-prime shipping). I began playing last Friday and only have 4 1/2 hours in it. It has a very generous auto-save feature, frequent save spots, and the stand-by mode on Switch has really allowed me to play for 30 minutes or so here and there and then put it down for a bit.
I have Erik, have re-visited Cobblestone(this time it was the past) and am just on my way to where Erik said to go get his Red Orb(his partner had sold it).
I used the Fun-sized Forge a bit to make a Scale Armor +3 and also re-forged my Greatsword. Erik is working on Dagger skills, but I also equip him with a boomerang during smaller battles just to speed them up.
Tips? Well, I see from the thread that you played Dragon Quest V, so this should not come as a spoiler to you: When the game is “over” it is not really over! Continue playing to the second “real” ending. In my opinion, the game doesn’t really get hard until this second act.
And another tip: take the time to find all the rare ingredients to make the special equipment late in the game. This tip is true for pretty much any RPG where crafting is involved, so you probably didn’t need me to tell you that. All that special equipment comes in handy when the game starts getting harder.
And here’s one tip which I will spoiler just in case. I actually don’t think it’s too much of a spoiler, but I want to be safe. After you rebuild Cobblestone, definitely go back to find Derk the merchant. He has very good equipment until you can craft better equipment.
Erik and I got the red orb and opened up an Eastern area with a “sauna city”. I’m at level 9, I think? Maybe 10?
I feel like Skill Points are very scarce. I only get 2 or 3 per level gain? I can see how level gains are going to be very hard to do once the EXP requirement gets so high. I read you can respec, but man, I wish I could get a few more skills going.
Hey, just an update if you are curious how my playthrough is going. I’m doing this game approximately 90% blind. I’ve looked up just a couple little guides here and there, but am mostly taking it as it comes. It’s great, by the way.
I’m at level 28 for the main hero, I think. I just encountered a mermaid who asked me to go find her boyfriend Kai. I went to the town he was supposed to be in(Lonalulu or something) and they seemed to ask me to go fight a Squid-monster.
I’m doing fairly well so far? I think?
I use the forge often to either craft new materials or to re-work my current equipment. I’m spending money to buy better items and then re-working them to up them to +1, +2, or +3. My active battle party is currently Hero, Erik, Jade, and Sylvando. Jade uses a spear to do multithrust, probably the best single attack I have now. Sylvando heals with his Hustle Dance.
We are all wearing a cloak that heals us 5HP per round. Hero is using Greatswords and that is going pretty well as well. Erik dual-wield’s knives.
I was using Veronica and Serena up until I got Jade and Sylvando. I tried those two out and they actually were fairly decent and kept them up to now.
I’m struck how beautiful this game is and how well it runs on my Switch. It’s really a joy to play.
Edit: I’ve had some bad luck. Hero was dead at the end of two boss battles. I believe this means he received none of the experience for those battles, right? Kind of crappy.
I have seen numerous “Red Doors” during my voyage and I actually remember these from other Dragon Quest games. I’m confident I will have a chance to “zoom” around and open them.
However, on a few islands and perhaps some other spots, I’ve seen locked doors within what I will call “stone gazebos”. These are not red doors and I can not get to the chests contained within. I…guess I’ll get keys to these to?
Hey, thanks for sharing. I’m glad to hear that you’re enjoying the game. It sounds like you are doing fairly well so far.
My lineup changed from time to time, especially late in the game as the bosses got harder. But for the most part, my lineup was Hero, Jade, Hendrick, and Rab. All characters have their uses. Serena has great healing magic, Veronica has strong damage magic, Sylvando is useful in undoing status effects, and Jade is the strongest attack damage dealer.
I believe that you are correct that if a character is dead when defeating enemies, that character does not receive the experience points. But it’s been long enough now that I do not remember.
As for the doors: you are correct. You will eventually get multiple keys, which will let you go back and get some very useful loot. Like you, my first playthrough I try to not look at any guides or walkthroughs at all. But for my second playthrough, I “cheat” away and use guides. I make sure to open all of these doors and craft the best weapons and armor.
Yeah, I’ve seen most of those red doors, but when the time comes, I likely will check a quick guide since I did not write down the times I saw them. I know they are on the map, but a quick “Zoom” around the world would be fine with me.
I appear to be at the end of what general guides call “Act 1” of the game. I am about to go to the tree to do whatever those orbs are supposed to do. It’s a JRPG plot, so you know how these things are. “Gather the things to open the way to…the tree…to go do what the chosen one does…”.
Anyway, I’m at level 36(I think) and the party is fairly close in levels. My core group right now is:
Luminary, Erik(sometimes Veronica), Jade, and Sylvando(Hustle Dance, baby!)
Erik attacks three times per attack now. He has a knife that attacks twice and is dual wielding in his other hand a knife that does something(paralyze, poison, something I forget).
I would actually over-level, but the game really keeps the available experience fairly controlled so that over-levelling right now would take so many hours. I rarely get more than 1800 EXP for a battle outside one that a metal slime shows up in(and boss battles, of course).
I am living vicariously through you. If you keep it up, I may have to give the game a third playthrough.
Curious: have you ever played Dragon Quest VIII? That game is awesome, it was my favorite JRPG until Dragon Quest XI came out. Unfortunately, I think VIII is only available on the PlayStation 2 and a few other platforms, but no other modern consoles. It’s not on the Nintendo Switch, for example. If you like XI then I think you would like VIII.