/vr/ - Retro Games

An absolute grindfest

80% of this game is just walking around killing 245 Skeletons and 198 Werewolves to level up

>>8168428
This. You could only play through this legit in modern times in some sort of ironic way or with some sort of philosophy stance like that the game is some sort of meditative relaxation. The style and dialogue etc. that is there is actually quite nice. Music is monkey doo though.

>>8168428
This. You could only play through this legit in modern times in some sort of ironic way or with some sort of philosophy stance like it's relaxing like meditation. The style and dialogue etc. that is there is actually quite good. Music is monkey doo-doo though.

the music is quite charming though

>>8168315
It's funny how you only get 1 party-member in this game. It's obviously a little hold over from Ultima.

>>8168486
I've beaten it. There is grinding, especially at the end. Most DQ has a lot of grinding though. DQ1 isn't really a good place to start the games imo because it lacked QOL.

>>8168428
I've said it before in these threads, but the grinding is where the game's strategy comes from, not the combat. The true objective of the game is to minimize the time you spend grinding. For example, your options might look like this:
>Do you hunt monsters outside of a low level town with a cheap inn?
>Do you hunt monsters to the south where gold golems spawn, but the walk back to town to heal takes forever?
>Do you roll the die with hunting Metal Slimes?
>Do you struggle your way to the furthest town and grind there for big, risky exp, but expensive healing?
>Do you try to advance the story in hopes of obtaining something that'll make grinding faster now rather than later?
And also:
>Do you buy herbs and keys now, knowing that they'll cut into your sword fund?
>Do you buy defensive equipment to reduce the amount you're spending on healing or do you buy a weapon to reduce the amount of turns you spend in combat?
>Do I buy the weapon I can afford now or keep saving for the next tier?
The ONLY reason these choices matter is because grinding takes for-fucking-ever. If you make the wrong choice, you might be spending 40+ minutes leveling up instead of 20, so you really need to need to put a lot of thought into these choices. If you lower the grinding, like in the ports, these choices stop mattering because it's a difference of 5 minutes at most if you choose wrong.

Yes, it's not a great idea to balance a game around wasting your time, but that's exactly where the fun of the original Dragon Quest comes from.

All JRPGs should have a dedicated stairs command.

I never really bother with Demon Knights or Metal Slimes. Not worth it.

>>8168583
Agreed. If you play well you can make it up to the final dungeon with minimal grind. Of course, the grindfest is inevitable then, but at least you'll have access to the entire game world at that point.

remember that the game was from 86 originally it was one of the first Famicom titles that was more than just simple arcade action. it was already outdated by the time it got to North America despite the QoL improvements Enix made like touched-up graphics and a battery save instead of 40 character passwords.

>>8168315
Which is the best version of 1?

>>8168629
It depends. Do you want to actually play the game or do you just want an abridged version of it just to see what it is?

>>8168629
SNES/Game Boy Color/Android are all great

>>8168648
My favorite game is Everquest on a 1999 era private server.

Why the fuck is the movement so slow in DQ 1+2? You move at half the speed of literally any other tile based RPG in existence.

>>8169131
SOVL

>>8168583
Nice post, anon. I'll take it in consideration next time I give the original trilogy a go.

>>8169131
what do you mean? it runs at 60 fps.

I love this game, and I never played it until 2010. Is the hate from zoomers or anti-NES poors?

>>8168315
Oh, you can sleep skellingtons. I was not aware of that. How about in later DQ games?

>>8169292
you can use any spell on any enemy

>>8168497
It may have lacked QOL but it contained SOUL

>>8168315
This is one of the only games I have frequent dreams about and I have no idea why. It's mostly about playing the game within my dream and either discovering a new weird dungeon full of new monsters or the experience is completely different, like playing an advanced romhack.

>>8168583
Did this philosophy make it into Mother 1?

>>8168319
>>8168428
Fuck yes and it's awesome

real game for real men

>>8168315
the age of video games before they started tapping into our mics, was a beautiful time

http://www.romhacking.net/translations/5416/
For the fans of the first game, it's the original Famicom version translated into English. Give it a playthrough. Overall it's the same game but there are some minor differences like passwords instead of save files

>>8168315
This game gets shit.on a lot, but it's my favorite RPG of all time, probably because it was my first. Yes, it's grindy and shallow overall, but I give two fucks. Game is great and I smile everytime I play it and hear the music. Haters gonna hate.

>>8169245
Dunno, I'm over 30 and only played it for the first time a few years ago. I liked it, it's bare-bones but comfy.
>"But, thou must!"

Grinding has always been a part of JRPG's that I really enjoy. I can't even really explain what I like about it, but games like this scratch that itch and don't leave my character/party overleveled to the point of absurdity. It's basically just Heroine Hero for me.

>>8169128
my liege

>>8168315
Terrible "game"

>muh grinding
Literally not even an issue in the modern day, just speed through it with your emulator of choice.

The SNES version is vastly superior in every way, though. The actual meat of the game is in talking to everyone and figuring out where to go next. Played it for the first time a few months ago, and it still holds up extremely well.

For me though, the best 8 bit JRPG is Far East of Eden. Voice acting adds so much charm to the whole experience.

>>8168315
Got it for free in my youth for being a Nintendo Power subscriber. It was an unique game for its time. I used to bring that thick manual to school and look at that beautiful artwork of weapons and armor that you couldn't see in 8-bit.

I go back to the 16-bit version for replays though, polished and clean.

>>8169802
The Famicom version has cruder graphics. Characters face in one direction only because it was a port from the MSX which didn't have sprite flipping and of course the password saves. It also has unsightly graphics artifacts when scrolling since it was CNROM and the mirroring direction is fixed--the NES release is MMC1 so they could just switch the mirroring on the fly.

>>8170342
I'm 26 and only learned recently that most of you guys got your copies of Dragon Warrior this way. That was a pretty insane deal on a great game

I love the cheesy pseudo-medieval English in here; it's too bad they didn't keep it in the later games.

>>8170403
> it was a port from the MSX
Dragon Quest was developed for the Famicom not MSX first and foremost

>>8170408
They were trying HARD to make it catch on in the West, but it just didn't happen. They tried again when VIII released and had much better results.

>>8168583
>it's not a great idea to balance a game around wasting your time
This is the essence of most retro JRPGs, at least if you're a kid and too dumb to use all the game mechanics.

>Want some puff-puff?

>Want to buy some tomatoes?

Thanks, Nintendo. You did a bang-up job protecting America's youth from that filth.

>>8168315
i remember playing this as a kid, it was the first jrpg i played, i couldn't believe how grindy it was

eventually i played ff1 which i liked a lot more

>>8171006
I fucking hate /pol/ talk but censoring games certainly didn't help

>>8168319
>>8169758
You're all right

The grind is really only bearable if you rush to get the best armor as soon as possible

>>8169802
>http://www.romhacking.net/translations/5416/
Nice, I looked for something like this back when I first played through 1-3 a couple of years ago - glad to see someone went and did it.

>>8169715
Same thing with new 2D Castlevanias for me. 2D is SOVL.

>>8168315
emulation speed 6400%

>>8169754
Don't mention that shitfest please, no amount of charm and dedication was enough for me to finish that, and I say that as someone who really enjoyed DQ1

>>8168497
>you only get 1 party-member in this game
based lone wolf giga-Chad descendant of Erdrick

>>8169802
bro I'm not gonna play on an emulator to type in 40 character passwords and lose my progress bc an O looked like a 0

>>8170713
better than the corny accents from the remakes

>>8169802
>DQ1 but even worse
pass

>>8177232
>what are savestates

>>8168583
While the later games play differently, a lot of the mindset is transferable. At the least to 2-6.
You have reasons to go out of your way to explore, because there is a lot of neat shit to acquire. While adding more story structure do mean grind tempo is partially story locked, its still partially there.
So is the fact you can walk into any dungeon or boss encounter and just fucking wipe, which maybe the most underrated feature of JRPGs that fell away from popularity.