/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.7258728]

Why did Dragon Quest never get popular in the West but Final Fantasy did?

[Anonymous No.7258731]

Because FF actually has some decent games

[Anonymous No.7258736]

Because DQ embodies a less-is-more mentality while FF embodies more-is-more.

[Anonymous No.7258741]

FF actually tries new things. Sometimes it doesn't work out, but it tries not to rehash as hard as DQ does.

[Anonymous No.7258765]

Dragon Quest is like a pizzeria, sometimes there are toppings but it's always pizza and only pizza on the menu, and that's great if you love pizza.

Final Fantasy is a restaurant that started as a copycat pizzeria, but now they sell falafel, bubble tea, and gyros and so much other shit, and they don't serve pizza anymore.

I like both restaurants.

[Anonymous No.7258770]

>>7258728
because it's ugly and has a clunky interface, western players didn't have the patience for that shit

[Anonymous No.7258784]

>>7258765

If this were only true. The fact is FF became popular when it started appealing to westerns with a more-is-more mentality, particularly with FF7, which is why every FF game before it was a flop. FF games by and large are not any deeper than DQ games, but since they try to put overly dramatic “”stories””, pretentious westerners, that probably have never read a real book in their lives, eat it up like candy. DQ understands that it’s a videogame and because many insecure gamers can’t admit to having a children’s hobby, they eschew it in favor of games that take themselves too seriously.

[Anonymous No.7258785]

>>7258770
>western players didn't have the patience for that shit
Nobody tell him

[Anonymous No.7258798]

>>7258784
>The fact is FF became popular when it started appealing to westerns with a more-is-more mentality, particularly with FF7, which is why every FF game before it was a flop

The first FF sold 700k in North America alone, moron. That's very good for the era.

[Anonymous No.7258801]

>>7258765
VICTORY FANFARE

[Anonymous No.7258829]

Childhood is believing FF is better. Adulthood is realizing DQ is, and has always been, the greatest JRPG franchise.

[Anonymous No.7258836]

Why do you think they weren’t? They released the first four games, then seven and onward. I don’t think they would have localized any if they weren’t successful.

[Anonymous No.7258846]

>>7258728
Because your measuring stick of popular is retarded.

[Anonymous No.7258859]

>>7258728
Was there even a DQ released in Europe before VIII on the PS2?

[Anonymous No.7258860]

Final fantasy is so popular, they should like make a movie about it

[Anonymous No.7258865]

>>7258798

Yes of course, FF was always popular, that’s why their releases were so inconsistent. Get over yourself, it’s an overrated series that pretentious manchildren enjoy, as is everything that Square made for the SNES. FF before VII was never nowhere near as popular and totemic as it is now (in fact, it was arguably as popular as DQ), which is the point, you dolt.

[Anonymous No.7258895]

>>7258865
The single game that was released in NA sold well. The others didn't sell because... they weren't released there. The first DQ was also released in the West but sold like shit there.

[Anonymous No.7258897]

>>7258765
>food analogy

[Anonymous No.7258915]

>>7258895
Correction: the first DQ actually sold well in the US, I confused it with DQ3. The difference is that every single NES DQ had a Western release unlike FF, so it has no excuse for not being as popular as it.

[Anonymous No.7258935]

>>7258915
Except Enix dropped out of the American market right at the exact wrong time. The SNES games never left Japan which was when RPG franchises like Final Fantasy and Phantasy Star really started to take hold. By the time Dragon Warrior VII came out it was too late.

[Anonymous No.7258948]

>>7258865
FFII and III each sold something like 250,000 copies, which in the SNES days made them solid hits. They were less popular than the million sellers like Donkey Kong Country and Street Fighter II but they were around the same level as Mega Man X.

[Anonymous No.7259383]

>>7258728

DQ was never graphically impressive for the vast majority of its life span. The Famicom to PlayStation titles had simple graphics in an era when J-RPGS were getting lavish graphics and cutscenes.

I remember reading about how DQ was this big series and then I saw screenshots and reviews of 7. And... this is it? It doesn't look all that interesting.

Then the modern DQ games are nice looking but they play like turn based j-rpgs in an era where these are seen as antiquated. Basically they missed their chansu for mainstream Western appeal. The only way they could do this is by improved gameplay, maybe going for the Kingdom hearts crowd?

[Anonymous No.7259408]

The original DQ was too grindy for western tastes

[Anonymous No.7259423]

DQ always seemed kinda ghetto to me back then

[Anonymous No.7259439]

You can't dismiss the art style differences.

Toriyama's art style for DQ is very juvenile and light, which makes it look like it's a product marketed for very young children. In the West, even very young children generally don't want to be perceived as such.

FF's artwork, even the Americanized stuff, had a more fantasy-novel look to it rather than a line of toys, so it has always been perceived as more mature which appeals to a much wider range of people.

[Anonymous No.7259448]

>>7258728
Dragon Quest literally revels in how basic it is. It flaunts it. In the name of being "traditional" it will never even remotely flirt with the idea of doing anything even mildly interesting.

Why in the fuck would anybody want to play something that is purposefully as basic as it can be when almost EVERYTHING else in the genre is more complex, whether it be through actual mechanics or narrative?

Seriously, look at Dragon Quest IX, and think about the fact that that horribly fucking boring piece of shit came out on the same system as goddamn Radiant Historia and The World Ends With You.

[Anonymous No.7259479]

DQ:
>Exact same art style, exact same looking buildings, environments, items, enemies, same color palettes, same music style every single game
FF:
>Almost everything different and experimental every single game from mechanics to art to music to presentation save for a few iconic names and monsters.

DQ games are only for one audience, whereas there is a FF for everyone. Also why there is so much division between the fans of each FF game.

[Anonymous No.7259532]

the series refused to evolve in any meaningful capacity.
They set the standard for NES JRPGs and codified the proper formula for the genre with 3, but what happened after that?

You could forgive them during the SNES era for not quite keeping up with the rapidly evolving genre, the games were starting to really experiment with different combat systems, character progression, stuff like real time and active time battling, QTEs during combat to increase or decrease damage. There was a lot going on during the 16 bit era of JRPGs but there was time to improve and catch up.

It was the PS1 era where things really went to shit. Dragon Quest 7 is fucking terrible and there is no reason it should exist and no excuse for how subpar it is. You had super experimental games like Parasite Eve, Valkyrie Profile, Xenogears, and Legend of Legaia. Even more "typical" JRPGs like Breath of Fire 3 and 4 and Grandia had gameplay systems with some depth that far separated them from basic games from the goddamn 1980s.

The PS2 era? Jesus fucking Christ. You could be playing Tales of Symphonia or Abyss, Final Fantasy X, Ar Tonelico, Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, .Hack GU, Xenosaga, all 3 Shadow Hearts games. Tons of games. Why the fuck would you want to play Dragon Quest VIII? Again there is just no excuse for the lack of any meaningful progression in this franchise.

[Anonymous No.7259575]

>>7258915
Did it though? I remember Dragon Warrior carts being given for dirt cheap/free because the shit wouldnt sell

[Anonymous No.7259630]

>>7259439
The original FF was basically an unlicensed D&D campaign. They probably could have been sued for it even. So it was already set up for success by aping a game that had an established fanbase.

[Anonymous No.7259639]

>>7259532
>Ar Tonelico
Come on now.

[Anonymous No.7259691]

>>7259630
A lot of the big franchises in Japan started as a D&D campaign

[Anonymous No.7259698]

>>7259639
It's not amazing or anything but at least it tried to do SOMETHING with its combat system.

[Anonymous No.7259892]

>>7258728
>Why did Dragon Quest never get popular in the West but Final Fantasy did?
hmmmmmmmmmm
it is a mystery.

[Anonymous No.7259909]

>>7258765
Imagine being so fat, you look at video games and see food.

[Anonymous No.7259916]

>>7259439
Except the west fucking love Toriyama you mong.

[Anonymous No.7259928]

>>7259916
Yeah now. Back then nobody knew who he was until the mid 90s.

[Anonymous No.7259949]

>>7258728
>>7258731
FF1 is better than DQ1, but DQ2-4 utterly demolish FF2 and 3.

[Anonymous No.7260002]

>>7259928
DBZ being the hottest shit ever should have carried over into mainstream success for Dragon Quest. it even has fucking Dragon in the name.

The series just fucking sucks. the only games that actually sold well were 8 and 9. 8 sold ONLY because the Final Fantasy XII demo. 9 sold because it was a first party Nintendo published game and they advertised the shit out of it.

[Anonymous No.7260008]

>>7259909
Hell yeah dude