Comments on: Dragon Quest IX and some musings on wandering monsters

By: Jomu

Jomu — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:33:38 +0000

heh slimes.. b/c of that, I wrote an entry which ill post later tonight

By: Bristal

Bristal — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:03:47 +0000

Talking about AD&D wandering monsters…My favorite city encounter was the “Fopish Dandy”. I still use that term.

By: Wiqd

Wiqd — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:27:59 +0000

So the graphics are actually good then? Every screenshot I look at has the characters washed out and jagged edged like back from PSOne days. I know it’s the DS but…

By: spinks

spinks — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:34:54 +0000

I think there has to be a happy medium between ‘all monsters stand around dumbly with big red nametags’ and ‘*bamf* a monster appears out of nowhere and attacks’.

I’d love a gameworld with some static herds of mobs, some which actively stalked the player or hid, some which kept to themselves and just generally more going on.

By: spinks

spinks — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:30:34 +0000

I think it’s one of those games where an accurate review would say, “Well if you like this sort of thing then you’ll love it and think it’s the best thing ever. If you hate this sort of thing then this won’t change your mind.”

And that works out as a sort of aimiable 8/10 which means it’s a good game … but only if you like that sort of thing. I suspect that a good shooter would be more likely to get a higher score because game reviewers tend to be biased towards a specific audience.

By: Chastity

Chastity — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:03:53 +0000

I actually like the “out of nowhere” feel of wandering monsters. As long as its handled right I actually think it’s more immersive than the alternative, which is being able to *actually see* that there are monsters just wandering around the wilderness waiting to attack people.

By: Chastity

Chastity — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:00:12 +0000

I find it interesting that 8/10 constitutes a “mediocre” review. I mean I get why it’s wound up that way, but it seems to render the whole “marks-out-of-ten” system a little screwy.

By: KiwiRed

KiwiRed — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 09:18:14 +0000

The DS is pretty fun, it’s just a pity the latest iteration is so expensive (the DSi XL would be great for my aging eyes). Still, JRPGs are the genre I bought my DS for, and this game sounds tempting… (Having said that, I’m not sure it has the power to tear me from my ipod touch and collection of Tower Defense games, though)

By: Tam

Tam — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 08:45:41 +0000

Dragonquest, um, VIII (I think it was VIII) on the PS2 was one of my favourite JRPGs of all time; it was so whimsical and beautifully localised.

And also, yes, SLIMES.

It’s almost enough to make me invest in a DS….

By: We Fly Spitfires

We Fly Spitfires — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 08:40:07 +0000

I’m thinking about Dragon Quest so I something to play when I’m on holiday but it just got medicore (8/10) reviews although I’m a lot more interested it in now having read your article, Spinks. Gonna be tough to resist I think!

I was actually over in Japan last year shortly after it come out and it was hugely popular. I remember seeing groups of people huddled together outside of buildings all playing it together. They certainly love their games over there