All this discussion on DQVIII has me wondering:

What Dragon Quest games do you recommend?

Here in the States DQ I-IV, VII and VIII have been released.  The first three, 7, and 8 are pretty easy to acquire.  So, have you played DQ VII?  Is it any good, or is it better to skip it and go to VIII?  What about 1,2,3?  I've also heard that IV (which is very hard to find) is a wonderful game...

cheers,

-avatar!

The only one I would recommend is DQ8 due to the annoying user interface in the older titles.

BEGIN Old Man mode
     You young whippersnapper! Back in my day, that "ANNOYING" interface was all we had...and we LOVED it!!! *whack with cane*
END Old Man mode

Seriously, though, there WERE complaints when it was revealed that the interface to the English-language DQ8 would change. Nostalgia can be a powerful thing to shake sometimes.

As for the other games in the series:

The GBC ports of DW1&2 and DW3 are worth picking up. ESPECIALLY the third one. In that regards, they took all the goodness of the SFC release and squeezed it into that tiny cartridge...and then ADDED MORE GOODIES! It's really a great port of the game, and the fact that the sound and graphics must take a necessary hit does not matter one bit. It was the first game I bought...for my GBA.

I thought DW7 was a lot of fun...just keep in mind that it's a LOT. When it can take about 100 hours to beat the game WITHOUT straying after sidequests that says everything. If you're a crazed fan, it's a great experience. If not...it can be a chore. Glad I was in the first group.

I'm still sad that the deal for the English release of the DW4 remake fell through. It uses the DW7 engine (perhaps enhanced), and the music has benefitted greatly. I took it for a spin in emulation once, and I can tell it would have been loved dearly.

Here's hoping it's not too late for the Dragon Quest 5 remake. If Square-Enix doesn't localize it for us, then I hope someone like XSEED steps up to the plate for it.

Annoying... okay, I won't argue there (but I personally adore the DQ menu system, and find it incredibly efficient).  However, in the Japanese version of DQ8, the menu popped up instantly. In the North American DQ8, going into the menu feels like a chore... it is only a few extra seconds with each load, but doing that several times becomes fairly annoying.

As for other DQ games: my favorite is DQ5, far and away... but I guess you're asking for officially translated games. In that case, DQ3 and 4 are incredible.  DQ7 is good, but not my favorite by any means.

Having not ever played 8, I can only speak about 1-4 and 7. And honestly, I would play 1-4. Seriously. The first one, if nothing else, will give you an appreciation of how insanely hard the original RPGs were, and at the very least, introduce you to the monsters. I mean, if you can spend the huge amount of time needed to level up and beat the game, congrats.

Number two had some of the best music, imo, and it introduced extra people into your party. (The first featured only the hero.) It does tend to get a bit stale nearer to the end, though. I'd say maybe play it until you have both the Prince of Cannock and the Princess of Moonbrooke and a little past that.

Number three probably continues to be my favorite because it introduced the class system. You can create your own character, named whatever you want, and set him up as whatever class you want - soldier, fighter, pilgrim, merchant, wizard, etc. You can play it a bunch of times through with a different kind of party (much like FF1). You cannot change classes on the fly, though, like in FF5. (Except for when you can turn a Pilgrim or a Wizard into a Sage later in the game.)

Number four has an amazing story and timeline. You play different characters in different chapters and then it all comes together in the end, when they all meet up. I'm not a huge fan of the wagon, and also not having total control of the characters in Chapter 5, but eh.

I never got to play 5  or 6.

Seven was fine, but just got boring, imo. Plus I got myself stuck in one of the dark worlds or whatever you call them. (Long story.) The music is not as riviting, either, save for the town and battle themes.

That's my two(hundred) cents.

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Don't suppose you could hook me up with the rom and patch, could you?

Barely touched I, II, and IV.

III was a game I played in my early teens and I found it quite engrossing (although very difficult). It's definitely worth checking out.

I adored DQ5 (and I'm glad to see that others did as well). The story was often very moving, I enjoyed the characters and the music was second-to-none (it went from my least favorite DQ soundtrack to one of my favorites after I went through the game). It's probably one of the easiest DQs as well so it's perfect for beginners in the series.

DQ6 is a whole 'nother animal and I've only just started it but it seems to be very good as well...

Didn't care for VII. I went through the entire game (clocked 108 hours, WITHOUT doing the extras) but the game just plodded on without really knowing where it was going. It had a decent challenge but there wasn't enough story (or interesting characters) to sustain its running time.

Haven't played much of VIII yet.

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Man, I didn't even TALK about DQ6. Of course, I was trying to focus on games we have played, or maybe will play in the future.

But yes, in the case of both DQ5 and 6, I actually did buy the Japanese cartridges. That way, I wouldn't feel so guilty about enjoying the translations.

I haven't gotten too far in 6, but I know that if I commit some time to it, I'll really love it.

Thanks a lot, Conn!

What shocked me about DQ5 is that I didn't expect it to be as good as it was. The game honestly looks terrible for an SNES game... but once I got past the outdated graphics (especially in comparison to DQ6), I was instantly sucked in.

... wait a sec. McCall is Conn? Man, if people are gonna change their names, can they at least let us know?

I only knew because Tim called him that in another thread. I'd have had no clue otherwise, heh.

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