Dragon Warrior II
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I recently completed Dragon Warrior after not having played it for 20 years. It was a great experience. The game has a very smooth and direct flow. The encounter rate is just right and I found the need for "grinding" to be relatively low. The level, equipment, and story progression is linear and easy to follow.
I started Dragon Warrior II yesterday and it is quite different. The story progression appears relatively linear, but the clues as to where to go next are not quite as clear. At one point, the in-game text actually misdirected me! When I was trying to track down the Prince of Cannock, the path lead to Midenhall. I spoke to the king, and he said I just missed the Prince, and the Prince went to Midenhall to find me. Uh, I we are already in Midenhall. Apparently, the king meant Leftwyne, as that is where I found the Prince waiting.
This could be a result of Nintendo not having a hand in the translation. The first game has an immaculate translation, the result of a Nintendo's North American marketing push and big investment in the RPG genre. Enix was on their own this time around, so maybe it was rushed a bit.
Another thing that initially seemed to be an improvement is the size of the world. It is much larger. However, there isn't anything actually filling this extra space, except a greatly increased encounter rate. While I never found myself frustrated with the random encounters in Dragon Warrior, I am already getting annoyed here. It is compounded by the fact that, so far, my travels have me going back and forth across the land near the starting area. This means I get jumped repeatedly by monsters that die in one hit, or often run. Add in the fact that the battles can take up to three times longer than the battles in the first game, since there are multiple monsters, and I find myself running from battles that require nothing but me holding the A button. I guess I could be thankful the designers provided Fairy Water for sale at the first town.
Also, the music seems a little less interesting. The battle music in particular is weak. I also found it interesting that the overland music, which you listen to for hours in this game consists of approximately 15 seconds looped over and over, while the music you hear when sitting at the "load game" screen is an epic score that is unique for several minutes before looping! Maybe the designers never noticed since you are pretty much guaranteed to get in a battle before the overland music loops.
Back to the adventure!
Comments
There should just be a DOOR action which uses the appropriate key if you have it.
Still a great game, but four is tops.
I really felt lost when I got my ship
Thats exactly the point I stopped. I felt that the world was suddenly too huge without any direction. Walkthroughs are easy to find but I prefer the single character DW1 type anyways.
In my game, "Artho" (the Prince of Cannock) is like a wet paper bag. I have wasted gold on reviving him three times already. Oh, he gained a level. +2 HP and +1 MP. Awesome.
Lol, I know the feeling. Was like that all the time on my 1st playthrough of DW2 on nes.
This pic about sums it up, eh?
I grew up playing DW1, but can't stand it anymore. Having to use a menu for obvious stuff like stepping on stairs is my first complaint. I really enjoyed the GBC remake though. Still 8 bits, but smoothed out nicely.
Never play DQ1 then
In my game, "Artho" (the Prince of Cannock) is like a wet paper bag. I have wasted gold on reviving him three times already. Oh, he gained a level. +2 HP and +1 MP. Awesome.
From what I understand they used the name you choose for your main character to determine what your other characters names and stats will be. If you read up on how it works you may be able to have a little bit better party, but it seems like a lot of effort.
Back on to the topic of DQ on the Famicom. I recall someone saying once that it did not have battery back-up and that it used a password system. Can anyone confirm or deny that?
Back on to the topic of DQ on the Famicom. I recall someone saying once that it did not have battery back-up and that it used a password system. Can anyone confirm or deny that?
That is correct. Dragon Quest 1 and 2 used a password system instead of battery. Battery save was introduced to the series in Japan with the third game.
Tonight, I pulled it out and continued my save. I decided that I was rushing things a bit and that caused frustration. This time, I decided to just fight around Hamlin until I gained a level or two and collected enough gold to buy new armor and weapons for myself and Artho.
That made things a lot easier. Until I did this, I felt like any steps on the other side of the bridge resulted in me being raped by a pack of Baboons. I buy myself the Broad Sword, and Artho the Iron Spear and Chain Mail, then head off in search of the Mirror... which I promptly found in about two minutes of walking. Doh! I expected it to be much farther away.
Then I spent the next 30 minutes trying to figure out how to get it to work. Ok, dog in my "party", use item, doesn't work. Ok, hand mirror to Artho, use item, nope. Face the dog, use item, nope. Ok, let's visit the flaming family back in Moonbrooke. No text change. Use item on flames. Nothing. Ok, talk to everyone in Hamlin again. Nope. Hmm. Ok, leave town, come back, use item next to dog without having dog join the party. Success!
I now have zero direction on what to do (SHH, don't tell me, I will figure it out on my own). I went back and talked to every NPC in every town/castle and the only thing that refers to someplace I haven't yet been is a guy who mentions a cape in a tower. Although he doesn't give any clues to where the tower is, or why I would need an item to help me fall in the first place. If I had a reason to need such an item, I might be more inclined to search for this tower.
So I saved the game for the night and I will explore more tomorrow.
I remember getting into DW2 about 7 years ago, and then never playing it again afterwards for some reason I can't recall...
You know, I thought I had completed this game once or twice back in the day, but thinking back, I recall absolutely nothing about anything beyond finding the ship. I guess I will see if anything else comes back to me later. Maybe I never did complete it!
I did check the itemlist on the back of the map to see if the Prince could wear the Magic Armor. It saved myself the trouble of saving, buying it and trying it on, then resetting if it didn't fit. Is there any way to tell from the menus before purchasing what weapons/armor will fit on each character?
Also, what the heck does the Wizard's Wand do? I bought it and equipped the Princess with it, even though it gives her less attack power than the Magic Knife. I assumed it boosted her spell strength, but it isn't reflected in her status anywhere.