Dragon Quest III has officially been completed, with the exception of Skyworld. I do plan to play around with Skyworld, but the core of the game has been completed; Zoma is dead, light has returned to Alefgard and all is right with the world. That is until Dragon Quest IV. I had a really great time playing Dragon Quest III, although I initially felt overwhelmed starting the game. When I start a new RPG I feel overwhelmed trying to micromanage everything, but once I get into the groove I feel much better and focus on the story/lore.
I can remember playing Final Fantasy for the first time all those years ago and my favorite thing was grinding. No, seriously. I think it comes from my MMORPG days where that's pretty much all you do. In an MMORPG you're just trying to get more levels for better armor, better weapons, better spells, better quests, unlocking new hunting grounds etc. Really your only focus is getting as much exp as you can to unlock that new thing. In a traditional RP video game you're mainly out doing quests to progress the storyline, which will yield a certain amount of exp and levels as a biproduct. Eventually you're going to be facing a boss, and sometimes those levels aren't going to be enough to defeat the boss, so you're going to have to find ancillary exp.
In the original Dragon Quest there was a small level system, so I made sure I maxed out my level by grinding. I figured if max level wasn't good enough to defeat all the foes that I should be faced with, then the game wasn't any good. Luckily I was wrong, and Dragon Quest was fucking fantastic! Dragon Quest II has a bit more of a leveling system, and was also fantastic. Dragon Quest III has a full 99 level system, which I would never have spent the time grinding to max out. Believe me getting to 45 was a struggle, but even so 45 was good enough to beat the game. Which was also fan-fucking-tastic!
With Dragon Quest III being completed I'm thinking about starting IV, and this time I hope it doesn't take more than five years for me to actually start. There are a lot of RPGs that I want to play, because I generally like them all. The only RPG I've not liked, in fact I borderline hated, was Lagoon for the Super Nintendo. I saw Lagoon sitting on a table at an indoor flea market and paid a couple of bucks for it because the brief internet research I did for it made it look like Ys. I actually like Ys, so I figured I would give it a try. NOPE! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NOPE!!! From what I struggle to recall about Lagoon is it focused more on puzzles and back and forth fetch quests than it did on combat, because the combat system was horrible!
Remember when I said I actually like Ys? The combat system is basically a bump and kill system. Imagine BattleBots, but it's humans and monsters alike with sharp objects taped to them, bumping into each other until one of them loses enough blood to croak. That's not where it ends though, as hitboxes are a thing. Often you'll find yourself aiming at the sprite to find the hitbox and missing it entirely, while taking loads of damage to yourself. So when you really needed to kill something, it was a 70% chance you were going to miss the hitbox and take a load of damage, mainly during boss fights. Although it's not a great system, Ys made it work and did a great job of feeling more fleshed out and well-rounded. Lagoon, however, well, it makes Hydlide seem like a multifaceted epic RPG. To its credit the graphics in Lagoon are nice. I did enjoy the fetch quests, as that usually comes standard in RPGs. With only 35 levels to gain, the leveling wasn't bad. It was the combat system required to level that was horrible.
When it comes to games I want to play, there is no shortage. When it comes to games I've started and really need to finish, there is also no shortage. I started playing Ocarina of Time (N64) in Autumn 2010, and for one reason or another I quit. Allow me to disappoint you further by saying I also have it for 3DS and, after beating A Link Between Worlds, I tried to get stuck into it on there, but again I gave up. I honestly can't explain why because I was genuinely enjoying it both times. Illusion of Gaia is another one where I am literally on part 12 of 13 in the walkthrough and I still just let it go for some reason. Earthbound, I'm at the Fourside Department store, and I haven't touched that for almost ten years. There is a Final Fantasy 7 save somewhere I've not touched in years as well. Don't ask why, as I have no answer.
Currently I want to start Dragon Quest IV, or maybe I'll get stuck into Resident Evil 2. Now that I've brought it up I'm feeling like Ocarina of Time, or finishing Illusion of Gaia. Shoot, I might even go back through (by which I mean suffer through) and finally beat Lagoon. I've watched tons of videos on how to beat the final bosses of Lagoon, it's just a matter of playing the game until the only thing your brain knows is where the hitbox on the bosses are. Once the game is beat you have to relearn how to walk, talk, breathe, eat, sleep, digest and do complex math such as 1+1=PS2.
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