Me too. His older review of Dragon Quest IV for the DS got me in to buying a 3DS and completing all of the main line DQ games on the 3DS/DS. My personal favorite is VI since i started with that one. Dragon Quest fan for life *slurp*
Ahhh YES!!!! Gather around everyone for this is a tale like no other... For Johnny has embarked in a timeless journey in slaying slimes since the late 80's.
When I was younger I fractured my spine and broke my wrist in a four wheeler wreck and was bed ridden for a semester of school without the ability to get up by myself the whole time but luckly I had recently bought Dragon Quest 8 for the ps2 on a whim because of the art. My grandmother would come in pass me the remote and turn on my ps2 and I would play through it one handed while she was at work. That game got me through an extremely troubling time in my life and I have every game in the main series as of now and will continue to do so.
I remember when Dragon Quest IV was released. I was 13 years old. I got on a line of the local super market (there was a small game shop on the 2nd floor) on the release day. It was February and it was so cold outside. But the shop got only 20 copies or something (I lived in a small town, kind of suburb of Tokyo) and I couldn't get mine because there were more in front of me. Disappointed and went home then there was my big brother, having a copy of DQIV. He got on a line of another shop. The next weekend, I accompanied couple of my classmates who still didn't have the game and got on a line of another shop in a different town because we got an info (more like a rumor) that the shop was going to get some copies on the weekend. I don't know how we could get those info back in the day... but there were many such rumors. I remember we were waiting on the line and somebody brought Game Boy and Motocross Maniacs that was released several months ago. So we played it in turns, shivering in the cold. I think that was my first time to play Game Boy. Fortunately my friends could get a copy and we all went home happily. Funny it's almost 30 years ago but I still remember it.
Despite Dragon Warrior's Westernized cover, thankfully the in-game graphics retained Akira Toriyama's anime artwork, (& he was credited in the ending.) 😎
My older brother still has his copy of DW4 in box with the map and everything, but he hasn’t had a nes since 95, well I brought my nes over to his place and we popped in DW4 , to see that his 25 year old save file was still there. We just could not believe the battery lasted that long.
The Toriyama artwork was it for me. I had no choice to start DQ/DW,and as a handheld kid, it was all about Dragon Quest Monsters. After that I was hooked. Went from that to Joker and then 8. I’ve since played some of the others, like 7 and even the OG ones. But man, it really resonated with me. I even have a slime tattoo. Loved the video Johnny, took me back to a lot of great memories
Johnny you never cease to excite a guy! I can't begin to tell you how much I never get sick of waking up on my day off with a fresh coffee with a memory of the Golden Days of video gaming from your perspective. Sending love and respect always bro take care
I LOVE your enthusiasm! I’ve been gaming since ‘85, but I’m only now getting into JRPGs. It’s really fun seeing you relish in the nostalgia! It’s infectious as I reminiscent on my own gaming memories. Your videos have opened up a door of so many games I need to play.
Thanks so much for sharing about this series- it has become one of my top video game series of all time, each one is to me an absolutely perfect RPG, and they are all so unique from one another. Really really hoping we can get the series to catch on more in the west, and videos like this help fuel the fire. Good on you!
Your not alone johnny, my first dive into an rpg was dragon warrior,my grandma gave me 10 dollars on my birthday and I took that money and wanted a new game,the cover art was amazing I had no idea what the game was little did I know it was an rpg,and every since that day I am a loyal Dragon warrior/Dragon Quest fan.
hahaha dude your stories rock! I was a lot like you back then skipping school to play pinnacle releases of video games! Man those days.. The Golden Days I may say!
Loved this video and hope you talk more about stories around gaming magazines. Such a big part of shared gamer history that doesn't get talked about as often as you'd think.
Your videos back in the day are actually the reason I got into the main series over the years. I've now completed all the mainline series of games, and It has quickly become my favourite RPG series. I cant thank you enough for sharing your excitement back then. You're the best Johnny!
Hey Johnny, from one lifelong DQ fan to another, did you know about the exclusive Remembrance Palace on the 3DS version of the game? I only just found out about this myself. Essentially if you complete all three quests per retro Dragon Quest area (I through X) you unlock a brand new exclusive dungeon called Remembrance Palace. It contains a bunch of super bosses, including a fight where you must beat two at the same time a la the bonus content from DQ IV. Long story short, but the rewards include exclusive gear, and even a fifth non-controllable party member! What sucks is this is 100% exclusive to the 3DS version; which we now know isn’t coming to Canada. I’ll be showing video evidence of this shortly once I complete the all the retro areas, but in the meantime I just wanted to pass this info along to another fan.
To be perfectly honest the "Remembrance Palace" sounds a lot like the handling of Nelson's Trials in the PS4 version. I found out about it while reading Google translated pages online. And one of the Japanese fans on the page referenced the "fifth companion" as a reward for completing the trial. And what you said about the super bosses also match up with the video footage Shirrako posted as one part of their Dragon Quest XI PS4 walkthrough. Ironically, I was looking for any explanation on how Dragon Quest XI connects to Dragon Quest III. What I did find afterwards only explained what was already shown in the true ending.
Hey Philip, Nelson's Trials are actually in both versions of the game. What I'm talking about is part of the retro-areas in the 3DS version whereby you have a set number of quests and have to travel back through the old game worlds. It's a really unique exclusive to the 3DS version, and I didn't know that there was an additional dungeon that unlocked once completed. What would you like to know about DQ XI's connection to III? I've gone through both versions of the game and done literally everything you can do ;)
Just two days ago I started playing Dragon Quest IX Sentinels of the Starry Skies. It's my first exposure to the series so I'm not sure how it stacks up to the rest but all I can say is that for someone like myself with little to no history of playing RPGs it's been a really good time! I have to say the monster design is really charming and funny!
Awesome video. So much nostalgia watching this video for me since Happy Console Gamer and I are the same age and it was about 1988/1989 when I got my copy of Dragon Warrior too as a 14 year old kid. I am a Dragon Warrior fan for life too.
My friend showed me Dragon Quest 8 about 12 years ago when I met him and it was an amazing experience. It wasnt till some years later that i decided to dig deeper and go back to the beginning of the series and shortly fell in love with all the games, some i still yet to play but one day i will play them all!
Yes another Dragon Quest episode!!!! I love hearing your memories with the franchise’s beginnings. While waiting for DQXI, I’ve been playing VII 3DS and IV DS, both great games while different in their own way. I love VII’s job system but the story is REALLY long... IV’s multiple hero story is good and the soundtrack is great so far. Also got the 3DS version of VIII and looking forward to experiencing that masterpiece again. Really hope DQXI takes off here in the west, it looks amazing and the franchise deserves worldwide success.
mana beast I absolutely believe you since XI seems incredible from the previews. It definitely seems like the next step from DQVIII while also honoring the franchise’s roots. I haven’t even played the Loto Trilogy yet, but I hope they remake DQI-III in DQXI’s engine or re-release the original NES/SNES versions. Hopefully both!
Damn quite the story... I became a fan of DQ with DQ8 because the FF12 demo disc got me hyped, and I wanted to capture the OG DB roots of Akira Toriyama; then I remember getting DQIX on its release date on DS; lastly when I got my first smart phone iPhone 5S, I saw a friend play and tell me about DQ1, and I bought 1-6 on phone as my first purchase on App store
I just stumbled on your channel because I've been looking up new info on DQ 11 that's coming out in September. It's great to find someone who has the same love for the series that I have! I started playing Dragon Warrior (the original) in the early 90s on a friends old NES because my family didn't have a lot of money, and one of my friends would always get games before me (much like you and your friend!). At the time that I played it, DW wasn't actually that great of a game, but for some reason I fell in love with it and started looking up the other versions. It wasn't until I was older and Emulation started to take off that I finally got to play through II through IV. By that time I'd already played through Dragon Warrior VII , the last game to be titled Dragon Warrior in the US, and also my favorite in the series (though it's not as loved by some). After playing through the old games, and falling in love with them all over again, I made it a point to find all the old copies I could and to collect as much as I could. I've been a loyal fan for over 25 years myself, and it's great to see DQ get more recognition in the western markets. Thanks for this fun video!
Amazing listening to your stories about Dragon Quest. I haven't played a single game in the series, but looking at it... It's definitely worth the hype during that time. What took you to get the game, the waiting, reading... it added to the whole experience and excitement for Dragon Quest. It's worth having.
Awesome video, ever since we got more info on the release date and added features of Dragon Quest XI I kept checking back to your channel thinking to myself "I want to see this guy talk about this stuff". Your enthusiasm and hype for games is infectious, and I really feel like seeing you get all hyped over any bit of Dragon Quest news would really be awesome. I love this series myself, it was the first RPG I played on the NES back in the day and while I did have a period of waning interest just due to lack of localization I re-found my love for this series later and now can proudly say I own all the US Dragon Quest games as well as multiple spin-offs and the Famicom and Super Famicom versions as well.
My mother and I played through Dragon Warrior together back in the day. Was a great time! I think I had the only mom that was way into video games on the block. lol
Got to say thankyou Johnny, It was through watching your videos over the last so many years that made me a big Dragon Warrior/Quest fan! Can't wait for Dragon Quest XI this year :)
As an "old" gamer (around 30), I can say without a doubt that new kids cant understand how different it was to be a gamer back then, before the internet. I will not say it was worst, it was... different. I tried to explain it to my nephew, but he truly cant "feel" the way it was.
Played Dragon Warrior at a friends house in 1989 and had to buy a copy right away. One of my best memories is actually buying part iv at the Nintendo store in Vancouver (Coquitlam maybe) I have a display case with all my dragon warrior/quest games, strategy guides and plushes etc.
Johnny, you stories are just absolutely amazing! That's what I like the most about your channel, you have such a positive vibe about the games you like, you can get anyone hyped for anything. The first DQ game I played was VIII, and I bought I almost only for the FF XII Demo. The result: I shoved the demo away and couldn't stop playing DQ VIII, and have loved it ever since! Keep up this awesome work!
And I forgot to say: I've always loved Japan, and had some similar experiences with it as you. Last year I had the opportunity to visit the country for the first time, and it was exactly on the launch of Dragon Quest XI! Man, everyone I went the only thing I could hear was the DQ theme, everyone playing it on their 3DSs while walking. I can see why Japan is so in love with DQ. It was an incredible experience!
around the turn of the century i was eating up all the pokemon clones i could find as a kid while waiting on gold and silver -since my local forbidden planet had japanese imports of pocket monsters gold and silver taunting me- and found Dragon Warrior Monsters and i loved it. Not long after Dragon Warrior 1-3 came out on GBC and by that point i already played some Final Fantasy games and the thing i loved here was 1 of the games was directly connected to the other on the same world map but in a different time. like seeing the temple of time in BotW looong after Ocarina its a super nostalgic thing that makes you love the game all the more and while the ds games never gripped me things like Dragon Quest builders with the same overworld music and such is still a reminder of some fond memories, even if i was always into more niche jrpgs like wild arms personally.
The first Dragon Warrior game was the first RPG I ever played. I also grew up with the series and pored over magazine articles about upcoming installments. I remember becoming obsessed with this tiny blurb in some gaming magazine announcing the "upcoming" Dragon Quest V, which of course never came to the SNES. I think I've played or replayed either a mainline series game or a spinoff at least once every year since I was a kid. Hands down my favorite franchise. Really looking forward to XI! I suspect it'll become my new favorite game in the series :)
Alex Peraza I remember playing both Dragon Warrior and Zelda and thinking: how is Zelda an RPG and how is it so hyped by comparison? DW is the first RPG I finished and probably my proudest gaming moment as a child.
I’ve never played a dragon quest game but I plan on buying 7 and 8 for my 3ds. But I love the story Johnny, I was an avid reader and subscriber to Gamepro, so that’s how I would get my news in the 90s. Wish I had kept them, but I was a kid and oblivious to these things. Great video!
In Brasil the series were never that popular like Japan and Us or Canada, but i always love the game even today. Cause the series never had great changes on the style and gameplay, like other series like Final fantasy and others. Today i love this games.
Dragon Warrior IV on NES is my favorite DQ game as well. I used to watch my Dad play Dragon Warrior 1 on our NES when I was a kid and after he beat it we got Dragon Warrior IV. I used to hold the map and the monster sheet for him and help him play. Such a great game!
Great video! I remember getting a free copy of Dragon Warrior with a subscription to Nintendo Power back in the early nineties. It was my first ever rpg. So hyped for Dragon Quest 11 in September!
It’s weird how the Dragon Warrior games didn’t have the natural goofiness of tone that the Dragon Quest games had. That being said, I love the fact that older games were so creative and nebulous that they could be interpreted in different ways.
The first dragon quest ive played was dragon quest 8 on the ps2. My jaw dropped to the ground and finished the campaign twice to see the 2nd ending. It was an amazing ride and made me want to play every dragon quest games from the past to present.
I love these videos. Time for an admission, I have never played a Dragon Warrior/Quest game. I was and still am a lover of RPGs, so this was a huge oversight for me. I remember seeing Dragon Warrior in an early issue of Dragon Warrior, and I was waiting for it, yet never saw it in the store, as I guess it took longer to hit the states. When the Sega Genesis hit shelves in 1989, I was done with the NES. I know they then hit the Playstation, but I never picked them up then either. I now have Dragon Warrior 1 and 2 and Dragon Quest VIII, but have still yet to play them. One of these days.
I still remember that story man! It too got me hyped on Dragon Warrior. Back on US TV about in the early 90's in the wee hours in the morning, they would broadcast Dragon Warrior anime. That would of blew your wig off!
I'm only 17 so this series was way before me, but you got me into it. Been playing 9 and 7 and I got copies of 4 5 and 6, but I dont know how I should go about playing the first 3, or if I even should. Any recommendations?
While I knew about the dragon quest series for a very long time. Especially seeing let's plays of the original 3 from HCbaily. I never managed to give them a shot. Not until last year when I got both dragon quest 7 and 8 on the 3DS and I loved them both. I also have 9 now but haven't played it yet. Dragon Quest have given me a new found love for old-school rpgs. I always liked rpgs, but dragon quest made it so much more special to me.
I had never heard of Dragon Warrior/Quest until VII which never did grab me. I did later see Dragon Warrior III for GBC at Toys r Us though and that Akira Toriyama cover stood out so much that I bought it and I really dug that one. VIII a few years later really cemented me as a fan of the series.
I spent many an hour pouring over those magazines... waiting at the store for them to put out new issues... The internet is very convenient now but there was something about the way things were back then... I kind of miss it
That article was awesome! Love the 'back in the day' feel of reading magazines instead of google things...so nostalgic :D With that said, I absolutely love Dragon Quest; it is one of my favorite jrpg series ever...it is interesting that I got into it not through the original games, but very differently. After all, the first game of the series that was published in Europe was the incredible DQ VIII on the pstwo...at the time, however, not only I was well aware of the series, but a massive fan already because of the Dragon Quest manga in the late 90s: Dai no Daiboken (the Great Adventure of Dai) and Roto no Monsho (Emblem of Roto), and both were - and still are - phenomenal!
Neat story about the Dragon Quest IV article. I remember a teacher I worked with who is a big DQ fan and would tell me about all the different crazy tales when DQ III was released, which is similar to tales told in that article. Hopefully, when DQ XI is released, people will really enjoy it, too :D
I live in bellingham...big fan of youre videos..heard bellis fair mall and all these bells went off..new dragon quest fan from youre dragon quest 11 video
I remember back in around the year 2000 maybe even earlier, I played and almost completed DW1 on our pc. I used to love playing rpgs on pc where pokemon was probably my first rpg style game and I swear I was actually better at them back them because I had a natural intuition of where to go. I would just download random games. I dont even think it was a rom version so someone must have made an .exe version i think. To be honest I just remember having to come back to the first town, near level 100 and fight little slimes from the beginning. Back then I was able to complete a handful of long rpgs. I miss those days so much.
Dude those were dark times for kids like us! I'm 33 and i remember a time where all we had was video game magazines form the library and television to give us the video game news. The only magazines my library would get back then was Nintendo Power, and like two others for most of my childhood. I didn't get full access to the internet until i was in middle school and it was only like 40 free hours a month kind on a computer that only had 49 MB of ram. For most of my childhood and my middle school days my Super nintendo got me through dark times. Sadly I never got to play any of the dragon quest games until PS2 for Dragon Quest 8, it was my first game in the series i ever got to play.
My first dragon quest game was the remake of 7 on 3ds, which I loved and beat. Then got 8 on 3ds and recently builders on the Switch. I really like the series now even though I came to it late. Totally bummed out that 11 is gonna be a long way off on Switch
I really got into the ds and 3ds remake Dragon Quest games because of your love for the series. I watched all your DQ videos and wanted to try out the games. Since I didn't have the retro consoles, I opted for the handheld remakes!
Dragon Quest II had an outstanding soundtrack. The first time I heard the full symphonic version, it brought me to tears. Especially My Road, My Journey. I was more into Final Fantasy during the 90's, but DQ got it's hooks into me, eventually.
Last week I found Dragon Quest games at small anime store i found Dragon Quest III famicom/gbc jp Dragon Quest IV famicom/ps1 jp Dragon Quest VII ps1 jp and several walkthrough books for VII AND IX in jp
Hey Jhonny, very interesting article. I remember getting hyped for dragon ball z, the anime, reading a article about the “dragon ball mania” in japan on a video game magazine here in Brazil. At the time dragon ball was far from been air on TV. Most people in Brazil got to know Dragon Quest when the second anime series aired on tv also known in Japan as “Doragon Kuesuto: Dai no Daibōken”. For some reason here o Brasil they just called “FLY”.
It's so nice to see a popular TH-camr show some love for Game Players, as I feel like that magazine is nearly forgotten to time. Usually EGM, GameFan, or Gamepro are the mags that get mentioned today on media channels, but I always thought Game Players was the best, particularly later on in the 90s when they had an almost anti-establishment approach to games journalism. Yakuza 0, which takes place in the late 80s, actually has a substory that references the DQ3 hype. In that substory, you have to track down a thief that stole a new RPG video game from a kid who had just been waiting in line for hours for the game's release. Anyhow, great video as always, man! Can't wait for DQXI!
Thanks as always for sharing seeing a new video of yours is always an event in my TH-cam feed. I remember being super young and not really understanding the basics of grinding. I would just continuously play the game until I died because, I was so used to linear 2D games. The Legend of Zelda 1 & 2 was the closest I had ever played to anything RPG like at the time. I remember being fascinated by scorpions and other creatures in nature books I would check out of the library. Needless to say I was super excited when I got attacked by a scorpion and that alone got me to borrow and eventually keep my neighbor’s game of Dragon Warrior I have to this day. After that the goal of Dragon Warrior was just to roam around the world map until I encountered one. The simple things I guess as I didn’t really get to play an RPG how it was meant to be played until I was a bit older on the Genesis and SNES. Thanks so much for sharing. I’m bummed we didn’t get the original box art until the remakes. I wonder if that would of helped it sell more as box art was a huge deciding factor on purchasing a game back then. 🤔
I love hearing about your nostalgia. I got the original dragon warrior when I was 5 but couldn't read yet. So I sold it to my neighbor for 20 dollars. I always think about that lol.
I never got too into the Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior series. Maybe someday I'll go back and play those games, I'm pretty sure I've got those NES carts. Fun fact about me, Dragon Quest for Famicom (first game) came out on my birthday in Japan May 27th 1986 so me and that series began it's life on the same day I guess lol
I'm kinda new to DQ. Bought a used copy of DQ4 for the NDS awhile back at my local GameStop. I was really fun and I did a lot of level grinding with amazing characters. My favorites (aside from the main hero) are Meena, Mya, Alena, and Kiryl.
Game Pro magazine said how we were going to get Dragon Warrior 5 at one point and I was super excited. I was also very happy when we got two fan translations for it. And it is a great game. Now that I've seen how much the series improved in terms of graphics and animation, the original version seems almost the same as the NES games. The remake is an amazing game.
The original Japanese package hits me... Great video and great love are impressive. In addition, it is Dragon Quest 3(1988) that what made "first" sensational fever in Japan. You can find some TV News clips at that time when you search "ドラクエ３ ニュース" or "ドラクエ３ 当時" at TH-cam (but every clips in Japanese). When I was a junior high school student, I heard and read rumours "DragonQuest in foreign countries is not called DragonQuest", "Arts of Akira Toriyama is not used in foreign DragonQuest" and "DragonQuest is not popular in other countries". But there you are, Johnny! God bless HCG, thanks and respects from Japan.
These are my favorite videos my friend.
There is always a story behind it.
Great video.
Agreed, the best kind of episooooodes!
A completely regular story.
Mine too.
You got me in to Dragon Quest i played 7 on 3ds on your recomendation. Then i got 8 and now im a fan for life.
Kalle Ekström DQ 11 is fantastic even better than 8 in my opinion ta ledigt från jobbet fjärde sept (:.
Me too. His older review of Dragon Quest IV for the DS got me in to buying a 3DS and completing all of the main line DQ games on the 3DS/DS. My personal favorite is VI since i started with that one. Dragon Quest fan for life *slurp*
Get IX on the DS if you haven't yet, that one is SO worth it!
Michirin9801 9 is good but 3 4 5 6 7 8 and 11 are better for sure . 9 feels like a side game and not produced by the whole A-team.
That's a fair opinion to have, but 9 is my favourite...
I used to love gaming magazines when I was a kid too. Really makes me think about how far gaming journalism Has Fallen.
Ahhh YES!!!! Gather around everyone for this is a tale like no other... For Johnny has embarked in a timeless journey in slaying slimes since the late 80's.
When I was younger I fractured my spine and broke my wrist in a four wheeler wreck and was bed ridden for a semester of school without the ability to get up by myself the whole time but luckly I had recently bought Dragon Quest 8 for the ps2 on a whim because of the art. My grandmother would come in pass me the remote and turn on my ps2 and I would play through it one handed while she was at work. That game got me through an extremely troubling time in my life and I have every game in the main series as of now and will continue to do so.
Damn
Nothing like a good story time video from you as I drink my coffee and have my lunch!
YamaAgni I'm doing the same 😂
I remember when Dragon Quest IV was released. I was 13 years old. I got on a line of the local super market (there was a small game shop on the 2nd floor) on the release day. It was February and it was so cold outside. But the shop got only 20 copies or something (I lived in a small town, kind of suburb of Tokyo) and I couldn't get mine because there were more in front of me. Disappointed and went home then there was my big brother, having a copy of DQIV. He got on a line of another shop. The next weekend, I accompanied couple of my classmates who still didn't have the game and got on a line of another shop in a different town because we got an info (more like a rumor) that the shop was going to get some copies on the weekend. I don't know how we could get those info back in the day... but there were many such rumors. I remember we were waiting on the line and somebody brought Game Boy and Motocross Maniacs that was released several months ago. So we played it in turns, shivering in the cold. I think that was my first time to play Game Boy. Fortunately my friends could get a copy and we all went home happily. Funny it's almost 30 years ago but I still remember it.
Despite Dragon Warrior's Westernized cover, thankfully the in-game graphics retained Akira Toriyama's anime artwork, (& he was credited in the ending.) 😎
My older brother still has his copy of DW4 in box with the map and everything, but he hasn’t had a nes since 95, well I brought my nes over to his place and we popped in DW4 , to see that his 25 year old save file was still there. We just could not believe the battery lasted that long.
Thanks for sharing! I could listen to you talk Dragon Quest all day. It only fuels my love for the series.
The Toriyama artwork was it for me. I had no choice to start DQ/DW,and as a handheld kid, it was all about Dragon Quest Monsters. After that I was hooked. Went from that to Joker and then 8. I’ve since played some of the others, like 7 and even the OG ones. But man, it really resonated with me. I even have a slime tattoo.
Loved the video Johnny, took me back to a lot of great memories
Johnny you never cease to excite a guy! I can't begin to tell you how much I never get sick of waking up on my day off with a fresh coffee with a memory of the Golden Days of video gaming from your perspective. Sending love and respect always bro take care
awesome comment, and agreed
same here Johnny is the man
That's Johnny, exciting men all over for years now!
KennyKC I'm 38 to put this in perspective. Thinking back to the 80s and 90s gives me warm fuzzies. What a time to be a gamer!
I love how passionately you speak about old games. You bring back so many good memory’s. I’ve even started playing NES dragon warrior IV and love it.
I LOVE your enthusiasm! I’ve been gaming since ‘85, but I’m only now getting into JRPGs. It’s really fun seeing you relish in the nostalgia! It’s infectious as I reminiscent on my own gaming memories. Your videos have opened up a door of so many games I need to play.
It's so refreshing to see other people psyched up about Dragon Quest! :)
Those box arts are amazing. You need protectors. Great series I always found it comforting to play. It also seemed so familiar.
My fav story is about how you skipped a week of school to play DQ2. Back in the day skipping one day was hardcore, a week was just crazy.
Dragon Warrior was the first jrpg I ever played when I was a kid. I've been a huge fan of jrpgs ever since :)
just another reason you need to play Yakuza 0 - there's an entire sidequest dedicated to Japan's Dragon Quest craze in the 80s.
Dragon Warrior started the rpg craze for me too. Good stories sir.
I still own the Nintendo Strategy Guide as well as my NES game. I loved DQ 8 and can't wait till 11 on PS4
Brett Howarth im wishing for a collectors edition
Thanks so much for sharing about this series- it has become one of my top video game series of all time, each one is to me an absolutely perfect RPG, and they are all so unique from one another. Really really hoping we can get the series to catch on more in the west, and videos like this help fuel the fire. Good on you!
This is one of those moments i wish a video had the heart option because i heart this video :)
Your not alone johnny, my first dive into an rpg was dragon warrior,my grandma gave me 10 dollars on my birthday and I took that money and wanted a new game,the cover art was amazing I had no idea what the game was little did I know it was an rpg,and every since that day I am a loyal Dragon warrior/Dragon Quest fan.
hahaha dude your stories rock! I was a lot like you back then skipping school to play pinnacle releases of video games! Man those days.. The Golden Days I may say!
Loved this video and hope you talk more about stories around gaming magazines. Such a big part of shared gamer history that doesn't get talked about as often as you'd think.
Your videos back in the day are actually the reason I got into the main series over the years. I've now completed all the mainline series of games, and It has quickly become my favourite RPG series.
I cant thank you enough for sharing your excitement back then. You're the best Johnny!
Hey Johnny, from one lifelong DQ fan to another, did you know about the exclusive Remembrance Palace on the 3DS version of the game? I only just found out about this myself. Essentially if you complete all three quests per retro Dragon Quest area (I through X) you unlock a brand new exclusive dungeon called Remembrance Palace. It contains a bunch of super bosses, including a fight where you must beat two at the same time a la the bonus content from DQ IV. Long story short, but the rewards include exclusive gear, and even a fifth non-controllable party member! What sucks is this is 100% exclusive to the 3DS version; which we now know isn’t coming to Canada. I’ll be showing video evidence of this shortly once I complete the all the retro areas, but in the meantime I just wanted to pass this info along to another fan.
Project COE thanks buddy! I had no idea
To be perfectly honest the "Remembrance Palace" sounds a lot like the handling of Nelson's Trials in the PS4 version. I found out about it while reading Google translated pages online. And one of the Japanese fans on the page referenced the "fifth companion" as a reward for completing the trial. And what you said about the super bosses also match up with the video footage Shirrako posted as one part of their Dragon Quest XI PS4 walkthrough.
Ironically, I was looking for any explanation on how Dragon Quest XI connects to Dragon Quest III. What I did find afterwards only explained what was already shown in the true ending.
Yeah I was extremely surprised myself. This really does put the 3DS version in a league of its own.
Hey Philip, Nelson's Trials are actually in both versions of the game. What I'm talking about is part of the retro-areas in the 3DS version whereby you have a set number of quests and have to travel back through the old game worlds. It's a really unique exclusive to the 3DS version, and I didn't know that there was an additional dungeon that unlocked once completed.
What would you like to know about DQ XI's connection to III? I've gone through both versions of the game and done literally everything you can do ;)
There's also a sidequest in Yakuza 0 that's a reference to the bullying/stealing that went down during the Dragon Quest launch in Japan.
Just two days ago I started playing Dragon Quest IX Sentinels of the Starry Skies. It's my first exposure to the series so I'm not sure how it stacks up to the rest but all I can say is that for someone like myself with little to no history of playing RPGs it's been a really good time! I have to say the monster design is really charming and funny!
I love your Dragon Quest videos! This is by far my favorite series of all time. I can't get enough of it.
Awesome video. So much nostalgia watching this video for me since Happy Console Gamer and I are the same age and it was about 1988/1989 when I got my copy of Dragon Warrior too as a 14 year old kid. I am a Dragon Warrior fan for life too.
My friend showed me Dragon Quest 8 about 12 years ago when I met him and it was an amazing experience. It wasnt till some years later that i decided to dig deeper and go back to the beginning of the series and shortly fell in love with all the games, some i still yet to play but one day i will play them all!
Ah, HCG story time on a rainy day with a nice warm cup of coffee, one of the best things.
Got my DQXI preordered, can't wait this year!
Yes another Dragon Quest episode!!!! I love hearing your memories with the franchise’s beginnings.
While waiting for DQXI, I’ve been playing VII 3DS and IV DS, both great games while different in their own way. I love VII’s job system but the story is REALLY long... IV’s multiple hero story is good and the soundtrack is great so far. Also got the 3DS version of VIII and looking forward to experiencing that masterpiece again.
Really hope DQXI takes off here in the west, it looks amazing and the franchise deserves worldwide success.
dark haze DQ XI is the best dq game in my opinion even better than 3 and 8 and one of the best rpgs ever made for sure so much quality content.
mana beast I absolutely believe you since XI seems incredible from the previews. It definitely seems like the next step from DQVIII while also honoring the franchise’s roots. I haven’t even played the Loto Trilogy yet, but I hope they remake DQI-III in DQXI’s engine or re-release the original NES/SNES versions. Hopefully both!
This is why i watch your channel for information like this two thumbs up Johnny
Damn quite the story... I became a fan of DQ with DQ8 because the FF12 demo disc got me hyped, and I wanted to capture the OG DB roots of Akira Toriyama; then I remember getting DQIX on its release date on DS; lastly when I got my first smart phone iPhone 5S, I saw a friend play and tell me about DQ1, and I bought 1-6 on phone as my first purchase on App store
I just stumbled on your channel because I've been looking up new info on DQ 11 that's coming out in September. It's great to find someone who has the same love for the series that I have! I started playing Dragon Warrior (the original) in the early 90s on a friends old NES because my family didn't have a lot of money, and one of my friends would always get games before me (much like you and your friend!). At the time that I played it, DW wasn't actually that great of a game, but for some reason I fell in love with it and started looking up the other versions. It wasn't until I was older and Emulation started to take off that I finally got to play through II through IV. By that time I'd already played through Dragon Warrior VII , the last game to be titled Dragon Warrior in the US, and also my favorite in the series (though it's not as loved by some). After playing through the old games, and falling in love with them all over again, I made it a point to find all the old copies I could and to collect as much as I could. I've been a loyal fan for over 25 years myself, and it's great to see DQ get more recognition in the western markets. Thanks for this fun video!
Amazing listening to your stories about Dragon Quest. I haven't played a single game in the series, but looking at it... It's definitely worth the hype during that time.
What took you to get the game, the waiting, reading... it added to the whole experience and excitement for Dragon Quest. It's worth having.
Dragon quest 11 hype :D
Awesome video, ever since we got more info on the release date and added features of Dragon Quest XI I kept checking back to your channel thinking to myself "I want to see this guy talk about this stuff". Your enthusiasm and hype for games is infectious, and I really feel like seeing you get all hyped over any bit of Dragon Quest news would really be awesome.
I love this series myself, it was the first RPG I played on the NES back in the day and while I did have a period of waning interest just due to lack of localization I re-found my love for this series later and now can proudly say I own all the US Dragon Quest games as well as multiple spin-offs and the Famicom and Super Famicom versions as well.
Love this been watching you since I was 14 I’m 26 now! Still as good as the day I found you!
Dragon Quest V and Shining Force II are some of my favorite games and they have been since I first played them.
My mother and I played through Dragon Warrior together back in the day. Was a great time! I think I had the only mom that was way into video games on the block. lol
Got to say thankyou Johnny, It was through watching your videos over the last so many years that made me a big Dragon Warrior/Quest fan! Can't wait for Dragon Quest XI this year :)
Same here my friend, I've been a fan for over thirty years myself, granted I only own 1and 8, I still enjoy the series as a whole.
As an "old" gamer (around 30), I can say without a doubt that new kids cant understand how different it was to be a gamer back then, before the internet. I will not say it was worst, it was... different.
I tried to explain it to my nephew, but he truly cant "feel" the way it was.
Played Dragon Warrior at a friends house in 1989 and had to buy a copy right away. One of my best memories is actually buying part iv at the Nintendo store in Vancouver (Coquitlam maybe) I have a display case with all my dragon warrior/quest games, strategy guides and plushes etc.
Johnny, you stories are just absolutely amazing! That's what I like the most about your channel, you have such a positive vibe about the games you like, you can get anyone hyped for anything. The first DQ game I played was VIII, and I bought I almost only for the FF XII Demo. The result: I shoved the demo away and couldn't stop playing DQ VIII, and have loved it ever since! Keep up this awesome work!
And I forgot to say: I've always loved Japan, and had some similar experiences with it as you. Last year I had the opportunity to visit the country for the first time, and it was exactly on the launch of Dragon Quest XI! Man, everyone I went the only thing I could hear was the DQ theme, everyone playing it on their 3DSs while walking. I can see why Japan is so in love with DQ. It was an incredible experience!
around the turn of the century i was eating up all the pokemon clones i could find as a kid while waiting on gold and silver -since my local forbidden planet had japanese imports of pocket monsters gold and silver taunting me- and found Dragon Warrior Monsters and i loved it. Not long after Dragon Warrior 1-3 came out on GBC and by that point i already played some Final Fantasy games and the thing i loved here was 1 of the games was directly connected to the other on the same world map but in a different time. like seeing the temple of time in BotW looong after Ocarina its a super nostalgic thing that makes you love the game all the more and while the ds games never gripped me things like Dragon Quest builders with the same overworld music and such is still a reminder of some fond memories, even if i was always into more niche jrpgs like wild arms personally.
The first Dragon Warrior game was the first RPG I ever played. I also grew up with the series and pored over magazine articles about upcoming installments. I remember becoming obsessed with this tiny blurb in some gaming magazine announcing the "upcoming" Dragon Quest V, which of course never came to the SNES.
I think I've played or replayed either a mainline series game or a spinoff at least once every year since I was a kid. Hands down my favorite franchise.
Really looking forward to XI! I suspect it'll become my new favorite game in the series :)
Alex Peraza I remember playing both Dragon Warrior and Zelda and thinking: how is Zelda an RPG and how is it so hyped by comparison? DW is the first RPG I finished and probably my proudest gaming moment as a child.
I’ve never played a dragon quest game but I plan on buying 7 and 8 for my 3ds. But I love the story Johnny, I was an avid reader and subscriber to Gamepro, so that’s how I would get my news in the 90s. Wish I had kept them, but I was a kid and oblivious to these things. Great video!
In Brasil the series were never that popular like Japan and Us or Canada, but i always love the game even today. Cause the series never had great changes on the style and gameplay, like other series like Final fantasy and others. Today i love this games.
Dragon Warrior IV on NES is my favorite DQ game as well. I used to watch my Dad play Dragon Warrior 1 on our NES when I was a kid and after he beat it we got Dragon Warrior IV. I used to hold the map and the monster sheet for him and help him play. Such a great game!
Great episode!
Love Dragon Warrior 4 BUT I HATE farming those broadswords and armor in the Taloon chapter ;)
I've been addicted to dragon quest builders on switch
Great video! I remember getting a free copy of Dragon Warrior with a subscription to Nintendo Power back in the early nineties. It was my first ever rpg. So hyped for Dragon Quest 11 in September!
I just recently found your channel, and I LOVE IT!!! You bring me back, thank you :-)
It’s weird how the Dragon Warrior games didn’t have the natural goofiness of tone that the Dragon Quest games had. That being said, I love the fact that older games were so creative and nebulous that they could be interpreted in different ways.
The first dragon quest ive played was dragon quest 8 on the ps2. My jaw dropped to the ground and finished the campaign twice to see the 2nd ending. It was an amazing ride and made me want to play every dragon quest games from the past to present.
I love these videos. Time for an admission, I have never played a Dragon Warrior/Quest game. I was and still am a lover of RPGs, so this was a huge oversight for me. I remember seeing Dragon Warrior in an early issue of Dragon Warrior, and I was waiting for it, yet never saw it in the store, as I guess it took longer to hit the states. When the Sega Genesis hit shelves in 1989, I was done with the NES. I know they then hit the Playstation, but I never picked them up then either. I now have Dragon Warrior 1 and 2 and Dragon Quest VIII, but have still yet to play them. One of these days.
I still remember that story man! It too got me hyped on Dragon Warrior. Back on US TV about in the early 90's in the wee hours in the morning, they would broadcast Dragon Warrior anime. That would of blew your wig off!
The first Dragon Quest game I ever played was DQ III for game boy color... after the first few minutes I was hooked and loved the series ever since!
I'm only 17 so this series was way before me, but you got me into it. Been playing 9 and 7 and I got copies of 4 5 and 6, but I dont know how I should go about playing the first 3, or if I even should. Any recommendations?
While I knew about the dragon quest series for a very long time. Especially seeing let's plays of the original 3 from HCbaily. I never managed to give them a shot. Not until last year when I got both dragon quest 7 and 8 on the 3DS and I loved them both. I also have 9 now but haven't played it yet.
Dragon Quest have given me a new found love for old-school rpgs. I always liked rpgs, but dragon quest made it so much more special to me.
Alright Dragon Quest time! Digging the shirt btw Johnny
I had never heard of Dragon Warrior/Quest until VII which never did grab me. I did later see Dragon Warrior III for GBC at Toys r Us though and that Akira Toriyama cover stood out so much that I bought it and I really dug that one. VIII a few years later really cemented me as a fan of the series.
I spent many an hour pouring over those magazines... waiting at the store for them to put out new issues...
The internet is very convenient now but there was something about the way things were back then... I kind of miss it
Love your stories man! such great series
That article was awesome! Love the 'back in the day' feel of reading magazines instead of google things...so nostalgic :D
With that said, I absolutely love Dragon Quest; it is one of my favorite jrpg series ever...it is interesting that I got into it not through the original games, but very differently. After all, the first game of the series that was published in Europe was the incredible DQ VIII on the pstwo...at the time, however, not only I was well aware of the series, but a massive fan already because of the Dragon Quest manga in the late 90s: Dai no Daiboken (the Great Adventure of Dai) and Roto no Monsho (Emblem of Roto), and both were - and still are - phenomenal!
Dragon Quest is a game with heart and tradition, something that many continuing franchises have unfortunately already lost.
Neat story about the Dragon Quest IV article. I remember a teacher I worked with who is a big DQ fan and would tell me about all the different crazy tales when DQ III was released, which is similar to tales told in that article. Hopefully, when DQ XI is released, people will really enjoy it, too :D
i'll be getting into the franchise for the first time this year with XI, lets hope it grabs me!
I live in bellingham...big fan of youre videos..heard bellis fair mall and all these bells went off..new dragon quest fan from youre dragon quest 11 video
I remember back in around the year 2000 maybe even earlier, I played and almost completed DW1 on our pc. I used to love playing rpgs on pc where pokemon was probably my first rpg style game and I swear I was actually better at them back them because I had a natural intuition of where to go. I would just download random games. I dont even think it was a rom version so someone must have made an .exe version i think. To be honest I just remember having to come back to the first town, near level 100 and fight little slimes from the beginning. Back then I was able to complete a handful of long rpgs. I miss those days so much.
Dude those were dark times for kids like us! I'm 33 and i remember a time where all we had was video game magazines form the library and television to give us the video game news. The only magazines my library would get back then was Nintendo Power, and like two others for most of my childhood. I didn't get full access to the internet until i was in middle school and it was only like 40 free hours a month kind on a computer that only had 49 MB of ram. For most of my childhood and my middle school days my Super nintendo got me through dark times. Sadly I never got to play any of the dragon quest games until PS2 for Dragon Quest 8, it was my first game in the series i ever got to play.
My first dragon quest game was the remake of 7 on 3ds, which I loved and beat. Then got 8 on 3ds and recently builders on the Switch. I really like the series now even though I came to it late. Totally bummed out that 11 is gonna be a long way off on Switch
I really got into the ds and 3ds remake Dragon Quest games because of your love for the series. I watched all your DQ videos and wanted to try out the games. Since I didn't have the retro consoles, I opted for the handheld remakes!
Dragon Quest II had an outstanding soundtrack. The first time I heard the full symphonic version, it brought me to tears. Especially My Road, My Journey. I was more into Final Fantasy during the 90's, but DQ got it's hooks into me, eventually.
Last week I found Dragon Quest games at small anime store i found
Dragon Quest III famicom/gbc jp
Dragon Quest IV famicom/ps1 jp
Dragon Quest VII ps1 jp and several walkthrough books for VII AND IX in jp
Awesome video. I'm new to the series, I've played VII, Heroes 1, Rocket Slime and own a bunch more. Really hoping to play through them all one day!
Hey Jhonny, very interesting article. I remember getting hyped for dragon ball z, the anime, reading a article about the “dragon ball mania” in japan on a video game magazine here in Brazil. At the time dragon ball was far from been air on TV. Most people in Brazil got to know Dragon Quest when the second anime series aired on tv also known in Japan as “Doragon Kuesuto: Dai no Daibōken”. For some reason here o Brasil they just called “FLY”.
I was much later to the party, my first Dragon Quest game was sentinels of the starry skies but I've enjoyed catching up with the other games since.
Another Dragon Quest video, YES!!
It's so nice to see a popular TH-camr show some love for Game Players, as I feel like that magazine is nearly forgotten to time. Usually EGM, GameFan, or Gamepro are the mags that get mentioned today on media channels, but I always thought Game Players was the best, particularly later on in the 90s when they had an almost anti-establishment approach to games journalism.
Yakuza 0, which takes place in the late 80s, actually has a substory that references the DQ3 hype. In that substory, you have to track down a thief that stole a new RPG video game from a kid who had just been waiting in line for hours for the game's release. Anyhow, great video as always, man! Can't wait for DQXI!
Dragon Quest 8 is my Fav
clifton moore. 8 is pretty special. My favourite Dragon Quest game.
Thanks as always for sharing seeing a new video of yours is always an event in my TH-cam feed. I remember being super young and not really understanding the basics of grinding. I would just continuously play the game until I died because, I was so used to linear 2D games. The Legend of Zelda 1 & 2 was the closest I had ever played to anything RPG like at the time. I remember being fascinated by scorpions and other creatures in nature books I would check out of the library. Needless to say I was super excited when I got attacked by a scorpion and that alone got me to borrow and eventually keep my neighbor’s game of Dragon Warrior I have to this day. After that the goal of Dragon Warrior was just to roam around the world map until I encountered one. The simple things I guess as I didn’t really get to play an RPG how it was meant to be played until I was a bit older on the Genesis and SNES. Thanks so much for sharing. I’m bummed we didn’t get the original box art until the remakes. I wonder if that would of helped it sell more as box art was a huge deciding factor on purchasing a game back then. 🤔
I love hearing about your nostalgia. I got the original dragon warrior when I was 5 but couldn't read yet. So I sold it to my neighbor for 20 dollars. I always think about that lol.
Hey, great material (as always). I hope you will continue to encourage this wonderful series.
Regards,
Luk_Ash from Poland
My first was Dragon Warrior monsters for GBC. Memories!
I never got too into the Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior series. Maybe someday I'll go back and play those games, I'm pretty sure I've got those NES carts. Fun fact about me, Dragon Quest for Famicom (first game) came out on my birthday in Japan May 27th 1986 so me and that series began it's life on the same day I guess lol
I'm kinda new to DQ. Bought a used copy of DQ4 for the NDS awhile back at my local GameStop. I was really fun and I did a lot of level grinding with amazing characters. My favorites (aside from the main hero) are Meena, Mya, Alena, and Kiryl.
Game Pro magazine said how we were going to get Dragon Warrior 5 at one point and I was super excited. I was also very happy when we got two fan translations for it. And it is a great game.
Now that I've seen how much the series improved in terms of graphics and animation, the original version seems almost the same as the NES games. The remake is an amazing game.
Parents got it for me from Zellers in 1991, iirc. Regarding DWII: do you recall how you got the hint to go to Hamelin?
Never played a DQ game before.. but I got into Builders a couple months ago and I'm extremely addicted.
Your review for DQ4 that I saw back in 2015 made me buy DQ4. Thank you, John. Because of u, I found a new JRPG series to enjoy.
I’m only 6 minutes in so far, but this is an amazing video Johnny, great work 👍
The original Japanese package hits me...
Great video and great love are impressive.
In addition, it is Dragon Quest 3(1988) that what made "first" sensational fever in Japan.
You can find some TV News clips at that time
when you search "ドラクエ３ ニュース" or "ドラクエ３ 当時" at TH-cam
(but every clips in Japanese).
When I was a junior high school student,
I heard and read rumours
"DragonQuest in foreign countries is not called DragonQuest",
"Arts of Akira Toriyama is not used in foreign DragonQuest"
and "DragonQuest is not popular in other countries".
But there you are, Johnny!
God bless HCG, thanks and respects from Japan.