Whew, just in time! Knowing I had a chance to publish this video around the launch date of the HD-2D Remake made me work extra hard the past couple of weeks. It's been a crazy grind - I really didn't think I'd be able to make it - but I feel very happy to hit my self-imposed deadline lol. I haven't yet decided what my next video will be. Dragon Quest IV is definitely coming in the near future, but I might take a break from the series to produce some other videos first. I have a few unfinished scripts that are bugging me (Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Tales of Arise, FF7 Rebirth, Visions of Mana...) and I've been planning to redo my FF1 Retro at some point, since I don't think my original version from a couple of years ago did the game justice. So many games to cover, so little time! Anyway, I hope you like the video! Let me know what you think, and thanks for supporting me! 😍
@@Rumms-Bumms69 Thanks! JRPGs is the genre that has meant the most to me and the one I feel the most confident critiquing, but I do enjoy many other types of games, too. (Right now, I'm playing Control, and having a great time!) I may eventually expand the scope of my channel to talk about some of my favorite games from other genres, like Baldur's Gate II, Civilization, WarCraft III, etc., if I feel like I have something to contribute to the discourse.
Since my first experience with 4 was the DS version, I was surprised to learn it was an NES game. I don’t think it’d be too surprising if someone said that DQ4 was the best NES RPG outside of Sweet Home (which only came out in Japan).
This game really is the SMB 3 of JRPGs. It's the perfect meat and potatoes experience and it will always be special because of that. This is where the JRPG hit its groove, and it's such a pure experience without any gimmicks.
Just found this video while playing through the HD2D remake! Love the way you tell this story. DQ3 is a childhood favorite (GBC Version) and its been such a treat to revisit it in this new form.
I did have this game as a kid, so I guess mine was one of the 95,000 copies sold despite already having a SNES. I was 8 in 1992, and FF4 (or II, of course) was simply too complex for me. This was right up my alley. I laughed out loud when you mentioned how a kid might go back to Romaly to play at being king again and again, because I genuinely did exactly that. I would just go back there sometimes to mess around. I brought the game to a friend's house once and we wasted an afternoon at the monster coliseum. I leveled a Goof-Off named Goofus to level 40 because I never knew as a kid that I was able to change her to a Sage and I thought surely she'd become useful if she leveled enough. I give this game a lot of credit for my lifelong love of RPGs, and it's wild to me how popular it still is, that it keeps being remade, and how the class designs are still used today in Dragon Quest games. Anyway, thanks for the video. It brought back a lot of memories from over 30 years ago.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with the game! That's awesome to hear. And what you said about thinking the Goof-off would get useful if you just leveled her high enough made me laugh, too! 😂
@@AltercateTV Oh, she wasn't so bad. I grew to like poor Goofus a lot by the time she got so high-level, and she was one of my only female characters, so she had the Sword of Illusion and a Magic Bikini and so on. She just... wasn't very good, either.
Yeap, this was one of the best RPG's in the early days. It really rewarded experimenting and you got attached to your characters. I like how they changed the monster area stuff in the hd2d remake (and it honestly is the best version of this game) but I miss the old school betting. I spent hours there as a kid trying to figure out the meta and making huge money.
The best Dragon Quest video I have seen so far. I gotta check the rest of your channel! What a great game, I can't think of it without remembering the Dai anime, it is wonderful to get invested in its fantastic world. I am having great fun with the remake everyday when I come back from work.
I've been playing Dragon Quest 3 for the first time via the HD-2D remake, and have been having an absolute blast! I know it's a remake so it has modern amenities, but even so, I find it remarkable how well the game at its core has aged
What an awesome retrospective. I enjoy the way you tell the story in the video by jumping a little ahead and a little back. It is different from other TH-camrs and your style really sets things apart. I have been a lifelong fan of this series.
I'm playing this video while my wife is sitting next to me playing the remake and listening in. Every once in a while she'll nod and say, "Yes!" Thank you for giving me this experience.
Amazing work! DQ3 is a fun and wonderful adventure, especially for the time. Your videos are always a great watch, I find out new things I didn't know before and I find myself having a greater appreciation for the games you cover. Thank you for all that you do! :)
Thank you so much for doing a retrospective on the Dragon Quest series. I've been looking out for this for a while and I'm really enjoying what you've done.
Another nail hit in the head! Awesome video with a spot on analysis! I loved to see the flood of positive comments you've got! I hope it shows you that you're doing an amazing job, and that you keep your series going (if you're still having fun, of course!) Great job!!!
I've always wanted to do a "commanding general" type run of DQ3 in one of the versions, where the only healer is Arus and all he does is heal with herbs/spells and the party members act with their ai options instead of being controlled in battle. sounds like hell in hindsight
Another excellent video, Altercate! I absolutely adore Dragon Quest 3, despite it being old and archaic by today's standards. Being a European (just like you), I never had a chance to play this game back in the day, and I didn't get to play it until much later as an adult. But despite being older and more cynical, and despite the clunky mechanics of the original NES version, I still fell in love with the game. I immediately recognised all the tropes and concepts that were later expanded on in later games (e.g. Final Fantasy 6 and Chrono Trigger), and it almost felt like a coming home-experience, despite me having never played DQ3 back in the day! Regarding the continuation of the series, I know you wrote in a comment that you will get to Dragon Quest 4 eventually, and I'm really looking forward to it. DQ4 is the first game in the series that introduces proper fleshed-out characters, villain and story and plot that are tied together, where the villain has a true reason for what he is doing, and all the main characters in your party have a personal reason for stopping the villain. I'm looking forward to watching that video once it drops!
Thank you for sharing your experiences with the game, and for the encouraging words! I'm really looking forward to starting Dragon Quest IV in the near future. Given the response my DQ videos have gotten so far, I'm definitely motivated to keep going! :)
My friends got me into Dragon Warrior when it was free with Nintendo Power, even though I didn't think it looked good at first. I was very impressed when I got the game. I played text RPGs before that. In 1992 I cared a lot about Dragon Warrior 3. Also 4 when it came out.
Great video man you put it out on the exact day the remake released perfect timing. My first dragon quest was 9 on the DS and I loved it back then. I played some of 3 but never actually fully completed it so I’m excited to finally play the remake. I’m looking forward to you talking about DQ 9 though if you do get to lol it’s still a good ways off.
1:38:54 I have to disagree there, personally. It’s honestly probably one of the most gorgeous SNES/SFC games I’ve seen. There have been better looking ones ofc.
Fair point! The graphics are only "mediocre" (IMO) compared to what else was available for the SNES before this came out. Chrono Trigger, FF6, etc. The latter half of the SNES lifespan put out some amazingly beautiful games!
@@AltercateTV Chrono Trigger sprites have so much life and energy to them! Incredibly expressive game! Have you seen Demon’s Crest for the SNES before? The art direction in that game is beautiful!
I forget if I actually played Demon's Crest or not, but I know about it! Agreed, it's a very beautiful game. It reminds me a lot of Super Castlevania IV or even Symphony of the Night. :)
Another great video! What I find funniest about DQ3 is how much of an influence this game alone has made on so many modern Japanese media that takes place in a western style fantasy. You can clearly tell they wanted to tell their own stories of their favorite childhood game
@ It's honestly hard to name one specific one since in the 2010s there were such a huge influx of isekai (reincarnation) stories that they all blend together. Some manga competitions had to ban the genre there were too many lol. So many of these stories inexplicably have video game mechanics that's suspiciously close to Dragon Quest mechanics, slimes tend to be the first enemies encountered, recruiting a party from a pub to fight the demon lord, etc. There's an equal amount of the 3rd edition of D&D that heavily influences these stories, though, and since DQ inspirations are only few steps away from D&D, the tropes makes sense.
Fantastic retrospective as always! And just in time for the remake - I made a saxophone quartet cover of the overworld theme on my channel in celebration of the release as well.
Just finished watching this one, really great experience and full of information. I’m having a ton of fun playing through the h2 2d remake as a new dragon quest fan! :D
As an adult. Fast travel is a blessing. I seldom have time to play RPGs as is with a full time job and a social life. So games with quick saves and fast travels really come in handy. That and games that offers recaps
Everytime I hear "JRPG" I die a little inside, but overall I've enjoyed this series of videos quite a lot. By far the most interesting reviews on classic Dragon Quest I've seen so far
I was surprised to see today the remake is on PC, For some reason I thought it was only coming out on switch. I can't justify paying full price for it, but I love this game so much I will pick it up on the first sale. Loved this review. Takes for putting this out.
I still remember my friend owned the nes version of 3 and I would go over to his place and we would play the game together, then when the gameboy color version was announced I was so excited because 3 is my favorite NES RPG, I remember going to be games here in Canada so excited of gameboy release that I even bought the strategy guide just so I could keep reading about this amazing game, just a huge part of my early years, even now as I'm hitting 40 while playing dragon quest 11 I still feel the same as I did when I played 3 which is still my favorite of the series
This series is very special to me. Dragon Warrior was the first video game I chose to play by myself, because I liked dragons, and warriors, and thought I would be playing as both. Slight disappointment to find I was just playing a warrior, but I was already locked in. Six years old and no idea what I was doing. Didn't find shops, didn't know I could heal at the inn. I don't know who I am, or why I'm here, all I know is that I must kill. And kill I did. Thirty minutes worth of punching slimes in the face, an eternity in 6 year old time, I finally noticed I could go north, and that's where I encountered the first "boss" of the game. A Drakee. Normally an easy encounter if you've leveled up but naked and unarmed, that thing killed me. Revived at the king, went back out to try to go north again. Same tile, same "boss" I died again. This time I decided to wander around and discovered shops and the inn. Had to kill more slimes due to losing half of my money each time I lost but once I was armed and armored, I headed north again. Same tile, same "boss." This time, I destroyed it. I was thrilled. Then I took another step, and there was another Drakee. The boss had been a normal enemy the entire time.
Quite interesting your retrospective review came the day DQ3 Remake was released. Nevertheless, I really like your content. I'm looking forward to your DQ4 review in the future, my favorite in the series.
@@AltercateTV You're more than welcome. Living in Japan, it is so easy to talk about DQ as it is literally a national treasure. With that said, it's fun to see DQ finally gaining traction outside Japan. DQ4 and 5 might just be the best in the series. Enjoy.
The fun thing with this game was being able to make your whole party meant you could name the other characters after people you knew. My cousin would always make me his mage, and I usually made him my soldier.
It's honestly crazy to think that Dragon Quest III came out only 2 months after the original Final Fantasy Game, and how huge it was in Japan after it's relese. It's quite a shame that popularity didn't translate over to the west due to how late the games came out since DQIII is an excellent RPG for the NES.
For sure! It's a great game for its time, and I think the (relatively) few people who ended up getting it in spite of how out of fashion it looked in 1992 probably had a great time with it!
@@AltercateTV For sure, I'm somebody who plays quite a handful of old 8-bit RPGs on the NES including really obscure ones that didn't receive an official translation, but I still consider DQIII and especially it's sequel DQIV to be among the very best RPGs that the NES has to offer.
@@AltercateTV Some of my favorites include the Herakles no Eiko seires or (The Glory of Heracles) by Data East which is very similar to the Dragon Quest series only it's set in Greek Mythology and just about all of the games have received fan translations. There's Metal Max another RPG made by Data East which is also really good. There's Moryo sentai Madara a game based on a manga series by Konami with a surprisingly really good plot. There's Lagrange Point a space-themed RPG also made by Konami. And finally, there are the two Destiny of an Emperor games made by Capcom which are based off of The 3 Kingdoms story, particularly based off of the Tenchi wo Kurau manga from 1983 to 1984. There all games made during the late years of the NES and never got a Western release aside from the first Destiny of an Emperor game, and they all share the same principles as the Dragon Quest games on the NES such as the random battles and grinding, which I never really had a problem with. But a lot of them are really cool, especially the ones made by Konami and if you're the kind of person who is really into early Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest titles on the NES they are just as satisfying to play and then some.
@@gavinlucas9761 Thanks for the recommendations! I learned about Lagrange Point a while back and I'm really keen to try that out eventually. Metal Max is also really interesting to me. I played a bit of the second game for the Super Famicom at some point. Love the setting and concept of that series!
you know a game is good when literally ever version is perfection. now i'm not saying seeing artwork of the female warrior job gave me a type but.. i'm not saying it didn't give me a type.
Hope the HD 2D remake fixes the level curve thing. Only getting a plus 1 or nothing would suck. Guess I'll have to find out when i get home and play it lol
As a big crpg player, I always had reluctance towards jrpgs. They're appealing to look at, but aren't quite "right". I even tried playing some ff and dq games in the past, never really getting into it. Watching these videos is helping a bit with that.
Biggest issue with the vocation system I haven’t seen discussed much is how the supposed benefit of the Goof Off is that you can become a Sage without a Satori Sign… that’s all well and good but the Satori sign is available around the time or even a bit before you gain the ability to change jobs. So you already get access to a Sage with better stats and potentially some pre existing spells. The only benefit of taking the hard path and using one is that you get 2 sages… and I personally find that kind of boring with how little the different jobs vary in this game. The remake thus far seems to have at least made them more unique. Haven’t finished the video yet so you may have addressed this.
Yeah, honestly there's not much point to the Goof-off in the original version, especially since they don't get MP. I think it's still interesting from the perspective of player choice - even though it's arguably a suboptimal choice, it's still there for you to make. I ended up cutting it from the script for length reasons, but I also took issue with the Merchant vocation. I think it's definitely undertuned in the NES version. If the bonus gold ability was more impactful, and they earned MP on level up, I think they would be a decent choice.
The conclusion, to me, had the greatest import. Avoid repetition of ‘cool,’ though. This series merits more antiquations. I can tell you showed great diligence in speaking of stealth, though.
The one thing that DQ lacked was new game plus. As a kid when I 1st played part 1 & beat it. I wanted to experience the story again from the start stronger like how Zelda 2 NES did. But as the series went on & on I was praying they would add it but they never did. I wish they would include it for a 1st in the series. Maybe they will add the NES on the NSO with custom saves that have max characters to beging with.
Where did you get the music used in this video from? I see the one track, Heaven and Hell (Part 2) by Jeremy Blake, but that's only one track in an hour and forty-five minute video. Thanks! Love your stuff btw.
Own 1, 2, and 4. Beaten each, but never get very far in 3 before I lose interest. Really wish 4 was launched on the Switch, or the 3D treatment given to 1, 2, or 4.
DQ’s Vocation system is not like FF’s Job system is cuz the theme of DQ is all about the adventure and not the destination like FF. In real life going on an adventure on your own especially during the Middle ages is basically extremely difficult and dangerous. That’s why the Vocation system of Dragon Quest reflects that sense of adventure you have with your party. That’s why it doesn’t have the convenience mechanics of FF’s Job system.
Altercate can you please tell us if the HD 2D remake's "normal" difficulty is identical to the original DQ3 difficulty or if they nerfed normal and made it easier to make it more mainstream?
I loved the difficulty spikes and challenge in DQ3 and just want to make sure I play the equivalent difficulty in the HD-2D remake whether it's normal or nightmare plz let us know
ohhh. I loved the DQ11 shy pox and can't buy items in store debuffs. At launch I applied all of them. Kinda was weak sauce that after betting the game you needed to remove the store non purchase function to get teh platinum trophy. Tied to the cauricalcum or what not forged sword.
I started the game on Draconian last night and it’s still easier than the SNES remake. They changed it so your hp and mp are refilled when you level up
Sorry, haven't had a chance to try the Remake yet! I would guess the game is easier than the original, though. That seems to be the path most modern remakes of old school JRPGs take...
The reason flickering was ok back them is because of the limitations plus back them gaming was super niche Now, games are so freaking expensive and the budgets are stupid high so NO, NO FRAME DROPS, HECK games nowadays release as an incomplete broken piece of trash mess and we have to "ACCEPT IT" I am sorry but nowadays we don't want to get screw up and money is more difficult to get NOW.
To this day I have very great imagination. I had group of friends (there was 4 of us) for nearly 10 years. I always thought about us as of 4 great heroes, who will one day slay great evil. Unfortunelly, few months ago, everyone got an deadly argument with one another, and we are no longer spend time together. I have contact with 2 out of 3. Then DQ3 HD-2D Remake was announeced. I really like making custom party members in games so I got an idea. When the game came out I named characters after our names, then I picked class that in my opinion fit our personality (I was Hero lol). So it was Hero, Warrior, Priest -> Sage, Mage. I had this nostalgic feeling, like in old times, spending time together, having fun and some goal. Fighting greater evil together is like the most epic journey you can imagine. For me this was more than a game, it was my last great adventure with all of my friends, even so it was only in my imagination. After defeating Zoma and finished the game, I cried a little, not only because I completed one of the most epic games, but also I could spend time with my friends one last time. That was our Legend - The Legend of Erdrick and his companions. I will always treasure this game in my heart as one of the most important and nostalgic.
Whew, just in time! Knowing I had a chance to publish this video around the launch date of the HD-2D Remake made me work extra hard the past couple of weeks. It's been a crazy grind - I really didn't think I'd be able to make it - but I feel very happy to hit my self-imposed deadline lol.
I haven't yet decided what my next video will be. Dragon Quest IV is definitely coming in the near future, but I might take a break from the series to produce some other videos first. I have a few unfinished scripts that are bugging me (Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Tales of Arise, FF7 Rebirth, Visions of Mana...) and I've been planning to redo my FF1 Retro at some point, since I don't think my original version from a couple of years ago did the game justice. So many games to cover, so little time!
Anyway, I hope you like the video! Let me know what you think, and thanks for supporting me! 😍
It's - like always - a joy to watch. It's going deep and you mention almost every corner.
But do you also play other games or just RPGs?
@@Rumms-Bumms69 Thanks! JRPGs is the genre that has meant the most to me and the one I feel the most confident critiquing, but I do enjoy many other types of games, too. (Right now, I'm playing Control, and having a great time!)
I may eventually expand the scope of my channel to talk about some of my favorite games from other genres, like Baldur's Gate II, Civilization, WarCraft III, etc., if I feel like I have something to contribute to the discourse.
It seems you included information revealed in a recent Japanese TV imterview. Amazing!
Which part was that? I ended up sourcing so many interviews/articles for this video, I forget where everything came from 😂
Since my first experience with 4 was the DS version, I was surprised to learn it was an NES game. I don’t think it’d be too surprising if someone said that DQ4 was the best NES RPG outside of Sweet Home (which only came out in Japan).
This game really is the SMB 3 of JRPGs. It's the perfect meat and potatoes experience and it will always be special because of that. This is where the JRPG hit its groove, and it's such a pure experience without any gimmicks.
Just found this video while playing through the HD2D remake! Love the way you tell this story. DQ3 is a childhood favorite (GBC Version) and its been such a treat to revisit it in this new form.
Thanks, that’s really nice to hear :)
I did have this game as a kid, so I guess mine was one of the 95,000 copies sold despite already having a SNES. I was 8 in 1992, and FF4 (or II, of course) was simply too complex for me. This was right up my alley.
I laughed out loud when you mentioned how a kid might go back to Romaly to play at being king again and again, because I genuinely did exactly that. I would just go back there sometimes to mess around. I brought the game to a friend's house once and we wasted an afternoon at the monster coliseum. I leveled a Goof-Off named Goofus to level 40 because I never knew as a kid that I was able to change her to a Sage and I thought surely she'd become useful if she leveled enough.
I give this game a lot of credit for my lifelong love of RPGs, and it's wild to me how popular it still is, that it keeps being remade, and how the class designs are still used today in Dragon Quest games.
Anyway, thanks for the video. It brought back a lot of memories from over 30 years ago.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with the game! That's awesome to hear. And what you said about thinking the Goof-off would get useful if you just leveled her high enough made me laugh, too! 😂
@@AltercateTV Oh, she wasn't so bad. I grew to like poor Goofus a lot by the time she got so high-level, and she was one of my only female characters, so she had the Sword of Illusion and a Magic Bikini and so on. She just... wasn't very good, either.
Yeap, this was one of the best RPG's in the early days. It really rewarded experimenting and you got attached to your characters. I like how they changed the monster area stuff in the hd2d remake (and it honestly is the best version of this game) but I miss the old school betting. I spent hours there as a kid trying to figure out the meta and making huge money.
The best Dragon Quest video I have seen so far. I gotta check the rest of your channel!
What a great game, I can't think of it without remembering the Dai anime, it is wonderful to get invested in its fantastic world. I am having great fun with the remake everyday when I come back from work.
I've been playing Dragon Quest 3 for the first time via the HD-2D remake, and have been having an absolute blast! I know it's a remake so it has modern amenities, but even so, I find it remarkable how well the game at its core has aged
Thanks for sharing! Yeah, the fundamental gameplay is so satisfying :)
The rather simple Design is exactly what i needed.
What an awesome retrospective. I enjoy the way you tell the story in the video by jumping a little ahead and a little back. It is different from other TH-camrs and your style really sets things apart. I have been a lifelong fan of this series.
Thanks for saying that, that's really encouraging to hear! :)
I'm playing this video while my wife is sitting next to me playing the remake and listening in. Every once in a while she'll nod and say, "Yes!"
Thank you for giving me this experience.
You’re welcome! That’s awesome 🤣
Impeccable timing, loved your videos on DQ1 and DQ2, keep up the good work
Thank you! :)
Amazing work! DQ3 is a fun and wonderful adventure, especially for the time. Your videos are always a great watch, I find out new things I didn't know before and I find myself having a greater appreciation for the games you cover.
Thank you for all that you do! :)
Thank you, that’s very nice of you to say :)
Bruh, couldnt have dropped this at a better moment! Hopefully this gets you a100k more subs, your content deserves it!
Thank you so much for the kind words! ❤
Thank you so much for doing a retrospective on the Dragon Quest series. I've been looking out for this for a while and I'm really enjoying what you've done.
Thank you! That's really nice to hear :)
Listening to this while at work, can't wait to get home and play the Remake
These are becoming my favourite retrospectives of a legendary series - fantastic work 🥰
That's very encouraging to hear! Thanks :)
I was waiting for this! Currently playing the remake on my steam deck as i watch ty altercate!
Awesome! Sounds perfect for the steam deck :)
This was a great video to watch while grinding in DQ3 HD-2D remake😁
What a good timing than to release your video the day that the Remake comes out! Well done!!! :)
Thank you! :)
You are criminally undersubbed. Thank you for the work you put into this video. This was a wonderful watch through.
Thank you! That's very encouraging to hear :)
Bro, please don't ever stop making these. You are so good at this.
Wow, thank you! That really means a lot to me ❤
Another nail hit in the head! Awesome video with a spot on analysis!
I loved to see the flood of positive comments you've got! I hope it shows you that you're doing an amazing job, and that you keep your series going (if you're still having fun, of course!)
Great job!!!
Thanks Rod! Always a pleasure to see your name in the comments :) And yes, the response to this video so far has definitely been very encouraging!
loved the video! so glad DQ getting this much love after all these years.
Cant wait for your dq 8 retrospective :)
Thank you! Definitely looking forward to playing DQ8 :)
YOOOOOO I been waiting for this video 😁 Perfect timing too!
Hope you like it! :)
love this channel!
Thank you! ❤
I've always wanted to do a "commanding general" type run of DQ3 in one of the versions, where the only healer is Arus and all he does is heal with herbs/spells and the party members act with their ai options instead of being controlled in battle. sounds like hell in hindsight
Another excellent video, Altercate! I absolutely adore Dragon Quest 3, despite it being old and archaic by today's standards. Being a European (just like you), I never had a chance to play this game back in the day, and I didn't get to play it until much later as an adult. But despite being older and more cynical, and despite the clunky mechanics of the original NES version, I still fell in love with the game. I immediately recognised all the tropes and concepts that were later expanded on in later games (e.g. Final Fantasy 6 and Chrono Trigger), and it almost felt like a coming home-experience, despite me having never played DQ3 back in the day! Regarding the continuation of the series, I know you wrote in a comment that you will get to Dragon Quest 4 eventually, and I'm really looking forward to it. DQ4 is the first game in the series that introduces proper fleshed-out characters, villain and story and plot that are tied together, where the villain has a true reason for what he is doing, and all the main characters in your party have a personal reason for stopping the villain. I'm looking forward to watching that video once it drops!
Thank you for sharing your experiences with the game, and for the encouraging words! I'm really looking forward to starting Dragon Quest IV in the near future. Given the response my DQ videos have gotten so far, I'm definitely motivated to keep going! :)
It's always a treat when one of these come out. Can't wait to ask you a very important and not totally silly question when the next one rolls around.
Haha, looking forward to it!
My friends got me into Dragon Warrior when it was free with Nintendo Power, even though I didn't think it looked good at first. I was very impressed when I got the game. I played text RPGs before that. In 1992 I cared a lot about Dragon Warrior 3. Also 4 when it came out.
Thanks for sharing! I can imagine that if you were already a fan of the series, the sequels would have been very exciting :)
Thanks for making this! Very little time to replay games, but this filled that spot wonderfully
Glad you liked it! :)
Great video man you put it out on the exact day the remake released perfect timing. My first dragon quest was 9 on the DS and I loved it back then. I played some of 3 but never actually fully completed it so I’m excited to finally play the remake. I’m looking forward to you talking about DQ 9 though if you do get to lol it’s still a good ways off.
Thank you! Yep, DQ9 will be a while, but I'll get there eventually 😂
Good luck on your adventure
Don’t stop this series 🙏
I'll keep going for sure! :)
Love your videos man, always on the money, wish you the very best.
Thank you! That's very encouraging to hear :)
1:38:54 I have to disagree there, personally. It’s honestly probably one of the most gorgeous SNES/SFC games I’ve seen. There have been better looking ones ofc.
Fair point! The graphics are only "mediocre" (IMO) compared to what else was available for the SNES before this came out. Chrono Trigger, FF6, etc. The latter half of the SNES lifespan put out some amazingly beautiful games!
@@AltercateTV Chrono Trigger sprites have so much life and energy to them! Incredibly expressive game!
Have you seen Demon’s Crest for the SNES before? The art direction in that game is beautiful!
I forget if I actually played Demon's Crest or not, but I know about it! Agreed, it's a very beautiful game. It reminds me a lot of Super Castlevania IV or even Symphony of the Night. :)
Loving your channel! Keep up the amazing work!
Thank you! :)
love your dragon quest retrospectives❤
Thanks, that’s very nice of you to say! 😃
I figured you would post this today, just watched the first two last night. Hope everyone is enjoying Remake!
Made it just in time 😂
Another great video!
What I find funniest about DQ3 is how much of an influence this game alone has made on so many modern Japanese media that takes place in a western style fantasy. You can clearly tell they wanted to tell their own stories of their favorite childhood game
Thank you! That's a good point. Do you have any examples in particular where you feel the influences are especially obvious?
@ It's honestly hard to name one specific one since in the 2010s there were such a huge influx of isekai (reincarnation) stories that they all blend together. Some manga competitions had to ban the genre there were too many lol.
So many of these stories inexplicably have video game mechanics that's suspiciously close to Dragon Quest mechanics, slimes tend to be the first enemies encountered, recruiting a party from a pub to fight the demon lord, etc. There's an equal amount of the 3rd edition of D&D that heavily influences these stories, though, and since DQ inspirations are only few steps away from D&D, the tropes makes sense.
Fantastic retrospective as always! And just in time for the remake - I made a saxophone quartet cover of the overworld theme on my channel in celebration of the release as well.
Thanks! And well done on the cover :)
Just finished watching this one, really great experience and full of information. I’m having a ton of fun playing through the h2 2d remake as a new dragon quest fan! :D
Thank you! Glad to hear you're enjoying the remake :)
As an adult. Fast travel is a blessing. I seldom have time to play RPGs as is with a full time job and a social life. So games with quick saves and fast travels really come in handy. That and games that offers recaps
Everytime I hear "JRPG" I die a little inside, but overall I've enjoyed this series of videos quite a lot. By far the most interesting reviews on classic Dragon Quest I've seen so far
I was surprised to see today the remake is on PC, For some reason I thought it was only coming out on switch. I can't justify paying full price for it, but I love this game so much I will pick it up on the first sale.
Loved this review. Takes for putting this out.
Thank you! Nice to see you again :)
Great analysis! Always loved this game!
Thank you! :)
Perfect timing for 2D HD, ive been looking forward to this
Glad to hear it! :)
*HD-2D
Very good video. So familiar, even though I’m now in the middle of the hd 2d remake, seeing the same scenes but without the new set dressing
Thank you! :)
just in time!
I still remember my friend owned the nes version of 3 and I would go over to his place and we would play the game together, then when the gameboy color version was announced I was so excited because 3 is my favorite NES RPG, I remember going to be games here in Canada so excited of gameboy release that I even bought the strategy guide just so I could keep reading about this amazing game, just a huge part of my early years, even now as I'm hitting 40 while playing dragon quest 11 I still feel the same as I did when I played 3 which is still my favorite of the series
Thanks for sharing your experience with the series! :)
This series is very special to me.
Dragon Warrior was the first video game I chose to play by myself, because I liked dragons, and warriors, and thought I would be playing as both.
Slight disappointment to find I was just playing a warrior, but I was already locked in. Six years old and no idea what I was doing.
Didn't find shops, didn't know I could heal at the inn. I don't know who I am, or why I'm here, all I know is that I must kill. And kill I did.
Thirty minutes worth of punching slimes in the face, an eternity in 6 year old time, I finally noticed I could go north, and that's where I encountered the first "boss" of the game.
A Drakee.
Normally an easy encounter if you've leveled up but naked and unarmed, that thing killed me. Revived at the king, went back out to try to go north again. Same tile, same "boss" I died again.
This time I decided to wander around and discovered shops and the inn. Had to kill more slimes due to losing half of my money each time I lost but once I was armed and armored, I headed north again. Same tile, same "boss."
This time, I destroyed it. I was thrilled.
Then I took another step, and there was another Drakee. The boss had been a normal enemy the entire time.
Lol that's awesome! Thanks for telling the story :)
thx for the video, your rpgs content are inspiring
Thank you! :)
Let's be honest: that little birdy is the secret star of the show.
😍
What is it and what's its name?
@@Rumms-Bumms69 His name is Mikan, and he's a Fischer's lovebird. :)
@@Rumms-Bumms69Ramia
@@AltercateTV Ramia is actually the Godbird of DQ not a Phoenix. You’ll find out soon once you get to tackle DQVIII in the future.
Third comment, now. This is definitely gonna be one of those videos that I’ll find myself rewatching every now and then!
Thanks! That's very encouraging to hear :)
@ Ofc! Keep up the good work. I’ll be looking forward to your next upload.
Quite interesting your retrospective review came the day DQ3 Remake was released. Nevertheless, I really like your content. I'm looking forward to your DQ4 review in the future, my favorite in the series.
Thank you! Definitely looking forward to going through DQ4 :)
@@AltercateTV You're more than welcome. Living in Japan, it is so easy to talk about DQ as it is literally a national treasure. With that said, it's fun to see DQ finally gaining traction outside Japan. DQ4 and 5 might just be the best in the series. Enjoy.
Great video, though it drove me crazy that the protag was not in the lead spot of your party 😂
I get it! My soldier had better defense tho 😂
The fun thing with this game was being able to make your whole party meant you could name the other characters after people you knew. My cousin would always make me his mage, and I usually made him my soldier.
I still have fond memories of playing 3
It's honestly crazy to think that Dragon Quest III came out only 2 months after the original Final Fantasy Game, and how huge it was in Japan after it's relese.
It's quite a shame that popularity didn't translate over to the west due to how late the games came out since DQIII is an excellent RPG for the NES.
For sure! It's a great game for its time, and I think the (relatively) few people who ended up getting it in spite of how out of fashion it looked in 1992 probably had a great time with it!
@@AltercateTV For sure, I'm somebody who plays quite a handful of old 8-bit RPGs on the NES including really obscure ones that didn't receive an official translation, but I still consider DQIII and especially it's sequel DQIV to be among the very best RPGs that the NES has to offer.
@@gavinlucas9761 Any favorites among the more obscure ones you've played?
@@AltercateTV Some of my favorites include the Herakles no Eiko seires or (The Glory of Heracles) by Data East which is very similar to the Dragon Quest series only it's set in Greek Mythology and just about all of the games have received fan translations. There's Metal Max another RPG made by Data East which is also really good.
There's Moryo sentai Madara a game based on a manga series by Konami with a surprisingly really good plot. There's Lagrange Point a space-themed RPG also made by Konami. And finally, there are the two Destiny of an Emperor games made by Capcom which are based off of The 3 Kingdoms story, particularly based off of the Tenchi wo Kurau manga from 1983 to 1984.
There all games made during the late years of the NES and never got a Western release aside from the first Destiny of an Emperor game, and they all share the same principles as the Dragon Quest games on the NES such as the random battles and grinding, which I never really had a problem with. But a lot of them are really cool, especially the ones made by Konami and if you're the kind of person who is really into early Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest titles on the NES they are just as satisfying to play and then some.
@@gavinlucas9761 Thanks for the recommendations! I learned about Lagrange Point a while back and I'm really keen to try that out eventually. Metal Max is also really interesting to me. I played a bit of the second game for the Super Famicom at some point. Love the setting and concept of that series!
this game slaps. nice vid
Thanks! :)
you know a game is good when literally ever version is perfection.
now i'm not saying seeing artwork of the female warrior job gave me a type but.. i'm not saying it didn't give me a type.
lol
Hope the HD 2D remake fixes the level curve thing. Only getting a plus 1 or nothing would suck. Guess I'll have to find out when i get home and play it lol
Deserves more views
Thank you! :)
Now has never been a better time to DQ something different in JRPGs.
As a big crpg player, I always had reluctance towards jrpgs. They're appealing to look at, but aren't quite "right". I even tried playing some ff and dq games in the past, never really getting into it.
Watching these videos is helping a bit with that.
Glad you enjoyed the videos! I've always been a big fan of both CRPGs and JRPGs, but I can totally see why someone would only enjoy one or the other.
Classic
1:34:32 We gotta get our fix of DQ!
Biggest issue with the vocation system I haven’t seen discussed much is how the supposed benefit of the Goof Off is that you can become a Sage without a Satori Sign… that’s all well and good but the Satori sign is available around the time or even a bit before you gain the ability to change jobs. So you already get access to a Sage with better stats and potentially some pre existing spells.
The only benefit of taking the hard path and using one is that you get 2 sages… and I personally find that kind of boring with how little the different jobs vary in this game. The remake thus far seems to have at least made them more unique. Haven’t finished the video yet so you may have addressed this.
Yeah, honestly there's not much point to the Goof-off in the original version, especially since they don't get MP. I think it's still interesting from the perspective of player choice - even though it's arguably a suboptimal choice, it's still there for you to make.
I ended up cutting it from the script for length reasons, but I also took issue with the Merchant vocation. I think it's definitely undertuned in the NES version. If the bonus gold ability was more impactful, and they earned MP on level up, I think they would be a decent choice.
1:15:02 I’m pretty sure it was King Hydra, the dragon queen is a benevolent being.
The conclusion, to me, had the greatest import.
Avoid repetition of ‘cool,’ though. This series merits more antiquations.
I can tell you showed great diligence in speaking of stealth, though.
Hey there! Love your video! What is the music that plays during the Alefgard segment called? I'd appreciate it!
The one thing that DQ lacked was new game plus. As a kid when I 1st played part 1 & beat it. I wanted to experience the story again from the start stronger like how Zelda 2 NES did.
But as the series went on & on I was praying they would add it but they never did. I wish they would include it for a 1st in the series. Maybe they will add the NES on the NSO with custom saves that have max characters to beging with.
That's a funny looking dog...
FYI: The bird/Ramia theme is reused in DQ8 since it is a cue that it is the same character. Sorry for the spoilers.
Where did you get the music used in this video from? I see the one track, Heaven and Hell (Part 2) by Jeremy Blake, but that's only one track in an hour and forty-five minute video. Thanks! Love your stuff btw.
Own 1, 2, and 4. Beaten each, but never get very far in 3 before I lose interest. Really wish 4 was launched on the Switch, or the 3D treatment given to 1, 2, or 4.
DQ’s Vocation system is not like FF’s Job system is cuz the theme of DQ is all about the adventure and not the destination like FF. In real life going on an adventure on your own especially during the Middle ages is basically extremely difficult and dangerous. That’s why the Vocation system of Dragon Quest reflects that sense of adventure you have with your party. That’s why it doesn’t have the convenience mechanics of FF’s Job system.
I love JRPGs, don't me wrong, but I'll always prefer 'writing my own story' even if there is a linear story progression.
What's the track that starts at 38:14 please?
It's called "Your Suggestions" by Unicorn Heads
Altercate can you please tell us if the HD 2D remake's "normal" difficulty is identical to the original DQ3 difficulty or if they nerfed normal and made it easier to make it more mainstream?
I loved the difficulty spikes and challenge in DQ3 and just want to make sure I play the equivalent difficulty in the HD-2D remake whether it's normal or nightmare plz let us know
ohhh. I loved the DQ11 shy pox and can't buy items in store debuffs. At launch I applied all of them. Kinda was weak sauce that after betting the game you needed to remove the store non purchase function to get teh platinum trophy. Tied to the cauricalcum or what not forged sword.
I started the game on Draconian last night and it’s still easier than the SNES remake. They changed it so your hp and mp are refilled when you level up
@@GigaDonk99I'm hoping once the early quick leveling stops this wont be much of a factor😞
Sorry, haven't had a chance to try the Remake yet! I would guess the game is easier than the original, though. That seems to be the path most modern remakes of old school JRPGs take...
Name of the first Background Song?
The one that plays right at the start of the video is called "Liquid Time" by Akash Gandhi.
The best version of Dragon Quest 3 is the original.
I really hate that the remake changed the names of spells, towns, monsters.
The reason flickering was ok back them is because of the limitations plus back them gaming was super niche
Now, games are so freaking expensive and the budgets are stupid high so NO, NO FRAME DROPS, HECK games nowadays release as an incomplete broken piece of trash mess and we have to "ACCEPT IT" I am sorry but nowadays we don't want to get screw up and money is more difficult to get NOW.
57:28 This sounds like pretentious bullshit.
To this day I have very great imagination. I had group of friends (there was 4 of us) for nearly 10 years. I always thought about us as of 4 great heroes, who will one day slay great evil. Unfortunelly, few months ago, everyone got an deadly argument with one another, and we are no longer spend time together. I have contact with 2 out of 3. Then DQ3 HD-2D Remake was announeced. I really like making custom party members in games so I got an idea. When the game came out I named characters after our names, then I picked class that in my opinion fit our personality (I was Hero lol). So it was Hero, Warrior, Priest -> Sage, Mage. I had this nostalgic feeling, like in old times, spending time together, having fun and some goal. Fighting greater evil together is like the most epic journey you can imagine. For me this was more than a game, it was my last great adventure with all of my friends, even so it was only in my imagination. After defeating Zoma and finished the game, I cried a little, not only because I completed one of the most epic games, but also I could spend time with my friends one last time. That was our Legend - The Legend of Erdrick and his companions. I will always treasure this game in my heart as one of the most important and nostalgic.