You asked for it. Dragon Warrior sold so poorly in the US that Nintendo of America was stuck sitting on a mountain of unsold cartridges much like ET on the Atari but unlike ET Dragon Warrior was an actually good game and Nintendo was launching a new magazine Nintendo Power so they wound up giving away the unsold copies of Dragon Warrior to boost magazine subscriptions because while nobody was buying Dragon Warrior no kid is going to pass up a free game so this game nobody wanted became a really good marketing tool. The promotion was so unbelievably successful that it wound up turning Nintendo Power into the must have Magazine subscription and found a way to introduce America to the complex world of JRPGs with the simple entry level free game. And that's how you wound up with Dragon Quest 1, a game that sold so poorly it was in danger of being dumped in another unmarked landfill in the New Mexico desert like a certain extra terrestrial that came before it.
All the other videos covering this game are super annoying. They lazily explain every detail of how the game goes. This is an NES game, most of us know how that goes. This is the only video in which the information is presented with respect to the audience. You actually ADD information instead of just saying what you see. Love your vids, man.
@@nobodynone0 I hear you on that. I am no fan of censorship or “woke” stuff, but the gripes people have here are so minor and inconsequential, that it shows me that there truly is an industry of complaining about everything.
I think it's because they were sponsered by Square enix and had a specific set of things that they needed to say/explain, being more like an ad readout of the story and world than an actual review. Even digital foundry says in the video title that it was sponsored.
Yes, the first DQ (aka "Dragon Warrior") was given away free with the subscription to Nintendo Power when it first began publication. The good old days!
I've gotta say, this guy looks much too young to have possibly remembered a promotion from 35 years ago. I expect to see some grey hairs on someone making this claim.
I’m from Japan and my parents bought me original DQ3. So I had enough nostalgia to get this remake. After a few hours of playing, I echo your thoughts about enjoying this on an intimate, handheld device.
I heard that so many people skipped school and work on that day that the Japanese government had to declare they only release them on weekends lol. Truth or fiction?
I’m glad you enjoy the game, but it bothers me that they’re charging $60 for this remake when it should be $20 or $30 at most. Too many companies taking advantage of their customers because they know they will pay it for the nostalgia
I really appreciate your honest review style. All of the other reviews all stick to the same few talking points. You actually notice the same kinds of things I do when I play games
I have been watching most jrpg youtubers review this game, and this is by far the most genuine review of the game. Can't wait to play it after i finish Brothership.
Congrats on the 10k man! I love that it sounds as hard as what I remember, I need that. I will say these games have a special place as handhelds, its like... So much easier to be chilling on the go and turning off your handheld at any time and just picking up where you left off. Great stuff man! Glad you enjoyed it.
This game is so beautiful. The HD2D style is so amazing. It’s the perfect mix of old and new, and it needs to be done more often. Forget 4K, give me HD2D😍😊
It's interesting to hear you talk about how it feels nostalgic even though you never played the original. I know exactly what you mean. I've been playing through Final Fantasy for the first time. I never really played any RPG except Pokemon growing up. My brother begged me to try FF7 Remake a few years after it released and I gave it a shot ("Hey, it's that guy from Kingdom Hearts!") I pretty much loved it so I began the series from FFI, while I'm now in the middle of FFVI. I've been playing on emulated versions of NES and SNES with bug fix/minor translation patches when available and it's insane how hard it triggers nostalgia when I **wasn't even born yet** for the releases! I think it's something about the fact that they're from a bygone era. It just feels like they come from a more "innocent" era of gaming that we're sooooooooo far past at this point. Those end credit motivational text montages they put at the end of all these Final Fantasy games about hope or moving forward are so damn sappy but dammit if I don't still shed a tear lol.
@@HeelBJC Depends on what kind of Dragon Quest fan you are, but the majority of us are esctatic. Like DQ3 is a top 3 game in the series, and this looks like everything we love about the game but with some quality of life improvements to make it a little less tedious.
@@HeelBJC I’m a huge fane of the classics and I have played this game on NES, the Japanese SNES remake, and mobile. I prefer the SNES version the best, as I love playing it on old school TVs. That being said, I am very much looking forward to enjoying this incredible game again on a modern platform, but the SNES will always be my favorite. I am 43, for reference.
Your review of DQ3 Remake is one of the most informative reviews of this game that I have found. I stumbled upon your channel through a collaboration you did with FemTrooper. Your channel has quickly become a fav! Keep em' coming!
Great video very informative! My introduction to JRPG was when Chrono Trigger/Trails of mana (not counting Pokémon blue/red) came out but never dabbed into DQ till VIII onwards - so keen to finally give this a shot! Loving the podcast too you are doing a great job!
Great video! I knew I wanted to get this game, but I've been going back and forth on whether I should get it for PC, Switch, or Xbox, but after your review I've definitely settled on Switch, thanks!
One of the most well-done reviews I’ve watched so far! Great video, went and got the game on Steam Deck after watching, looking forward to giving it a try
About right but if you're used to persona/Etrian odyssey this game is not at all grindy. If you're grinding it's because you skipped thf or mechant. always have one or the other to get gold to upgrade your stuff(or just auto steal stuff).Be sure to check our all the shiny overworld spots. Lastly, if you're good on monies and upgraded gear but still struggling somehow, Monster wrangler is really nice if you need an all around/strong party member really early.
The original NES "Dragon Warrior" was my first JRPG too, and the reason I bought a (used) NES as a teen with my first paycheck from my first job. I bought it just before DW3 came out, played through it ridiculously fast before DW3 came out. Strangely, I skipped DW2, only picking it up *years* later.
For a 60 dollar game, your review gave me the answer I needed in regards to whether or not I should buy this. I own both octopath traveler games (but have never finished them), just finished metaphor and am working my way through ys x. I was considering this remake since I have always wanted to get into dragon quest but just haven't really felt like there was a good option to use as a portal to this series. I know dq 11 is supposed to be good, but I got bored with it after a few hours. I play JRPGs for compelling narratives and solid gameplay. Some of my favorite games are the trails games because of their well thought out worlds and really rich characters/stories and so I just don't see myself really enjoying a game that doesn't really have a story or characters. I'll wait for this to go on a really deep sale before I buy it, I just can't justify throwing down 60 bucks for a game that is more or less just a cozy experience. If this game was going for 20 or 30 bucks then that would be a different story, I wouldn't feel so hesitant to throw down the money to try it. This past year, they released a new mana game, a saga remake and this game and with all of those games I am on the fence. I felt the same way about star ocean when it was released the last year, and I'm still waiting for a deep sale to get into that one.
The coziest JRPG section really resonated with me. When I first played DQ3 HD2D, I started playing on my PC. It felt nice, especially since I had prior experience with Dragon Quest before with DQ11. However, I wasn't exactly hooked on it. Then, depending how you look at it, whether this be fortunate or unfortunate, my PC started overheating while playing a different game. So I haven't touched my PC for a while, just been either on my gaming laptop or Steam Deck. I didn't click with this game when playing it the first time on these devices, but eventually, somewhere along the line it clicked to be playing this on my Steam Deck. Whether I play it in bed in handheld mode or docked to my TV, I'm finding the game a lot more fun on my Deck than I did on my laptop or PC. It just really feels suited for it. It's kind of funny too because before this, my Steam Deck has been collecting dust for some months now, untouched, but this was the game to bring me back to playing it & also started playing other games on it as well with similar fun to be had on it. DQ3 HD2D definitely is a cozy game imo & well suited for handheld play.
Dragon Quest is the epitome of comfort food. I can still pop in DQ 1 and just grind and grind and still have fun. It's like sitting that well worn couch that has your shape in it after years of use. DQ 3 though was the game the made me a Dragon Quest fan. It's why it sells so well in Japan and people clamor for it to not change. The there were talks of getting rid of the turn based in DQ 9 they let it be known. There's talks of 12 having a change in combat and people are worried. Rightfully so when the genre is taking towards more action or free style combat. It could explain Final Fantasy's recent sales lacking with the move away from a turn based command system.
Thought you analogy on playing this on the portal was very relateable. Played Final Fantasy 4 mostly on my Portal and it felt great compared to playing the first 3 on my normal setup. Appreciate the review and i do plan on abusing the no death mode when i need to grind, lol.
Hey Brenden, great review, I still remember when I brough Dragon Warrior 3 at the K-Mart! great memories! Yeah also, they given the first Dragon Warrior with a Nintendo Power subcription, because it was not selling and they had a ton of copies! RPG were not popular back then in America!
I started with Final Fantasy 1. I had a friend who had Dragon Warrior and I think I played it a little bit but not much. I also remember playing a bit of Dragon Warrior 2 (I remember the blue, green, and magenta characters). Then I didn't play another DQ game until I went to PAX West 2019 and my buddy and I went to the DQ panel. There were three of the main developers there, one young dude and two older guys who had been doing DQ forever. All 3 of them said that DQV was the best DQ game so I went out and picked it up on the DS (before prices skyrocketed). They also sang the praises of DQXI s and I got that for Christmas that year. Played DQ XI first, still need to play DQ V.
I own four Dragon Quest games for my DS/3DS and Dragon Quest 11. I am delighted this game was remade. I have to wait until after Christmas, I can't spend money on myself right now. I am old and I will like the old school play. I saw one person who found that you could speed up the battles a lot for grinding - I will do that!
About that once the 3DS Eshop shut down FOREVER so did the Tablet dungeons from its DQ7 remake the best way AROUND that isnt to HACK the dungeons back in but to hope for a PS4 PS5 Switch prot of the 3DS DQ7 game with OFFLINE versions of those Tablet dungeons gotten that way even if the PS4/PS5/Switch shut PSN/E shop forever the dungeons won't be lost if you could BUY them as Casino bought items in the DQ7 port of the 3DS one.
I only played Dragon Warrior 1 and 2 a few months ago in August for the first time to prepare for the HD-2D remakes and wow, it seems crazy how good 3 is in comparison to the previous two. I'm pretty excited to play DQ3 once it hits soon!
Yes, Nintendo Power gave away free copies of Dragon Warrior to new subscribers around 1989. It was a promotion to get people to subscribe. DQ I had been very popular in Japan, but it was not selling well in the US. There were a lot of unsold copies of the game, and Nintendo of America decided to give them away for a promotion to encourage people to subscribe to the magazine.
I remember bouncing off the original Dragon Warrior so hard as a kid, then going back after Final Fantasy II clicked with me. Ended up loving the 4 NES games we got.
My first dragon quest game was DQ8 which got me into the series DQ11 S pulled and revamped my love for the series and really turned me into a dragon quest fan even more i ended up getting dq8 again for 3ds a year ago caught it in the wild but i will be most definitely getting this after i finish and beat mario and luigi brothership
Legend of Dragoon on the PS1 was the best JRPG I’ve ever played. No other game since has bothered to even try to recreate the “addition” combat battle system, which is really sad and depressing.
I wanted to play this but the main complaints, besides censorship, is too much grinding and not enough QOL improvements. Also the battle screen is lacking big time. I expect that from a mobile game, not a console release.
This review is insightful and genuine. I appreciate your take on the nostalgia effect. I'm going to pass on this game because there are too many better and cheaper JRPGs to play. But if I see it on a huge sale in the future, I'd be open to playing it now.
without fail, people point out that dragon quest is best played handheld. I got the worst version (switch) specifically because I had the best experience with DQ11 on switch and I wanted to keep that going. These things rock for an hour before bed.
I plan on getting this trilogy on the switch. I’m also odd. I have zero mainline DQ experience. I’ve never played a DQ game outside the Heroes spin-off. Hopefully it’ll hook me in. I like the idea of the character resets. Informative and interesting as always. Keep up the good work. 👍
Thanks man! Yeah, if you're either already into it or interested in experiencing the legacy of the series from scratch, I think this is a great starting point
So i bought a sunsoft game. Filled out the card that came with it and sent it back. Months later before it released i got a copy of Festers Quest in the mail. Like you never asked for it. Never knew of it. It just showed up. My best guess is that card i filled out. There was no instructions to send back a thoughts or review.
I may pass on this one. I rarely get used to random encounters, the only game i finished with that is Digimon Cyber sleuth/hacker's memory because there was a skill that reduced the encounters a lot. I'd have liked the encounters being managed like Star ocean 2 remake. This game looks beautiful tough, but of the two remakes thya SE released I'll stay with Romancing saga 2. Yesterday i said to myself that I'll play just a little before bed at 9:00 pm, and then bam, it was midnight lol.
Damn I forgot I had the PlayStation handheld. lmao I'll try and use that to play the game. I definitely know what you mean playing jrpg on the big screen can sometimes lead to other distractions.
Hello, greetings from Brazil! Just discovered your channel and i like it. Subscribed! About the game: I love old school JRPGs and i was hoping that the devs of DQ3 Remastered would mantain the difficulty and game design of the original, even if it was optional, and i am glad the they did. Can't hardly wait the last 7 hours until the game unlocks in my region! About what you said about handheld gaming, i was going to buy it on the Switch to play both on the tv and handheld mode, but it appears that version has some problems mantaining framerates and some longer load times. Then i chose the Xbox version, because i can play both on the tv and on my laptop on my bed, like i did with DQXI many times. Don't know if people know about this feature some Xbox games have, but since i don't own a PS Portal i really like it.
I've played and thoroughly completed dragon warrior monsters 1 and 2, dragon warrior 3 but didn't finish it, dragon quest 7 on ps1(later got the remake on 3ds), tried 9 but didn't quite like it, and 100% dragon quest 11 on pc. I'd really love to give dragon quest 3 a second try, and this time it's gonna be the HD/2D remake.
This unlocks for me in less than 3 hours. I hope the leveling progression feels more like the original NA version as opposed to the much grindier JPN one, but we'll see.
Grinding is even LONGER now that the FINAL PHYSICAL skills need lv 45 to lv 46 party members and the FINAL spells are still at lv 37 White Magic lv 40 Black magic. So Warrior/Martial Artists need to be at like lv 45 to lv 48 for their last moves Thief lv 33 Merchant lv 36 and the worthless AFTER lv 20 Gadabout/Jester needs to be at lv 45 in this version for its last skill.
I’ve never played the old game so I find it hilarious that when your party member dies you just drag their ass around in a coffin 😂 That aside I love your review style. Super insightful and informative.
The remake punishing? This version the balance is so broken in the players benefit I've never had this easy a time in a dq game. Haven't sold any equipment. Even normal difficulty is super easy baby mode.
thank goodness for dracky mode this game gets pretty crazy difficulty wise. id probably give this a 5/10 because of how cheap even random encounters are but 8/10 because it has the option to not make it hard as nails. with that said I do agree that it makes it too easy.
Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior here in the states) was the first JRPG I ever played and beat on my own. It made me fall in love with RPG's as a whole. Then DQ2 kicked my butt, but I stuck with the series and DQ4 is still my favorite
I rage quit DQ11 halfway through because when I got to act 2 it felt like I had to redo the whole game all over again. I really want to try this but if it’s pretty much the same game I’ll pass on this one :/
The original Dragon Quest (warrior in the west) is considered by many to be the "first" JRPG, depending on how you define it, and when it came out it sold extremely poorly because nobody knew anything about this essentially brand new genre of game which left Enix with a ton of copies, so they started giving them away to Nintendo Power subscribers as a means of offloading them as well as hoping for an increase in sales through word of mouth
I think most people who complain about easy mode, cant die... are forgetting. Moms have little kids they buy it for, playing in switch or tv. If the child died, they would give up, cry or bug mom. So it's to keep kids entertained.
yeah i don't get why ultra fast wasn't the default battle speed, with 5 more speed options above that. idk who wants the battles to just drag and drag.
Even the fast combat option feels more like the default battle speed, i played on fast all the game except when grinding, in which i changed to ultra fast
No its like Draconian mode of DQ11 ie enemies don't have higher levels just more HP/defense/gives out less exp/gold then normal use different skill/spells sets that they don't have on Easy mode and Draconian mode in this DQ3 remake is similar to DQ11's so the shops won't allow you to BUY anything including healing items so you'll likely need to STEAL it instead.
About that due to no shops working even at lv 99 IN DQ11 just the NON bosses would likely kill you in 1 hit and likely will still do that on this DQ3 remake so yes the only way to get weapons is on the hard mode option to steal them same with healing items.
Look into the history of the game development and landscape around the time. The devs wanted to capture the western fans and copied the party system of games like wizardry.
Dragon Warrior did not sell well in America. Hence Enix was stuck with a bunch of unsold copies. 1 Million iirc. They decided to partner with Nintendo Power to give the game away for a yearly subscription. That's how you and many other players were introduced to DQ. It was called Dragon Warrior in America since TSR had the rights to the name Dragon Quest. WOTC did not renew the license so Square Enix jumped on the opportunity to have DW called DQ in America too. Dragon Quest is my favorite series. I hope DQ III sells enough to have the first two come out too later in March 25. I see you are also a Lunar fan. Will ye buy the remakes too? I hope they are well done too. :)
Nothing warms my heart more than Dragon Quest 3's remake outselling FF7, the same way DQ7, one of the worst IMO, outsold FF7 Sad that 'the west' is still struggling to see past 'dragon quest is traditional, final fantasy changes' stuff, Final Fantasy is still chasing things DQ was doing in DQ1, Dq4, DQ5 and Dq9
i played through the game on medium difficulty, then the post game was total bullshit all my characters got resetted 3 times and were around LV 70 at the end, but the postgame dungeon requires specific builds which is really dumb imo
You don't die in Dragon quest, a guy takes half your money and carries your knocked out body to the church, and you get revived, that's why you lose half your money.
But in this case Easy mode makes it so that NOBODY can haver their HP EVER hit ZERO in the first place so on easy mode you can't actually EVER lose half of your gold at at all.
You asked for it.
Dragon Warrior sold so poorly in the US that Nintendo of America was stuck sitting on a mountain of unsold cartridges much like ET on the Atari but unlike ET Dragon Warrior was an actually good game and Nintendo was launching a new magazine Nintendo Power so they wound up giving away the unsold copies of Dragon Warrior to boost magazine subscriptions because while nobody was buying Dragon Warrior no kid is going to pass up a free game so this game nobody wanted became a really good marketing tool. The promotion was so unbelievably successful that it wound up turning Nintendo Power into the must have Magazine subscription and found a way to introduce America to the complex world of JRPGs with the simple entry level free game.
And that's how you wound up with Dragon Quest 1, a game that sold so poorly it was in danger of being dumped in another unmarked landfill in the New Mexico desert like a certain extra terrestrial that came before it.
All the other videos covering this game are super annoying. They lazily explain every detail of how the game goes. This is an NES game, most of us know how that goes. This is the only video in which the information is presented with respect to the audience. You actually ADD information instead of just saying what you see. Love your vids, man.
This comment sums it up.
Like from me
@@nobodynone0 I hear you on that. I am no fan of censorship or “woke” stuff, but the gripes people have here are so minor and inconsequential, that it shows me that there truly is an industry of complaining about everything.
I think it's because they were sponsered by Square enix and had a specific set of things that they needed to say/explain, being more like an ad readout of the story and world than an actual review.
Even digital foundry says in the video title that it was sponsored.
Yes, the first DQ (aka "Dragon Warrior") was given away free with the subscription to Nintendo Power when it first began publication. The good old days!
So amazing. Wish things like that still happened today.
He knows, lol. It was a comment bait. And it worked! And now I replied! He gets all the engagements
@@adrianvictorv I resent your assertion! (regardless of its obvious accuracy!)
I've gotta say, this guy looks much too young to have possibly remembered a promotion from 35 years ago. I expect to see some grey hairs on someone making this claim.
That’s how I got into Dragon Quest (Warrior) when I was 9. Nintendo Power was the absolute best back in the day.
I’m from Japan and my parents bought me original DQ3. So I had enough nostalgia to get this remake. After a few hours of playing, I echo your thoughts about enjoying this on an intimate, handheld device.
I heard that so many people skipped school and work on that day that the Japanese government had to declare they only release them on weekends lol.
Truth or fiction?
I’m glad you enjoy the game, but it bothers me that they’re charging $60 for this remake when it should be $20 or $30 at most. Too many companies taking advantage of their customers because they know they will pay it for the nostalgia
I really appreciate your honest review style. All of the other reviews all stick to the same few talking points. You actually notice the same kinds of things I do when I play games
I have been watching most jrpg youtubers review this game, and this is by far the most genuine review of the game. Can't wait to play it after i finish Brothership.
I appreciate that, thank you!
Facts I'm buying it today but i gotta finish mario and luigi brothership as well
I stopped brothership to play this lol. Almost done with brothership as well lol. But ill finish it eventually. Dragon Quest ALWAYS comes first.
Congrats on the 10k man! I love that it sounds as hard as what I remember, I need that. I will say these games have a special place as handhelds, its like... So much easier to be chilling on the go and turning off your handheld at any time and just picking up where you left off. Great stuff man! Glad you enjoyed it.
This game is so beautiful. The HD2D style is so amazing. It’s the perfect mix of old and new, and it needs to be done more often. Forget 4K, give me HD2D😍😊
It's interesting to hear you talk about how it feels nostalgic even though you never played the original. I know exactly what you mean. I've been playing through Final Fantasy for the first time. I never really played any RPG except Pokemon growing up. My brother begged me to try FF7 Remake a few years after it released and I gave it a shot ("Hey, it's that guy from Kingdom Hearts!") I pretty much loved it so I began the series from FFI, while I'm now in the middle of FFVI. I've been playing on emulated versions of NES and SNES with bug fix/minor translation patches when available and it's insane how hard it triggers nostalgia when I **wasn't even born yet** for the releases! I think it's something about the fact that they're from a bygone era. It just feels like they come from a more "innocent" era of gaming that we're sooooooooo far past at this point. Those end credit motivational text montages they put at the end of all these Final Fantasy games about hope or moving forward are so damn sappy but dammit if I don't still shed a tear lol.
All the feels, right?! Hehehe. I was born in 1975 and I've gamed since Pong. So I totally get what your feeling.
8:20 Actually, its said that Koichi Sugiyama managed to compose the score for DQ12 before passing away, its said it will be his last work of music
I agree. I got the game on the Nintendo switch and I’ve been enjoying it so much in hand held mode !!! So nostalgic feeling for me !!! I love it
Great review Branden, I'm keen to pick this one up tomorrow down here in Australia!
I agree with the diagonal direction sprites, one of the reason why I liked Eiyuden Chronicle. I'll probably pick this up on a sale later on.
Oh I didn't realize Eiyuden had diagnonal sprites! It's kinda weird how excited that makes me. 😅
@@JustTheGems Not weird at all! If someone is going diagonally then it should look so!
super well made video, subbed. thanks for perfect volume, pace. dang, if anything i wish you went into even MORE detail and super nitty gritty
Thank you!
0:08 You are correct about the Dragon Warrior promo in Nintendo Power magazine. The same thing happened to me as a kid. I cherish that magazine.
It's nice hearing a more honest review from someone who isn't a DQ fanatic
Exactly!
As someone who isn't in the Dragon Quest sphere, are mega fans looking forward to this or are they skeptical?
@@HeelBJC Depends on what kind of Dragon Quest fan you are, but the majority of us are esctatic. Like DQ3 is a top 3 game in the series, and this looks like everything we love about the game but with some quality of life improvements to make it a little less tedious.
@@HeelBJC I’m a huge fane of the classics and I have played this game on NES, the Japanese SNES remake, and mobile. I prefer the SNES version the best, as I love playing it on old school TVs.
That being said, I am very much looking forward to enjoying this incredible game again on a modern platform, but the SNES will always be my favorite.
I am 43, for reference.
Your review of DQ3 Remake is one of the most informative reviews of this game that I have found. I stumbled upon your channel through a collaboration you did with FemTrooper. Your channel has quickly become a fav! Keep em' coming!
Great video very informative! My introduction to JRPG was when Chrono Trigger/Trails of mana (not counting Pokémon blue/red) came out but never dabbed into DQ till VIII onwards - so keen to finally give this a shot! Loving the podcast too you are doing a great job!
I’m now subscribed! Enjoyed your commentary and charm. Look forward to more :)
Great video! I knew I wanted to get this game, but I've been going back and forth on whether I should get it for PC, Switch, or Xbox, but after your review I've definitely settled on Switch, thanks!
One of the most well-done reviews I’ve watched so far!
Great video, went and got the game on Steam Deck after watching, looking forward to giving it a try
Ha ha… as a 100% handheld gamer…. Yes, that is exactly why I like it so much. Happy to hear you feel the same way.
You got a review copy?! That rules, I'm very jealous
About right but if you're used to persona/Etrian odyssey this game is not at all grindy. If you're grinding it's because you skipped thf or mechant. always have one or the other to get gold to upgrade your stuff(or just auto steal stuff).Be sure to check our all the shiny overworld spots. Lastly, if you're good on monies and upgraded gear but still struggling somehow, Monster wrangler is really nice if you need an all around/strong party member really early.
The original NES "Dragon Warrior" was my first JRPG too, and the reason I bought a (used) NES as a teen with my first paycheck from my first job. I bought it just before DW3 came out, played through it ridiculously fast before DW3 came out. Strangely, I skipped DW2, only picking it up *years* later.
For a 60 dollar game, your review gave me the answer I needed in regards to whether or not I should buy this. I own both octopath traveler games (but have never finished them), just finished metaphor and am working my way through ys x. I was considering this remake since I have always wanted to get into dragon quest but just haven't really felt like there was a good option to use as a portal to this series. I know dq 11 is supposed to be good, but I got bored with it after a few hours. I play JRPGs for compelling narratives and solid gameplay. Some of my favorite games are the trails games because of their well thought out worlds and really rich characters/stories and so I just don't see myself really enjoying a game that doesn't really have a story or characters. I'll wait for this to go on a really deep sale before I buy it, I just can't justify throwing down 60 bucks for a game that is more or less just a cozy experience. If this game was going for 20 or 30 bucks then that would be a different story, I wouldn't feel so hesitant to throw down the money to try it. This past year, they released a new mana game, a saga remake and this game and with all of those games I am on the fence. I felt the same way about star ocean when it was released the last year, and I'm still waiting for a deep sale to get into that one.
Randomly passed by your channel and this review didn't dissapoint. New sub!
The coziest JRPG section really resonated with me. When I first played DQ3 HD2D, I started playing on my PC. It felt nice, especially since I had prior experience with Dragon Quest before with DQ11. However, I wasn't exactly hooked on it. Then, depending how you look at it, whether this be fortunate or unfortunate, my PC started overheating while playing a different game. So I haven't touched my PC for a while, just been either on my gaming laptop or Steam Deck. I didn't click with this game when playing it the first time on these devices, but eventually, somewhere along the line it clicked to be playing this on my Steam Deck. Whether I play it in bed in handheld mode or docked to my TV, I'm finding the game a lot more fun on my Deck than I did on my laptop or PC. It just really feels suited for it. It's kind of funny too because before this, my Steam Deck has been collecting dust for some months now, untouched, but this was the game to bring me back to playing it & also started playing other games on it as well with similar fun to be had on it. DQ3 HD2D definitely is a cozy game imo & well suited for handheld play.
Definitely agree with it being better on a handheld! Finding it so much fun on steam deck but still a good time on my PC on a big screen.
Dragon Quest is the epitome of comfort food. I can still pop in DQ 1 and just grind and grind and still have fun. It's like sitting that well worn couch that has your shape in it after years of use. DQ 3 though was the game the made me a Dragon Quest fan. It's why it sells so well in Japan and people clamor for it to not change. The there were talks of getting rid of the turn based in DQ 9 they let it be known. There's talks of 12 having a change in combat and people are worried. Rightfully so when the genre is taking towards more action or free style combat. It could explain Final Fantasy's recent sales lacking with the move away from a turn based command system.
Well, this video 100% convinced me to buy it, thanks! Just going to wait for the Steam autumn sales.
11, 8, 5, 3 are the classics right according to everyone; but man!! I’m amped for the remake of 2! It never got the love it should have.
Thought you analogy on playing this on the portal was very relateable. Played Final Fantasy 4 mostly on my Portal and it felt great compared to playing the first 3 on my normal setup.
Appreciate the review and i do plan on abusing the no death mode when i need to grind, lol.
I cant wait to play this tomorrow!
Hey Brenden, great review, I still remember when I brough Dragon Warrior 3 at the K-Mart! great memories! Yeah also, they given the first Dragon Warrior with a Nintendo Power subcription, because it was not selling and they had a ton of copies! RPG were not popular back then in America!
I started with Final Fantasy 1. I had a friend who had Dragon Warrior and I think I played it a little bit but not much. I also remember playing a bit of Dragon Warrior 2 (I remember the blue, green, and magenta characters). Then I didn't play another DQ game until I went to PAX West 2019 and my buddy and I went to the DQ panel. There were three of the main developers there, one young dude and two older guys who had been doing DQ forever. All 3 of them said that DQV was the best DQ game so I went out and picked it up on the DS (before prices skyrocketed). They also sang the praises of DQXI s and I got that for Christmas that year. Played DQ XI first, still need to play DQ V.
I own four Dragon Quest games for my DS/3DS and Dragon Quest 11. I am delighted this game was remade. I have to wait until after Christmas, I can't spend money on myself right now. I am old and I will like the old school play. I saw one person who found that you could speed up the battles a lot for grinding - I will do that!
About that once the 3DS Eshop shut down FOREVER so did the Tablet dungeons from its DQ7 remake the best way AROUND that isnt to HACK the dungeons back in but to hope for a PS4 PS5 Switch prot of the 3DS DQ7 game with OFFLINE versions of those Tablet dungeons gotten that way even if the PS4/PS5/Switch shut PSN/E shop forever the dungeons won't be lost if you could BUY them as Casino bought items in the DQ7 port of the 3DS one.
I only played Dragon Warrior 1 and 2 a few months ago in August for the first time to prepare for the HD-2D remakes and wow, it seems crazy how good 3 is in comparison to the previous two. I'm pretty excited to play DQ3 once it hits soon!
Oh yeah, this is where the series really hit its stride!
Yeah it's a big shift from the previous games
Kinda snobbish as the games are not in sequence order. Simular to star wars. Episode 4 was before 1 to 3.
Yes, Nintendo Power gave away free copies of Dragon Warrior to new subscribers around 1989. It was a promotion to get people to subscribe. DQ I had been very popular in Japan, but it was not selling well in the US. There were a lot of unsold copies of the game, and Nintendo of America decided to give them away for a promotion to encourage people to subscribe to the magazine.
NEED a good, cozy JRPG right now! My copy came yesterday, and I cannot wait to play it.
If I remember correctly, the late composer had mostly done his job for dqxii before passing, like toriyama with the character design.
I remember bouncing off the original Dragon Warrior so hard as a kid, then going back after Final Fantasy II clicked with me. Ended up loving the 4 NES games we got.
My first dragon quest game was DQ8 which got me into the series DQ11 S pulled and revamped my love for the series and really turned me into a dragon quest fan even more i ended up getting dq8 again for 3ds a year ago caught it in the wild but i will be most definitely getting this after i finish and beat mario and luigi brothership
Legend of Dragoon on the PS1 was the best JRPG I’ve ever played. No other game since has bothered to even try to recreate the “addition” combat battle system, which is really sad and depressing.
Your content is AMAZING!!
I wanted to play this but the main complaints, besides censorship, is too much grinding and not enough QOL improvements. Also the battle screen is lacking big time. I expect that from a mobile game, not a console release.
This review is insightful and genuine. I appreciate your take on the nostalgia effect. I'm going to pass on this game because there are too many better and cheaper JRPGs to play. But if I see it on a huge sale in the future, I'd be open to playing it now.
I remember going thru the Egyptian labyrinth and being trolled after grabbing the item in the basement.
I got into Pokémon cards the same way. One day there was just a pack of cards in my mail box.
without fail, people point out that dragon quest is best played handheld. I got the worst version (switch) specifically because I had the best experience with DQ11 on switch and I wanted to keep that going. These things rock for an hour before bed.
The damn bird is painfully slow...
I do definitely agree with that
This is the nicest 7/10 Review I've ever seen T.T Nice one, enjoyed it a lot
I plan on getting this trilogy on the switch. I’m also odd. I have zero mainline DQ experience. I’ve never played a DQ game outside the Heroes spin-off. Hopefully it’ll hook me in. I like the idea of the character resets.
Informative and interesting as always. Keep up the good work. 👍
Thanks man! Yeah, if you're either already into it or interested in experiencing the legacy of the series from scratch, I think this is a great starting point
Thank you for this one. I’ll hold off on picking it up until I’m ready.
Not a must play for me, but definitely a Steam Deck game down the road when it's on sale. Very good review!
This game is just so underrated. Truly a 💎
Getting it for the Steam Deck and you explaining how to enjoy it the coziest way made me double down on that decision.
So i bought a sunsoft game. Filled out the card that came with it and sent it back. Months later before it released i got a copy of Festers Quest in the mail. Like you never asked for it. Never knew of it. It just showed up. My best guess is that card i filled out. There was no instructions to send back a thoughts or review.
Now i have a conundrum: physical for switch or digital for steam deck 🤔
I may pass on this one. I rarely get used to random encounters, the only game i finished with that is Digimon Cyber sleuth/hacker's memory because there was a skill that reduced the encounters a lot. I'd have liked the encounters being managed like Star ocean 2 remake.
This game looks beautiful tough, but of the two remakes thya SE released I'll stay with Romancing saga 2. Yesterday i said to myself that I'll play just a little before bed at 9:00 pm, and then bam, it was midnight lol.
Damn I forgot I had the PlayStation handheld. lmao I'll try and use that to play the game. I definitely know what you mean playing jrpg on the big screen can sometimes lead to other distractions.
It made a big difference for me!
Hello, greetings from Brazil! Just discovered your channel and i like it. Subscribed!
About the game: I love old school JRPGs and i was hoping that the devs of DQ3 Remastered would mantain the difficulty and game design of the original, even if it was optional, and i am glad the they did. Can't hardly wait the last 7 hours until the game unlocks in my region! About what you said about handheld gaming, i was going to buy it on the Switch to play both on the tv and handheld mode, but it appears that version has some problems mantaining framerates and some longer load times. Then i chose the Xbox version, because i can play both on the tv and on my laptop on my bed, like i did with DQXI many times. Don't know if people know about this feature some Xbox games have, but since i don't own a PS Portal i really like it.
Can't wait to play this on my Steam Deck!
I've played and thoroughly completed dragon warrior monsters 1 and 2, dragon warrior 3 but didn't finish it, dragon quest 7 on ps1(later got the remake on 3ds), tried 9 but didn't quite like it, and 100% dragon quest 11 on pc.
I'd really love to give dragon quest 3 a second try, and this time it's gonna be the HD/2D remake.
Wow, I had no idea the first DQ was given away like that! 😮 I've still yet to play a game from the series
Yeah, it was a really magical moment for little me 😅
This unlocks for me in less than 3 hours. I hope the leveling progression feels more like the original NA version as opposed to the much grindier JPN one, but we'll see.
It's slow, but it didn't feel overly slow
Grinding is even LONGER now that the FINAL PHYSICAL skills need lv 45 to lv 46 party members and the FINAL spells are still at lv 37 White Magic lv 40 Black magic.
So Warrior/Martial Artists need to be at like lv 45 to lv 48 for their last moves Thief lv 33 Merchant lv 36 and the worthless AFTER lv 20 Gadabout/Jester needs to be at lv 45 in this version for its last skill.
I’ve never played the old game so I find it hilarious that when your party member dies you just drag their ass around in a coffin 😂
That aside I love your review style. Super insightful and informative.
The remake punishing? This version the balance is so broken in the players benefit I've never had this easy a time in a dq game. Haven't sold any equipment. Even normal difficulty is super easy baby mode.
lol go outside dude
thank goodness for dracky mode this game gets pretty crazy difficulty wise. id probably give this a 5/10 because of how cheap even random encounters are but 8/10 because it has the option to not make it hard as nails. with that said I do agree that it makes it too easy.
I am playing Xenogears on my ps3 right now. Wish I could play hand-held. Good this I am getting DQ3 on switch
I don't know, the older Shin Megami Tensei games and their versions of Wizardry were super brutal lol
Never played any Dragon Quest. But I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone to try with this game.
I thought it was just me but this game is sooooo incredibly hard. I felt like I was doing something wrong.
I think I received my copy as a promo for renewing my subscription to Nintendo Power. 🤔
So it’s best on switch 🤝🏾💯
"You might like slow battles IDK" Lmao
Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior here in the states) was the first JRPG I ever played and beat on my own. It made me fall in love with RPG's as a whole.
Then DQ2 kicked my butt, but I stuck with the series and DQ4 is still my favorite
I rage quit DQ11 halfway through because when I got to act 2 it felt like I had to redo the whole game all over again. I really want to try this but if it’s pretty much the same game I’ll pass on this one :/
they play completely diferent. and have vastly diferent sub systems as well.
Umm… you really should go back to DQ11…
@ I got spoiled on the ending, I know what it sets up
@@marcosdheleno so if you had to choose one which one would you prefer?
The original Dragon Quest (warrior in the west) is considered by many to be the "first" JRPG, depending on how you define it, and when it came out it sold extremely poorly because nobody knew anything about this essentially brand new genre of game which left Enix with a ton of copies, so they started giving them away to Nintendo Power subscribers as a means of offloading them as well as hoping for an increase in sales through word of mouth
I've played a number of shin megami tensei games so I think I got this under my belt lol
I’ll wait for a sale like at 19.99
I think most people who complain about easy mode, cant die... are forgetting. Moms have little kids they buy it for, playing in switch or tv. If the child died, they would give up, cry or bug mom. So it's to keep kids entertained.
Fair enough. I'm cool with that option existing, I just wish there was a middle ground as well.
Great review, honest truth.
is this game fully voiced
Should be 30 bucks I do wanna play
yeah i don't get why ultra fast wasn't the default battle speed, with 5 more speed options above that. idk who wants the battles to just drag and drag.
It's way too slow on default....... 😩 I don't even feel like the original was that slow.
Even the fast combat option feels more like the default battle speed, i played on fast all the game except when grinding, in which i changed to ultra fast
Cant raise all at once. They are priest, not necromancers, raising a cemetery.
wait, if the easy mode you cant die, whats the difference in the hard mode? does enemies have higher levels?
No its like Draconian mode of DQ11 ie enemies don't have higher levels just more HP/defense/gives out less exp/gold then normal use different skill/spells sets that they don't have on Easy mode and Draconian mode in this DQ3 remake is similar to DQ11's so the shops won't allow you to BUY anything including healing items so you'll likely need to STEAL it instead.
@@veghesther3204 Ahh I see. I dont like it. I see no reason to play this mode in dq11. I thought it would be something more enjoyable, idk.
About that due to no shops working even at lv 99 IN DQ11 just the NON bosses would likely kill you in 1 hit and likely will still do that on this DQ3 remake so yes the only way to get weapons is on the hard mode option to steal them same with healing items.
@@veghesther3204 I dont get that. Why would I play this mode then? I see 0 reasons man.
Idk DQ11 and DQ3 draconian modes sound like the only interesting way to play these games.
12:50 I just played on Portal too
Look into the history of the game development and landscape around the time. The devs wanted to capture the western fans and copied the party system of games like wizardry.
Just keep your party on fight wisely man 😂
Have you played dragon quest 5 it probably has the best story out of all the other dragon quest games
Love DQ5!
Dragon Warrior did not sell well in America. Hence Enix was stuck with a bunch of unsold copies. 1 Million iirc. They decided to partner with Nintendo Power to give the game away for a yearly subscription. That's how you and many other players were introduced to DQ. It was called Dragon Warrior in America since TSR had the rights to the name Dragon Quest. WOTC did not renew the license so Square Enix jumped on the opportunity to have DW called DQ in America too. Dragon Quest is my favorite series. I hope DQ III sells enough to have the first two come out too later in March 25. I see you are also a Lunar fan. Will ye buy the remakes too? I hope they are well done too. :)
Nothing warms my heart more than Dragon Quest 3's remake outselling FF7, the same way DQ7, one of the worst IMO, outsold FF7
Sad that 'the west' is still struggling to see past 'dragon quest is traditional, final fantasy changes' stuff, Final Fantasy is still chasing things DQ was doing in DQ1, Dq4, DQ5 and Dq9
Not really that hard, it's just desinged to add some grind.
i played through the game on medium difficulty, then the post game was total bullshit
all my characters got resetted 3 times and were around LV 70 at the end, but the postgame dungeon requires specific builds which is really dumb imo
Easy mode for the win!!! Yay no death!!!
You don't die in Dragon quest, a guy takes half your money and carries your knocked out body to the church, and you get revived, that's why you lose half your money.
@edwardjam9832 LOL!
But in this case Easy mode makes it so that NOBODY can haver their HP EVER hit ZERO in the first place so on easy mode you can't actually EVER lose half of your gold at at all.
Thanks for infos ! Man to many games to buy 😓
Think you better just move on up to working on the 11k subscriber video.
Ty 👍🏾