Board 8 > Now that I've completed Dragon Quest XI I can now say this for sure (no spoiler)

(+) Yeah! (+)

This game has dethroned Final Fantasy VI from the top spot of my favorite RPGs which has been sitting there for 24 years

This is truly the pinnacle of Dragon Quest and I implore everyone to play it. The first half of the game is like DQ8 on steroids, but then the 2nd half of this game happens and it is truly remarkable.
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(also Platinum #169 GET)
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I am excited to start this game once my migraines cease. As you know My Dragon Quest fanboyism is MAX with 2 of the games in my top 10 so my body is ready.
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Yessss please do

New top five for those interested

1. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
2. Final Fantasy VI
3. Xenoblade Chronicles
4. Mother 3
5. Chrono Trigger
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Ok, without story spoilers, can you tell us generally what this did differently from previous DQ's?
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I bought it recently but haven't started yet, starting next week I'll have an 11 day stretch where I'm only at home for a few hours every day or two and I don't want to take a week and a half break in the middle of a playthrough. I'll get started on it right away once I have time again though, hope it lives up to all the hype I've seen for it
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good job SHINE

I will definitely get to this soon, hard to think it can top DQV though
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well this is wonderful news
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that's quite an endorsement. I'm 10 hours in and I'm truly enjoying, not sure if I am at that point yet though
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redrocket posted...

Ok, without story spoilers, can you tell us generally what this did differently from previous DQ's?

Trophies
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Im in
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DoomTheGyarados posted...

I am excited to start this game once my migraines cease. As you know My Dragon Quest fanboyism is MAX with 2 of the games in my top 10 so my body is ready.

I don't want to derail the topic but did they ever diagnosed you with anything? @DoomTheGyarados
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Is there one I should play first or would this be an okay point of entry? (I've dabbled in V and the cursed king one, and played quite a lot of Monsters)
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XI is a great place to start. No prior knowledge of the series is required.
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you can absolutely start at XI

but I'd also recommend playing III, V and VIII also
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Heroic Bigpun posted...

DoomTheGyarados posted...

I am excited to start this game once my migraines cease. As you know My Dragon Quest fanboyism is MAX with 2 of the games in my top 10 so my body is ready.

I don't want to derail the topic but did they ever diagnosed you with anything? @DoomTheGyarados

@Heroic_Bigpun

Chronic Migraines seems the best answer right now. Scans of my head and blood work came back clean. I am changing my diet up as upon looking at the list of foods that can contribute to them I did eat a decent amount of stuff like aged cheese (swiss is my favorite) and lunch meat so I am eliminating that. It may just be a situation where I need to manage the pain for a bit while my body adjusts to my new diet. Got a follow up appointment tomorrow but that's the best they have come up with so far.
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Like Chris I'm coming at this as a long time DQ fan going back to Dragon Warrior 1 on NES and I think for people like us there's enough extra tidbits, especially near the end, to make this game truly special for us

For people brand new to the series I think they're still going to get a ton of enjoyment out of it. In the playthrough topic I made at launch LtM has been playing it too and its his first proper DQ and while he did have minor complaints here and there he seemed overall to really love it too.
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since I also have the 3DS version I can probably more confidently play through that now. I was doing okay before, but I wasn't 100% sure on what everything in the menu was.
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oh right I forgot to mention my final time since I assume people want to know how long of a time they're in for

My platinum time was around 135 hours played and I had maxed out all my characters to level 99. If you're not interested in doing all the side content I'm betting you can still finish it in the 80-100 range
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I mean, what I've read about it so far makes sound like a good, solid entry with some incremental improvements to the old formula like the series is known for.

But three time GOTY Xenoblade wasn't even able to topple the legend that is FF VI. For this to do so it must be something really special. What is that?
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Where does it land against the open world adventure games
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Do you regret finishing it so quickly?
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It really comes down to the characters and story in this game. I feel the first time that this is the strongest aspect of a Dragon Quest game. Like I cannot imagine this game having no voice acting like the Japanese version all the cutscenes were tailor-made for full Voice work and it shows. I really felt the connection with all these characters and was getting me interested to see what would happen to them next.

I'll put spoiler markers over it to be as vague as possible but it goes from a string of Dragon Quest tropes to throwing them all out the window and becoming a greatest hits of famous story beats from all the most popular jrpgs out there while still making them all its own. It's just a collection of plots twist after plot twist and the story going in directions I never would have imagined before bringing it all home at the very end
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pjbasis posted...

Where does it land against the open world adventure games

I don't know if I would classify this as an open world game it's a lot like Dragon Quest 8 where it's a very linear but just large areas to explore along the way. It's not like something like breath of the wild where you can go anywhere that you see
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Obellisk posted...

Do you regret finishing it so quickly?

Not really it's in my nature to play games 10 to 12 hours a day if I'm super into them. That's how I played Xenoblade 2 last year and Metal Gear Solid V a few years before that
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I'll probably make a proper Platinum GET topic with full spoilers in them later tonight when I get home
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxX9sGhsbks" data-time="

I was directed to watch this video and how it relates to dq11 and it's true

DQ11 remembers all the small tricks that old rpgs used to make the world feel vast and populated. The npc dialogue, the strong sense of time passing as your quest advances, the distinct cultures of each city beyond aesthetics.

In a way this game is written like a book instead of like a movie script like most modern games. It is incredibly refreshing.
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How does it compare to 8?

I had some complaints early on and now I can't even remember what they were.

Only real issue ow is that the last act is very unstructured, which is a big nono for me. I like a meaty critical path.
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Yeah my only advice for that is to either pull up a list of postgame story events in each City or just visit each City and go straight to the person with the pink indicator and they will usually tell you what's up
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One thing that DQ has done in the more recent entries (which I really love) is that NPC dialogue is constantly updated as you advance through a regions plot. Many of the NPCs end up having their own little stories, which does a ton to enrich the world.

(Its time consuming as fuck to read all of the dialogue though, so its not necessarily a thing Id recommend everybody keep up with).
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I love just about everything about this game but one of my favorite things is how the game feels deliberately designed so that you never feel the need to look anything up online. We're in an age where just about every RPG or even remotely complex game gets a full blown spreadsheet made up by data miners and completionists, and depending on the game you might feel like you're gimping yourself by not looking up some kind of info.

But in DQXI they seem aware of the age we're in, and put 99.99% of anything you'd possibly want to know in the menus. Every item shows you where it drops, if you can get a quest but haven't found it yet the game will tell you where it is, all sparkly spots are marked with their exact drops on the map, you can check how much each upgrade for your equipment is worth - even the hidden skills on the character builder can be checked in a separate menu!

Basically the only piece of information the game doesn't give you that you might want is whether shop equipment can be crafted instead, but the joy of discovering recipes kind of hinges on that and this game throws tons of money at you, so I'm more than okay with that.
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I'd have to compare lists but I'm pretty sure the answer to that is everything can be crafted especially since there's the Draconian Quest requirement to never buy anything in shops
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watched the ending a 2nd time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEhoSQKrw_A" data-time="
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I'm only 7 hours (in the Hot Springs Town) in but so far this is basically DQ8 2.0. I expect it to pick up though.

ninkendo posted...

you can absolutely start at XI

but I'd also recommend playing III, V and VIII also

Oh hey. Those are my favorite DQ games as well.

For me the series goes

VIII > V > III > VII > VI > IV > I > IX > II

VIII is a Top 100 game for me, V and III are games I enjoyed a lot. The rest range from above average to merely good with DQII being the only truly bad game. IX was also disappointing on so many levels after coming fresh off the heels of DQVIII, the pinnacle of the series.

I don't have strong opinions about XI yet but it is definitely not any lesser than VIII so far but nor is it better yet.