Squeenix, if you don’t want me to play your game, just say so.
Ah man, this isn’t how I wanted my relationship with Dragon Quest VII to end. I was having so much fun. Until I ran into a boss at the end of an annoying dungeon that wiped me out four times in a row. Damn you, Cumulus Vex. This is obviously a test to see if you have a Sage or a Paladin in your party so you can crank out the Multiheals. I probably need some Insulatle as well because it’s the boss’s magic attacks that are wiping me out. He does 100+ damage against a party that’s barely pushing 200 HP, it’s so unfair.
This is why I hate job systems in JRPGS. It’s not like the jobs are just there and you can take whichever ones you want. Nooo, they will always have some kind of job-check somewhere which lets you pass easily if you’re in the “right” professions but forces you to grind otherwise. I don’t have any Sage (or rather I did but she conveniently left right before this dungeon), I don’t have any Paladin, I don’t have any magic-reducing items, I don’t have nuthin’. What I do have is a character who could become a Sage given a bit of grinding. But I’m looking at a minimum of 100 battles to get Priest mastered before… wait… something just occurred to me. Maybe I can revert a certain character to an older class and get a certain skill back… Gimme a sec…
Nope, didn’t work. DQ7 confirmed as dropped. What I did was make the long trek back to Alltrades Abbey to switch Ruff back to Monster Masher so he has both Magic Barrier and Insulatle. Then I came allllll the way back through Aeolus Vale, through the cave, through the Sanctum to fight Cumulus Vex yet again just to confirm that both spells do absolutely nothing against his wind attacks. That’s only to be expected for Insulatle since the description says it only reduces fire-based and ice-based attacks. But et tu Magic Barrier? No reduction at all?
Based on all these painful experiences, it seems like I can beat the boss if I have all my troops in Tier 2 classes for the extra stats and I have at least one party member spamming Multiheal every turn. No way around it except to grind. Which is not going to happen. I already said it in the title, I’d rather drop a game than grind right now.
I don’t mind a little grinding when I’m in the right frame of mind, but I’ve already been in Aeolus Vale too long, fighting the same enemies too long. And when I think of the pain of fighting another 100 battles, marching back to the one spot on the map where I can change job classes, coming back and grinding till I learn Multiheal then making my way back to the boss… yeah, that’s not gonna happen. Never say never, but right now I have better things to do with my gaming time.
What better things? Mainly deciding whether to start Demon Gaze or continue Atelier Meruru Plus. Or to play something completely different. My heart feels like some synthesis, but these Atelier games have soooo much talking, especially in the beginning. And Demon Gaze is a dungeon crawler so grinding is guaranteed. I might take a third option and come back to both games later. We’ll see.
Yeah, that’s my problem with job systems too. I really appreciate games that let you struggle through even if you don’t have the optimal class for the situation, which is more fun and feels more genuine than just grinding up a mandatory class.
That’s my ideal situation. Maybe there’s a class or a skill that will make things easier but you can still muddle through if you try hard enough. The whole game had been like that to this point, I don’t know where this Cumulus Vex guy came from. He’s just here to spoil my party.
Yeah, that’s rough. I also don’t mind some grinding, but forcing me to grind up something in particular in an area I’ve been in awhile has me agreeing with your decision to take a break.
I haven’t played Demon Gaze yet, but Meruru is a good finish to the Arland trilogy. Though, you’ll have to be in the mood for an abundance of slice-of-life dialogue before it gets going and even when when it is in motion. Typical Atelier stuff, but I did really enjoy the banter more in the Arland games and Ayesha compared to the newer ones.
From the little I played, I can already tell Meruru will be a good finish and, more importantly, a really good game. My main problem is how similar it is to Totori in terms of feel, gameplay and even characters. I not-so-idly considered skipping to Ayesha and coming back later to Meruru. But I won’t because I’d like to wrap up Arland this year and start fresh with Dusk in 2019 (God willing).
That’s a good plan, good luck with it. Your problem with Meruru is one I shared as well after Totori and it caused me to drag my feet before I really got into the game.
Yah, I’ll be playing the Dusk and Mysterious series interchangeably to prevent that problem in future.
I feel you bro!
I’m having the same expierience actual. This game concept sucks so hard, and i’m totally done with it.
Once, i’ve completed the PSX original, and i thought this is a great remake with quality of life features. But the jobsystem ruins this game, if you’ve been on the wrong road…
I have a great Champion now, which does a lot damage, but i have not a single healer, because my healer was Maribel and she was perfect outmaximised. And then the game took her from my party, leaving a hole. I have tried this fucking boss so hard, but it’s useless. I must grind at least 10 hours or more, to just have Melvin and another guy with the group heal.
This is a completely unfair game design, because as you’ve said correct – this is lifetime! I am so done with Square Enix Jobsystems. I will never ever buy any of their games again, if there is a jobsystem included.
Ah, a fellow victim. I feel your pain. After I wrote that post, I did go back later and grind, grind, grind until I could beat Cumulus Vex (https://www.tehvidya.com/finally-grinded-enough-to-beat-cumulus-vex-dqvii/) but the process broke something in me and I dropped the game shortly afterwards (https://www.tehvidya.com/dropped-dragon-quest-vii-for-real-this-time-i-really-mean-it/). If the rest of the game had been stellar then maybe it would have been worth the trouble, but as it is, I haven’t missed it for a second. Drop it and don’t look back, trust me.