I didn’t mean to do a “No Game November” but it kind of ended up that way. Apart from my usual casual games and a ton of Mega Picross, I didn’t touch any games for the whole month. Since it wasn’t a deliberate abstinence, I did zero thinking or self-reflection about gaming, unlike last time. I didn’t even realize I hadn’t touched any ‘real’ games until December hit.
Then I realized, I’ve barely played anything all year. It’s time to clear out the old junk and start 2020 with a fresh plate. First thing I pulled out was Dragon Quest VII, a game I’ve been having an on-off relationship with since October 2018, though I first planned to play it way back in 2013. It’s time to finally put up or shut up with this game, and I decided to shut up once and for all, so this is my last post on DQ7.
What I liked
🟢Fixing the problems of the past to get a prosperous future. Very interesting idea, and more complicated and involving than Radiant Historia, Infinite Loop and other games of the kind that I’ve played.
🟢Going to the islands in the present to see how the changes I’d made had affected people was pretty satisfying. It would have been even better with a Before and After though.
🟢The music was nice. Dragon Quest always has good music IMO.
🟢Bright happy colors!
🟢Simple, familiar gameplay that’s easy to get the hang of.
Why I dropped it
🔻It was too long. 53 hours and it seemed I still had about 20 hours more to go. I was just tired.
🔻Too much walking back and forth, especially in the past where you can’t warp around.
🔻Jobs took forever to level up and you had to make your way to the Abbey every time to change them. I already hate job systems in RPGs, and this didn’t help one bit.
🔻Maps were useless or non-existent. Whenever I used Quick Save in a dungeon and returned after a while, I found myself heading the wrong way because there was nothing to mark the right way.
🔻The encounter rate was too high. There are few things worse than constantly getting lost in a dungeon where enemies won’t stop attacking you. Except maybe having a super-tough boss at the end of that dungeon, and you can’t save, so you keep getting wiped out and having to do the same dungeon all over again…
🔻The stories were often depressing even after you ‘fixed’ things. I liked that at first, by way of variety, but when every single story is either bittersweet or outright tragic, it takes a toll on the player. If the game had been shorter, I might have seen it through to the end, but it was just too much dying all the time.
Ultimately that was the biggest problem – DQVII was too much of a good thing. They did some nice things with the time travel and future-changing gimmicks while keeping the core gameplay of the system intact. If they had rounded it up in 40-50 hours, it would have been great. As it is, I’ve seen enough of what the game has to offer. I’m not even interested in how the game ends, I’m just done.
What’s next
I really don’t know. I started Etrian Odyssey again, but nothing has changed for me since the last time I tried it, so I don’t think it’s going to work out. If anything it’s even more annoying because now it’s old-hat AND annoying. In the spirit of clearing up loose ends, I think I’ll give Tokyo Xanadu eX+ a final chance, and either finish it or write a closure post like I just did with Dragon Quest VII. See you then!
I’m sorry to hear that DQVII wasn’t your cup of tea. I’ve recently started playing it myself (I just reached Emberdale), and am still getting a feel for the game. I knew very little about it, so I didn’t realize that this installment had a job system until you mentioned it. That’s a big plus for me, because I love job systems in JRPGs. I can understand why they’re frustrating to some people, though.
I hope that either Etrian Odyssey or Tokyo Xanadu are more enjoyable for you!
I played 53 hours and enjoyed the first 40 at least, so it’s less that it “wasn’t my cup of tea” and more like “I’d had enough tea.” It’s very good early on, and if you can blitz through without taking too many breaks, you might be able to finish it. It’s long, though, and gets repetitive after a while.
Etrian Odyssey isn’t working out. Tokyo Xanadu has its enjoyable parts, but it’s similar to DQVII in that it drags on too long and you get sick of it. I’m still trying to get back in the groove, will post how things turn out whether I drop it for good or finish it.
one way I relieve stress from longer rpg’s is by playing kemco games. that always helps me get in the mood.
I’ve seen Kemco games around, but the quality always looks kind of meh. I like fancy sparkling RPGs with high production values.
if it’s about production value, then how about a game from their hit-point team? those games always had high quality looking sprites. kemco also got the team who did adventure bar story to do a game in a similar fashion.
Interesting. I looked up screenshots of some of Hit-Point’s titles, and they’re pretty slick. I’ll keep them in mind.