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Well, this is awkward... a Slime Time episode about Final Fantasy! About a month ago @YangustheLegendaryBanditand I got talking about... well, talking. Talking more! We knew there were a great deal of former and future guests that wanted to get together and talk about some topics other than DQ. Heck, look at the forums & threads that get the most love around here more than a year after any news about non-mobile DQ titles. We're all playing other things so we figured we'd take a Sidequest and discuss other things. Thanks to @Pendy @RyuKisargi and @Bururian for joining us on this first foray, our first Sidequest!

Got a big crew together for yet another Sidequest! Thanks to @AustNerevar, @Pendy, @YangustheLegendaryBandit, @Bururian, and @Brother Jaybird for talking about so many cool games last night!

^ I mean, the fact that it’s portable gives it an edge over the other console versions imo.

Here is the first of the interviews. Interview Riku Sanjo What was it like hearing that there was to be an anime adaption the first time? I was surprised. Kind of like, "What, you can make an anime of it?" This was because, at the time the popular works in Jump would normally get an anime adaption, but I thought that "Dai" could not be an anime since there was the original "Dragon Quest" productions that it was based on. Then, once it was decided, I was shocked at the unusual speed that everything progressed. But at the time besides writing the script for "Dai" I was also writing articles for Jump, and I was writing the articles about articles about other anime so my impression was just that "My work has kind of increased". I was spending the whole day at the Jump Editorial department so it did not feel that difficult. My entire workload was too much. I was young (laugh). How were the meetings between you and the anime staff for things like script writing and series composition? We often had meetings with me the producer, the director, and the script writer discussing the larger direction of the story. Particularly I would do things like offer suggestions for things like new characters for content that was not in the manga such animated movies. It is at this time that I met Nobutaka Nishizawa, who years later I would meet up with again when I did script writing work for Toei Animation. When I was young, the animated movie that I found the most provocative was "Mazinger Z tai Ankoku Daishōgun". So I was very excited to meet and talk with it's director. The contents of the movie "Shinsei Rokudai Shoguo" highly reflect those emotions. At the time that the anime was aired toys were also being sold, and things were exciting across various media. I liked character toys from the start so I was touched to see the characters for a series I was involved with lined up on store shelves. In discussions with the toy producers, Takara (Now known as Takara Tomy) I was asked, "Sanjo Sensei, is there any type of goods that you would like?" So I said I would like something like the Star Wars figure line that was sold overseas. Since Dai is a party battle manga I wanted to keep the taste that "everyone is the main character" and wanted a toy series that had a lot of side characters released. After hearing this they made the "Adventure Hero Selection" toy series, which is the one I am most fond of. It is the only one that has Hadler and his 6 Commanders in color. I excitedly explained to the person in charge "There is even a toy of Carbonite Frozen Han Solo" which I think even now was the hint to the Frozen Leona campaign (laugh). In the anime (Both TV series and Movies) please tell us an episode that you most closely empathized with. The memory that is most vivid is the first movie. Since we were attempting trial of "anime debut through a movie" I collaborated with the staff as we puzzled over everything starting from the plot creation. If we started from "Derupa! Iruiru!" like in the manga then we could not show Dai's heroics. If we did "Dai Explodes!!!" then the final boss was a bit weak. So to deal with these sorts of issues we had the evil idol if Hadlar as an original feature to the anime, mixing elements from the one shot stories and the serialization. With the addition of Toshiko Fujita's lively voice to the finished work, I remember feeling extremely touched watching Dai moving around. This is the only animated work of "Dai" that has not been released to any home video product before, so along with my personal emotions it makes me especially happy. Please give a message to the fans who have purchased the Blu-ray Box. Everyone, thank you for the purchase. I thank you from my heart for not forgetting Dai over all these years, and for taking this Blu-ray Box into your hands. It's been so many years since the original broadcast, and we jumped over a laser-disc and DVD release (laugh), to go straight to a Blu-ray release. It is kind of like "Dai" to do that, and I think it is thanks to all of your continual support. Please keep your emotions over from these 30 years running, and continue to support the developments of "Dai". I am counting on you.

Funnily enough, it was 3rd one I was looking at. It seems straightforward so far, it's just going to take a lot of time. I've not got that far into playing it myself but I'm sure I will in the next few months. I put out a patch for it in the next couple of days, just to see if I can get the main menu done as well as latin alphabet input 🤔 Definitely an incentive to work towards! I should have it done summer 2030 at the earliest if that's okay?

No set release date aside from August 2020, but we'll be getting a single player campaign complete with skill trees and other RPG mechanics. At the same time, the game will be retitled to Dragon Quest Rivals Ace, and add a bunch of new cards. More details coming August 6th, and I'll post them as soon as I have them.

My problem with it was where it was placed. They should have had those mini arcs being told by the respect characters either after they joined or right before they officially rejoined the party. I definitely prefer how the original opens with the hero alone in Act 2 in his situation and has to try and find the others again. Putting all four of the new mini stories at the start of Act 2 kind of ruins the vibe in my opinion. I preferred being left in the dark on what became of everyone, so when you did find them again it was a sigh of relief they survived. Having them recount their experiences on their own to the hero would have fit in better with the story telling IMO. In Erik’s case, have him recount his story after you’ve finished the Sniflheim events in Act 2. I didn’t think the new stories were bad (except for Jade’s which felt unnecessary), but the placement of them could have been handled a lot better.

We are still having a lot of problems with inappropriate behavior in team chat. I don't know if you guys have noticed, but a number of people have left the team over it. I don't want to start taking draconian action, but we as a team have got to start treating each other with respect. We are getting far too many people not showing respect to others in chat, or saying inappropriate or hurtful comments. I really have not wanted to take the step of setting up tools to monitor and log the chat, but I'm on the verge of having to take that step. Think about what you are saying in chat. It should be obvious already that we don't story spoilers in the chat. That said, occasionally a spoiler might slip through by accident. If someone is telling you that what you are saying is a spoiler, it's best to take that conversation to private pink chat. If you disagree that it's a spoiler, it's probably not a good idea to start a fight about it in team chat. Ask me if you are unsure. But really, the safest option is just to take your current conversation to private friend chat (the pink window) with the person involved and continue it there. If you feel someone is not being respectful or is showing disrespect, please notify me of it. I review things and will act on it if I feel action is needed. These issues in team chat are costing us members, and damaging our reputation within the community as well. We are no longer seen as the friendly welcoming and helpful community that we have been for the last 7 years or so. That is a really unfortunate situation for us to be in. We were always seen as the go-to DQX community and the best source for new players to go to. We've lost that reputation. We must get this situation under control immediately. It's been a source of frustration for many members of the team, both past and unfortunately now former members of the team that left over these issues.

I feel sorry for those who will have to buy this all over again but I can say this much: It's a must-buy for any fan of this game who missed out on the Switch version

I intended this as a sort of showcase on how to deal with Estark Extreme solo, but decided on making it more like a guide. My timings were a bit off in this fight, so this isn't my PB, but it's an okay showcase overall for how to deal with him. You can watch in 4K, and it runs at 60 FPS. Also read description regarding thumbnail and info about this fight.

Sure thing. It’d be nice to have this somewhere as an extra resource.

Terry was under Dhuran's influence for the entirety of Dragon Quest VI. That's why he didn't recognize Milly, and that's why he got so much weaker, and forgot all his magic in SNES & DS. There's nothing to prove that, but nothing to deny it, either.

Cran was able to cull the member number down a fair bit. I don't think you're in danger of being removed anytime soon. Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

I'll start by how/when I got the game, the story of which is longer than it is interesting, then go from there. I beat DQ11 on PS4 in January of this year. I had it since launch but I usually play big rpg's in chunks over a year or two. (I think it took me 2.5 years or so to beat DQ8.) So I wasn't in a hurry to get DQ11S until a price break. Come February, my fitbit's Best Buy Geek Sqaud protection was almost running out and the battery was crappy so I took it in. Now, I know I didn't pay more than 70 or 80 bucks for that fitbit but for some reason when they brought it up in their system it gave me $150 credit... Ok. I picked out the almost smart watch one as a replacement and then they gave me a $30 gift card for the difference. At the time DQ11S had it's first sale to $50 and I had Best Buy points to use. I walked out paying 16 smackers for DQ11S and a new watch! Now, since it had only been the month previous that I beat DQ11 on PS4 I wasn't too hyped to play through again so soon. I started the game and decided since I had already played through in 3D I'd only play 11S in 2D mode. It was cool seeing it on the big screen but by the time I got to Hotto I was kinda meh. Jumping ahead to May, with the quarantine going strong and my 4 boys and I trying to work out how to get them motivated to stay on task I promised Switch Lites to anyone that finished with a B average. (Yes it was going that poorly.) Welp, my youngest did good but his 2DS was trying to die and I had already cobbled it together out of hand-me-downs from the oldest two, so once I was able to get one he got a new 2DSXL. My third oldest squeaked by when we found out he hadn't turned anything in, stuff he had done just not submitted, for two weeks, two days before the end of school. That kid is smart and a total fact sponge but zero situational awareness. He got a yellow Switch Lite with a shiny Arbok sticker on the back. Now the oldest two... Such high hopes. They are both in HS and are best friends. They essentially failed 50% of their classes. They already struggle with school and the quarantine did not help. For not being blood related you can definitely tell they are brothers. I had a blue SL if one of them made it... So the blue SL had been sitting around for almost 3 months unopened and I decided it's mine. I can take it to work and leave the big Switch for them to play Smash and the family island (Xadia) on Animal Crossing during the Summer. Istarted playing DQ11S again and I gotta say that playing 2D in handheld mode on the smaller SL is making me love the game. Idk if it's the fact that I've played so many hours of DQ games on a handheld or what, it just seems to fit better. Playing during lunch and on breaks at work and sometimes turning it on over the weekends has got me to Gondolia and I'm going to keep going. I'm a big fan of the more traditional DQ turn-based gameplay in 2D vs the FF "wait" style of the 3D mode. I've never been one to cry about random encounters either, so that's been fine with me. Erdrea also feels bigger in 2D, playing through on the PS4 some times it seemed I was in a hallway. Having the orchestral soundtrack in 2D mode is funny to me, I guess my nostalgia expects more beeps and boops. The most bummer thing so far is the the fact that the horse race is still 3D only. If you've made it this far, thank you for reading my ramblings and I hope to update here with some of my thoughts as I play through.

Got my order from playasia today! This is the unboxing of Itadaki Street for the PSVita, and a Jibanyan case for my 6yo's 2DSXL. Can't wait to get into this later tonight! (Didn't realize my Vita battery was dead.)

I picked up Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town on the Switch. Really enjoying it. I actually prefer it over Stardew Valley. I don't feel as stressed when it comes to the game. No quests and such to relax more to. Probably going to be playing this for a couple weeks. Still playing Animal Crossing as well.

A friend recommend Yakuza a while back so I bought 0 pretty cheap for PS4 but didn't get past the first chapter. Getting to lockdown, I've not finished the main story and am going through the side missions, but I might jump into Kiwami before much longer. TBH I was reluctant to start it because my wife and I were due to be in Osaka/Tokyo over the summer but obviously "Plans change", I'm really glad I got back in to it. The main story is great, especially the evolution of Majima, but I loved the silly side-stories. I've just battered a yakuza captain but OF COURSE I don't mind pretending to be your boyfriend to trick your dad!

That's by design. Squeenix pays for them to do that. Saw so many complaints about this when DQB2 came out. Squeenix only promoted the Sony port. Nintendo only promoted the Switch one. It's by design, not Squeenix ignoring the Nintendo stuff. Oh, indeed. I can't recall a system I bought without being prompted by an upcoming DQ title.

I'm of two minds. I agree with you and don't want to reward milking the same game. However non Switch owners have been asking for this ever since XIS came out. It's inarguable a good thing that other platforms are getting this content. I haven't decided if I'm getting it day 1. At the very least, once the modding scene for it starts I will get it on PC. Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Sylvando or Jade can help you with that, darling.

Well, this happened: Used Lazarel with claws as a gladiator. No AI. Just solo on Estark Extreme. I CAN SUB THREE MINUTE THIS MAN. This is crazy. I believe I've found the most powerful DPS option in the game. Claws going in with uber white wolf claws, Divide and Conquer, then spam Blind Man's Biff. When you get tension, just spam it to kingdom come. Estark's health with just MELT. This is unbelievable. Claws alone are already one of the best move sets, but gladiator pulling this off? I don't see any reason to use other weapons for him. Claws have just about everything you're looking for minus a projectile. Even has a perfect block, that gains tension, and does damage no less. You can restore health, too.

This guide served me well during my playthrough: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/3ds/726426-dragon-quest-monsters-2-iru-to-ruka-no-fushigi-na-fushigi-na/faqs/71935 And I hope you'll have the same experience with it as I did. A few minor errors, such as the moosifer (anklehorn) being confused with the very similar-looking abullddon, but nothing that'll necessarily ruin the experience.

Made some Slime Smile masks available!! Direct Link

Hahahahaha. Okay, okay, I'll back off. The research just made me think of you

It's not just you--I feel the same way about 2D mode. Something about about playing Dragon Quest in handheld...it simply fits. This may be an unpopular opinion but I personally feel the 2D mode of DQ11 is the best of the two modes--and I've now beaten it on both. Plus, if you play Switch Versions of DQ I, II, III and 2D Mode of DQ11 then you're getting the entire Erdrick Saga in the same basic DQVI graphical style, allowing for the continuity to feel more cohesive. Dragon Quest is also one of the few mobile ports I actually enjoy playing on a phone. It just seems as if Dragon Quest was tailor-made for the small screen.

Where is @ignasia???? He loves (or at least frequently does) research and data dumps. I think he would have some valuable input on this.

I think I rolled into it within a month or two of finishing the PS4 version. Luckily, I kinda powered through the PS4 version (70 hours or so), so there was plenty left undone. I did a slow, fun, methodical playthrough of the Switch version and had an absolute blast.

Hey there, As of late, I’ve begun working on making a game heavily inspired by Dragon Quest Monsters, (specifically DWM2 (my favorite in the series, while also implementing some of the features and conveniences from the more modern titles). Overall, I’m hoping to get a bit of feedback in these early stages of development, while also potentially seeing if any individuals would be interested in helping out with the project. As far as mechanics go, I'm mostly going off of Joker 1-2, with monsters having to be scouted in battle, and each monster having different skill trees that can be bred to other monsters. With that said, I'm planning on adding a few new features too, one of which being a more prominent typing system ala Pokemon, and having held items have more of a role as opposed to just straight stat boosts. The gameplay will probably play out like in DWM2, where you have a cozy little hub world to explore, shop, breed, and prepare, with the main exploitable areas being accessed via warping there, with these areas having both a small self contained plotline, and mildly progressing the overarching plot. Graphics wise, I'm going for an old school GBC look. I'm definitely planning on keeping the breeding system pretty much as is, although having some form of evolution to allow low ranking monsters essentially promote into higher ranking monsters could make for an interesting mechanic, I'll have to think about it. What’s possibly my biggest peeve with most monster taming series is when more than half the roster can't really be viable due to their evolutions/higher ranked forms outclassing them in every way. One thing that I’m hoping to accomplish is having pretty much every monster being viable as a long-term team member. I don't think I'll handle it quite like Joker3, mostly due to the fact that it runs the risk of causing my other biggest peeve in monsters taming games, which is when everything feels too similar to each other, without much reason to use one thing over the other. Still, this is definitely one of my biggest focuses with the project. I’m currently planning on a PC and Android release, with the possibility of an IOS release if there’s enough interest. This probably sounds like a lot (and it is), but I'm not starting completely from scratch. In fact, I have the majority of the monsters already made, from another project I've been working on for a few years. If anyone is interested in helping out with the project, definitely reach out to me, as I’d appreciate any amount of help I can get. Be it as a Pixel Artist, Composer, Skill and Stat Designer, Writer, eventual Beta Tester, or even just as someone who would like to pitch occasional ideas and feedback to the group, all aid is appreciated. Perhaps if there is enough interest, I’ll even set up a discord for the project. Although, even to those who aren’t interested in joining the project, I’m curious what sort of features/mechanics would you be personally interested in seeing in a project heavily inspired by DQM? If anyone seeing this is curious about the project, feel free to send me a message. I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have.

SLIME STACKS! GET YOUR SLIME STACKS!!

Well I for one am glad I'll be able to play the Switch port on PS4, given I've neither played the original PS4 version, nore the Switch version. 😁 This way I won't be needing to buy a Switch to play.

OOOH, LOL. I guess someone got wise, or made a correction realizing that would cause a stir/confusion. Cool beans. Though I have noticed there are now new wiki's for DQ, which is good, but it also means Flying Ragnar's, the best wiki, is buried more often than not, or just inaccessible, as the other three are just meh. At least the fandom wiki is dying, as that group is horrible in its presentation and while I've never written a page on it, I can't imagine it's as easy to use as others given how sparse most fangroup pages are, and how few use special functions, even in larger community pages (like FF).

@Brother Jaybird Hey, I took a look at your comments about Estark Extreme, and your fight with him. The goal to dodge his variations of Kasizzle, for pretty much the entire cast, is to delay it for a moment. Basically dodge just before the flames appear. However, if someone has a dodge ability of something awful like +5, like Bianca or priest for instance, just stand in one of the open spots for the Kasizzle where he clangs his swords. Kafrizzle is dodged by jumping his attack. To counter his C-c-cold Breath, you can dodge through it, even at a +5 dodge, or just take cover behind him. When he uses Multislash, dodge between his legs if you’re a melee user, and then attack him while he’s stuck using Multislash. His fire slash projectiles (not sure which version these are tbqh) can be dodged through at +5 dodge, or blocked, or perfect parried with Rebuttal. His spin attack should be dodged just before he actually spins. Gigagash is dodged through as soon as he leaps forward. The sleep explosion he does can be perfect blocked like in the video. The visual cue I use for timing is just as he lifts up a little, then slouches again. Otherwise characters can only block this. You cannot dodge it period. I tested this attack a lot, and it covers the entire stage, and the hitbox lingers for a long time. Just swap over to your healer in between explosions to keep the group healthy. Or if you wanna solo priest it like I did, lay down a Remoreheal before the first explosion, and hold block so you buffer a block at the earliest possible time so you won’t eat 300+ damage. This is also a physical attack, so Kabuff reduces damage by like 40 damage on average for your priest when blocked. To counter his tension, you’re going to have to use his own Snooze spell against him a lot because he tends to use a LOT of it to get to +50. Bianca, Lazarel or Teresa as sage with a bow, or even Torneko can put him to sleep with Snooze/Dream Dagger. So you’re going to basically have to force yourself to get used to the sleep explosions sadly. There is good news. Estark Extreme is extremely predictable with his Snooze. Get up close to him with Snooze while it’s still priming, and he’ll use his sword clang Kasizzle variant, or the one where he pokes his sword into the ground, 99% of the time. When you know how to deal with these two moves, it’s extremely easy to remove tension from him. That’s really about it my dude. Hope this helps you out against him in the future if you decide to fight him again.

I have the YouTube version up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mWzt0E2OcI FYI, I probably I won't go thru and put specific images in throughout these.

Here we explore the Fungeon! But, before we do, be warned; My Mini Medal count has been off since Part 21. You get a medal from the Gallows Giant and Belleau & Cabot fights, and I forgot to include them. They're not found like every other Mini Medal; instead, you get them automatically by beating their respective mini-bosses. The lists for all videos have been corrected! We've gotten all 106 Mini Medals! Nokturnus is all that's left!

So I started looking into the characters who use the sword/shield move set, and I firmly believe Luceus and Aurora have a more fundamentally solid set of options compared to Lazarel and Teresa. Compared to Terry? Hard to say. So looking at their combo attacks, attack string, and aerials, there’s practically next to no difference between the four main protagonists. C1 is a charging slash that allows you to keep pressure up. I’ve found their basic combo pressure, without specials, is pretty straightforward. C3/C4 -> C1 -> repeat. However, I think Lazarel and Teresa’s charging slash has a bit more noticeable start up compared to Luceus and Aurora. C2 is practically unchanged between the four. C3 is a major difference. Luceus and Aurora undoubtedly have the better C3 with Power Cut. Power Cut does comparable damage to Lazarel and Teresa’s thrust, but it has the bonus of stunning larger enemies. Power Cut is available as an ability in the warrior vocation, but costs a staggering 14 MP for what Luceus and Aurora do for free. Lazarel and Teresa just protect themselves during the start up of C3, which isn’t as useful as stunning larger enemies for more DPS, or interrupting an attack of their’s. C4’s only real difference is Aurora uses Blizzard Slash instead of Searing Slash. Also this might be placebo talking, but I feel like Luceus and Aurora’s C4 overall is faster. It could just be because I’m more comfortable with their move sets. For Terry it’s noticeably slower to charge, and even execute an uncharged version. The only difference for the aerials is that there’s a ground cracking animation at the end of Lazarel and Teresa’s strong aerial (flipsaw). Any option you do out of strong aerial is the exact same for all four of them. However, Terry can execute his Flip Chop if you hold down the strong aerial button at the end of it, but Flip Chop is so lol bad, that I don’t believe it’s anything noteworthy. Lazarel and Teresa have access to everything else Luceus and Aurora do that’s tied to the sword and shield move set. Inferno Slash, Zap spell line, and Flame Slash. The only difference for Aurora is she uses the ice variations, but the only minor difference is these abilities have a chance to freeze targets for a very short time, so nothing to write home about. However, depending on vocation, Lazarel and Teresa have access to unique abilities that can make a large difference. The same goes for Luceus and Aurora who both have a unique skill not available to Lazarel or Teresa. The warrior vocation doesn’t really offer anything except far more balanced stats when compared to Luceus and Aurora. Gladiator is much more skewed to its enhanced dodge at +20, and high deftness and strength. Gladiator noticeably has very low HP compared to Luceus and Aurora, and lower bulk, and noticeably lower MP (probably being the worst MP in the game). Gladiator also has some of the most terrible magical might, if not the outright worst, meaning it recharges MP more slowly than Luceus and Aurora, nor can it use the Zap spell line as effectively. And since sword/shield DPS is pretty mediocre overall, that extra attack doesn’t amount to much outside of something potentially like Flame Slash. Luceus and Aurora also have inherently higher block power unless the Metal King Shield is being used, and the shields offered to Lazarel and Teresa can help reduce magical damage/breath damage by 10% even if they don’t block the attack. So something pretty minor overall. Now getting into spells and abilities, warrior nor gladiator can use Zap as well as Luceus or Aurora due to lower magical might. And warrior offers...nothing over Luceus or Aurora except Morale Masher, but again, that’s a more expensive Disruptive Wave. Everything else, aside from Spinferno, is something Luceus or Aurora have but better. And then Flame Slash can cumulatively do more damage than Spinferno. Gladiator on the other hand offers Blind Man’s Biff, Whirlwind Reaper, and Hurt Convertor despite the overall lack of stats compared to Luceus and Aurora. Whirlwind Reaper is an extremely strong projectile, and Blind Man’s Biff, while very slow and could possibly be avoided, is one of the single strongest abilities in the game. And Hurt Convertor is a slightly less expensive skill, while being faster for all animations, compared to Terry’s Miracle Slash. 14 MP vs 16 MP. So gladiator has more powerful abilities and the ability to restore its health unlike Luceus or Aurora. But not to count Luceus and Aurora out, Luceus is the only character who can counter physical attacks, abilities, and spells because of Rebuttal (basically perfect parry) and Bounce. Which is a powerful and useful niche to have since spells and abilities tend to make things frequently chaotic. Aurora also packs Helm Splitter, at a reasonable 8 MP, too. So she can debuff an enemy for the whole crew to do extra damage...which neither gladiator nor warrior can do. So given the overall ability comparisons, and standard kit, I’d give Luceus and Aurora a much better rating in terms of viability than Lazarel or Teresa using the same move set. Especially as a warrior. Gladiator can carve itself a niche with healing and more powerful abilities, but it cannot use its other abilities as well as Luceus or Aurora, and its overall support compared to both characters tanks. Also gladiator on average has much worse bulk in defense and HP, plus a much worse magical might, meaning this vocation doesn’t restore MP as quickly to spam those abilities unless you’re pretty conservative with them. And then compared to Luceus, its max MP is 13 worse, and 8 when compared to Aurora.

DQVI brought a lot to the series that wasn't there before, was influential on the class system, and had some interesting mechanics to it (SFC version, specifically) but many players get lost on the non-linear aspects of it and end up disliking it. The music composition and character designs are top notch, too, just below IV for both. We're eventually planning a podcast about it sometime in the future. (Unlike the very vocal Platty) I'm of the opinion that this is an underrated DQ game. It'll be interesting record of me trying to point out the positive aspects of it, and Platty ripping on it through the whole episode. Haha.

Cool. Now more people can enjoy Dragon Quest XI S.

This is good for the series. It did well enough here to justify being released three different times, twice on two of the same systems. GamePass is also great because it’ll expose even more people to Dragon Quest who either didn’t want to buy it but were still interested or are chomping at the bit for an RPG on Xbox.

I concur with this.

While my video of Psaro vs Estark Extreme uploads, I figure I'll cover my main. -Psaro was immensely buffed in DQ Heroes 2, to the point he may be the best character in the game. His C3 (Bullet Boot) can now be dodge canceled. C4 (Gravedigger) ignores blocking in both games, but in Heroes 2, you can press Y again (Xbox One controller for reference) to follow up with two sword beams that guarantee stun on larger targets. This of course excludes wanted creatures, superbosses like Estark, and dungeon masters (except Robbin' Hood and the ones he summons). -Liberation can now be dodge canceled for safety, and you can attack out of it faster compared to Heroes 1. It saps 1 MP continuously while in use, and costs three to activate. He now fires off sword beams for his attack string, and his spin attack now twirls three time versus one. Masterstroke (leaping overhead slam) stuns larger monsters in both games. Liberation in both Heroes games will buff his other skills: A Cut Above and the Zam line of spells. In Heroes 1, Liberation costs 38 MP, and runs off a timer with much less safety and reach. You cannot dodge cancel his spin attack like in Heroes 2. Also you cannot use Masterstroke at the end of his attack string. His combo tree follows a set path. Also his aerials change. One is a large reaching sword slash, and his strong aerial becomes a dive forward similar to twin swords. -A Cut Above in Heroes 1 has more start up, and doesn't stun larger monsters with the last two slashes like in Heroes 2. However, in both games, Liberation combined with A Cut Above will have all sword swings stun larger monsters. It also costs more in Heroes 2 at 50% more MP (18 vs 12 in Heroes 1). The slash damage is increased with Liberation active in both games. -The Zam line of spells only increase in damage in Heroes 1 with Liberation activated. They also do not auto track like in Heroes 2. In Heroes 2, Psaro with Liberation activated will change how his spells function. Zam will fire 10 balls instead of five, Kazam fires two projectiles that gather targets and hits each target twice, and lastly Kazammle uses a different graphical effect for the explosion (it looks like a boss Kazammle), and does 1,000 more damage. The Zam line of spells are also noticeably more expensive to cast in Heroes 2. These traits for Zam spells are completely unique to Psaro. -His Disruptive Wave means he is only one of three characters in Heroes 2 to wipe away buffs on monsters. Lazarel and Teresa can with Morale Masher as warriors, but costs 50% more MP (12 MP), and just aren't as useful in general. He is the only character in Heroes 1 to wipe away monster buffs. -His DPS is unrivaled by anyone except Carver in Heroes 2 from my testing. -His C1, Hand of Doom, is one of the few moves in DQ Heroes 1 capable of interrupting larger enemies and stunning them. In DQ Heroes 2, this was changed to absorb MP, and you can now charge it. Uncharged absorbs 2 MP, and occurs much more quickly, allowing it to act as a filler move in between combos like Charging Slash in the sword/shield move set. Fully charged does a little more damage, but absorbs 5 MP. It no longer interrupts larger enemies.

Notes about some abilities and spells: Lots of spells and abilities that rely on multiple hits, such as Rain of Pain, will only hit a target once. So if you try to use Rain of Pain on Estark, only one hitbox will connect. Two abilities are an inverse form of this: Sword Dance that is exclusive to Maya, and the Shining Shot ability with bows. Both deal a single hit of damage to any target, but there are multiple hitboxes that can connect. The more hitboxes connect, the more powerful the actual damage of the damaging hit will do. Maya's Sword Dance locks her in place unable to dodge cancel, like a lot of her abilities or combo attacks, so it's pretty risky to do. Shining Shot might seem like a good option to use against more powerful enemies, but multiple hits tend to miss, making it much more inferior overall. And compared to Rain of Pain, it lacks the coverage and targeting ability, making it worse overall. Hyper Sniper is better for single targets, and Rain of Pain is better for mobs.

Whack-based: Whack: Exclusive to Kiryl. Fires off one dark orb capable of ending an enemy's life, but has a high rate of failure. Thwack: Exclusive to Kiryl as well. Compared to DQ Heroes 1, this fires off many more orbs for a total of nine. Note: Thwack cannot hit a target more than once. Sizz-based: Sizz; Fires forth a straight line of flame. Sizzle: Fires a single line of flame that angles a few times. Kasizz: Fires forth two Sizzles that form a more angular infinity symbol. Bang-based: Bang: Fires off a small explosion. Boom: Fires off a bigger, more powerful explosion. Kaboom: Fires off the biggest explosion overall dealing around 1100 damage. Note: Can only hit a target once for each spell tier. Rubblerouser-based: Rubblerouser: Places a small spell that triggers a pillar of earth to erupt and impale an opponent. Boulderbringer: Similar to Rubblerouser, but bigger. Mountainmover: One of the most powerful offensive spells, it triggers a large sigil on the ground, and causes a massive eruption of earth to appear to damage foes. Frequently does over 1,500 damage. Note: Only hits a target once for each spell tier.

I did this a few weeks ago. I got some of my Teenage Gootant Ninja Slurples stickers and put them on some stainless steel cups for my sons.

Sorry for reviving an old and very dead topic but for those who are interested, art of Mordragon and his tail now exists but it's not like regular monster art. It's the art from Dragon Quest of the Stars. It's something though I guess. I still don't understand why the usual Toriyama art of these guys isn't anywhere to be seen.

Your wish, my edit.

Yeah well, that's cause it's an Asian release [emoji14]

Oh man, I loved loved loved that game. I so wanted it to be Dark Cloud 3. It wasn't. But I loved it No, unfortunately it wasn't. But yeah, I have it on a shelf upstairs and I walk by it every day when I do my son's bedtime routine. It's calling to me. I feel ya. Oh boy do I feel ya. One of these years I'm going to take a two week vacation and dedicate it completely to gaming.

I ended up deciding to do 1 disc worth of episodes per week. Disc 1 is done, however I'm making some changes to Disc 2. I decided to downsize the Blu-ray encodes for Disc 2. 1920x1080 (4:3 extra black bars) > 1440x1080 (4:3 no black bars) plus FLAC audio. https://nyaa.si/view/1260840 (Disc 1 Episodes 1-9)

Some of these would be great for a redbubble store or something!

My goodness. Those sales are pretty much all crappy. I mean I know DQ isn't a sales powerhouse, but with numbers like that I'm surprised they still release here at all.