Sykonee

Wow, y'all make me feel so old here. I knew of the Den way back in its earliest days, but as 'Dustin's Shrine' was the main hub of activity at the time (such as it was), I didn't wander over here much. For some reason, all I remember knowing the Den for was MIDI files, which doesn't make sense since I'm pretty sure Darkni (remember him!?) was the source for those. It says I joined here in 2002, which I believe was around the time the Shrine's forums had pretty much gone kaput, and these forums were about the most active around (around a dozen new posts per day!).

For a guy who generally listens to electronic music, I sure seem to get a lot of metal-leaning music stuck in my head:

If she's played and liked some FF, then DQIV should be a good starting point. She may even get a sense of deja-vu playing it.

Ah, Japan, where Western genres go to not give a f'. At work, I often deal with a seafood distributor called Albion. Every time I see their name, I mentally hum "Ba-by-lon!". It's entirely this track's fault:

A lot of people fell in love with the game way back when because it was their first exposure to a game of that sort. It thus inspired them to make fan pages, fan art, fan fics, fan clubs, fan forums, fan cosplay, fan- you get the idea. It pretty much launched a new level of fandom almost unseen in America, one that also took advantage of Web 1.0 to share their fandom abroad, essentially flooding the 'net with their enthusiasm for the game. I'm sure you've seen this happen with plenty of inexplicable, omnipresent fandoms over the years since (Pokemon, Digimon, WoW, Mass Effect, Neon Genesis EVA

Usually first playthrough is all about following the story for me, bypassing most secrets, excessive grinding, and the like (can make for some very interesting Boss Battles this way). So, rather breezy then. Once I've gotten a feel for the game, know what to expect, how much I can dilly-dally with side-quests, I take my time meticulously exploring everything in any subsequent playthrough.

Hah, things have changed a bit since this post. I've actually gained enough weight that I can feel jiggle physics on occasion. Also, that CD collection's now 1000+.

In a funny way, I actually enjoyed that when I first played it. Keep in mind this was the first new DQ game we were playing in America since the 8-bit era, a significant gap of time. Wandering through that ruin that chronicled battles of old, with all the murals of foes familiar and gone, it was a bit rather like reminiscing of the first four games way back when. It also built up that anticipation for the first battle, anxious to finally dive into the old gaming habits that'd been absent for so long. Fighting a first group of Slimes never felt so epic!

I dread to think what a Randomized Road To Rhone would entail. That dungeon was brutal enough with its false floors, looping hallways, Hork Basement, etc... Although, instead of encountering four Green Dragons over and over, maybe it'd be nothing but Big Rats.

I dunno. Considering the massive amounts of censorship Nintendo used to do to Dragon Quest alone, I'm not surprised they'd still be up to such shenanigans even at this late stage. I'm honestly surprised they still kept the 'puff-puff' skill in for DQ9, since it's an 'attack' where you bury an opponent's face in one's bosom. Maybe DQ8 let that one well out the bag to not retain it. I'll be interested to see just how much of the breast gags are kept in with the new localization of DQ7. They sure didn't hold back in the original one since Sony probably didn't care one way or the other.

That chorus!

Truth is, when Final Fantasy was really making a name for itself in the States, DQ was nowhere to be seen. The franchise totally bypassed the SNES era here, and only came to the PSX way late in its cycle. In the meanwhile, FF had IV, VI, VII, and VIII to endear itself to America, which it did in spades, diamonds, and hearts. It's only natural that DQ would lose out on all those fans in the process. Still, I wouldn't take it too hard. I mean, try getting a Final Fantasy fan to give the Ultima series a chance. Hoo...!

Wow, I actually remember reading that DQV blurb while waiting in a grocery store line-up. I didn't have a SNES, but I knew as soon as that game came out, I was gonna' get one. And so I waited. And waited. And waited. And waited...

Happy New Year!

Oh hey, this thread! He's from planet Jupiter.