The Shrine

4 is awesome, I have yet to play 5 and 6. I think the only one I am really afraid to tackle is part 7 which is insanely long.

Of course, I can't wait for 9, I am really enjoying 8.... I expect I'll finish it by the time 9 is released over here (assuming it's coming around Christmas.

I've heard of people who quit DQ7 130 hours in.

Seriously.

Kupek wrote:I've heard of people who quit DQ7 130 hours in.

Seriously.

That's crazy. I've always believed in the 25-30 hour RPGs. They generally seem to be the best designed ones, anything beyond that generally involved insane levelling up or something. Xenogears, which took me 48 or so hours, felt like it coulda been shorter if it weren't for the insane amount of fighting.

Heck, ain't Mass Effect in the 25-30 range or so?

I played 5 and 6, and greatly enjoyed em. They are great games.

Kupek wrote:I've heard of people who quit DQ7 130 hours in.

Seriously.

That was me--I hit this freakin' IMPOSSIBLE boss, some Genie guy, and I just couldn't kill him.

The one guy I knew who actually finished the game (7) took 107 hours.

Everyone I know whose played them say 5 and 6 are the best though. So I am looking forward to them. Longer games are more bareable on handheld as well; well, at least I find.

RentCavalier wrote:

Kupek wrote:I've heard of people who quit DQ7 130 hours in.

Seriously.

That was me--I hit this freakin' IMPOSSIBLE boss, some Genie guy, and I just couldn't kill him.

Hush! You weren't even born yet.

I am timeless through the ages. Birth and death are meaningless to me, for I am all existence. This mortal coil is an illusion that traps only the unenlightened.

Let's face it. 7th Saga wasn't fun. Nobody finished it, and leveling up for hours on hours isn't fun. Stop pretending it is. Neither was Wizardry, the only game where old age could kill you and rezzes weren't guaranteed. What's good about Dragon Quest? The boring leveling, the boring gameplay, or the boring story? Which part is good?

I dunno. There's something really, strangely fun about Dragon Quest games. I used to hate them. They were clunky, old-fashioned and retardedly opposed to change.

Dragon Quest VIII, though...I dunno why, but it's just really, really fun. It's generic, perhaps, but at the same time, there's just something about how you are constantly gaining new things--grinding has palpable, noticeable rewards, and it gives you incentive to keep at it.

The art style, I think, whether you love it or hate it, is likely the biggest selling point. It gives even the most basic aspects of the game an almost childlike, imaginitive charm.

I saw an article that says a game needs to have some difficulty for it be enjoyable, but I think the Enix game way overdoes it. When you have to treat a RPG like a MMORPG in terms of 'grinding' like hiding by a town and very slowly get more powerful, you might as well go play a MMORPG instead. At least you'll have a longer value of your time investment.

7th Saga was fucking insane. I couldn't keep playing it, it punished you when you tried to go from town to town for cryin' out loud!

Zeus wrote:7th Saga was fucking insane. I couldn't keep playing it, it punished you when you tried to go from town to town for cryin' out loud!

Heh, i did beat this game, i stand among the elite?!?

The was a level-up trick where you could leave your game on overnight in an easy area that you got little exp for, but knew you wouldnt die. After a good nights sleep youd be up a bunch of levels.

BUT, even with that the game was long and f'ing hard. You would literally have to race from town to town to survive. Then, the guess and test of which order to use the crystals at the end of the game was beyond annoying. I think i ended up beating it with the Demon and the Mech.

It was just too freakin' irritating to play. I like a good challenge and all, but that is WAY too far to the extreme side. It just wasn't fun anymore.

On a similar note, did anyone here ever actually play and/or beat Brainlord? That's another by Enix that's supposed to be insanely hard. The damned game even challenged you right on the box!

All RPGs of that era were quite difficult; they got more and more difficult until the early 16-bit era, but FF4 And DQ4 changed the trend, and then they became easy from then on out (well, with some exceptions, see Lufia, Breath of Fire 2, and some others).

I also finished 7th Saga, but I don't remember it being insane, I remember it being about as difficult as Phantasy Star 2 and Dragon Warrior 3.

Wizardry, I had a few Wizardry games when I was younger, I don't know if they were so much hard as they were unrewarding; there just seemed to be no point to progression in that game; nothing new to see except that the walls changed a different colour.

Dutch wrote:All RPGs of that era were quite difficult; they got more and more difficult until the early 16-bit era, but FF4 And DQ4 changed the trend, and then they became easy from then on out (well, with some exceptions, see Lufia, Breath of Fire 2, and some others).

I also finished 7th Saga, but I don't remember it being insane, I remember it being about as difficult as Phantasy Star 2 and Dragon Warrior 3.

Wizardry, I had a few Wizardry games when I was younger, I don't know if they were so much hard as they were unrewarding; there just seemed to be no point to progression in that game; nothing new to see except that the walls changed a different colour.

Umm, no. Phantasy Star 2 didn't punch you in the face then kick you in the nuts when you tried to go from one city to the next. Sure, it made you work in some parts and had a decent level of difficulty, but 7th Saga was INSANE. Go back and try and play it sometime and you'll see. It's freakin' crazy hard, easily the hardest RPG I've ever played. To the point of actually not being fun

Lufia is just a game in tedium once you figured out that you're supposed to keep Mirror up on everyone, all the time, in order to not get hit with some kind of mega status effect and watch everyone die without having a chance to control your character.

Skies of Arcadia had a similar problem where it's basically impossible to beat the game without having some form of anti-status effect up every turn (Delta Shield).