Sean Akizuki's Fantasy Critic

  Dragon Quest Heroes has had two entries. So far, there aren't even hints that a third game is in the development. If a third game comes out then it should introduce the handheld-only characters as part of the crossover. The game apparently doesn't take place in the first Dragon Quest Heroes game. The first Dragon Quest Heroes game was more linear and map-based. The second one may follow the same formula but with significant modifications.  I confess I enjoy the brokenness of the first game. It was easier to get all psyched-up to fire up a High Tension move. However, the second game manages to make it harder to psych up -- presumably for balancing reasons. It sort of ticked me off but I got used to it. The first game also somewhat overpowered the Monster Medals. The second game tries not to do that. I wasn't a big fan of the Substitute type of Monster Medal. However, it was probably meant to balance out combat.  It would be interesting to see some familiar faces return. ...

I've played Dragon Quest Heroes and Dragon Quest Heroes II . Unlike the older games, there was the OPTION to use the OG Japanese voices. I tried listening to both the Japanese and the English dub. I'm pretty nitpicky, and I felt, "This is JUST DUMB!" whenever the OG Japanese voice was played. Tori Matsuzaka voiced the character Luceus (a departure from the silent protagonist in the main games) for the OG dub. I may be a Super Sentai fan (and I dislike Power Rangers ) but I would prefer Power Rangers cast members voicing Dragon Quest characters over Super Sentai cast members.  Dragon Quest may be a Japanese game. The game's OG source would always have the Japanese voice. However, the setting is pretty much WESTERN. It feels too awkward to have Tori Matsuzaka voice a WHITE MAN named Luceus. I felt VA George Rainsford managed to capture the impulsiveness of the Western-inspired hero better than Tori. Sure, Dragon Quest games would always start off with the Japanese a...

Dragon Quest XI might be too long for my taste. It's probably because I enjoyed playing Dragon Quest Heroes entries more. I had fun switching between the hero/heroine. However, Dragon Quest 11 went for the silent protagonist -- presumably as an extension of the player. I usually skipped some things like the side quests and did them MUCH LATER. Yes, I did a lot of stuff only after post-game. It was depressing to see Veronica DIE in Act 2. However, trying to rewind time in Act 3 would also reveal a much bigger evil character -- CALASMOS! Mordegon reminded me of Dhoulmagus in Dragon Quest VIII -- the very first Dragon Quest game I ever finished. The PS1 Dragon Warrior VII game is WAY TOO SLOW for my taste! Mordegon was someone who got possessed by the more evil Calasmos. It's also revealed in Act 3 that Mordegon was the result of the wizard Morcant, getting corrupted by the evil Calasmos. Act 2 simply didn't get rid of the menace. Instead, it was but a DUNDUN plot twist. Howev...

Dragon Quest 11's Definitive Edition had a few minor changes. One quest changed the location of an inscription. The other interesting aspect is the Tickington Town -- which can only be played in 2D. Yes, 2D! I didn't grow up owning a Super NES, nor did I play  Dragon Quest on the Famicom (which would be in the JAPANESE language). I dropped Dragon Warrior VII all too soon. Now, it was time for me to go through Tickington's 16-bit SNES retro style.  It's an interesting sidequest I didn't do UNTIL I prepared too hard. I finished Act 2, did Act 3, and I spent time using the Electro Light PEP move. I reached up to Level 99 and prepared some really good weapons. It was kind of annoying for me at times. I was too used to Dragon Quest VIII's animated turn-based gameplay. Tickington used the classic SNES-style narrative -- which had limited animation and the like. It was also confusing without an Internet game guide. It also required me to find Tockles on the 3D world to...

Dragon Quest 11 is a game released last 2017. There's always my reason NOT to ride on the hype in gaming. I'm a casual gamer myself. That means I would prefer to get reviews first. I would always wait for a discount because I want to save. I decided to visit a game that may have gotten fans hyped over -- Dragon Quest 11 . I played Dragon Quest VIII for the PS2. I also played the Dragon Quest Heroes spinoff games, which, for me, were more enjoyable for casual gaming. I got into Dragon Quest XI -- a game that I found TOO LONG for my taste! Dragon Quest 11 is still enjoyable. I could name a lot of stuff that it improved on from Dragon Quest VIII. Given the significant amount of time between VIII and XI -- there's no excuse NOT to improve the game. Here they are when it comes to gameplay: Replacing random encounters with YOU picking fights against monster groups. However, it does not apply to the ocean sections. The game also makes it easier to get more money in the long run. D...

Here's a collage I found on Reddit. I decided to play Dragon Quest XI out of boredom. Suddenly, I realized that studying the international market hit me again. Certain games are rereleased for the American audience with some regional differences -- all the while retaining the storyline. One could think about these name changes: Rockman was renamed as Megaman (or also spelled as Mega Man but I prefer the one word spelling). It was probably to make it sound more appealing to the ENGLISH SPEAKING audiences. Rockman just felt too strange of a name. Street Fighter Zero was renamed into Street Fighter Alpha . It's kinda strange really to call the beginnings with a Zero and still go with 1-2-3. I prefer the name Street Fighter Alpha better. I assumed that Dragon Quest was renamed Dragon Warrior due to cultural context. I assumed it's because the name Dragon Warrior just sounded more badass and fitting for an American audience. However, this is one thing I discovered through watchi...

After some time of not watching Anime (and I'm not even updated on Dragon Ball Super ) - I decided to watch through Toei Ltd.'s Dragon Quest: Adventures of Dai remake. Speaking of which, only if Toei will stop being so selfish with their properties and let the world view them with subs. It's a sad fact that there's no sign of an Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger DVD or that most of the shows on Toei's Youtube channel have NO ENGLISH SUBS. Just learn Japanese? Ugh, that advice sounds burdensome since I don't feel the need to learn the language except for employment or academic reasons. Now, I'm going to talk about how Dragon Quest: The Adventures of Dai is for me.  I remembered watching the 1991 version on IBC-13 but on an irregular basis. 1991 would be the same year when Chojin Sentai Jetman saved the Super Sentai franchise from cancellation. I didn't see much of it since I only watched the really badly scheduled Toku in IBC-13 . I confess I never played Dragon W...

With the upcoming Ryuusoulger -- it's hard NOT to think of the Dragon Quest theme playing in my head. I thought weren't there other ways Toei could have reached the international market with Saban? I remembered Saban actually did his own fantasy series called Knights of Tir Na Nog. Sadly, Saban's dubbing of Dragon Quest didn't go so well and lasted for only 13 episodes. But what if they actually decided to co-produce a Dragon Quest live-action series? So here's what I wish really happened. Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball Z (which has help from Toei Animation) and the show did get a Saban dub. So why didn't Toei and Saban just decide to team up and create a Dragon Warrior live-action series? Saban and Toei may still need to go over to Squaresoft (now Square Enix) to get the rights to the Dragon Warrior franchise. Then the two could do their parts -- Saban could start getting cast members while Toei may go with the costume design. Then they can start paying r...

It's really my habit to always wait for a console to have lower cost before buying it so I usually get to play cool games when they're sold on discount. I just picked up Dragon Quest Heroes II after finishing Draogn Quest Heroes -- where you can get an entirely new story or not. We get two new heroes who are cousins namely Lazarel and Teresa. You have characters getting mixed into the fray from old school Dragon Quest games, such as Maribel and Gabo from Dragon Quest VII, Torneko and Meena from Dragon Quest IV, and Angelo from Dragon Quest VIII. So how did the game improve from the first Dragon Quest Heroes game? The first game didn't have much free roaming or civilian interaction. This one changes something, such as a quest that requires civilian interaction or that there's more freedom for roaming in some areas. The exploration field has become bigger than it was in the first game. Also, what's nice is that if you've played the first game, then you can get...

I admit, I didn't get into Dragon Quest until the eighth game and I have NO INTENTION of finishing that Dragon Warrior VII game back in the PS1 days -- I'd like to see it remastered. Now, I thought about that while turn-based gameplay can be fun but I usually prefer the Hack and Slash gameplay where you get more active, get to mash against multiple foes as a stress relief game. The story takes place with the main continuity to be that of Luceus (the talkative strategist) and Aurora (who's an impulsive lady) with Arba's benevolent badass ruler King Doric. Both of them are fire and ice and perhaps Yin and Yang. Along the way, they would actually introduce players to some old school Dragon Quest characters such as Terry (Dragon Quest III), Yangus and Jessica (Dragon Quest VIII), Maya (Dragon Quest IV), and Nera and Bianca (Dragon Quest V). So the game was released more than three years ago but too bad the PS3 version only had the Japanese version. I may be a fan of J...

Ah yes the good old days -- I could remember I wasn't exactly a fan of Dragon Quest. Dragon Quest VII for the PS1 wasn't exactly my cup of tea especially with that LOOOOOONG intro scene. Ouch! I really found it BORING. Dragon Quest VIII managed to nearly perfect the formula of turn-based gameplay. In what way? You just don't see narration. You get to see the characters do some of their badass moves. What intrigued me was the graphics? The use of cell-shading made it look like a living Anime. Well, we've had 3D models and and I appreciate them. It's like a good mixture of old school and new school concepts that made the game memorable. You get the old school feel with new school mechanics and technology. The cell-shading art was really a stroke of genius. So what got me me into this game than the previous installments? I thought that the game's turn-based gameplay (though it can get annoying if you've got MULTIPLE FOES at once) was really near perfect. The...

In Dragon Quest 8, there is this bonus dungeon called the Dragovian Path to which the secret of the hero's birth identity is not only revealed but you get to go through the Dragovian trials (you MUST finish the game the first time and get the bad ending). So to get this "gospel ring" which will soon allow you to search for every missing item you may have missed without a monster attacking, you'll need to finish ALL the trials, get ALL the items aside from just going around finding every monster there is in the list. After winning the final trial, you may choose to go to fight the "Ultimate Dragon" which involves fighting EVERY last form (in half-health) until you reach the ultimate form.   This battle caused me wow, at least that much before I finally completed the monster list. What is a big bummer for me is that it doesn't increase EXP or anything, just complete that list of monsters, although it is essential for the Gospel Ring. It does however...