So Dragon Quest III is on sale for Switch, but at 9€ I'm hesitant to pull the trigger since I have it for Android already. Is this a good adaptation? Or is it just the Android version with controller support?
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Dragon Quest - Like a Dargon
- Thread starter WildcatJF
- Start date
conchobhar
What's Shenmue?
It's the mobile version with controller support and character/enemy sprites redrawn at a higher resolution than the surrounding assets.
As much as I like the first three Dragon Quests, this is pretty much why I haven't been in a rush to buy the Switch versions. They're just the mobile games in landscape format but with a crappier font, crappier field sprites, and Toriyama stock art replacing the enemy sprites.
And while I get it would be a lot more work it's disappointing that they did nothing to the backgrounds 'cuz they're the thing most in need of a makeover in the first two games.
On the other hand, DQ3 remains one of the high points of the genre, and the improvements given to DQ2 make it easily the best version of that game to play, if you can get past it’s awful visuals.
Still miles and miles above the remastered FFV and VI
Still miles and miles above the remastered FFV and VI
Just to be clear, my main reason for disinterest in the Switch versions is that I already have the mobile versions. Any downsides like the weirdly scaled backgrounds and cut Super Famicom content* are worth tolerating for the new scripts and QOL features like quicksaving anywhere and DQ2's improved Zoom/Chimaera wing system.
* These are basically ports of mobile ports that were on older Japanese cellphones and Dragon Quest III lost a few things in the transition to those older, crappier phones. Basically the animated sprites and board games from the Super Famicom game (and Game Boy Color port) didn't make the cut, but also there's things like mirrored field sprites (in DQ3) when they've usually been asymmetrical.
* These are basically ports of mobile ports that were on older Japanese cellphones and Dragon Quest III lost a few things in the transition to those older, crappier phones. Basically the animated sprites and board games from the Super Famicom game (and Game Boy Color port) didn't make the cut, but also there's things like mirrored field sprites (in DQ3) when they've usually been asymmetrical.
I bought DQ I&II as they were on sale cheap and I just thought what the hell.
"Crappy rushed mobile port" is exactly how I'd describe both of them, but ehh, it'll kill some time over the Christmas break. I wonder if I can actually finish this version of II, which I've singularly failed to manage in any other port.
One niggling thing apart from the hi-res sprites is the music, which manages to be inferior to the SFC version even though there's no sane reason no to use that version of the soundtrack.
"Crappy rushed mobile port" is exactly how I'd describe both of them, but ehh, it'll kill some time over the Christmas break. I wonder if I can actually finish this version of II, which I've singularly failed to manage in any other port.
One niggling thing apart from the hi-res sprites is the music, which manages to be inferior to the SFC version even though there's no sane reason no to use that version of the soundtrack.
conchobhar
What's Shenmue?
I finished Dragon Quest II, um, a while ago, but got distracted from writing this post by the holidays. Don't take that as a mark against the game, though: it's great!
I was surprised to see just how much of a leap it is from the first game. I don't just the length and how fully-featured it is, what with the various gameplay advancements (party members, groups of enemies, key items with field use, etc), but also how much this game did in introducing common elements of the series— this is really the game where you can see "Dragon Quest" begin to take shape. Some of that is in ways you'd expect, like the expanded bestiary; but it also includes redefining how keys work (no longer single-use, multiple kinds of doors), churches taking on healing duties, or the introduction of teleportals; and even really specific things, like the addition of towers with open balconies that the player can jump from.
One moment that really stuck out to me was something that happens in the lighthouse dungeon. You climb to the top and spy an imp, but when trying to chase after it you instead find an old man. The old man implores you to follow him, and you do— down a series of staircases that lead to another, previously inaccessible section of the tower, ultimately coming to a chest he says contains what you want. Upon inspecting the chest, though, it's empty, and the old man was actually the imp, who has lured you into a trap! It's a very basic bit, really, but that sort of story beat feels very "Dragon Quest" to me.
What really took me aback, though, is that even while this game is introducing these things, it's still finding ways to play around with them. And not in the way that early entries are still refining their ideas (and so they seem unusual when looking back at them), but in ways that feel like deliberate and intentional twisting. The open-balcony towers are a good example: normally, dropping off the tower drops you to on the world map, one square away from the tower; but by equipping a special cape to slow your descent, you can instead land several spaces away— which is used to cross a gulf that otherwise blocks your path. That's the sort of additional mechanic I'd expect to see in a later game (practically every DQ game has these towers), but no— they were conceived with the twist in mind. And DQ2 can get really clever, as seen in Wellgarth/Burrowell. A villager tells you that one of the shopkeepers in the town is said to sell jail keys— an item you have been coveting— but if you look through their wares, you won't find anything. Unless you notice a suspicious blank spot in one shopkeep's list; select it, and the shopkeep will hiss "how did you hear about that?! I'll sell you one if you keep quiet." And lo and behold: it's the jail key! I don't think I've ever seen an RPG do anything with the shop inventory list before; it's the sort of thing you'd think would be done in an indie darling, but no— here it is in the premier RPG series, in 1986.
Even putting its mechanical innovations aside, though, there's still plenty to like about DQ2. It is a game about exploration and wanderlust, and letting the player find their way through the world. This is an aspect of the game I often hear criticized, but I think it's actually quite well-done. For one, the game has a gentle difficulty, and it's rare for any one battle to be taxing— this means that, should a player lose their way, or accidentally wander into a new monster region, it's still unlikely for them to get overwhelmed and wiped out; or, put another way, poking around on the world map is light and breezy. Secondly, although the game doesn't outright tell you where to go, it's not directionless: townsfolk readily share important information, and even the world map is laid out in such a fashion as to direct the player to important landmasses and landmarks. The actual 'route' is much simpler than, say, Final Fantasy I, and it's pretty easy to keep everything in mind— so as long as a player talks to all the NPCs, and has it in mind to checkout conspicuous areas while they're in the neighbourhood, it all comes together (granted, probably a little easier in the remakes, since it adds a map). And thirdly, it's just a lot of fun to make it through a game by following my own intuition.
Perhaps the most memorable part of the game is the climax in Rhone/Rendarak. But first the player has to contend with the cave to Rhone, which turns out to be loaded with traps (pitfalls) and tricks (repeating passages)— needless to say, it requires more caution and thought than any of the dungeons previous. Rhone itself is an incredibly hostile place: the land is a stark white (the only place in the overworld to have a different palette like this), and crawling with the toughest monsters yet, with only a solitary shrine for refuge; just being able to march through this place to reach Hargon's castle is a challenge. And when you do make it to Hargon's hideout… you find yourself back in Lorasia/Midenhall, with all the townsfolks exalting Hargon and telling you to give up your quest. It's an illusion, Hargon's last gamble— and after breaking it, you start on an ascent to his throne room that's punctuated by boss fights on spiked tiles (worth noting: the DQ1 remake replaced its own spiked tiles with overworld sprites, which makes the use of spiked tiles here even more surprising). The ever-escalating endgame is by no means rare, but because this one alternates between what is being escalated— from navigation puzzles, to tough battles and resource management, to an illusion puzzle, to a boss gauntlet— it never drags or becomes exhausting, and instead remains fresh and exciting the whole way through. It's really, really good.
Truth be told, I wasn't expecting much from Dragon Quest II. I'm well aware of its reputation (in fact, people warned me away from playing it), and while I didn't think it would be that bad, I was still anticipating something… interesting, but deeply flawed. But now, having played it, I don't think it's flawed at all— it's just interesting. Actually, I think it's one of the better games in the series. If nothing else, Dragon Quest II deserves to be in the conversation of "most improved sequels".
I was surprised to see just how much of a leap it is from the first game. I don't just the length and how fully-featured it is, what with the various gameplay advancements (party members, groups of enemies, key items with field use, etc), but also how much this game did in introducing common elements of the series— this is really the game where you can see "Dragon Quest" begin to take shape. Some of that is in ways you'd expect, like the expanded bestiary; but it also includes redefining how keys work (no longer single-use, multiple kinds of doors), churches taking on healing duties, or the introduction of teleportals; and even really specific things, like the addition of towers with open balconies that the player can jump from.
One moment that really stuck out to me was something that happens in the lighthouse dungeon. You climb to the top and spy an imp, but when trying to chase after it you instead find an old man. The old man implores you to follow him, and you do— down a series of staircases that lead to another, previously inaccessible section of the tower, ultimately coming to a chest he says contains what you want. Upon inspecting the chest, though, it's empty, and the old man was actually the imp, who has lured you into a trap! It's a very basic bit, really, but that sort of story beat feels very "Dragon Quest" to me.
What really took me aback, though, is that even while this game is introducing these things, it's still finding ways to play around with them. And not in the way that early entries are still refining their ideas (and so they seem unusual when looking back at them), but in ways that feel like deliberate and intentional twisting. The open-balcony towers are a good example: normally, dropping off the tower drops you to on the world map, one square away from the tower; but by equipping a special cape to slow your descent, you can instead land several spaces away— which is used to cross a gulf that otherwise blocks your path. That's the sort of additional mechanic I'd expect to see in a later game (practically every DQ game has these towers), but no— they were conceived with the twist in mind. And DQ2 can get really clever, as seen in Wellgarth/Burrowell. A villager tells you that one of the shopkeepers in the town is said to sell jail keys— an item you have been coveting— but if you look through their wares, you won't find anything. Unless you notice a suspicious blank spot in one shopkeep's list; select it, and the shopkeep will hiss "how did you hear about that?! I'll sell you one if you keep quiet." And lo and behold: it's the jail key! I don't think I've ever seen an RPG do anything with the shop inventory list before; it's the sort of thing you'd think would be done in an indie darling, but no— here it is in the premier RPG series, in 1986.
Even putting its mechanical innovations aside, though, there's still plenty to like about DQ2. It is a game about exploration and wanderlust, and letting the player find their way through the world. This is an aspect of the game I often hear criticized, but I think it's actually quite well-done. For one, the game has a gentle difficulty, and it's rare for any one battle to be taxing— this means that, should a player lose their way, or accidentally wander into a new monster region, it's still unlikely for them to get overwhelmed and wiped out; or, put another way, poking around on the world map is light and breezy. Secondly, although the game doesn't outright tell you where to go, it's not directionless: townsfolk readily share important information, and even the world map is laid out in such a fashion as to direct the player to important landmasses and landmarks. The actual 'route' is much simpler than, say, Final Fantasy I, and it's pretty easy to keep everything in mind— so as long as a player talks to all the NPCs, and has it in mind to checkout conspicuous areas while they're in the neighbourhood, it all comes together (granted, probably a little easier in the remakes, since it adds a map). And thirdly, it's just a lot of fun to make it through a game by following my own intuition.
Perhaps the most memorable part of the game is the climax in Rhone/Rendarak. But first the player has to contend with the cave to Rhone, which turns out to be loaded with traps (pitfalls) and tricks (repeating passages)— needless to say, it requires more caution and thought than any of the dungeons previous. Rhone itself is an incredibly hostile place: the land is a stark white (the only place in the overworld to have a different palette like this), and crawling with the toughest monsters yet, with only a solitary shrine for refuge; just being able to march through this place to reach Hargon's castle is a challenge. And when you do make it to Hargon's hideout… you find yourself back in Lorasia/Midenhall, with all the townsfolks exalting Hargon and telling you to give up your quest. It's an illusion, Hargon's last gamble— and after breaking it, you start on an ascent to his throne room that's punctuated by boss fights on spiked tiles (worth noting: the DQ1 remake replaced its own spiked tiles with overworld sprites, which makes the use of spiked tiles here even more surprising). The ever-escalating endgame is by no means rare, but because this one alternates between what is being escalated— from navigation puzzles, to tough battles and resource management, to an illusion puzzle, to a boss gauntlet— it never drags or becomes exhausting, and instead remains fresh and exciting the whole way through. It's really, really good.
Truth be told, I wasn't expecting much from Dragon Quest II. I'm well aware of its reputation (in fact, people warned me away from playing it), and while I didn't think it would be that bad, I was still anticipating something… interesting, but deeply flawed. But now, having played it, I don't think it's flawed at all— it's just interesting. Actually, I think it's one of the better games in the series. If nothing else, Dragon Quest II deserves to be in the conversation of "most improved sequels".
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From the names you’re using I’m assuming you were playing one of the remakes, which were chockablock with QoL improvements that improve the experience of playing the game immeasurably.
On the original hardware it’s... a bit more rough than diamond
On the original hardware it’s... a bit more rough than diamond
I first played it through the Super Famicom remake, but enjoyed it far more, to the extent that I now consider it among the best in the series, only after playing the Famicom/NES original. It's good no matter what but the specific context of the original version really elevated the experience for me.
I'm always glad to see anyone enjoy able to enjoy Dragon Quest II.
Along with the original Phantasy Star, I think it's one of the best World Map Explore 'Em Up JRPGs out there. I think they strike a unique middle ground between JRPGs and adventure games (in the Portopia Serial Murder Case/Monkey Island sense), before genres grew more rigid. This subset of games kind of faded away as JRPGs trended toward streamlined narrative experiences, but they have a lot to offer if you can approach them on their own terms.
Along with the original Phantasy Star, I think it's one of the best World Map Explore 'Em Up JRPGs out there. I think they strike a unique middle ground between JRPGs and adventure games (in the Portopia Serial Murder Case/Monkey Island sense), before genres grew more rigid. This subset of games kind of faded away as JRPGs trended toward streamlined narrative experiences, but they have a lot to offer if you can approach them on their own terms.
clarice
bebadosamba
Recently i've finished Dragon Quest VI and i enjoyed not knowing where i should go next and having a big world to explore. I have never played any of the first three Dragon Quest games, so... i guess it is time to finally finish a NES game.
(yes yes i have never finished a NES game shame me!!)
Cross posting from the 'beating games' thread:
(And i'll save reading the post from conchobhar for later!)
(yes yes i have never finished a NES game shame me!!)
Cross posting from the 'beating games' thread:
(And i'll save reading the post from conchobhar for later!)
Yeah, DQII is great as an explore-and-take-notes kind of game. I remember first trying to play it like a more modern ("modern" as of, like, the late 90s) linear JRPG, and didn't like it much, but I gave it another shot a few years ago and really got into it. I still think the endgame is pretty rough - I don't know how you'd get the hero's best weapon without outside help, and you basically can't hurt the final boss without it, and there are a few enemies that can kill you before you move if they ambush you - but everything before that is really good. I probably won't replay it as much as III and IV because my enjoyment of it depended on remembering almost nothing about it and having to figure out what to do, but when I last played through the Chunsoft DQs, II was the one I enjoyed the most.
Seconded.
It's been long enough since I played that I can't recall this, but I promise that I finished the game without outside help (and without grinding), and I don't recall ever being stuck for very long, so the game must have clued it in some way or I found it to be intuitive, or the weapon proved to be unnecessary for me.
I may have been overstating things a bit; it's hidden in a pit trap in the corner of a huge, otherwise empty room, so if you're searching thoroughly enough, you'll find it. It's just that "thoroughly enough" is much more thorough than you need to be to find anything else in the game. I figured it was meant to be one of those things where with enough people playing, some of them would stumble upon it eventually and tell their friends.
This is a big reason why I like Dragon Quest III. It's still got a lot of the more freeform style of early jRPGs but (monster chests aside) is generally a friendlier game to get into. Especially in the remakes, which throw a few more bones your way.
Not to say I haven't enjoyed Dragon Quest II, but with two squishy magic users and a lot of situations where spells are useless I do not like battles much in that game.
Ah, that'd do it. I'm very much a "jump down every hole" kind of guy.
Tomm Guycot
(he/him)
So I finally found my groove in XI on Switch and I'm enjoying it immensely. Know what would help me enjoy it even MORE? the overworld music from VIII.
However, when I go to access/download the XI bonus content, including VIII stuffs, I cannot do so. Searching from ingame finds no updates. Going to the eShop directly shows all the bonus content, but none of it can be selected for download (it doesn't even say "free download" just has the original release date displayed).
...what is going on? Does anyone know?
Is there any way I can access this content or did they disable it for some reason?
(Yes my game is updated to latest)
However, when I go to access/download the XI bonus content, including VIII stuffs, I cannot do so. Searching from ingame finds no updates. Going to the eShop directly shows all the bonus content, but none of it can be selected for download (it doesn't even say "free download" just has the original release date displayed).
...what is going on? Does anyone know?
Is there any way I can access this content or did they disable it for some reason?
(Yes my game is updated to latest)
conchobhar
What's Shenmue?
Agreed. I only discovered this 'style' of JRPGs for myself a few years ago, when I played the original Final Fantasy for the first time, but I've really enjoyed every one of them I've played (which, granted, is just FF, DQ and Phantasy Star). It's a little funny that they became an evolutionary dead end for the genre, because I think they fit into the current gaming landscape and trends remarkably well— it's not a huge leap from here to open world games.
Tomm Guycot
(he/him)
Ack. Not enough coffee this morning. Damned Roman numerals...Was this for my question? I said XI not IX
That being said, I'm excited by the possibilities of this
I know that basically no one else likes Phantasy Star 3, but I do like it and in my opinion it's another strong entry in the World Map Explore 'Em Up subgenre of JRPGs. I played it for the first time in Japanese and was confused by why its reputation is so bad for such an ambitious and unique game. It's definitely not for everyone, but it's not the total disaster I was lead to believe. And what I discovered was that unfortunately the official translation often either (1) translates the hint dialogue so poorly no one could reasonably be expected to follow it or (2) cuts the relevant hint dialogue entirely and just has someone tell you exactly what to do next, effectively removing the exploratory adventure-game-ness altogether.
There is a fan translation project that is pretty good, and I think it would be worth trying for anyone who likes Dragon Quest II and Phantasy Star 1 style games, in my opinion. It does also include some bug fixes that I can't comment on the cumulative effect of (seems to make it harder in some ways and easier in others), and I noticed an error or two when I did a quick comparison skimming through the script, but a few issues is a big improvement over the official localization which is not even in the ballpark.
I think that even if the official translation was good it would have divisive reputation, but with such a bad translation it had no chance at finding its audience. To me, it's the only Phantasy Star game the feels like a successor to the things I like about the first game. Probably worth keeping in mind that it originally came out in 1990, so its contemporaries are Final Fantasy III and Dragon Quest IV. Especially in that context, I think it's very impressive.
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I'm just at this point now, after completing DQ1 again I abandoned my plan to replay DQII all through again on Switch and just picked up an old save on the SFC version where I'd stopped right before the cave. Oh boy, this part of the game is really mean. I just about made it through to the other side and got to the Rhone Temple with one party member still standing, but it was touch and go.
What I really, really don't like is enemy spells that routinely take out your entire defence, I know you can do the same in return but it's particularly cruel having your entire party one hit killed before you've even made a move. At least there's no real penalty to getting wiped out at this point in the game, it's not like you still need money.
What level would you suggest going into the endgame with? I currently have Hero at 25, Prince around 23 and Princess 19. I figure that's not going to be enough given how I'm still getting crushed by random encounters.
conchobhar
What's Shenmue?
Interesting! I wasn't really planning to play any other Phantasy Stars, but I think I might have to give this one a look, if it really does carry that same feeling forward. Thanks for the recommendation (and the link to the fan translation)!
Yeah, Rhone is rough when you first arrive. It was the only part of the game where I actually had to stop and grind out a few levels, because I couldn't even attempt to march up to the castle— I could only handle one or two encounters before my party would need to rest up. Thankfully, though, the monsters give oodles of EXP and the Shrine provides a handy homebase, so it didn't take long before it became manageable (levels are a huge, huge deal in this game, as I'm sure you've noticed).
My party was 28/26/22 when I finished the game, so you're actually not too far off from where I was. I would really recommend getting Cannock to 25 and Moonbrooke to 22 before taking on Hargon, though: at those levels they learn Revive/Kazing, which will make your life a lot easier.
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conchobhar
What's Shenmue?
Oh hey, I actually played through DQ6 recently too… though I'm afraid I did find it to be a minor game in the series. To me, its main problem was the tone: it's much serious and dour than the rest of the series. I felt that most strongly with the cast, who are quite reserved and soft-spoken— not even party chat livened things up. I appreciate that, during this period, Yuji Hori was always pushing the series in different directions and trying out new conceits, but I think DQ6 got a bit too close to feeling like "generic fantasy RPG adventure".
That's not to say it doesn't have its strengths, though. Parallel worlds is a favourite video game trope of mine, and DQ6 does do a great job with it. Part of that is conceptual: having a dream world allows them to have a bit of fun, like using an island or a flying bed as vehicles instead of the standard boat and flying carpet. But there's also some fun interplay between them, where the dream world represents the hopes and desires of people in the real world. One that stands out in my memory is a real-world dog that's sitting in front of his master's grave; in the dream world, you find a human NPC in the same spot, who laments "he wasn't just my master, he was my best friend." Or the whole bit in Clearvale, where the story of the Flying Bed turns out to have a poignant origin in the real world: it was an ill, bed-ridden boy's only recreational activity.
But the highlight for me was Lizzie, the hackosaurus who spontaneously kazings and insists on joining the party. Her lines in party chat are always a hoot, because her perspective is so completely removed from everyone else's— not just that human society perplexes her, but also that her life experience is so out of step from everyone else's. I think she stands as one of the series' very best characters.
Some Grade-A puns in the English translation, too, like the skeleton slaves called "undentured servants".
I replayed the first three games through the Super Famicom remakes.
This is about as good and considered a trilogy of games as you could ask for in the medium. Not just for the thoughtful, ongoing textual narrative that forms between them, but how the series finding its own design voice and footing shapes that narrative just as much. The solitary hero's journey gives way to the coming-together of the scattered descendants, which then opens the door to realizing the mythical history that was there from the start, looping back to anticipating the future that you're already privy to--the generational circle closing is emotional all on its own just because of how the games structure these stories, but it's lent additional meaning in how the evolving design reflects on that chronological sequence: Loto's legend being supported by a crew of anonymous friends and allies whose very images go on to define the subsequent populations witnessed in the series in the legacy they leave behind; the scattering of that union and reclaiming of the same by a lone figure in the land Loto was exiled to; and finally the ultimate restoration of those heroic links through the descendants, cousins--family--of the Dragon Warrior and Princess Laura and what they left behind. It's integral to me that the Dragon Quest II trio are depicted as children, as they initially were: they are overseen by all that has passed before them, guarded by their lineage itself in the most harrowing ordeal that any of them ever went through, the reality of which is communicated to the player through the game mechanics themselves.
To see the games branch out in their ethos but remain so consistent in how it's expressed makes it difficult to elevate or damn any one of them over another on that basis, so I will just say that II has the most interesting permutations of the concepts present in the series at this time, for how it guides the player invisibly and organically for a good stretch, and then lets them loose on a dizzyingly intricate and interwoven, unraveling puzzle of an RPG, without ever feeling like it's leaving them adrift either; everything is signaled, hinted at and manufactured to be "stumbled upon" without the player necessarily realizing they were ever given the push in the first place. That's how these investigative narratives form in one's head and make you feel like you're part of the process instead of simply being having it delivered to you, and it's just a big joy to suss out in its entirety, closing the book on one end while opening another. It has a scale that's large enough to feel intimidating to take in, but compact enough to make canvassing the world feasible when done freeform, which is a very difficult balance to land at--subsequent games would not take on this structure to begin with but they would also overshoot the scope of the adventure to allow supporting it. It's why II remains unique in the series, even compared to its immediate successor which is too often seen to make it redundant by simply existing; III's strengths and weaknesses are individual to make the comparison moot. For one, the dependency in III to define its world through a real-world planetary analogue is something I count toward the latter: instead of immersing one in the world depicted it lends an unwelcome air of caricature to how the adventure unfolds and leaves me less invested in the specifics when they're so tied to conforming to their conceptual bases. Map design and structuring is a very important and appealing part of games like these, and having that qualifier at hand dilutes what is otherwise a well-conceived world to journey through.
The series changes massively after these games: IV is commonly recognized for its emphasis on character-driven storytelling but it's the first "modern" game in the series in how games like Final Fantasy IV went on to define the concept for people examining the evolution of the genre in retrospect: smaller, less daunting map design; more emphasis on forward-propulsion to maintain player engagement and interest; less chances for the player to determine their own frustrations in being able to simply proceed on with the game or not as the obliqueness gives way to unbroken momentum. It's not a question of which approach is better, but that it's a facet of how these games were made and can be interacted with now, and what they have to offer in turn. The beginning of the series stands as worthwhile as the rest, and cannot be supplanted or ousted by any successor so long as the identity they proclaim remains as unique as it demonstrably is.
This is about as good and considered a trilogy of games as you could ask for in the medium. Not just for the thoughtful, ongoing textual narrative that forms between them, but how the series finding its own design voice and footing shapes that narrative just as much. The solitary hero's journey gives way to the coming-together of the scattered descendants, which then opens the door to realizing the mythical history that was there from the start, looping back to anticipating the future that you're already privy to--the generational circle closing is emotional all on its own just because of how the games structure these stories, but it's lent additional meaning in how the evolving design reflects on that chronological sequence: Loto's legend being supported by a crew of anonymous friends and allies whose very images go on to define the subsequent populations witnessed in the series in the legacy they leave behind; the scattering of that union and reclaiming of the same by a lone figure in the land Loto was exiled to; and finally the ultimate restoration of those heroic links through the descendants, cousins--family--of the Dragon Warrior and Princess Laura and what they left behind. It's integral to me that the Dragon Quest II trio are depicted as children, as they initially were: they are overseen by all that has passed before them, guarded by their lineage itself in the most harrowing ordeal that any of them ever went through, the reality of which is communicated to the player through the game mechanics themselves.
To see the games branch out in their ethos but remain so consistent in how it's expressed makes it difficult to elevate or damn any one of them over another on that basis, so I will just say that II has the most interesting permutations of the concepts present in the series at this time, for how it guides the player invisibly and organically for a good stretch, and then lets them loose on a dizzyingly intricate and interwoven, unraveling puzzle of an RPG, without ever feeling like it's leaving them adrift either; everything is signaled, hinted at and manufactured to be "stumbled upon" without the player necessarily realizing they were ever given the push in the first place. That's how these investigative narratives form in one's head and make you feel like you're part of the process instead of simply being having it delivered to you, and it's just a big joy to suss out in its entirety, closing the book on one end while opening another. It has a scale that's large enough to feel intimidating to take in, but compact enough to make canvassing the world feasible when done freeform, which is a very difficult balance to land at--subsequent games would not take on this structure to begin with but they would also overshoot the scope of the adventure to allow supporting it. It's why II remains unique in the series, even compared to its immediate successor which is too often seen to make it redundant by simply existing; III's strengths and weaknesses are individual to make the comparison moot. For one, the dependency in III to define its world through a real-world planetary analogue is something I count toward the latter: instead of immersing one in the world depicted it lends an unwelcome air of caricature to how the adventure unfolds and leaves me less invested in the specifics when they're so tied to conforming to their conceptual bases. Map design and structuring is a very important and appealing part of games like these, and having that qualifier at hand dilutes what is otherwise a well-conceived world to journey through.
The series changes massively after these games: IV is commonly recognized for its emphasis on character-driven storytelling but it's the first "modern" game in the series in how games like Final Fantasy IV went on to define the concept for people examining the evolution of the genre in retrospect: smaller, less daunting map design; more emphasis on forward-propulsion to maintain player engagement and interest; less chances for the player to determine their own frustrations in being able to simply proceed on with the game or not as the obliqueness gives way to unbroken momentum. It's not a question of which approach is better, but that it's a facet of how these games were made and can be interacted with now, and what they have to offer in turn. The beginning of the series stands as worthwhile as the rest, and cannot be supplanted or ousted by any successor so long as the identity they proclaim remains as unique as it demonstrably is.
