The first game sold peanuts, but hey, why not a sequel?!
PLAYERS: 1
PUBLISHER: Enix America
DEVELOPER: ChunSoft
GENRE: RPG
RELEASE DATE: September 1990
One reason I appreciate the Dragon Quest/Warrior series more than the Final Fantasy series is the consistency of the games. Each Dragon Quest contains the same type of gameplay and mechanics, albeit refined for each new addition. Even when they add new elements to the series, like the trading system from Dragon Quest IX, the game never feels like a completely new beast.
That being said, if you were not a fan of the first Dragon Warrior due to the ridiculous amount of grinding, you might find Dragon Warrior II to be more to your liking. While there is still grinding (it’s an RPG on the NES, for cryin’), the whole affair feels a lot less tedious. You acquire two additional party members, which makes for a less lonely journey. The basic principles of the first Dragon Warrior have been brought over: fight, level up, buy better weapons and armor, move to different towns, etc. But the graphics are more colorful, the story more cinematic (you play as the ancestor of the warrior Erdrick from the first game), and, most importantly, the fighting is a lot more enjoyable. The one negative I could give this game isn’t really the game’s fault at all. Enix was too darn slow in bringing it out to America. Within a year of this game’s release, Final Fantasy II (one of the few entries worth playing) was already blowing minds on the Super Nintendo with its Mode 7 graphics and such. Still, like an old, but comfortable hat, Dragon Warrior II may not be pretty, but it has plenty of well-worn charm.
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5 replies on “#200 – Dragon Warrior II”
I just finished the game and loved it, but is hard like Hell. In fact, in Dragon Warrior series Hell is located between Beran and Hargon’s castle. I cannot remember a more frustrating dungeon in my gamer’s life.
Enemies that can kill one of your characters with only one spell and others that can heal themselves completely in the middle of the battle are something annoying, too.
I remember my parents rented me this game…. this is not a game to rent.
Probably the hardest dragon warrior game ever. Not so much at the start, but the poster above me nailed it when talking about the cave to Rhone. Frustrating beyond belief. And the grinding you need to do in Rhone against even harder enemies lasts hours. The final castle fights are almost luck based. “Please god Hargon, do not cast healall”
It would be nice if you actually played the game before you wrote your “review.”
You say it isn’t your screenshot because you’d never name a character Tali. Well, the game randomly selects one of seven names for each of the two additional characters (your cousins) that join the group. You would know that if you played the game.
Also, your review doesn’t mention anything specific about the game other than the fighting being “more enjoyable.” How is it more enjoyable? Give me an example. Tell me why I should want to play this game. You also only say the the graphics are more colorful and there is more story. The colors are the same as what was in Dragon Warrior 1. Hell, even a lot of the monster sprites are the exact same. Other than that one blurb, the rest of this “review” is spent talking about how the game was released a while after the Japanese version, which is not a review of a game.
This is like a junior high book report written by someone that didn’t read the book they were supposed to and are trying to report on it based on hearsay. If you’re going to write a review, please make sure you actually play the game you’re reviewing. I’m all for negative and positive reviews of video games, but this is just sad. It isn’t a review at all.
You’re looking for in-depth reviews. I don’t typically do in-depth reviews.
May I direct you to this link?
http://www.questicle.net/2012/06/way-i-review-games.html
In the beginning days of this blog – let’s say Jan 2011-mid 2012 – I would play what I could of a game in a day, write a quick review, and post it, nothing more. I probably played Dragon Warrior II for a couple hours. I really enjoyed it because I enjoy Dragon Warrior games. Should I have played it more? Probably. Would I write the review differently now almost 3 1/2 years later? Sure. I guarantee there will be a revised review in my upcoming book.
I appreciate your criticism, believe it or not. But the ethos of this blog has pretty much always been quick reviews touching on a few basic points. If you’re not down with that, Questicle isn’t the site for you.