Ending # 77
Dragon Warrior (ドラゴンクエスト)
Developer: Chunsoft
Publisher: Enix/ Nintendo
Nintendo
1986
A classic, a legendary game that defined a genre, and a masterpiece...are words I would not use to describe this game, at least not the North American release. I understand the immense impact this game had in Japan, birthing the largest selling video game franchise ever over there with every subsequent release nearly causing a national holiday, but here in the States, the title just felt mediocre. In my opinion, Final Fantasy was the better NES title, one I have played through and maxed out at least twice in my life. I will not do that again with this title.
The game should have been more appropriately called Gold Gathering Quest as my entire experience for the game can be summarized as follows:
1. Meet king, pledge to rescue princess. Grind gold and levels until gear in first town is bought.
2. Go to second town, grind gold and levels until sufficient income to buy next tier of weapons and armor. Proceed to next town.
3. Repeat step two then go to fourth town.
4 Repeat step three, then go rescue princess.
5. Repeat step four for the final town.
6 Beat Dragonlord after long XP grind.
That is the entirety of the game. Gather gold, level up, rescue princess, kill Dragonlord. The simplicity of the title is mind numbing, yet it was the formula that launched a major franchise. I understand rescuing Princesses was a hot commodity in the 8-bit era, one I will write about for my upcoming website soon.
The NA box art says in the corner, "New! Role Playing Epic!"
That is an abuse of the word epic.
It reminds me of how primitive man of the late 19th century first treated nickelodeons and movie theaters. People nearly shat themselves just to watch a guy cross the street. Eventually the golden age of the silver screen came along and created masterpieces like Dracula, Hell's Angels and Citizen Kane. Video Games can follow a similar projection and using that analogy, that is why Japan went bat shit crazy over one man killing slimes and rescuing a princess and the industry barely blinks an eye at that stuff now. (yes, there was even a golden age, just like film, the 16-bit era)
Overall, it's an amusing title and should at the least be respected for establishing a mega franchise. Much like Final Fantasy, its musical themes, enemies and general feel have carried over in subsequent titles, building upon very humble beginnings. Any fan of RPGs, JRPGs, and those interested in the history of gaming owe it to themselves to play this.
Plus Japan is just Insanely bizarre anyways.
9 сен 2024
