Why haven't you added your Steam library here? Is it because it's over 4k games long?! I have to actually sit through a "this page has become unresponsive" just to get your games list to load.

Yeah it's very easy to forget what needs to be done. At least the 3ds version of DQ7 added the tablet tracker, a summary screen, and better hints from that fairy in the tablet temple. On ps1 it was very easy to just not know where to begin to look for that missing tablet or which world you need to pop back into.

I agree with you on DQ I&II. I enjoy the simplicity of those games, I just wish I didn't lose my save to a glitch right as I was nearing the end in DQII...
It's hard not to love DQV and it's ambitions. The DS remake really is a great experience. I only recently played through it for the first time just barely a year ago. Went with Debora as my wife since they added her to the DS version and she was pretty funny at times. My favorite DQ games however go 8, then 9, then 7 so I'd say the best is yet to come for you in the marathon as long as you don't get burned out by how long they all are.

I'm liking Valkyria 4 quite a bit and I'm glad it is actually tough for a tactics game. Need to really devote some time to the backlog and stop bouncing around playing random games for an hour or two...

Seems like you're on a DQ marathon this summer/fall. What have you thought of the first 5 games so far? Any clear favorite?

Yay! Now you must get a Switch... Octopath Traveler has been pretty fun so far. I like everything about it, except maybe a couple of the story lines. They aren’t all able to keep my interest and I end up forwarding through the text sometimes.

Your progress against Bak’laag has to be better than mine. I haven’t beaten anything in over a year now! I’ve bought quite a few too... It’s just difficult to find time to sit down and play now. Trying to focus on a game for more than an hour does not seem to happen anymore.

Oh, it ABSOLUTELY was overkill; my team was like a thermonuclear device with feet. I'd just played the original so damn many times and never done anything with the class system beyond turning my Pilgrim into a Sage, and the mood just struck me to go completely batshit nanners with it. That and I kinda wanted to see what a thief could do, since I'd never played the Game Boy Color remake.

Dragon Warrior 1 was my first RPG of any kind - man, was I confused as hell until I figured it out - so I remember back when people's first question about RPGs wasn't, "So, what's the story like?" Don't get me wrong: I love a good story, but somewhere along the line, that somehow became the focus of the entire genre, which likely played a big part in why there have been about 5 tough JRPGs that were released after the NES. We'd go around, hunting monsters for gold and experience just because that was fun to us. Sure, there was other stuff going on in the world around us, and a goal, but it unfolded a lot more organically. I also say that the original Dragon Warrior was a perfectly balanced game. That's not to say that it's the best game in the genre - it's not - but I thought it was neat how its simplicity allowed it to be so.

For some reason, screen size usually isn't an issue for me, and I don't know if that's a "terrible spatial reasoning" thing or what, but even when big screen TVs were a big deal, I didn't like them any more than any other TV. Come to think of it, I wonder if that's why I don't get the big deal about seeing a movie in the theatre vs. seeing it on Netflix.

I never really went super crazy with the class system until I played the SNES remake; I have a ninja (thief with wizard spells), a paladin (soldier with pilgrim spells), and a spiritualist (fighter with both). I had a blast with it, too. I thought the Dragon Warrior 1 and 2 remakes were mostly just okay; they had some neat effects, but the visuals weren't as good to me. As for the grinding, it sorta was the experience of the first game, so to have it lessened made it seem like there really wasn't much to it, since there wasn't really much of a story. Well, none of the Dragon Warrior games I've played had much of a story; what 4-7 had going for them in the story department was the way in which they were told (chapters/generations/dual worlds/time travel). I thought that the remake of 4 for the DS was atrocious. Well, aside from the pirate town; that was glorious.

That's because that's the BEST party! That's what I usually use, myself, despite the recommendation being to have a wizard instead of a fighter; I find that attack spells in Dragon Warrior games aren't terribly useful, at least until you get into the later entries.

The combat in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is really good, but it takes a dozen hours or so to unlock the good parts of the gameplay. In that way it reminds me of FF13 and how it takes a while for the mechanics to get fun. The story and characters however are either love them or hate them, it's all very Shounen Anime, and has a lot of fanservice... Also the english dub doesn't match too well with the cutscenes, but you can download the japanese voices from the eShop. So all things considered I only recommend it if you don't hate anime.
Octopath is great btw, really oldschool random encounters and has a moody medieval setting, so if you like DQ you'll probably enjoy it I think

lol yes

everyone should own a Switch

I noticed you when you started updating your status with Dragon Quest games. It's great to see you on here again! Good luck with the marathon, too. That'll take serious dedication.

Loved it! It's my second playthrough, actually. I'd originally played the SMS version, without the FM sound in 2014. It's a fantastic JRPG, and dare I say it... better than all NES Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior games, aside from Dragon Warrior III. I also used maps the first time around; however, I had much more fun playing with graph paper, because it does feel like how it was intended to be played.

The plan is to play the entire series throughout the year, so Phantasy Star II will be next. It was always a hard game for me to get into, with its weird, auto-battle combat, but I'm eager to really give it a fair shot this time. I never even made it past the first dungeon.

Were you once on here as an alternate account? I want to say TrapDoor, but I'm unsure. I think I had you added back then, really liked that green/purple color scheme you used, and even based some of my old ones off of it. Your current one is also really good.

I guess you’re pretty hyped for Dragon Quest XI. Playing through all of the previous first, to prepare, sounds like quite the challenge. There’s a lot!

I was not able to get into the one I tried... Whichever title it was that rereleased on the DS first. You have done quite well with it so far, from the looks of your Memory Card!

Octopath Traveler is much better than expected so far. I read more negative reviews than positive about it. Still went for it though - yay! It was one of the first games I looked forward to after replacing my Switch. I’m exited to get further into it, but X Games is this weekend!

Ooooooo! Whatcha gonna get? A stealachu? A stompyton? Seriously, though, the SNES version of Dragon Warrior 3 is probably the best remake in the franchise.

Yeah, it's been some time. I recall your new game being Warcraft II for some time.

Everybody's Golf is fantastic. It's not difficult so far, and I think it has the potential to be the greatest golf game of this generation.

That's a lot of Dragon Quest. If you can pull that off, that'd be impressive. I played the four Phantasy Stars in Japanese for one month, but playing the first nine Dragon Quests back to back? That requires true patience. Best of luck to you.

Playing through Dragon Quest! Excellent choice!

Thanks! I've changed it a few times in the last couple of weeks, but I think this is the one. It didn't help that I had to "repurchase" SMT IV: Apocalypse since the wrong game was in the case when originally purchased five months ago. Game number four was up in the air for a little while there...

The warrior has yet to be played in any Gauntlet title I think. Ranged classes usually get chosen over melee in such games, they seem easier for me.

Have fun with Diablo!

Thanks!

Which character did you usually play as in Dark Legacy? It's difficult to remember them all now, there were so many to unlock... But I do remember mostly playing as the jester. We were able to unlock every character, except for that damned unicorn. We tried so many times!

Just last week, or maybe the week before, the Steam edition was on sale for $5.99. Somehow, surprisingly, I resisted it... Maybe next time? I think it'd be more enjoyable, for me, if a Gauntlet title was available on the 3DS - hint-hint.

Hopefully, you managed to get a worthy price for some of those games you traded. Sometimes though, it's just good to free up some space, especially if you can't see yourself ever playing them again. They certainly aren't any use to anyone sitting on a shelf, collecting dust!

I hope that the new system works for you.

Merry ringversary

Also, that is one neat banner you've got on your Backloggery page

New game added - Warcraft 2: Beyond the Dark Portal (time to beat - 17 hours)

It's weird, I've never had motion sickness from video games before but for some reason Resident Evil 7 is really bad for me. I've cranked the brightness up and I tried playing it during the day with the blinds open and that alleviated it somewhat, so maybe the darkness was giving me a bit of tunnel vision or something? If all else fails I'll pop a travel sickness pill haha