Review Date: April 25, 2021
Release Date: September 1, 1990
Platform: NES
Publisher: Enix
Genre: RPG
Anecdotes: When I started the project of compiling my game list last year, so I could play and review them this year, I was excited to try out the Dragon Quest series, thinking it would be similar to to Final Fantasy, a series I enjoy very much. I had heard great things about various games in the series, particularly 8, so I thought I’d give them a try. Then I played the first game, and I hated it. There wasn’t a party and the grinding became extremely boring. Therefore, in game 2, I’ll be looking to see what improved from the first game and what didn’t. It certainly can’t be worse.
Description: An unnamed hero first has to build a party. Then the party has to search the world for five crests to reveal the way through Hargon’s castle and on to fight Hargon himself.
Positives:
-The biggest improvement from the first game was the overhaul of the battle system. Battles are no longer limited to one-on-one contests. The party grows to three early in the game, and I didn’t see any point where it drops back down to 1 or 2. The enemies can be in groups of any size, but the largest I saw was a group of eight Metal Slimes.
Negatives:
-Everything in the shops is still overpriced. It takes forever to rack up the gold to pay for anything. Couple that up with the complete mystery of what each item does, whether it’s an improvement, and guessing who can equip it, and that’s just a big mess. It’s one thing to buy something, not knowing if it will help. It’s another to spend an hour grinding the gold to buy it.
-I’m not ashamed to admit that I had to use a walkthrough to have any prayer of knowing what I’m doing. Everything is cryptic and hard to find. Even using maps and a walkthrough, it’s still ridiculous to figure anything out.
Screenshots:
Final Opinion: I didn’t get much enjoyment out of this game, but it’s a serious improvement from the first. It’s not offensive or angering, so it’s not an F. It’s not an incredibly boring chore to play, so a D doesn’t seem fair either.
Grade: C