You know, when I say "we get thrown in the dungeon", I don't mean "literally".
I mean... what else am I supposed to say? I come from Dundrasil and floated to Cobblestone in a basket?
Hendrik, "...investigation" is not an investigation.
Sounds to me like you won't be doing a lot of judgement. Sounds more like you've already made your choice.
Achievement unlocked: Get arrested! Truly, what RPG is complete without a visit to the slammer?
Welcome to the first overworld map!
Now that we have a map, I can show it off! I'm surprisingly bad at being in the habit of doing it, and it's not like the map is that interesting...
If you push the Y Button, you can get some useful information up here.
Maps of Nearby Areas... well, it's not something I use, but if you're easily lost and/or a better visual navigator, this might help jog your memory on navigation.
Local Monsters tells you what monsters it is possible to find in an area, regardless of what circumstances they require to appear in, as well as having exactly the correct number of "blank spaces" of enemies- at this stage in the game, I will find enough enemies on this map to fill the ??? spaces, no more, no less. There are caveats, of course, but the information you're not getting won't influence your strategies in any significant way.
This one I really don't get. Purple dots for Quests are labelled by default. Perhaps if you want to make sure you've accounted for them all?
"Sparkly Spots" tells you where all the blue shinies are, although it won't tell you what they are until you've found them. Once it does, though, it will also tell you when the sparkly spots have regenerated and you can harvest them again for more resources. If you know where to find what you need, this is a good way to help you stay on top of the timing of its regeneration.
Scattered across Erdrea, usually outside towns, are horse hailers. It's literally as good as they say- use one, and you're instantly put on your horse. This is the only way to spawn her if she goes missing, to note.
We already have our horse, though, so off into the world we go. "Parting Place" intrigues me, honestly.
Ah, nothing beats the Overture in getting the hype blood flowing. Welcome to Dragon Quest: one of the very first RPGs ever, codifier for so many of the fundamentals of the genre, and home sweet home for any RPG veteran looking to get back to the basics every once in a while. Dragon Quest isn't a particularly serious story- if you're looking for goofy puns, you're in luck- but it has spent thirty years refining its craft to hit its one note as loudly as it can possibly get. Besides, that just makes the darker moments hit all the harder.
Echoes of an Elusive Age feels like a massive celebration of the series, and is an easy favourite of the bunch. The history of the series rings loudly as we journey through Erdrea. The games themselves are non-linear, though- even with stories that are directly connected, like the I-II-III or IV-V-VI trilogies, being familiar with one is not necessary for another, but you'll be tickled if you are and you spot the threads connecting different lands.
We start, as all great journeys do, by naming our character. Dragon Quest's Heroes are silent protagonists all the way down, and while some of the games (3, 4 and 9) let you bring a female representative, many are largely male. As much as I like the game, I blame 5 for this- that story in particular requires a male protagonist, and after that, the devs likely just focused their efforts in other areas rather than design female protagonist options.
Draconian Quests, accessible by pushing the X Button (at least on Switch, which is what I'll be using), are additional difficulty options. You can start them only on file start and while you can toggle them off, you can never put them back on once you do. "Reduced Experience from Easy Fights" is a highly recommended option, because it can get incredibly easy to overlevel if you're trying to get things from fights that aren't EXP. I won't be using it this run because the list of Draconian Quests you have applied show up on screenshots and I'd rather not have them around.
DQ Heroes have very little in the way of "canon" names- and annoyingly, the main ones from VIII onward are the numbers of their games (so, this guy goes by "Eleven"). Erdward is the name I like to give him when I want his name to sound like a name (...for a given definition of such), but there is no official usage of it.
In addition to all the miscellaneous settings we have to tinker with, we get the option to play in 3D or 2D mode. There's a feature later on that's mandatory 2D, but we'll be playing predominately in 3D mode. There are key differences in the battle engine between these options, and I prefer the 3D engine's take where differences exist.
Yes, we're playing The Simpsons Game (2007) on this blog. This game has excellent writing, written by the Simpsons writers themselves (I'm told the head writer is Matt Selman), and whatever the faults of the gameplay itself, the narrative I'm going to show off today is an excellent meta-narrative about video games as a whole.
Context: The Simpsons have discovered a manual for a video game set in Springfield, and harness their video game powers for selfish ends. When aliens invade the town, the Simpsons seek out a cheat guide to match the aliens' power levels and fight them off.
Lisa: Oh my god. It's the mother ship!
Bart: This must be the level boss for this part of the game!
(This game has subtitles, but I disagree with their sense of timing.)
It is time to fight the final boss of the aliens, Kang and Kodos themselves. (Yes, the aliens are Rigelians, it's impossible for the Simpsons to deal with aliens and not bump into them.)
Homer: The boss!? Quick, everyone look busy!
Homer, meanwhile, has foolishly misunderstood the word "boss". He's dealt with a little too much Mr Burns in his life.
Kang and Kodos start firing lasers at the family.
...And a hatch opens.
Bart: Guys, look! The hatch opens after every four laser bursts! That's the weak spot where we need to fire!
I applaud your pattern recognition, but I think you need at least one more cycle to prove that.
Kang: Hey Kodos, that ugly kid's right! Why are we exposing our weak spot after every four laser bursts?
Kodos: You're right! Why do we even need to expose our weak spot at all?
I assume you're venting heat from firing your laser. The fact the weak spot is so prominently coloured probably means your ship needs a better design, but cycle systems have some justification. Maybe that's just as video games progressed, though.
Kang: Thanks for the heads-up, Earth dumbass!
...Can he hear you? I don't think Kang and Kodos ever actually communicate with the Simpsons in this game.
Kodos: Screw fighting one family! Why don't we just blow up the whole town? They can't stop us from doing that!
Kang: Sounds good to space-me!
The Rigelians have gotten way too genre-savvy now. As powerful as the Simpsons are, they can't match spaceships in movement and firepower.
