#game-review #finishedgame2025 # Dragon Quest III (HD-2D) ![]() [Console:: Nintendo Switch] [Status:: Beaten] [Approximate Start Date:: 2025-02-19] [Finish Date:: 2025-08-13] [Clear Time:: 46h 31m] [Total Play Time:: 50h] [nReplays:: 0] ## [Rating:: 93] # Playthrough Notes - Playing the HD-2D remake on the Switch - Initially had the "next location" marker on, but I turned it off to "soak in the experience". I figure I can just turn it back on as needed. - I run when feels appropriate but I do like to just go at the walking speed. It's a nice pace! - I never use auto battle. - Battle Speed on Fast. Never ultra fast. ## My Initial Party - Made my own characters rather than going with the ones the game provided me. - Initial Party: - Poontilio - The Hero, Straight Arrow - Paxella - The Warrior, Charmer - (wish I had named her Paxarella) - Promoted her into Monster Hunter, might make her a martial artist afterwards? - She's just my no-nonsense damage dealer. Just truckloads of damage more than the next person. - Lupone - The Mage, Genius - Pronounced like 'Lupin' in french - Promoted into a Merchant, then into a Thief - Ginger - The Priest, Good Egg - She has blue hair - Promoted her into a Gadabout, then into a Sage. - I chose some names that are fun to say in succession due to their vowel and consonant sounds. "Ginger" is like a punchline. - It makes me laugh, what can I say? ## Final Party and Characters This was the total set of party members and recruited adventurers that helped me defeat Zoma - Poontilio (Erdrick) the Hero at Level 41 - Paxella the Animal Tamer at evel 40 - Lupone the Thief at Level 40 - Ginger the Sage at Level 39 - Bergen the Merchant who sit in a prison in Bergenberg thinking about her actions. # My Thoughts - [[I Avoid Playing JRPGs in Parallel, but I made an exception for Dragon Quest 3]] - [[Dragon Quest III HD-2D Removes a Lot of Friction of the Original Gameplay]] - But removing friction can disrupt the pacing of a game if you're not careful. - this also feels quite nitpicky. - They wanted my real name again... - Did [[Earthbound]] get that idea from here? - they thanked me for "acting", games as theater!!! - This is a lovely bedtime game, wowowow - I want to just spend a whole day in a sleepy state just playing some Dragon Quest at some point. I think that would be a really nice way to spend a rest day. - Game to play when you're sick - I'm so charmed by the music. It's so great. - I'm kind of smitten with this game. - if playing in Japanese to learn, use the Kanji with furigana. - The exploration party customization reminds me of what they later did with [[Dragon Quest IX - Sentinels of the Starry Skies|Dragon Quest 9]] - The pyramid really reminds me of the Volcano from Dragon Quest 5. It's a bit of a difficulty spike, I've had to retreat to heal a couple times, and in general it's a much longer dungeon than what I had previously seen. - I like to role-play here a bit. - After journeying to the East to Alltrardes abbey, I got the Black Pepper. But of course, my re-classed party was very under-levelled. Rather than Zoom I simply retraced my path a la Marco Polo and made my way back the way I came, grinding along the way. This allowed me to remember all the places I had been while still getting the benefit of raising my party a little bit more. - In general, the game makes the argument for "Games as Theater", with the acknowledgement of the player at the end of the credits. - I love that the place for England is "Edina" - I did a double take given that I grew up near Edina, MN - the people in edina in the game are just the people there in real life! Wow! - These boss fights really are quite difficult if you don't have the proper gear equipped. - The solo fight in Gaia's Navel was a pain in the ass because I didn't have the right equipemtn - the fight against the Garboyle get a LOT easier once I equipped my party with gear that prevented them from getting paralyzed - so also I fought the harder bosses before fighting the easier boss guarding the green orb. Lol, shououts to open world games! - Lol so the red orb is just in the pirate's hideout, underneath the statue and I just found it because I arrived there at night and saw a glowing red light. - How the heck is a game this big a game that started on the NES? Like, genuinely, they managed to spin gold from hay here. Talk about feeding the 5000. There's so much here with a very basic sense of programming. - I love that Dragon quest Games have falling Actions that are as long or short as you want them to be. It allows you to revel in your accomplishments ## Rewarding Curiosity at every Level - Sparklies give you seeds which permanent stat upgrades (and other weapons and medicinal item) - Hidden areas with distinct geography that hide monsters that you can recruit for the monster arena. - And to top it off you get monsters with names like "Splatrick"! - There's even some dungeons that (presently) *seem* optional that are full of treasure. - You can check barrels, drawers, bookcases, pots, and other things inside random people's houses to find items and gold. - Sure, these items don't have a great sense of utility to them, but they're easy money! Therefore it quite certainly pays to be curious! - Bosses force you to try out new gear arrangements to mitigate potential status conditions. If you are winning boss fights handily, it's because you happen to have the correct ear equipped for the moment / you've not been holding onto a single gear load-out. ## HD-2D Discussion - The interface numbers when doing damage look a LOT like those seen in the [[Live Alive]] remake. - I think that I like how this one looks a LOT, though its because I haven't played *that many* HD-2D games. I can see how it would get old quickly. - Question to explore: "Does it Add to the Experience?" - or perhaps, did this NEED to be in HD-2D? Could it have been done in another style to similar effect? - Some minor slowdown on the switch because of all the trees ## The Big Baramos-Zoma Twist - "Games that contain their own sequels" - [[Tim Rogers]] - [[Dragon Quest 9 spoiled the Dragon Quest 3 twist for me before I even knew what Dragon Quest 3 was]] ## The Personality Quiz - The game starts out with a personality test that defines a certain "trait" - I think this determines the stat growths for the Hero (and can be changed with items). - I got Straight Arrow because I followed the signs and then saved the girl. I am very curious to see how this could extend. - But ultimately the personality quiz is designed to map the player onto the hero because you're asked to back up your words with actions. - Hey I've seen this before.... (because I played [[Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team|Red Rescue Team]] before this). I have to assume that the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon franchise drew inspiration from the Dragon Quest 3 questionnaire given that they already are drawing from a spinoff from Dragon Quest 4. - I would love to break into this at some point after all's said and done to see how deep this personality quiz goes. - [[The Two-Layer Personality Quiz in Remakes of Dragon Quest III Subtly Forces the Player to Role Play]] ## Bergenburg - named my merchant Bergen to build up the town for the old man, imagine my whimsy when i found out the town is named "[character name]-burg". Bergenburg - fwiw i like the name bergen and also it fit the amusing phonetic name scheme with "ginger". - the town grew every 3 zooms because I didnt do this until decently late in the game. So it was hilarious to think she built the town from nothing in like 3 total days. - I have come to imagine bergen as a megalomaniac narcissistic lesbian who is very proud of her cabaret. This is really funny. This is the true Dragon quest 3 experience. Making your own stories from happenings in-game. # Favorite Moments / Memories - Gosh that orchestral soundtrack is so good. # What were you doing when not playing this? - travelling to Berkeley for SORMA West - # Relevant Links -