Dragon Quest IX – Sentinels of the Starry Skies

I brought this game this time last year, I would often dabble a couple of hours here and there until early in january where in the past month I have but about 24 hours into it. This is my first outing into the Dragon Quest series and wont be my last.

The game in design and the way it plays is a very very very traditional JRPG, apparently the Unique selling points of this game compared to the other games are the online functionality and the customization, I haven’t at the point of writing this completed the extra downloadable quests however if i was to 100% the game like someone i saw online did it would take me 773 hours… However I really did enjoy the customization of this game the ability to design the look and the abilities of your party all the way through the game was actual a great way of helping me connect with the game. However I found the main quest to be fun and engaging, although it is very simple of finding 7 Fyggs ( some other things happen)  and then beating the final bad guy. although it did feel a bit generic I still found it fun enough to play. Their was some good link up for the story line and some threads that was done earlier and i did enjoy how some of it did feel like it all slotted together .

Also there didn’t really feel like long period of grinding required for me to progress yes their we occasions when I had to but i never felt like I have to stay in a field for 6 hours to kill random enemies

Ther enemies in this game are another reason why I felt this game worked with me where as with other JRPG’s I had tried all the monsters and bad guys seemed to be the most serious thing ever, however in this game they all seemed to be somewhat light hearted , By this I mean there were some really fun enemies such as cucumbers with spears and bags of money that attack you. To me this felt great it never felt to overly serious and grave  in contrast to some final fantasy games where every cutscene makes you feel depressed with the state of the world.

Graphically I didnt really like the big heads or DK mode look of the characters I think i would have prefered with people all in regular proportions however i wonder if part of this was due to the DS’s technical limitations and how much was down to options. Also another improvement i would have like to have seen would be allow you to make a full save anywhere you want  I just got annoyed having to run to the church every so often to save.

I would have to say if you have never played a JRPG game before in your life and don’t know if you would enjoy them play this game first the game is just the ultimate game for beginners such as my self, this game is so much fun its all ready in my game of the year candidates 9/10