The “My History With…” series are my thoughts back when I was a kid to young adult, about when I got games of a series, my initial thoughts about them, and other thoughts about the games. I stick to games I have or had, not one I played for the first time when i discovered emulation or modern system remakes. 

I think the Dragon Quest/Warrior series was my first dip into playing RPGs as a kid and what got me hooked. I always enjoyed the longform story of having a main objective (or objectives) and your heroes solve problems in other locations along the way, figuring out how to utilize gear, and more. Even as a kid I didn’t mind grinding that much (though now with emulators you got that magic fast forward button). Sure the DQ/W series progressed slower than the FF series, but I loved it all the same. I started playing the games a bit out of order, but the stories being told in each games still fascinated me seeing how even as a kid I was into sci-fi and fantasy genres. I had a wide range of emotions playing all of these: joy, anger and sadness at plot points. I should really start replaying some of the remakes of these and rediscover my childhood joy.

I’m sticking with 1-4 and 8 since those are the ones I own or have owned. I have played the original and remakes of 5-7 but never owned them now or growing up.

ONTO THE GAMES:

I don’t remember how I first played this, either rented it or borrowed it from friends but even early in the NES era I loved rpgs! I was fascinated by the look and feel of the game, and looked for any notes or tips i could find through Nintendo Power or friends! I still have my old NP poster with the map showing the stuff in towns and where monsters are! I played this for hours, sometimes recklessly and getting a death for going to the wrong place or trying to get to a town to heal and rng went against me. I also loved seeing the pictures in the guides of the weapons, armor and items! I always loved reading and adventures as a kid, so this game with all its dialogue and reading helped develop my reading and vocabulary skills. Eventually I did finish this and I was glad. I would love to replay this fully with the Japanese SNES remake.

This was the last of the NES DW games I got and was happy to finally have it! This is one the harder ones and the only NES DW I didn’t finish due to the Cave of Rhone. I loved the continuing story years after DW1 and the expanded world map! Like the others I played for hours reading and looking for clues and grinding monsters. I was already used to multiple party members and monsters from 3 but having honed my skills with 3, I knew how to fight most of the time. This was one the harder ones with the larger world map and having to cover a lot of distance if you needed to heal at an Inn or even go and save so many times I lost a run thanks to being reckless or rng. I do want to finish this one day, even if it’s the Gameboy or Japanese SNES remakes.

I think this was the first one I actually owned and was amazed how big the world map and how deep the lore and quest I was to partake in by all the maps, the pictures of the gear, spells and the fact the manual was one big guidebook for it with maps! Choosing my own party was a fascinating thing to me and for my first (and only run) I went with the basic Hero, Fighter, Pilgrim and Wizard, but I did play around at times with the other classes, especially since I needed the Merchants at one plot point in the game. This was a game that had the largest world I ever explore din a video game, rivaling Final Fantasy. I played and read about this game for hours, grinding trying to make progress and being mad if I lost everything. I was surprised that there was a whole new world after beating the main enemy and it was the world of DW! I dunno if I would go back through this because the final dungeon is quite rough, long and has multiple boss fights and unlike Final Fantasy, few chances to heal and revive. After a very long fight I beat Zoma and won and decided that was enough. This one I would love to sit down with the SNES remake of due to the new stuff and quality of life features and fewer random fights that became a staple of the Gameboy, SNES and other remakes of these early games.

This one was my FAVORITE of the original NES DW games as a teen and still is now! I even had the mail-order strategy guide. I somehow lost it over the years and rebought it a few years back and have it storied away since its rare now. The fact we had 5 chapters with different types of heroes and fighting styles fascinated me and I loved it. During my runs I learned things from friends so would hang around chapters to get the best stuff either from drops, the Casino, leaving stuff in the Vault for Chapter 5 and leveling much as I could. I loved the idea that the plots for the early chapters had a basic plotline and eventually branched out into a worldwide problem when you start Chapter 5 and the Hero’s village is destroyed! I loved how it was a different world from the Erdrick Trilogy and this game really built on all the improvements of the previous games and I liked the tactics systems where your allies fought how you ordered them. Main theme of DW4 was love and friendship and evolution. Grinding was still a chore especially learning you would need everyone for the final battle (like FF6). In my old strategy guide I even had the path written out for the final castle seeing how it was a maze. I was shocked and got worried fighting the final boss seeing him lose body parts and gain new ones until he reached his final form! This game, like DW3, really made you EARN that great and heartwarming ending. This one I really want to revisit with the DS/Android remake, not just for the quality of life improvements, but for the different (even silly) accents for the different regions of the world, and the extra post-game content!

This was the last one I owned and I was amazed by the jump in graphics, music, quality and more on the PS2, especially with having dipped my toes previously in DQ5 and on the SNES via emulators. i still have the strategy guide for this and I was amazed by the depth of this with the skill and cooking system and what an upgrade this was from the previous titles! I also to this day still love the cartoony graphics and how it looks like they’re inserted into the scenes when traveling or in battle. The cast is a lot of fun to get to know and I’m glad there’s more then just the main plot going on in this one. I’ll get back to finishing this one day, I think with my ADHD I got way too into the skill system trying to get everything and it burned me out, along with not having as much time as I used to for exploring and playing. Probably restart the PS2 version or I’ll give the DS remake a spin too.

What’s YOUR history with these games?

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