Did Dragon Quest 6 meet your expectations?

[Andykin Skysk8r | 49]

Hey everyone. Im a big fan of the Dragon Quest games. I really liked 1 and 2, 3 was super addicting, 4 was really good, and 5 is one of the best games I've ever played. So naturally I was pretty excited to play DQ6. However after putting 10 hours or so into it, it hasnt really lived up to my expectations. For an RPG released in the mid 90s it seems really basic. It would have no doubt been amazing in 1992, but this was the time when it was competing with the likes of FF6 and Phastasy Star 4. Compared to those games, DQ6 seems good but nothing special. Theres nothing wrong with that, but for the next installment in the biggest RPG series I feel like they underperformed on it. I've never seen a ranking where anyone considers it a better game than DQ5, which is pretty telling imo. 

 

Did anyone have the same experience as me, or on the contrary do you think it was an amazing game in the same league or better than DQ5, FF6, etc. ?

 

Edit 2 months after posting this: I've been playing this game pretty regularly for two months and while the multi-world gimmick has grown on me and I appreciate it more, another issue I'm having is with roadblocks in the game where I get stuck for extended periods of time. I don't want to complain about parts where this is solved by grinding, because DQ2 I remember being pretty grindy at times and I gave it a pass. But on top of that there is a fair amount of crypticness and it doesnt really have the personality to pull you back into it when this happens. Im currently at the part where I'm looking for the four legendary armaments and I've got all but the armor. I know its probably in the castle in the southwest island, and that I probably need the flying carpet to get to it, but as for finding the carpet the only hint it gives me is that a rich fashionable has it. I thought they might mean the fashion guy on the small southern island but it seems like its not him. I've spent at least 6 hours just trying to solve this one armament and I'm probably going to stop playing the game at this point.

Edited December 20, 2021 by Andykin Skysk8r

[MagusSmurf | 577]

I don't think any of the first seven are amazing games so I guess?

It does have its issues. The job/class system is not as good as FFV's despite releasing 3 years later. That's not too-damning in itself since not much manages to beat out FFV there anyways but yeah.

I think this is the game where Dragon Quest's approach to characterization and party dialogue - or perhaps I should say their "non-approach" - being behind the times gets very blatant. IV and V had some clever ideas to make them still sort of work out there. Dragon Quest VI basically doesn't and the cast is pretty bland and unmemorable as a result. There are some neat touches to world building with NPCs but I'd easily trade it all for a likable party.

The plot (never very strong to begin with) become super-enormously diffuse to the point of practically not existing after the first third or so and the job system isn't even accessible until then.

If you want to adventure around through a bunch of Dragon Questy local medieval crises with competent gameplay and production values, Dragon Quest VI delivers. It's a good game. Great? Nah - but I'd also be saying that to any of the first seven games, at least for their original versions.

[Andykin Skysk8r | 49]

^Yeah I think you basically nailed it with the lack of characterization aspect. DQ 1-4 were all really innovative for their times so in their historical context I do consider them great games even if a modern gamer would find them archaic. DQ5 had such a great story and did have some characters you actually got invested in. DQ6 just doesnt have any of those redeeming factors and as you put it feels behind the times. 

[Sumez | 2,949]

Dragon Quest 6 was like the third or so DQ game I played, but it was the one that finally won me over to to the series, making me go back and play all the others. It greatly exceeded my expectations, and is still probably my #1 DQ game, or maybe #2 right behind DQ11.

Same league as FF6? Haha no, very few games are, and it's not fair to compare the DQ games to it. What the Dragon Quest series usually does well is very different from that game, so they aren't really competing. Like MagusSmurf said, there's no great focus on the plot or your party characters, it's simply not what the game is about.
DQ5 though? 6 is way, way better. I'd say it's a bit of a return to form after 4 and 5, which IMO are some of the weaker games in the series.

Edited October 21, 2021 by Sumez

[Estil | 1,264]

You guys did the SNES version, DS version, or both?  I did SNES version and then a little later the DS one.

I like DQ5 best of all besides DQ11.  It's cute that I get to name my blue haired twins after my kitties