Dragon Quest IX

[Vampyr]

Does anyone else here have this game? (Nintendo DS)

I got it a couple of days ago, and so far it's been great. It's the first Dragon Quest/Warrior game I've played since Dragon Warrior III, so this one has been bringing back some good memories. I enjoy the whole going to an Inn and recruiting a team of whatever people you want.

The game has a great multiplayer system, or so I'm told, haven't messed around with it yet, but it's also just a great traditional RPG. Also, every piece of equipment has its own model...so anything you equip changes the appearance of your character.

[Typhoid]

A friend of mine has it and said it's pretty cool.

I didn't know you could just recruit people from Inn's. Is it sort of like FF:Tactics in that way?

What's the battle system like in it? I've never played a Dragon Quest game before, so I have no idea what the game would be like.

[Vampyr]

Yeah, it's a lot like Final Fantasy Tactics, except you'll probably only ever recruit 3 people, unless you're feeling very adventurous and want to level others up. You can change their class at any time, though, so you aren't locked into whatever class you initially choose for them.

The battle system is a traditional turn based. You get as long as you want to choose your attacks. After a fight you get gold and experience, once you level up (after hitting level 5) you get skill points which you can invest in weapon skills or a vocation skill.

It's basically a dungeon crawler / grinder / item collection sort of game, and the story is pretty good too.

[Neo]

I want to get this eventually. I'm currently playing whatever the last one was to be released on the DS.

[Typhoid]

How many classes are there, approximately?
Does getting better in one class not have any specific advantages? Meaning it won't unlock other classes etc.

And the battle system is like old FF games?

This sounds like something I'd enjoy a lot.

[Vampyr]

Hmm, off the top of my head, I think this is all the classes:

Warrior
Martial Artist
Mage
Priest
Thief
Minstrel

Gladiator
Luminary
Sage
Paladin
Ranger
Armamentalist

The second group there has to be unlocked, which I think you do by performing certain quests, not by reaching a certain level in a class. Once a class is unlocked it's unlocked for everyone.

There isn't a huge benefit to staying in one class. There is a lot of overlap in what skills the classes have available, so you can actually farm skill points by levelling a character in one class, then switching back to their "real" class. So my priest for example, I'm currently levelling her as a mage and putting all the mage points into wands. Then when I switch back to priest, I'll be able to level as a priest and use the priest points on the priest vocation skill. (Each class is levelled invidiually, so one character could be a level 50 page and a level 10 priest for example)

Likewise, if you invest 100 points into a weapon skill, you can use that weapon on any class. So if I wanted my martial artist to be able to have a shield I could level him as any class that has access to one (warrior, priest, minstrel, etc) and build up his shield skill to 100.

So really, there are enough classes to where you can farm points to get most things you want, so it's better to switch around.

[Ginkasa]

I got this on the day it launched and have been playing it pretty consistently since this. An awesome thing about this game is the "post-game." Usually I skip post games. They don't seem really accesible to anyone who doesn't want to just watch paint dry for 8 hours at a time farming or grinding. The post game does have a bit of that, but new rewards and skills and whatnot come at a quick enough pace that I always feel like I'm really advancing. The weekly quest updates are pretty awesome as well. The wait is a little annoying, but I can appreciate the "serial" storytelling its using.

I'm about 95 hours into it and not even close to being done with it (i.e. I've beaten the story, but am still playing). This is unprecedented for me.

[Dyne]

This game is fantastic. I play it all the time.

It's legitimately the next best RPG after Pokemon as far as handhelds go.

The game is FULL Co-op. It's mindblowing. Except when you get a particularly long set of cutscenes, then they get bored. This happened a couple lunches ago with my friend Cam who's about 80 hours in. I think I'm only around 45.

[Typhoid]

Im borrowing this from a friend, and I have a question:

Is there any reason to ever create more than 3 [other than main character] people? Because it doesn't really seem like there is a lot of incentive to do it.

[Dyne]

The game is ridiculously easy with four party members. Other people are there basically to absorb attacks from enemies. Also, I found out that it's really stupid to not level dudes up without your main character so start making those 3 dudes.