I've been meaning to actually play a Dragon Quest game for quite some time now. It's one of the longest running JRPG series, how have I not played one? I mean, one difficulty I had was which one to start with. And gonna admit, Penny SnapCube playing this one made me decide this would be my first Dragon Quest title. And honestly, I'm not entirely sure if this was the best one to start with.
This game is very cozy, the world, the characters, and even the plot for the most part. While there are world-ending stakes, it never really feels like it, so for the entire game it feels just like the fun fantasy romp, one where you can just sort of relax, and go along with the flow. The combat is quite simple, but I think it's executed extremely well, providing for just a lot of fun battles. There's just a lot executed super well here. I love how you can apply skill points to certain skills once you level up, and you can gain new skills by doing it. It really personalizes the characters, and though it's not like full customization or whatever, it does give additional attachment to these characters.
But god does this game had some notable issues for me. For one, level grinding is abysmal. Sure, you don't have to do it very often, but when you have to level grind, it sucks. If you go by just general enemies, you're gonna be spending like an hour to get just one level. If you go for the Metal Slimes, it all depends on RNG for both encountering them, hitting them, and them not running away first turn. It's more frustrating than anything else for me. Plus, the random encounters were a pain in the neck for me, especially when later on when I was unable to flee. I love watching 7 enemies attack me while I just have to wait there for when next I can do something. And then I have to hope I can flee the next turn. One of my biggest pet peeves in RPGs is when you can fail fleeing. One last negative is that there are some story moments that just were bad, and in some situations aged like room temperature milk. But those moments are only one fragment of a larger story.
Though I do talk more negatively about my frustrations, this game is still far from bad. There's just so much I like here, and if it wasn't for the things that frustrated me as much as they did, it could easily be much higher than this. I hear the 3DS version takes out random encounters which does take out one of my biggest issues, but I played the PS2 version, so I had to deal with it. I feel like this might not have been the best Dragon Quest to start out with, but it's still a really good one nonetheless.