@@galaxier3543 I refused to believe Act III is post game. That little thing has been haunting the whole game Doom horn as I call the final boss, didn't even see it coming...
Veronicas death really changes Serena you described her as a layed back air head who didnt take it too seriously but she also seems to me shes also a coward compared to veronica she had no back bone after her sisters death, whats worse is a npc states that They always called serena the weaker twin and that serena would have likely died if she had been on her own. Serena cuts her hair and slowly comes into her own when jasper emulates Veronica and tells everyone she\he wants them to die its SERENA who stands up to and dispells the illusion and verbally stomping jaspers fake ass.
Dragon Quest III, for when it was released, was just way way way beyond it’s time. If they remade that with the new engine and revamp the mechanics to be consistent or close to 8/11, man, that would just be ridiculously awesome
The one thing that bugs me about this game is the monster variation. The designs are great of course but one design can be used 3-5 times not even including vicious or malicious variants. However, that being said a lot of my favourite monsters made the cut.
I feel like you didn’t give Calasmos the credit he is due. Since his reveal not only recontextualizes the opening cutscene, it also ties into the moral dilemma of time travel, given that you defeating Mordegon allows Calasmos to rise to power
I love the part of the game where it explains that one thing is for sure : the battle between light and darkness will always exist. I hope that Hori will expand more on this, perhaps even let the player make decisions that may seem pure but are evil. Just like the Yggradgraon said, he can be lulled into evil , we saw an example of this with Hendrick serving Mortagan, although his intentions and loyalty were there he served the dark side. We need more of this in the next dragon quest.
I would very much like more of that too. I'm not sure about the main character doing those things, but I would like to see more heroes led astray, and our observing of that.
GC Positive Imagine that though? I would love to see the character be forced into situations where he must choose between 2 evils. Or even his friends in the party betray him. But I think topics like this maybe would be too deep and dark for even the friendliest of blue slime monsters !
Besides what you already mentioned, the time travel stuff has other massive implications: - When the Luminary from Act 2 travels back to just before the party enters the First Forest, he effectively wipes THAT Luminary from existence. - Despite what the blue Gumby lady says, traveling back in time doesn't wipe out the timeline where the Time Sphere is shattered. Instead, that Luminary creates a new timeline when they time travel (so it becomes more like going to an alternate reality). - To follow up with the previous point, at the end of Act 3, Serenica does this also, so by the end of the game, there are now at least three realities: #1 being post-cataclysmic Erdrea with no Luminary nor Veronica, #2 being an alternate reality where Mordegon was thwarted early and Calasmos is defeated by the Luminary and his party, and #3 another one where Erdwin never died and, presumably, kills Calasmos. In reality #3, either Erdwin becomes the first Erdrick (if he presumably killed Calasmos, which is most likely) or the protagonist of DQ3 becomes the first Erdrick and we don't know what happened with Calasmos. In reality #2...we don't know. It's not canonical that he creates the Supreme Sword of Light, so perhaps the design of the Sword of Light might indicate that this reality continues onto the Zenithian Trilogy, with the Sword of Light becoming the Sword of Ramias from DQVI. Very flimsy, I know, but the resemblance of the blade is uncanny. In reality #1...we also don't know. Calasmos gets yeeted by the Lord of Shadows (somewhat of an homage to DQVI if you defeat Nokturnus withing 20 turns) and Lord of Shadows gets defeated. Even though this reality is the most depressing, I find it to be the most meaningful as well, up until they throw in time travel. Other than the creation of alternate realities, time travel is a garbage plot device, because no one actually goes back (or forward) in the same timeline. Not in the Terminator franchise and certainly not in DQXI. Radiant Historia recognized this, which made it a great "time traveling" RPG.
When the luminary goes back he does wipe the timelime because he destroyed the orb along the sword. When serenica does it neither the sword nor the orb get destroyed meaning it only sent her back without change to the original timeline. This is also shown when characters get a sense of deja vu sometimes during act 3.
I mean, I felt that Sylvando was good representation, and comic relief. He's just funny! His adorable mannerisms just make me smile everytime he talks. I love him! I've never simped this hard for a fictional character before.
I just finished DQ11 definitive edition and I never felt so hooked to a game. I wanted to search up other people’s opinion on this after finishing the game and you were the first video I saw. I couldn’t agree more and you explained everything so well. I loved slyvando and the humor he provided in the game. All the characters and development in plot made it feel like you were actually part of a family that wants to end this darkness. I know you posted this video a year ago but I’m happy I found your channel! I’m a new DQ fan and can’t wait for the future games and go back in the past games
Putting aside the man's reprehensible views, while I'm not fond of the synths Sugiyama utilized for the score, I find that the compositions themselves are a little underrated. Suigyama tends to play with leitmotifs rather minimally in the DQ series compared to other JRPG scores, doing only one or two renditions of a theme here and there and maybe incorporating some a motif into another track (like VIII's final boss piece cleverly weaving in the Flying theme) but this time around, he decided to approach the score more thematically than usual. There are multiple variants of themes associated with the Luminary, the World Tree, and so on that are heard throughout the journey, making for a more extensive use of musical storytelling than we've heard in the past.
Thank you for this discussion! I'd of course heard that the third act always felt a little more.. shallow than the second act, and that lots of people didn't like it as much (and I tended to agree). I'd never really thought about how that could've been, well, intentional - how it plays into that critical choice. And I appreciate your incredible wording of the story, mood, narrative of DQ11 (and all the games in your series) - I think I'm not really as expressive of how the games make me feel as you are, neither externally nor in my own thoughts - and so I love hearing your tellings of the games! So just again, thanks for this whole Dragon Quest Retrospective series - it really has been an awesome thing for me, and evidently so many other people too.
That was very much me with dq 11 I love this game for the threat that the villains actually pose it makes me feel like we are really fighting for something in this game why dq 11 is my fav
The discussion on the end of part 2 in this video is so on point. Great job. I actually decided the best decision is to stay in the first reality. I still went back just to see what happend and after seeing what happens, I stand by that.
I couldn't agree more with everything you said. The emotional moments in this game are superb, the anger when you fail at the end of the first act, the sadness and guilt you feel when you see the world state and Veronica's death... They've achieved something big with this game, really touching. I didn't really liked the post-game decision to go back in time because I considered it to be a step back in character growth, but I didn't thaught about the implications for you, the player and your character as you explained, and thinking of it... I simply can't deny it. Regarding Sugiyama, welp, I think we can all agree that he has done great OSTs (like in VIII) and he's been an important part of the franchise but the man is old and out of touch, he should f****n retire. I would add a thing to the negative side, being the reuse of boss models. It's not new in DQ but seeing a boss made common enemy twice always has buged me a bit. More after VIII and IX. Hope Horii-san listen to you and decide to remake the original trilogy (god it would be sooo good after seeing XI). Sorry for the long comment but man, + 2 great hours talking about this great game deserves a bit of my time. Thank you for it, waiting impatiently for the Yakuza retrospective (and hearing about 0) and personally, loved the format of the video, very closely.
Stumbled upon the review trying to get some of my Dragon Quest addiction satiated and the whole retrospective was so great really loving your videos, keep it up man
Regarding Sugiyama: Keep in mind that his name is boldly displayed at the start of each game alongside Horii and Toriyama. Despite his recent controversial political views, he's still heavily respected in japan as the top of his field, just like those other two. That's why they get top billing in each game, not just in the end credits, but at the beginning of each game. Despite the controversy, Square-Enix probably wants to keep milking the marquee value of those three people for as long as possible. But I do agree that at his age, he probably should retire, and Square should probably get someone new soon.
You know that they have a release for DQ11 S on the Switch that is a remade of, Dragon Quest 11 with newly aded stuff including: new quests,story related stuff,orchestral music in-game and so on ... I really don't believe you didn't see the news about that in the April (I believe) Nintendo Direct . That being said, I hope you will have time to finish the Dragon Quest 10 video man.I love your vids and i've been secretly watching them for like 5 days now and I can only aplaud your commitment to this series! Keep it up man, you the best out there at this !
Sylvando was such an important character for me. I really loved the thought that was put into his role in the whole narrative. It felt so great to see the care and inclusiveness to add this diversity to a jrpg. I played this blind. Veronica and Sylvando were the absolute highlights for me and made it unforgettable. Also you have a fantastic way of expressing your ideas. You put so much thought and effort into your videos! Thank you very much. Subscribed!!
I will say that I dont think DQ11 handles the time travel as well as you describe for 2 reasons. 1. The postgame is locked behind the decision. There is no incentive to refusing to fix time mechanically. And i think that hampers the weight of the decision. I feel like at the very least, marriage options for your act 2 companions would be a great "normal ending" route. 2. You still get to have all of your companions character arcs. Arguably, in the case of Jade, you avoid bad ones too. I dont feel like the game sold the lack of intimacy well enough in Act 3 or at least not as much as I wanted it to. I wanted a hero of the world who feels disconnected from said world kind of vibe.
I overall agree especially with your first point, I hope the sequels, while knowing we're most likely done with this group of travelers, try touching on themes like this Abit more with more weight to both decisions. It's almost like giving a choose your own adventure ending that don't suck 😂)
Man, you are part of the reason I started playing Dragon Quest. I had always stared at them from the corner of my eye, but I've always played more Final Fantasy and Tales of games. Thank you for your dedication to this series and properly introducing me to it. I've only played the first 3 games before playing 11, doing my own blind retrospective on it on my channel. 110 hours of bliss later, I loved that ending. That's the best example of going full circle I've ever seen. Only blemish in my opinion, was the music count. I see in retrospect with the DQ3 music playing why there were so few tracks, but while I was playing, I grew annoyed by the field theme and the town theme way before the 80-hour mark. I am looking forward to eventually playing Dragon Quest 4 and not seeing Erdrick at all in a game! By the way, the first trilogy is coming to Nintendo Switch next week! They seem to be kinda ports of the mobile versions, though. Better than nothing!
I really enjoy watching your perspectives on the Dragon quest series!! I didn't get to truly dedicate myself to playing the games in the series and now I definitely want to spend time with it and am looking forward to 11!! I also got really excited seeing that you were covering Yakuza! Thanks for your thoughtful analysis!
The Hendrick/Erdric similarity is probably incidental, though maybe the localization team had it in mind. In the Japanese version Hendrick is グレッグ and Erdric is ロト.
Ah geez. I didn't expect this video to make me almost cry! I'm on my second playthrough of the game, and I'm at the point of that decision to go back in time. I've had a lot of narrative issues with Act III because the character arcs are much less emotionally satisfying than they are in Act II, but your assessment of this moral dilemma actually makes me respect it more. The postgame character development being less satisfying is part of the point! Anyway, I really appreciate the video. Dragon Quest XI is my favorite game, and I think you did it justice!
To be honest, I never had a connection with Veronica in my experience so even though her death was revealed, I was rather shocked that the series would dare kill a playable character than I was sad/emotional about it. However, that made the time travel much more painful for me. I didn’t want to leave everyone behind because I just didn’t think it was worth it. Yes, many did suffer and die and yes, meeting veronica is great but all the experience we had with each other was much more precious to me. I just wanted things to move on, whatever happened happened. I felt very conflicted about i but in the end, I just did it to progress the story and teared up leaving them. Following that, I didn’t feel like our companions were the same anymore and even at the end, I didn’t manage to have a bond with them like I did before. They felt as if they were replaced by someone else and all the character development they had will only live on through our memories of them. All in all, the fact that I was really conflicted about making a decision shows to me that this game really is amazing and so far I’d rate in 2nd to Dragon Quest V.
I watched this video and the previous one immediately after finishing Dragon Quest 11 last night. I finished my play through on Switch last night at 10PM, and started my adventure through my second play through when the Xbox version launched at 11PM. This is probably my new favorite RPG, or at least in my top ten favorite games of all time. It does so much that I expect, with so much more unexpected twists that throw most of the tropes out the fucking window and completely subverting my expectations time after time. Completed after 101 hours, and cheers to 100 more. 🗡🐲
HELL YEAH! Glad you liked it! Here's hoping the mod community can make a big breakthrough and we get some content mods through it. Though it's unlikely.
I can't even believe I hadn't pieced together the fact that XI is the reason behind the entire timeline of the first three games. When you brought that up it blew my mind. I have a brand new appreciation for the ending now. 🤯
My heart still hugs DQ5 and wont let DQ11 take the top spot. This is the first game in the series to even come close and with time and replays it will take the top spot.
I LOVED the 3 acts of the game. One of my favourite theories is that DQ 1,2,3 stem from the timeline from the 3rd act while DQ 4,5,6 are a continuation from the timeline the heroes leave. The evidence of this is basically that the Supreme Sword of Light is very similar to the Zenithian sword and so it's possible that the sword gets reforged after it's destroyed when the dq11 hero travels back in time into the Zenithian Sword
What I really appreciated about the third act was how you truly learn what the world, what Erdrea, really is. You could absolutely not continue the game after the second act, for reasons you stated where hey you've become very close with your companions and there's been all this character development, to leave that world behind would be hard. Plus the fact you get a credits roll and everything too, the game is saying, "You did it!" Buuuuut even in the credits for act 2 it hints at more. There are still things you don't know, mysteries to solve, and the temptation to go back and right the wrongs. You didn't talk about it in your video but fuck damn my mind was blown when I learned the truth about Mordegon being Morcant. Suddenly so many interactions from the second act on made way more sense. What a satisfying experience overall. Not 100% perfect but damn near close.
@@GCVazquez I do it sometimes with jrpg series. There are so many good ones but they're so freaking long. Thanks for giving me the ability to do so with the DQ series. Someday I'll play all of them :p
Hey GC I really loved this video and I enjoy your depth and scope on Dargon Quest analysis. One thing that I "disagreed" with was when you talked about the luminary time traveling at the transition between act 2 and act 3. Serenica makes it clear to the hero that he must destroy the "orb" of time that represented that universe of act 2. You suggest that the hero would be abandoning the universe in it's state leaving it to go on without him. I believe the implication of the game is that the Luminary has to destroy the time continuity of act 2 in order to go back in time. The hero does not have to choose whether or not he abandons his party that he grew close to but wether or not he casts away the timeline they exist in as he has no other route if he wishes to change the fate of the world. This is a decision with significantly more dramatic moral weight and one the luminary has to make completely alone.
I think either way, this would work? Either way, the people you grew close to aren't going to be the same people you grew close to through the strife and turmoil you shared. So yeah, I can accept that! I just think the continuation of that other timeline provides additional contexts to the decision and certain other scenes in-game.
Yo! New subscriber here. I watched the first 3 DQ retrospective episodes, and you essentially convinced me to get into the series with your charm and wit. Bought a copy of DQXI S: Definitive edition and logged in 120++ hours as of today AND i still have not completed the 3rd act. It is absolutely breathtaking. I'm sure you've heard this before, but the Switch version uses the orchestra track instead of the MIDIs, plus the switch ed. adds QOL improvements too, along with an intermission chapter that takes place between Act 1 and 2 which adds so much more depth to the characters. I hope you get to play it, and better yet, I hope you make a video about that edition. You're definitely one of the more underrated youtubers that deserve more likes!!!!
I've got my copy of DQXI S and I'm ready to play through for a follow-up video! Thank you for the compliment, I'd definitely be very excited to have more eyes on my stuff! :D
I wish i wasnt spoiled of the last parts of the game cuz duscovering them would have been amazing. Specially Veronica's death holy moly thats sooooooo sad. Im still enjoying the game at least...
I hadn't played Chrono Trigger yet. You do a big spoiler warning for XI even though it's in the title, but just blow a big twist in a different game, lol. DQV too, but I've been through that part, thankfully.
28:10 yeah man this is what was going through my head when i had to do this. the game is kind of amazing for this, but also I kind of also wish for a more satisfying ending, not that it wasn't good, but going back in time feels like a painful sacrifice.
I'm really enjoying these DQ videos, the line "please don't deny war crimes" on the other one got an audible laugh out of me, but please, put a spoiler list before the videos containing the games you spoiled. The next game I was gonna play for the first time later today was Chrono Trigger, and I had no idea of the connections between the two games to know the risk it could be spoiled in a DQ video.
I actually loved that at the end of season one you lose, so few games are brave enough to be that harsh to the player. It really puts you through it, great storytelling from the team
I love Sylvando. I do also love Morie, just the way he says things is always good for a laugh. But Sylvando is just a big lovable guy, and every time I think of him I just want to play the game again.
Sylvando is the only video game character I’ve ever felt represented who I am (as a gay drag queen) fully, even tho they dodged saying he was either, it felt like every facet of his was a clue to confirm, yes, we see you, we want to represent you. Now they need an out gay character lol
Love your videos bud!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep it up I love the dragon quest content I always go back to your reviews of the old games cause you did it so well
I think the two books on the shelf with the same symbol are the alternate timelines of 11, where you do and don’t go back in time. Or it could be 3 and 11.
I desperately wanna know how and why there would even be two books about two different times, but I guess they could just be stories that survived the trip?
I remember I watched all the way up to your 9 Retrospective last year, I left a comment, and I had asked then about the 11 review and you responded Then tonight (technically last night into this morning,) I thought to myself 'I wonder how GC is doing' and to make up for being a forgetful **bum** of a viewer and somehow not turning on notifications for your videos, and because you're awesome and the amount of time put in shows itself.. watched 2 hours worth of content for DQ11 and regret nothing-! If I could go back I wouldn't go back, you're awesome and I love your enthusiasm for DQ. Peace :)
Pretty sure Cooee is just her trying to wake him up lmao. I was making an extremely long post on this video for all of your thoughts, but accidentally closed the window before I could post it. Anyway, good video man, thanks for sharing. I liked this format for a discussion vlog, and I'd still like to share my thoughts with you. I personally feel a discord would work out well in that regard.
I like this retrospective analysis for the XI S' third act. At the very least, that's something I thought about when I get presented a choice like this. I mean, I wanted the happy ending and Veronica was one of my favorite characters. So yeah, I would still make that choice to go back in time and save her. Oh shit! I just realized this! but, you know how time travelling meant that the world you left still exists? That also means that the world of DQ XI actually created THREE UNIVERSES/TIMELINES! World 1 is basically the timeline up to before the Luminary travels back in time. World 2 is the timeline the luminary travels back to to save Veronica, and World 3 is the the timeline that Serenica travels back to, thus establishing the original DQ series. This means that not only is DQ XI an uber prequel, but also a new foundation for its own continuity! 'Echoes of an Illusive Age' indeed. Damn. That's some pretty clever plot couched underneath the simple formula with some tweaks that is Dragon Quest.
Ive never played any Dragon Quest game, but you explaining this stuff with the time travels and the whatnot made feel like "wow". Hard to put it in word. Maby Im just tired, its like half past midnight. I honestly dont know.
After a marathon of your Dragon Quest series all I have to say is that you did a fantastic job. This is a great series for anyone who wants to get into the games or just know what they're all about. Excellent job GC! . . . . . . . . . Although I may not agree with your points on DQ6, it's all fair in judgment as it's subjective towards each person. I loved going in blind and just exploring the dungeons and grinding battles for the advanced vocations, but I won't deny it's not for everyone.
Thank you for your encouraging words! And yeah, 6 just had too much of that grindey stuff I can't stand in RPGs. I know some people love that stuff though, so more power to you!
good video... this game was a masterpiece. shame it had to end, I felt the way u do, by wishing there was more haha. I dont know what else can be added to this game though, even as a potential DLC, I feel it ended well, on a really high note. replaying it on the switch however in 16 bit mode will be neat. cant wait for that, wonder if i'll still need a box of tissues replaying the game in 16 bit mode haha.
Thanks for these two hours ish of looking at these games. I've only played 9 and just finished 11S (barring timewyrm, couldn't bring myself to care past a first attempt after slogging through the past masters, especially that crystalotl looking one lol), so it was nice to get your perspective. You pointed out a lot that deepened my experience, especially after I had stumbled across some, um, format based spoilers? Anyway, thanks.
Same tbf except in drustan's labyrinth when I had to kill the minibosses within a certain number of turns. I'd just hit them with magic burst to knock a large chunk of health off quickly
This is my favorite DQ game too. I've actually beaten it which more than I can say about 8. My only complaint is how time travel erases very amazing character development and the struggles the characters made it through. But at the same time I did love that the false ending was false, I just wish it was done differently
I think XI’s journey to getting the best gear, best skills, best outfits, and beating the superbosses is superb. I was actually incentivized (I played on S Definitive Edition) to slog through some monotonous grinding to lvl. 99 through really cool item designs, weapon designs, and armor designs to do the extra side material like Tickington, and while it is completely true that it barely ties back to the story, I really don’t mind that much tbh. I think the main idea is to appropriate content. Throughout most of the Dragon Quests side material is reserved for those who want that extra level of interaction - we saw it with the GBC rereleases, we saw it with the DS remakes, and we saw it (arguably in the best way delivered) in DQIX. Plus, with the modern-era DQ games having the basis of design with VIII and IX, I think the dev team perfectly amalgamated those two designs. Is it sad that there isn’t much to the side quests in DQXI? Ofc. But I think it comes down to personal taste at the end of the day... you either enjoy VIII’s design the most, or IX’s, and while I prefer IX’s idea of making the most insanely OP crew of characters with awesome-looking gear being translated **somewhat** into XI (armor sets are still basic JPEGs with stats to them besides for a good amount), I think that method of power progression was friggin’ fantastic in XI. (Edit: i should elaborate here. The quests for finding each alchemy book that gave you the best armor available, and hunting for ingredients PLUS having a Superboss in XI:S makes It imo the definitive DQ experience) But what it will always come down to is taste. There will always be a schmuck who will say “Dragon Quest stopped being good at IV!!! >:-(“, but whatevs. At the end of the day, If there’s a game series that should be considered the epitome of doing its players right, it’s DQ.
This game being released and the foundation it lays, sets up the series perfectly to remake the entire series from scratch with a more detailed story, and obviously as beautiful as DQ11. I for one would purchase remakes of 1-8 if they had as good of a remade story, were as long, and feature filled, and looked as good as 11!
As a busy adult, I really love jrpgs and their stories overall, but like other games too, so I rely on spoiler reviews to experience most jrpgs and whichever ones have great pitches like this game is the one I actually commit to lol (I can 100% Mario Galaxy in a little less than 6 hours but over 60 hours in most jrpgs and I'm lucky if I'm half way in lol) But yeah your playlist of dragon quest videos helped me consider to look into the series overall, but especially xi(I love the builder games alot more than Minecraft, hope you'll cover them lol)
I was looking at that "Yes/No" screen when asked about going back for a good 10 minutes. I didn't want to go at ll. I ended up loving the post game but it also felt selfish on the Hero's part, according to what I got from the time keeper's explanation. I felt like when both the Hero and Serenica goes back in time, a new timeline is being created.. and in some ways it feels like this universe is being created for them. The Hero goes back and saves a timeline that didn't necessarily existed before, everyone in this timeline is different from the one we started the game in. So it really ends up feeling like the purpose of saving the world in timeline 2 is just to make the Hero.. an actual hero. I guess if they made time travel with just 1 timeline and it would've been better. If I'm wrong, I'd love to hear an explanation of how it works.
Wish there was 3.5 or 1 extra game within this, that continues off of part 2's bit to push the "consequences" theme and the "true" timeline now push the love part more
Wow, so if the DQ series continues from DQ11 they have 2 other timelines to choose from. Theres the DQ3 timeline, the DQ11 Ruined Timeline and the DQ11 Restored Timeline. Echoes of an Illusive Age can truly mean they now have alternate dimensions to link the rest of the series to if they wish.
Wat, Serenica wakes him up?! Also isn't that book telling the story of the Luminary? Meaning its hundreds of years before, and since Erdwin happened before DQ11 then it can't be in the same year as DQ3
Honestly difficulty Changes everything. Play with Draconian quest where ALL Enemies are Super strong and if main protagonists dies it’s game over. The difficulty made it that I need to eventually farm seeds to progress and approaching the wheel of harma to the secret trial. The secret trial is extremely hard and you need weapons, pep pops etc to win at times and side quest along with strategy is necessary. Then Calasmos and The End of time is the true last bosses and will take massive grind to win. Please recommend higher difficulty as it changes the entire game.
With Dragon Quest 11's success and the rise of remakes as a business model for some companies Square-Enix hinted they are considering remaking alot of the DQ series. There was an interview with the team that made Dragon Quest 9 and they are considering remaking it for Switch and adding a more Single player oriented story and separating it from the multiplayer aspect. I loved the remake for Trials of Mana, so if we got a cool Action RPG DQ remake or just a turned based modern remake i'd go for either.
I DIDN'T KNOW THIS WOULD ACTUALLY HAPPEN!! I wrote this comment a day before Dragon Quest Adventure of Dai Infinity Strash was announced! I'm so happy!
Thanks for making this, you're a talented presenter and I could listen to you all day talking about the series. With every topic you brought up I found myself thinking "yeah.. YEAH! that's how I felt too but didn't find the right words to explain it". Few things though about the ending still keep me awake at night. Are we to assume that the 3rd MC is Serenica's son? What about Ortega? How did Serenica had the book of the luminary even though their story happened in the future? Why did the luminary got the title of Erdrick? Sometimes I think it's just a little wink to rewards us for playing the game until the end, but I really want a sequel where they tie all of that together in a neat little 150 hours experience.
Even more first than first thing: I rambled too much, don't feel obligated to read my nonsense, happy to hear your thoughts on the game! First thing's first- I'm more than a touch confused by the community's attitude towards hiding Hendrik. Not because I feel spoilers should be disrespected or whatever- just that I played this game with no spoilers on that end and I guess I've played too many RPGs because the second I saw him I thought "Probably" then you find out he's familiar with Jade and I thought "Oh definitely." then it happens. Like it's not hidden or secretive or a surprise at all, but this is one of the few communities I've seen go so far as to hide saying his name just because it's such a surprise. Eh, fair enough. Just seems to me like hiding that Pikachu is yellow- it's obvious the second you see him, thanks for not ruining the... surprise? I guess? lol Oh I'll cut this if you specifically say but did you try the "Super hard enemies" mode? After beating the main game before post game I began to regret not having tried it since it was so easy (didn't feel that way too much after post game but curiosity remains!) How was that if you tried it? Minibosses or more challenge content felt so missing- you really just have post game Harma and post game Drustan trials as any form of bigger baddie to fight that isn't main story related. Like, man, music. My take can't pretend to be pleased. Like, the music itself felt worse than previous entries even if it was inspired by it because I'm listening to it, in midi, with these graphics in my face, and I swear the arrangements themselves are just weaker to my "I don't know dick about music" ears. Also the midi hurt my ears at some points because many heavy dialogue scenes utilize 5 second loops while you're reading and talking for minutes and minutes. That was fucking horrible (The one that is stuck in my head was an encounter with the sea monster knocking you off the boat, that entire sequence has ONE 5 second loop through EVERYTHING and the loop has shitty horns and an uncomfortable high tone thrown in, dreadful, AND THAT LOOP COMES BACK IN FUTURE SCENES!) But also fuck the guy too, so all around I wasn't happy- I was happier when I decided to just mute the game entirely during non-story segments like grinding or exploring with no dialogue, and I can't say I do that too often. Perhaps my disdain for Sugiyama was painting my experience and making me listen 'harder' and seek out disdain, but my experience was pretty cut and dry. I only ever enjoyed the music during the final ending credits when they played Unknown world while montaging DQ1-2, so that's saying something I think. Not something worth listening to, but an internet asshat complaining all the same lol. Enough about that mess, it's one thing, I rarely focus on the music in games as is, I'll shush on it. This asshole didn't warn me it was spoilers. The moment you lose to Mordegon ACTUALLY surprised me. It got really dark out of nowhere and I was so happy, I was GIDDY, I was talking with people online about it and how like hours prior I said "DQ avoids showing death" and then you 'lose' and see a church full of corpses, I was so hyped and happy at how fucking Terrible AND SAD it felt. Awkward phrasing but you get it, I was excited at how bad I felt it was awesome. I spent the entire section talking up Hendrik FUCKING PISSED. I hated him, I mean, strong word, and by this point having beaten post game I like him, but as a character model I hateee that archtype. I find "Loyalty to a fault uh oh I was loyal to evil all along!" to be the most boring and fucking annoying archetype around. I thoroughly believe everyone should ask questions and try to improve in life, and THAT character design is the ANTITHESIS of my world view- it's the poster child for "Whoopsie daisy I guess I GOTTA kill innocents because my boss said so, uh oh :)" FUCK that noise lol, so the entire segment talking him up as a hero I was just ranting about how HE'S RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS SHIT which is unfair and exagerating on my end, but that was the case all the same. Me being salty towards Hendrik because I dislike loyal knight archetypes and I needed a more grounded person to villify after Mordegon committed an atrocity I guess. I actually typed too much but fuck me I'll post twice and add a short apology to the start of this and that.
On the point about how there's not as much to do in the overworld: DQ11 at least had the crossbow sidequest. Wasn't THAT great but its there lol (though sadly they completely removed it from the Switch version). But yeah I still agree with your negative points. Maybe future DQ games should just all be done with Level-5. They made the most popular Dragon Quest games (8 and 9) that everyone loves. It seems something was lost when this game was developed with Square Enix. What do you think? Also what do you think of the overworld? I've been playing 8 lately and honestly I think that game's world was kind of better despite the massive amount of empty space. It felt more realistic. 11 is the best DQ game still but its overworld sort of felt like a mass collection of hub-worlds (could be because of how the map is super detailed and tells you exactly where to go all the time). I still think DQ11's world has more personality when it comes to locations but the way its structured isn't as natural as 8.
So I did some thinking about the overworld in the time I've played it, and I think I agree with you...? Like 11 has more to do and is more detailed and interesting, but it can feel very narrow or...I guess I'd say specific if that makes sense. Everything of interest on the map is so very specifically pointed at. 8's layout feels more natural walking from one area to another- actually the fact that DQXI's overworld areas are more segmented and isolated than 8's makes it feel artificial. I guess the best of the both worlds would be 8's layout and content, but with XI's added content as well.
@@GCVazquez Yes I feel the exact same way. I'm hoping that DQ12 will be exactly that. Having DQ8's structure/layout with less empty space, along with monster mounts being more prominent in exploring would be absolutely incredible. Not to knock DQ11 too much of course because I still very much enjoyed that game's world structure and it still feels very pleasing to traverse. Even if whatever world we get in DQ12 is similar to DQ11, I hope its a more improved version of it with more to do, find and explore. However I think DQ8's structure would be a step in the right direction. Thanks for the reply i've been wanting to talk about this with someone for a while lol
I just beat the game and found this video to help digest the info with the final cutscene. I did not know that the purple hair was Serenica. I think it was because of how the camera angle was shot so I did not make the connection. There were 11 books on that bookshelf with 2 luminary symbols. I would imagine one is of the Hero and the other is for Erdwin / Serenica. I do have a question whether you or anyone reading can help answer for me. This pertains to part 2 where the world was cast into darkness. When you go back to Cobblestone you meet a young girl that was sad sitting by the dock looking at a waterfall. It always bothered me that you couldn't do anything to cheer her up considering she lost her family. There was even an NPC that you spoke with that also told you to go check up on her. After finishing the part of the story where you successfully retaliate the dark forces from attacking there didn't seem to be any updates of the girl. I was wondering because it felt like it alluded that she might kill herself since she has nothing to live for anymore and even after ridding the dark forces she didn't appear anywhere in the game again. She just stuck out to me since she was a focused character during the cutscene where you go back to Cobblestone after Mordregon won.
There's a sidequest you can start in Act 2 (or Part 2 as you called it) of the game at the Medal Academy by talking to an old woman (its the sidequest that requires you to go find a girl in Sniflheim). If you complete that quest, the old woman will ask you to find girls in the world who have no home to go anymore (after the fall of Yggdrasil destroyed it) and ask them if they want to attend the academy. That little girl you meet in Cobblestone is one of the NPCs you can recruit for the academy. There's only 1 other female NPC and that person is a friendly monster you can meet in the Eerie Eyrie at the area where you found the orb in Act 1. After that there's no other NPC to recruit and you get no special reward for it. In fact, if you talk to the woman after recruiting both, she still wants you to recruit more (basically saying that you haven't finished it yet). It seems this "recruit girls for the academy" thing was going to be an additional sidequest but it was never completed despite still being present in the game.
I got a very different impression from the ending scene with Serenica saving Erdwin and the scene with the mother waking up the boy. For one thing, the accent of the mother isn't the same as Serenica, I don't think it's her. maybe there's some sort of connection there, long lost descendant perhaps, but not the same people. The way it seemed to me, DQ11 is the earliest game in the timeline, and Erdwin's only connection to Erdrick is that they're both heroes and they look very similar. I think that DQ3 takes place long after the events of DQ11, so long that the events are just a distant memory, a legend found in books. Might just be me, not sure.
1- So 11 is like a love letter to privieous games. I sure didnt know it before buying. While series fans may take more from 11 thanks to their past experiences i as a new player (only played 8) feel like the game doesnr do enough to stand on its own. 2- about the 3 parts thing: i felt the game when taken as a whole is missing something that connects everything. you called the 3rd part the postgame but for me it felt just the game continuing but in a direction that that felt disconnected and unnecessary. 3- in regard of emotional moments: i can only remember 3 positive moments: the intro to the game is good and the DQ main theme is perfect as a call to adventure ( this has little value); the scene Rab has at the grave of his daughter, unfortunately undermined by badly placed humor the end of part one finally gives us another high quality cutscene, finally reveals the villain and shows him as being powerfull, gives the game some stakes and made me hope that the game would finally become good the reveal of Veronika´s sacrifice 4- the games´s small stories didnt do it for me. the storyteling is lacking, not emotianally impactfull and the humor missed a lot. 5- characters: i dont think i will ever like a silent protagonist in a jrpg. the story loses too much. overall dq 11 characters are there and not much more. I think the party doesnt work that well as a group and as a group is not memorable. the game goes for the trick of pairing characters (the two sisters, Rab and jade, the hero and Erik) but it could have done much more with it. Erik is the thief with heart of gold but fails at it because we dont see anything bad about him; he is supposed to be the heroe´s best friend but since he is silent their relationship doesnt work/exists. veronika comes off as unpleasent at first but over time gets better. she needed one or 2 more moments for us to get to know and loke her before her big moment. serena is static for too long. she has her moment after losing her sister but that side of her is short lived. Rab is the character i liked the most. i like the older character trope but it is a shame that he, a king with lots of experience doesnt have a more influencial role in guiding the party and the hero( that is even his own family). He works as the pervert comic relief because it isnt used too much. His relationship with Jade isnt develped enough( no master/student dynamic and the long years after the destruction of dundrasil are empty. Jade could have had much more relevance to the story. She isnt very oppinionated, her story with Rab and the Hero is there but it has litlle to no impact and her getting reunited with her father is but a footnote in the adventure. She is supposed to be a Princess but for most of her life was something else. She is not mourned has the lost child of the king. In practice she is just Rab´sm companion. We dont get to know her at all. Sylvando´s humor is welcomed but overused. thematically he means hope but when paired with so much silliness the message loses some of its strengh. We perceive that he has a more serious side and i wished we could see more of that. Hendrik is a loyal dog. A one note chaacter. His thing with Jasper is a miss. 6- secondary characters could have used more development. Thinking about Jasper and the evil team bosses. And the boss for the second part as well. We fight him with little knowledge of who he is and what is his story. 7- i disliked the beggining of the second part. the point is to get to know our characters( after how many hours? ) but the way they went about it didnt actually work. From a worldbuilding and writtin perspective they didnt go far enough. we are told the wold is dying and all hope is lost but we dont get to see it. The world is not chanded enough, not enough destruction. The cities are there and most were not affected at all and the people are "sad" but not in a way that reflects what has come to pass. they lost the source of their faith for F Sake.
I knew I was playing a masterpiece when the game said "nope" when I thought i finished it 40 hours in.
Damn took me 53 XD
Nathaniel Seitz damn took me 100 lmaoo
@@seraphiim444 I have made then 130 hours
And then I finished act 2 and the game gives me another bunch of content with a sense of an open world. Truly amazing
@@galaxier3543 I refused to believe Act III is post game. That little thing has been haunting the whole game
Doom horn as I call the final boss, didn't even see it coming...
There are eleven books in the shelf...
And room for a twelfth.
God I can't wait.
@@GCVazquez I always thought about the erdrick trilogy remaster!
The Guy and no dragon quest 9 remake?
Your wish has been granted!
Veronicas death really changes Serena you described her as a layed back air head who didnt take it too seriously but she also seems to me shes also a coward compared to veronica she had no back bone after her sisters death, whats worse is a npc states that They always called serena the weaker twin and that serena would have likely died if she had been on her own. Serena cuts her hair and slowly comes into her own when jasper emulates Veronica and tells everyone she\he wants them to die its SERENA who stands up to and dispells the illusion and verbally stomping jaspers fake ass.
Yea, but even jasper deserves sympathy. I remember genuiniunely not liking him until the Hendrick armour stuff
Dragon Quest III, for when it was released, was just way way way beyond it’s time. If they remade that with the new engine and revamp the mechanics to be consistent or close to 8/11, man, that would just be ridiculously awesome
I would absolutely LOVE it. It would still play so well with a new look and a few tweaks for modern conventions.
SPEAKING OF WHICH
@@adamcampbell2787 can’t wait for the remake it’s gonna be great
Your wish has been granted!
And then Square Enix answered our prayers! 🙏
They included an entire sequel as an end game with hundreds of hours on content and people still aren’t satisfied?
The one thing that bugs me about this game is the monster variation. The designs are great of course but one design can be used 3-5 times not even including vicious or malicious variants. However, that being said a lot of my favourite monsters made the cut.
I feel like you didn’t give Calasmos the credit he is due. Since his reveal not only recontextualizes the opening cutscene, it also ties into the moral dilemma of time travel, given that you defeating Mordegon allows Calasmos to rise to power
Veronika was my Aerith. It might have been the first time in a video game where I was THAT moved.
What hit hardest was Erik losing his memories and meeting him back in his home and hearing his story was amazing.
It's a great tender moment
I love the part of the game where it explains that one thing is for sure : the battle between light and darkness will always exist.
I hope that Hori will expand more on this, perhaps even let the player make decisions that may seem pure but are evil. Just like the Yggradgraon said, he can be lulled into evil , we saw an example of this with Hendrick serving Mortagan, although his intentions and loyalty were there he served the dark side. We need more of this in the next dragon quest.
I would very much like more of that too. I'm not sure about the main character doing those things, but I would like to see more heroes led astray, and our observing of that.
GC Positive
Imagine that though? I would love to see the character be forced into situations where he must choose between 2 evils. Or even his friends in the party betray him. But I think topics like this maybe would be too deep and dark for even the friendliest of blue slime monsters !
GC talking about more DQ is always good.
The one Luminary and his companions were Erdwin, Serenica, Morcant, and Drustan. You were close.
27:21 Huh, so I guess _that's_ why the Luminary looks like Trunks.
Besides what you already mentioned, the time travel stuff has other massive implications:
- When the Luminary from Act 2 travels back to just before the party enters the First Forest, he effectively wipes THAT Luminary from existence.
- Despite what the blue Gumby lady says, traveling back in time doesn't wipe out the timeline where the Time Sphere is shattered. Instead, that Luminary creates a new timeline when they time travel (so it becomes more like going to an alternate reality).
- To follow up with the previous point, at the end of Act 3, Serenica does this also, so by the end of the game, there are now at least three realities: #1 being post-cataclysmic Erdrea with no Luminary nor Veronica, #2 being an alternate reality where Mordegon was thwarted early and Calasmos is defeated by the Luminary and his party, and #3 another one where Erdwin never died and, presumably, kills Calasmos.
In reality #3, either Erdwin becomes the first Erdrick (if he presumably killed Calasmos, which is most likely) or the protagonist of DQ3 becomes the first Erdrick and we don't know what happened with Calasmos.
In reality #2...we don't know. It's not canonical that he creates the Supreme Sword of Light, so perhaps the design of the Sword of Light might indicate that this reality continues onto the Zenithian Trilogy, with the Sword of Light becoming the Sword of Ramias from DQVI. Very flimsy, I know, but the resemblance of the blade is uncanny.
In reality #1...we also don't know. Calasmos gets yeeted by the Lord of Shadows (somewhat of an homage to DQVI if you defeat Nokturnus withing 20 turns) and Lord of Shadows gets defeated. Even though this reality is the most depressing, I find it to be the most meaningful as well, up until they throw in time travel.
Other than the creation of alternate realities, time travel is a garbage plot device, because no one actually goes back (or forward) in the same timeline. Not in the Terminator franchise and certainly not in DQXI. Radiant Historia recognized this, which made it a great "time traveling" RPG.
When the luminary goes back he does wipe the timelime because he destroyed the orb along the sword. When serenica does it neither the sword nor the orb get destroyed meaning it only sent her back without change to the original timeline. This is also shown when characters get a sense of deja vu sometimes during act 3.
I mean, I felt that Sylvando was good representation, and comic relief. He's just funny! His adorable mannerisms just make me smile everytime he talks. I love him! I've never simped this hard for a fictional character before.
I just finished DQ11 definitive edition and I never felt so hooked to a game. I wanted to search up other people’s opinion on this after finishing the game and you were the first video I saw. I couldn’t agree more and you explained everything so well. I loved slyvando and the humor he provided in the game. All the characters and development in plot made it feel like you were actually part of a family that wants to end this darkness. I know you posted this video a year ago but I’m happy I found your channel! I’m a new DQ fan and can’t wait for the future games and go back in the past games
Thank you so much! ^_^ Enjoy the series as you play through them, especially 5, 8, and 4!
In the end cutscene it's easy to tell which book represents Dragon Quest 7!
Putting aside the man's reprehensible views, while I'm not fond of the synths Sugiyama utilized for the score, I find that the compositions themselves are a little underrated.
Suigyama tends to play with leitmotifs rather minimally in the DQ series compared to other JRPG scores, doing only one or two renditions of a theme here and there and maybe incorporating some a motif into another track (like VIII's final boss piece cleverly weaving in the Flying theme) but this time around, he decided to approach the score more thematically than usual.
There are multiple variants of themes associated with the Luminary, the World Tree, and so on that are heard throughout the journey, making for a more extensive use of musical storytelling than we've heard in the past.
I strongly agree with you.
Veronica dying, and Erik losing his memories hit me...
Thank you for this discussion! I'd of course heard that the third act always felt a little more.. shallow than the second act, and that lots of people didn't like it as much (and I tended to agree). I'd never really thought about how that could've been, well, intentional - how it plays into that critical choice. And I appreciate your incredible wording of the story, mood, narrative of DQ11 (and all the games in your series) - I think I'm not really as expressive of how the games make me feel as you are, neither externally nor in my own thoughts - and so I love hearing your tellings of the games! So just again, thanks for this whole Dragon Quest Retrospective series - it really has been an awesome thing for me, and evidently so many other people too.
Veronica's death was amazing to me the first time I played it. Only Red Dead 2's ending got me more upset
Replace all human characters with Morrie
Replace me with Morrie
@@GCVazquez it could work
That was very much me with dq 11 I love this game for the threat that the villains actually pose it makes me feel like we are really fighting for something in this game why dq 11 is my fav
The discussion on the end of part 2 in this video is so on point. Great job. I actually decided the best decision is to stay in the first reality. I still went back just to see what happend and after seeing what happens, I stand by that.
Both veronicas death and the mermaid quest always works so well to make me feel the emotions the game clearly wants you too....so sad
Digging your DQ videos - great analysis and your criticisms come from a love of what makes the series great. Keep it up!
Thank you!!!!
I couldn't agree more with everything you said. The emotional moments in this game are superb, the anger when you fail at the end of the first act, the sadness and guilt you feel when you see the world state and Veronica's death... They've achieved something big with this game, really touching.
I didn't really liked the post-game decision to go back in time because I considered it to be a step back in character growth, but I didn't thaught about the implications for you, the player and your character as you explained, and thinking of it... I simply can't deny it.
Regarding Sugiyama, welp, I think we can all agree that he has done great OSTs (like in VIII) and he's been an important part of the franchise but the man is old and out of touch, he should f****n retire.
I would add a thing to the negative side, being the reuse of boss models. It's not new in DQ but seeing a boss made common enemy twice always has buged me a bit. More after VIII and IX.
Hope Horii-san listen to you and decide to remake the original trilogy (god it would be sooo good after seeing XI).
Sorry for the long comment but man, + 2 great hours talking about this great game deserves a bit of my time. Thank you for it, waiting impatiently for the Yakuza retrospective (and hearing about 0) and personally, loved the format of the video, very closely.
Stumbled upon the review trying to get some of my Dragon Quest addiction satiated and the whole retrospective was so great really loving your videos, keep it up man
Thank you very much! :D
5:05 my favorite part of the video. When he finally fixed the hair 😆
Sometimes I consider re-shooting an entire video JUST because of things like this hahahaha
Regarding Sugiyama: Keep in mind that his name is boldly displayed at the start of each game alongside Horii and Toriyama. Despite his recent controversial political views, he's still heavily respected in japan as the top of his field, just like those other two. That's why they get top billing in each game, not just in the end credits, but at the beginning of each game. Despite the controversy, Square-Enix probably wants to keep milking the marquee value of those three people for as long as possible. But I do agree that at his age, he probably should retire, and Square should probably get someone new soon.
Also Sugiyama is right about the alphabet community
@@Mario87456 the what, now?
@@Morgil27 A.K.A another term for the LGBT.
Putting the person aside, his compositions are all really good in orchestral form
Sugiyama can eat shit.
Amazing video! DQ 8 grapped me more emotionally, but 11 is my 2nd favorite in the series. Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much! :D
You know that they have a release for DQ11 S on the Switch that is a remade of,
Dragon Quest 11 with newly aded stuff including: new quests,story related stuff,orchestral music in-game and so on ...
I really don't believe you didn't see the news about that in the April (I believe) Nintendo Direct .
That being said, I hope you will have time to finish the Dragon Quest 10 video man.I love your vids and i've been secretly watching them for like 5 days now and I can only aplaud your commitment to this series!
Keep it up man, you the best out there at this !
Sylvando was such an important character for me. I really loved the thought that was put into his role in the whole narrative.
It felt so great to see the care and inclusiveness to add this diversity to a jrpg.
I played this blind. Veronica and Sylvando were the absolute highlights for me and made it unforgettable.
Also you have a fantastic way of expressing your ideas. You put so much thought and effort into your videos! Thank you very much.
Subscribed!!
Thank you for your support and for sharing your thoughts! ^_^
I will say that I dont think DQ11 handles the time travel as well as you describe for 2 reasons.
1. The postgame is locked behind the decision. There is no incentive to refusing to fix time mechanically. And i think that hampers the weight of the decision. I feel like at the very least, marriage options for your act 2 companions would be a great "normal ending" route.
2. You still get to have all of your companions character arcs. Arguably, in the case of Jade, you avoid bad ones too. I dont feel like the game sold the lack of intimacy well enough in Act 3 or at least not as much as I wanted it to.
I wanted a hero of the world who feels disconnected from said world kind of vibe.
I overall agree especially with your first point, I hope the sequels, while knowing we're most likely done with this group of travelers, try touching on themes like this Abit more with more weight to both decisions. It's almost like giving a choose your own adventure ending that don't suck 😂)
Man, you are part of the reason I started playing Dragon Quest. I had always stared at them from the corner of my eye, but I've always played more Final Fantasy and Tales of games. Thank you for your dedication to this series and properly introducing me to it.
I've only played the first 3 games before playing 11, doing my own blind retrospective on it on my channel. 110 hours of bliss later, I loved that ending. That's the best example of going full circle I've ever seen. Only blemish in my opinion, was the music count. I see in retrospect with the DQ3 music playing why there were so few tracks, but while I was playing, I grew annoyed by the field theme and the town theme way before the 80-hour mark.
I am looking forward to eventually playing Dragon Quest 4 and not seeing Erdrick at all in a game!
By the way, the first trilogy is coming to Nintendo Switch next week! They seem to be kinda ports of the mobile versions, though. Better than nothing!
Those ports aren't half-bad actually! I think the port of 3 uses the super nice sprite work from the SNES version.
I really enjoy watching your perspectives on the Dragon quest series!! I didn't get to truly dedicate myself to playing the games in the series and now I definitely want to spend time with it and am looking forward to 11!! I also got really excited seeing that you were covering Yakuza! Thanks for your thoughtful analysis!
The Hendrick/Erdric similarity is probably incidental, though maybe the localization team had it in mind. In the Japanese version Hendrick is グレッグ and Erdric is ロト.
I gotta constantly remind myself about the localization changes
Smart move making the video separate considering the games story. Also, I enjoyed the video a lot more than I expected. Much love dude
Ah geez. I didn't expect this video to make me almost cry!
I'm on my second playthrough of the game, and I'm at the point of that decision to go back in time. I've had a lot of narrative issues with Act III because the character arcs are much less emotionally satisfying than they are in Act II, but your assessment of this moral dilemma actually makes me respect it more. The postgame character development being less satisfying is part of the point!
Anyway, I really appreciate the video. Dragon Quest XI is my favorite game, and I think you did it justice!
All your videos are great, you definitely deserve more subscribers, keep up your great work 👍🙌
To be honest, I never had a connection with Veronica in my experience so even though her death was revealed, I was rather shocked that the series would dare kill a playable character than I was sad/emotional about it. However, that made the time travel much more painful for me. I didn’t want to leave everyone behind because I just didn’t think it was worth it. Yes, many did suffer and die and yes, meeting veronica is great but all the experience we had with each other was much more precious to me. I just wanted things to move on, whatever happened happened. I felt very conflicted about i but in the end, I just did it to progress the story and teared up leaving them.
Following that, I didn’t feel like our companions were the same anymore and even at the end, I didn’t manage to have a bond with them like I did before. They felt as if they were replaced by someone else and all the character development they had will only live on through our memories of them. All in all, the fact that I was really conflicted about making a decision shows to me that this game really is amazing and so far I’d rate in 2nd to Dragon Quest V.
I watched this video and the previous one immediately after finishing Dragon Quest 11 last night.
I finished my play through on Switch last night at 10PM, and started my adventure through my second play through when the Xbox version launched at 11PM. This is probably my new favorite RPG, or at least in my top ten favorite games of all time. It does so much that I expect, with so much more unexpected twists that throw most of the tropes out the fucking window and completely subverting my expectations time after time. Completed after 101 hours, and cheers to 100 more. 🗡🐲
HELL YEAH! Glad you liked it! Here's hoping the mod community can make a big breakthrough and we get some content mods through it. Though it's unlikely.
I can't even believe I hadn't pieced together the fact that XI is the reason behind the entire timeline of the first three games. When you brought that up it blew my mind. I have a brand new appreciation for the ending now. 🤯
My heart still hugs DQ5 and wont let DQ11 take the top spot. This is the first game in the series to even come close and with time and replays it will take the top spot.
DQ5 is such a strong contender that I totally understand you.
I’ve just found your channel and am enjoying your videos. You’re super charming!
I LOVED the 3 acts of the game. One of my favourite theories is that DQ 1,2,3 stem from the timeline from the 3rd act while DQ 4,5,6 are a continuation from the timeline the heroes leave. The evidence of this is basically that the Supreme Sword of Light is very similar to the Zenithian sword and so it's possible that the sword gets reforged after it's destroyed when the dq11 hero travels back in time into the Zenithian Sword
I love your videos man! You deserve waaaay more subscribers! Hope to see more videos from you soon!
What I really appreciated about the third act was how you truly learn what the world, what Erdrea, really is. You could absolutely not continue the game after the second act, for reasons you stated where hey you've become very close with your companions and there's been all this character development, to leave that world behind would be hard. Plus the fact you get a credits roll and everything too, the game is saying, "You did it!"
Buuuuut even in the credits for act 2 it hints at more. There are still things you don't know, mysteries to solve, and the temptation to go back and right the wrongs.
You didn't talk about it in your video but fuck damn my mind was blown when I learned the truth about Mordegon being Morcant. Suddenly so many interactions from the second act on made way more sense.
What a satisfying experience overall. Not 100% perfect but damn near close.
DQ XI S put all those mini quests in Tockington calling back to all the previous games... I don't thing some sort of remakes are out of the question.
Rewatching your DQ videos out of a desire to spend time with the series without the time to play all of them. Love your content!
Glad you enjoy it! I never thought about using content like that before, but it makes a lot of sense! I might do that myself.
@@GCVazquez I do it sometimes with jrpg series. There are so many good ones but they're so freaking long. Thanks for giving me the ability to do so with the DQ series. Someday I'll play all of them :p
Aye, it happened.
I'm with you on those remakes, that was my first thought when I saw that model.
Hey GC I really loved this video and I enjoy your depth and scope on Dargon Quest analysis. One thing that I "disagreed" with was when you talked about the luminary time traveling at the transition between act 2 and act 3. Serenica makes it clear to the hero that he must destroy the "orb" of time that represented that universe of act 2. You suggest that the hero would be abandoning the universe in it's state leaving it to go on without him. I believe the implication of the game is that the Luminary has to destroy the time continuity of act 2 in order to go back in time. The hero does not have to choose whether or not he abandons his party that he grew close to but wether or not he casts away the timeline they exist in as he has no other route if he wishes to change the fate of the world. This is a decision with significantly more dramatic moral weight and one the luminary has to make completely alone.
Passionate DQ fan here, would love to hear your input and whether you had considered this idea or not
I think either way, this would work? Either way, the people you grew close to aren't going to be the same people you grew close to through the strife and turmoil you shared. So yeah, I can accept that! I just think the continuation of that other timeline provides additional contexts to the decision and certain other scenes in-game.
Yo! New subscriber here. I watched the first 3 DQ retrospective episodes, and you essentially convinced me to get into the series with your charm and wit. Bought a copy of DQXI S: Definitive edition and logged in 120++ hours as of today AND i still have not completed the 3rd act. It is absolutely breathtaking. I'm sure you've heard this before, but the Switch version uses the orchestra track instead of the MIDIs, plus the switch ed. adds QOL improvements too, along with an intermission chapter that takes place between Act 1 and 2 which adds so much more depth to the characters. I hope you get to play it, and better yet, I hope you make a video about that edition.
You're definitely one of the more underrated youtubers that deserve more likes!!!!
I've got my copy of DQXI S and I'm ready to play through for a follow-up video! Thank you for the compliment, I'd definitely be very excited to have more eyes on my stuff! :D
I wish i wasnt spoiled of the last parts of the game cuz duscovering them would have been amazing. Specially Veronica's death holy moly thats sooooooo sad. Im still enjoying the game at least...
P.D. this video didnt spoil it for me. It was a comment in a tips for a boss battle video so watch out.
I thought that when you go back in time you destroy the current time line to go back. Like, you shattered the accumulated time.
Yes, the time keeper warned about that. For some reason you still get their old stata back.
I hadn't played Chrono Trigger yet. You do a big spoiler warning for XI even though it's in the title, but just blow a big twist in a different game, lol. DQV too, but I've been through that part, thankfully.
28:10 yeah man this is what was going through my head when i had to do this. the game is kind of amazing for this, but also I kind of also wish for a more satisfying ending, not that it wasn't good, but going back in time feels like a painful sacrifice.
I'm really enjoying these DQ videos, the line "please don't deny war crimes" on the other one got an audible laugh out of me, but please, put a spoiler list before the videos containing the games you spoiled. The next game I was gonna play for the first time later today was Chrono Trigger, and I had no idea of the connections between the two games to know the risk it could be spoiled in a DQ video.
I actually loved that at the end of season one you lose, so few games are brave enough to be that harsh to the player. It really puts you through it, great storytelling from the team
I love Sylvando.
I do also love Morie, just the way he says things is always good for a laugh.
But Sylvando is just a big lovable guy, and every time I think of him I just want to play the game again.
Sylvando is the only video game character I’ve ever felt represented who I am (as a gay drag queen) fully, even tho they dodged saying he was either, it felt like every facet of his was a clue to confirm, yes, we see you, we want to represent you. Now they need an out gay character lol
Love your videos bud!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep it up I love the dragon quest content I always go back to your reviews of the old games cause you did it so well
Thanks a ton!
It's a real shame about Sugiyama San...truly
I think the two books on the shelf with the same symbol are the alternate timelines of 11, where you do and don’t go back in time. Or it could be 3 and 11.
I desperately wanna know how and why there would even be two books about two different times, but I guess they could just be stories that survived the trip?
@@GCVazquez I suppose you’re right two books from alternate timelines would have trouble appearing on the same bookshelf; must be 3 and 11.
I remember I watched all the way up to your 9 Retrospective last year, I left a comment, and I had asked then about the 11 review and you responded
Then tonight (technically last night into this morning,) I thought to myself 'I wonder how GC is doing' and to make up for being a forgetful **bum** of a viewer and somehow not turning on notifications for your videos, and because you're awesome and the amount of time put in shows itself.. watched 2 hours worth of content for DQ11 and regret nothing-!
If I could go back I wouldn't go back, you're awesome and I love your enthusiasm for DQ. Peace :)
Aww I'm glad you enjoyed the video! Don't worry about not checking often; I don't upload often enough to warrant that sort of thing :P
Pretty sure Cooee is just her trying to wake him up lmao.
I was making an extremely long post on this video for all of your thoughts, but accidentally closed the window before I could post it.
Anyway, good video man, thanks for sharing. I liked this format for a discussion vlog, and I'd still like to share my thoughts with you. I personally feel a discord would work out well in that regard.
Man I really wanna get this game now
I like this retrospective analysis for the XI S' third act. At the very least, that's something I thought about when I get presented a choice like this. I mean, I wanted the happy ending and Veronica was one of my favorite characters. So yeah, I would still make that choice to go back in time and save her.
Oh shit! I just realized this! but, you know how time travelling meant that the world you left still exists? That also means that the world of DQ XI actually created THREE UNIVERSES/TIMELINES! World 1 is basically the timeline up to before the Luminary travels back in time. World 2 is the timeline the luminary travels back to to save Veronica, and World 3 is the the timeline that Serenica travels back to, thus establishing the original DQ series. This means that not only is DQ XI an uber prequel, but also a new foundation for its own continuity! 'Echoes of an Illusive Age' indeed. Damn. That's some pretty clever plot couched underneath the simple formula with some tweaks that is Dragon Quest.
Once the dark lord's mask broke in a video I watched the guy's face immediately reminded me of the dark lord in Dragon Quest VIII.
Ive never played any Dragon Quest game, but you explaining this stuff with the time travels and the whatnot made feel like "wow". Hard to put it in word.
Maby Im just tired, its like half past midnight. I honestly dont know.
It's alright. I'm always tired, so maybe my tired energy is just resonating with yours.
Perhaps
After a marathon of your Dragon Quest series all I have to say is that you did a fantastic job. This is a great series for anyone who wants to get into the games or just know what they're all about. Excellent job GC!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Although I may not agree with your points on DQ6, it's all fair in judgment as it's subjective towards each person. I loved going in blind and just exploring the dungeons and grinding battles for the advanced vocations, but I won't deny it's not for everyone.
Thank you for your encouraging words! And yeah, 6 just had too much of that grindey stuff I can't stand in RPGs. I know some people love that stuff though, so more power to you!
Honestly I’m so happy that this wasn’t spoiled for me. Also, anyone else notice how the themes of this game can be applied to what is happening now.
good video... this game was a masterpiece. shame it had to end, I felt the way u do, by wishing there was more haha. I dont know what else can be added to this game though, even as a potential DLC, I feel it ended well, on a really high note. replaying it on the switch however in 16 bit mode will be neat. cant wait for that, wonder if i'll still need a box of tissues replaying the game in 16 bit mode haha.
Thanks for these two hours ish of looking at these games. I've only played 9 and just finished 11S (barring timewyrm, couldn't bring myself to care past a first attempt after slogging through the past masters, especially that crystalotl looking one lol), so it was nice to get your perspective. You pointed out a lot that deepened my experience, especially after I had stumbled across some, um, format based spoilers?
Anyway, thanks.
I should be the only one that didn't use Veronica one single time, in the moment I got Sylvando, Veronica didn't fight once in the rest of the game
Same tbf except in drustan's labyrinth when I had to kill the minibosses within a certain number of turns. I'd just hit them with magic burst to knock a large chunk of health off quickly
This is my favorite DQ game too. I've actually beaten it which more than I can say about 8. My only complaint is how time travel erases very amazing character development and the struggles the characters made it through. But at the same time I did love that the false ending was false, I just wish it was done differently
I think XI’s journey to getting the best gear, best skills, best outfits, and beating the superbosses is superb. I was actually incentivized (I played on S Definitive Edition) to slog through some monotonous grinding to lvl. 99 through really cool item designs, weapon designs, and armor designs to do the extra side material like Tickington, and while it is completely true that it barely ties back to the story, I really don’t mind that much tbh.
I think the main idea is to appropriate content. Throughout most of the Dragon Quests side material is reserved for those who want that extra level of interaction - we saw it with the GBC rereleases, we saw it with the DS remakes, and we saw it (arguably in the best way delivered) in DQIX.
Plus, with the modern-era DQ games having the basis of design with VIII and IX, I think the dev team perfectly amalgamated those two designs. Is it sad that there isn’t much to the side quests in DQXI? Ofc. But I think it comes down to personal taste at the end of the day... you either enjoy VIII’s design the most, or IX’s, and while I prefer IX’s idea of making the most insanely OP crew of characters with awesome-looking gear being translated **somewhat** into XI (armor sets are still basic JPEGs with stats to them besides for a good amount), I think that method of power progression was friggin’ fantastic in XI. (Edit: i should elaborate here. The quests for finding each alchemy book that gave you the best armor available, and hunting for ingredients PLUS having a Superboss in XI:S makes It imo the definitive DQ experience)
But what it will always come down to is taste. There will always be a schmuck who will say “Dragon Quest stopped being good at IV!!! >:-(“, but whatevs. At the end of the day, If there’s a game series that should be considered the epitome of doing its players right, it’s DQ.
This game being released and the foundation it lays, sets up the series perfectly to remake the entire series from scratch with a more detailed story, and obviously as beautiful as DQ11. I for one would purchase remakes of 1-8 if they had as good of a remade story, were as long, and feature filled, and looked as good as 11!
As a busy adult, I really love jrpgs and their stories overall, but like other games too, so I rely on spoiler reviews to experience most jrpgs and whichever ones have great pitches like this game is the one I actually commit to lol (I can 100% Mario Galaxy in a little less than 6 hours but over 60 hours in most jrpgs and I'm lucky if I'm half way in lol)
But yeah your playlist of dragon quest videos helped me consider to look into the series overall, but especially xi(I love the builder games alot more than Minecraft, hope you'll cover them lol)
I was looking at that "Yes/No" screen when asked about going back for a good 10 minutes. I didn't want to go at ll. I ended up loving the post game but it also felt selfish on the Hero's part, according to what I got from the time keeper's explanation.
I felt like when both the Hero and Serenica goes back in time, a new timeline is being created.. and in some ways it feels like this universe is being created for them. The Hero goes back and saves a timeline that didn't necessarily existed before, everyone in this timeline is different from the one we started the game in. So it really ends up feeling like the purpose of saving the world in timeline 2 is just to make the Hero.. an actual hero.
I guess if they made time travel with just 1 timeline and it would've been better.
If I'm wrong, I'd love to hear an explanation of how it works.
Wish there was 3.5 or 1 extra game within this, that continues off of part 2's bit to push the "consequences" theme and the "true" timeline now push the love part more
Wow, so if the DQ series continues from DQ11 they have 2 other timelines to choose from. Theres the DQ3 timeline, the DQ11 Ruined Timeline and the DQ11 Restored Timeline. Echoes of an Illusive Age can truly mean they now have alternate dimensions to link the rest of the series to if they wish.
Wat, Serenica wakes him up?! Also isn't that book telling the story of the Luminary? Meaning its hundreds of years before, and since Erdwin happened before DQ11 then it can't be in the same year as DQ3
Honestly difficulty Changes everything. Play with Draconian quest where ALL Enemies are Super strong and if main protagonists dies it’s game over. The difficulty made it that I need to eventually farm seeds to progress and approaching the wheel of harma to the secret trial. The secret trial is extremely hard and you need weapons, pep pops etc to win at times and side quest along with strategy is necessary. Then Calasmos and The End of time is the true last bosses and will take massive grind to win. Please recommend higher difficulty as it changes the entire game.
Veronika dying fucked me up, i was expecting to find her as an adult again... but not only was I wrong, i hate how wrong i was...
I'll watch this after I beat the game lol.
With Dragon Quest 11's success and the rise of remakes as a business model for some companies Square-Enix hinted they are considering remaking alot of the DQ series. There was an interview with the team that made Dragon Quest 9 and they are considering remaking it for Switch and adding a more Single player oriented story and separating it from the multiplayer aspect. I loved the remake for Trials of Mana, so if we got a cool Action RPG DQ remake or just a turned based modern remake i'd go for either.
I DIDN'T KNOW THIS WOULD ACTUALLY HAPPEN!! I wrote this comment a day before Dragon Quest Adventure of Dai Infinity Strash was announced! I'm so happy!
Thanks for making this, you're a talented presenter and I could listen to you all day talking about the series. With every topic you brought up I found myself thinking "yeah.. YEAH! that's how I felt too but didn't find the right words to explain it".
Few things though about the ending still keep me awake at night. Are we to assume that the 3rd MC is Serenica's son? What about Ortega? How did Serenica had the book of the luminary even though their story happened in the future? Why did the luminary got the title of Erdrick?
Sometimes I think it's just a little wink to rewards us for playing the game until the end, but I really want a sequel where they tie all of that together in a neat little 150 hours experience.
Congrats, you got the cohesive content in DQ11 S in the form of the Tickington quests.
Even more first than first thing: I rambled too much, don't feel obligated to read my nonsense, happy to hear your thoughts on the game!
First thing's first- I'm more than a touch confused by the community's attitude towards hiding Hendrik.
Not because I feel spoilers should be disrespected or whatever- just that I played this game with no spoilers on that end and I guess I've played too many RPGs because the second I saw him I thought "Probably" then you find out he's familiar with Jade and I thought "Oh definitely." then it happens.
Like it's not hidden or secretive or a surprise at all, but this is one of the few communities I've seen go so far as to hide saying his name just because it's such a surprise.
Eh, fair enough. Just seems to me like hiding that Pikachu is yellow- it's obvious the second you see him, thanks for not ruining the... surprise? I guess? lol
Oh I'll cut this if you specifically say but did you try the "Super hard enemies" mode? After beating the main game before post game I began to regret not having tried it since it was so easy (didn't feel that way too much after post game but curiosity remains!) How was that if you tried it?
Minibosses or more challenge content felt so missing- you really just have post game Harma and post game Drustan trials as any form of bigger baddie to fight that isn't main story related.
Like, man, music. My take can't pretend to be pleased.
Like, the music itself felt worse than previous entries even if it was inspired by it because I'm listening to it, in midi, with these graphics in my face, and I swear the arrangements themselves are just weaker to my "I don't know dick about music" ears.
Also the midi hurt my ears at some points because many heavy dialogue scenes utilize 5 second loops while you're reading and talking for minutes and minutes. That was fucking horrible (The one that is stuck in my head was an encounter with the sea monster knocking you off the boat, that entire sequence has ONE 5 second loop through EVERYTHING and the loop has shitty horns and an uncomfortable high tone thrown in, dreadful, AND THAT LOOP COMES BACK IN FUTURE SCENES!)
But also fuck the guy too, so all around I wasn't happy- I was happier when I decided to just mute the game entirely during non-story segments like grinding or exploring with no dialogue, and I can't say I do that too often.
Perhaps my disdain for Sugiyama was painting my experience and making me listen 'harder' and seek out disdain, but my experience was pretty cut and dry. I only ever enjoyed the music during the final ending credits when they played Unknown world while montaging DQ1-2, so that's saying something I think.
Not something worth listening to, but an internet asshat complaining all the same lol.
Enough about that mess, it's one thing, I rarely focus on the music in games as is, I'll shush on it.
This asshole didn't warn me it was spoilers.
The moment you lose to Mordegon ACTUALLY surprised me.
It got really dark out of nowhere and I was so happy, I was GIDDY, I was talking with people online about it and how like hours prior I said "DQ avoids showing death" and then you 'lose' and see a church full of corpses, I was so hyped and happy at how fucking Terrible AND SAD it felt.
Awkward phrasing but you get it, I was excited at how bad I felt it was awesome.
I spent the entire section talking up Hendrik FUCKING PISSED.
I hated him, I mean, strong word, and by this point having beaten post game I like him, but as a character model I hateee that archtype.
I find "Loyalty to a fault uh oh I was loyal to evil all along!" to be the most boring and fucking annoying archetype around.
I thoroughly believe everyone should ask questions and try to improve in life, and THAT character design is the ANTITHESIS of my world view- it's the poster child for "Whoopsie daisy I guess I GOTTA kill innocents because my boss said so, uh oh :)"
FUCK that noise lol, so the entire segment talking him up as a hero I was just ranting about how HE'S RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS SHIT which is unfair and exagerating on my end, but that was the case all the same. Me being salty towards Hendrik because I dislike loyal knight archetypes and I needed a more grounded person to villify after Mordegon committed an atrocity I guess.
I actually typed too much but fuck me I'll post twice and add a short apology to the start of this and that.
I did my entire first playthrough with tougher enemies//bosses set.
On the point about how there's not as much to do in the overworld: DQ11 at least had the crossbow sidequest. Wasn't THAT great but its there lol (though sadly they completely removed it from the Switch version). But yeah I still agree with your negative points. Maybe future DQ games should just all be done with Level-5. They made the most popular Dragon Quest games (8 and 9) that everyone loves. It seems something was lost when this game was developed with Square Enix. What do you think?
Also what do you think of the overworld? I've been playing 8 lately and honestly I think that game's world was kind of better despite the massive amount of empty space. It felt more realistic. 11 is the best DQ game still but its overworld sort of felt like a mass collection of hub-worlds (could be because of how the map is super detailed and tells you exactly where to go all the time). I still think DQ11's world has more personality when it comes to locations but the way its structured isn't as natural as 8.
So I did some thinking about the overworld in the time I've played it, and I think I agree with you...? Like 11 has more to do and is more detailed and interesting, but it can feel very narrow or...I guess I'd say specific if that makes sense. Everything of interest on the map is so very specifically pointed at. 8's layout feels more natural walking from one area to another- actually the fact that DQXI's overworld areas are more segmented and isolated than 8's makes it feel artificial. I guess the best of the both worlds would be 8's layout and content, but with XI's added content as well.
@@GCVazquez Yes I feel the exact same way. I'm hoping that DQ12 will be exactly that. Having DQ8's structure/layout with less empty space, along with monster mounts being more prominent in exploring would be absolutely incredible. Not to knock DQ11 too much of course because I still very much enjoyed that game's world structure and it still feels very pleasing to traverse. Even if whatever world we get in DQ12 is similar to DQ11, I hope its a more improved version of it with more to do, find and explore. However I think DQ8's structure would be a step in the right direction.
Thanks for the reply i've been wanting to talk about this with someone for a while lol
Guess you could say Veronica is the Seed of Salvation
With the Switch version, the 2D mode and visiting old Dragon Quest world sound awesome!
I would love to hear your thoughts on the switch version of the game, maybe talk about the new 3d mode or other added content!
I'm planning on making a video on the Switch version in the future!
@@GCVazquez great another dragon quest video of yours I can watch like 5 times over 😂
I wish to see this
The music is so good in S tho
Is it because I can switch to the VIII soundtrack? :^)
I just beat the game and found this video to help digest the info with the final cutscene. I did not know that the purple hair was Serenica. I think it was because of how the camera angle was shot so I did not make the connection. There were 11 books on that bookshelf with 2 luminary symbols. I would imagine one is of the Hero and the other is for Erdwin / Serenica.
I do have a question whether you or anyone reading can help answer for me. This pertains to part 2 where the world was cast into darkness. When you go back to Cobblestone you meet a young girl that was sad sitting by the dock looking at a waterfall. It always bothered me that you couldn't do anything to cheer her up considering she lost her family. There was even an NPC that you spoke with that also told you to go check up on her. After finishing the part of the story where you successfully retaliate the dark forces from attacking there didn't seem to be any updates of the girl. I was wondering because it felt like it alluded that she might kill herself since she has nothing to live for anymore and even after ridding the dark forces she didn't appear anywhere in the game again. She just stuck out to me since she was a focused character during the cutscene where you go back to Cobblestone after Mordregon won.
Finales Funkeln I remember that girl. But I forgot to check her out in the third act.
There's a sidequest you can start in Act 2 (or Part 2 as you called it) of the game at the Medal Academy by talking to an old woman (its the sidequest that requires you to go find a girl in Sniflheim). If you complete that quest, the old woman will ask you to find girls in the world who have no home to go anymore (after the fall of Yggdrasil destroyed it) and ask them if they want to attend the academy. That little girl you meet in Cobblestone is one of the NPCs you can recruit for the academy. There's only 1 other female NPC and that person is a friendly monster you can meet in the Eerie Eyrie at the area where you found the orb in Act 1. After that there's no other NPC to recruit and you get no special reward for it. In fact, if you talk to the woman after recruiting both, she still wants you to recruit more (basically saying that you haven't finished it yet).
It seems this "recruit girls for the academy" thing was going to be an additional sidequest but it was never completed despite still being present in the game.
I got a very different impression from the ending scene with Serenica saving Erdwin and the scene with the mother waking up the boy. For one thing, the accent of the mother isn't the same as Serenica, I don't think it's her. maybe there's some sort of connection there, long lost descendant perhaps, but not the same people. The way it seemed to me, DQ11 is the earliest game in the timeline, and Erdwin's only connection to Erdrick is that they're both heroes and they look very similar. I think that DQ3 takes place long after the events of DQ11, so long that the events are just a distant memory, a legend found in books. Might just be me, not sure.
That's exactly what I think it is, because the beginning of DQ III is exactly the same as that scene from the end.
1- So 11 is like a love letter to privieous games. I sure didnt know it before buying. While series fans may take more from 11 thanks to their past experiences i as a new player (only played 8) feel like the game doesnr do enough to stand on its own.
2- about the 3 parts thing: i felt the game when taken as a whole is missing something that connects everything. you called the 3rd part the postgame but for me it felt just the game continuing but in a direction that that felt disconnected and unnecessary.
3- in regard of emotional moments: i can only remember 3 positive moments: the intro to the game is good and the DQ main theme is perfect as a call to adventure ( this has little value);
the scene Rab has at the grave of his daughter, unfortunately undermined by badly placed humor
the end of part one finally gives us another high quality cutscene, finally reveals the villain and shows him as being powerfull, gives the game some stakes and made me hope that the game would finally become good
the reveal of Veronika´s sacrifice
4- the games´s small stories didnt do it for me. the storyteling is lacking, not emotianally impactfull and the humor missed a lot.
5- characters: i dont think i will ever like a silent protagonist in a jrpg. the story loses too much.
overall dq 11 characters are there and not much more.
I think the party doesnt work that well as a group and as a group is not memorable. the game goes for the trick of pairing characters (the two sisters, Rab and jade, the hero and Erik) but it could have done much more with it.
Erik is the thief with heart of gold but fails at it because we dont see anything bad about him; he is supposed to be the heroe´s best friend but since he is silent their relationship doesnt work/exists.
veronika comes off as unpleasent at first but over time gets better. she needed one or 2 more moments for us to get to know and loke her before her big moment.
serena is static for too long. she has her moment after losing her sister but that side of her is short lived.
Rab is the character i liked the most. i like the older character trope but it is a shame that he, a king with lots of experience doesnt have a more influencial role in guiding the party and the hero( that is even his own family). He works as the pervert comic relief because it isnt used too much. His relationship with Jade isnt develped enough( no master/student dynamic and the long years after the destruction of dundrasil are empty.
Jade could have had much more relevance to the story. She isnt very oppinionated, her story with Rab and the Hero is there but it has litlle to no impact and her getting reunited with her father is but a footnote in the adventure. She is supposed to be a Princess but for most of her life was something else. She is not mourned has the lost child of the king. In practice she is just Rab´sm companion. We dont get to know her at all.
Sylvando´s humor is welcomed but overused. thematically he means hope but when paired with so much silliness the message loses some of its strengh. We perceive that he has a more serious side and i wished we could see more of that.
Hendrik is a loyal dog. A one note chaacter. His thing with Jasper is a miss.
6- secondary characters could have used more development. Thinking about Jasper and the evil team bosses. And the boss for the second part as well. We fight him with little knowledge of who he is and what is his story.
7- i disliked the beggining of the second part. the point is to get to know our characters( after how many hours? ) but the way they went about it didnt actually work. From a worldbuilding and writtin perspective they didnt go far enough. we are told the wold is dying and all hope is lost but we dont get to see it. The world is not chanded enough, not enough destruction. The cities are there and most were not affected at all and the people are "sad" but not in a way that reflects what has come to pass. they lost the source of their faith for F Sake.
Nobody me looking at hero 1 during your speach thinking how can I take it off your shelf