Dragon Quest II has a reputation as the one to skip if you want to experience the original games. The first Dragon Quest has its charms as the progenitor, and Dragon Quest III is remembered as a certified classic, but Dragon Quest II sits in an odd space between them. On its release it was notorious for difficulty spikes, including a penultimate dungeon that could trap you forever, and a final boss with the ability to fully heal itself at any time. If there was ever a poster child for grindfest JRPGs, it was Dragon Quest II. Except none of that is true anymore.
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Dragon Quest: Incredibly Archaic, Impossibly Good (iOS Review)
I made a video a while ago basically telling people not to play the original Dragon Quest if it was their first time attempting to play the series. My criticisms were that its design was incredibly archaic by today’s standards, which could potentially turn off newcomers. I recommended the Game Boy Color version for anyone really wanting to see what all the fuss was about, but also mentioned the mobile port as an option, even though I had not played it at the time. I have since played said mobile port (which is the same as the Switch port, minus touch controls) and I want to dive into the game in a bit more detail. I’m still not confident this would be a great starting point for someone totally new to the series, but with a few caveats I think it could be manageable.
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