just Dragon Quest XI

A_Unicycle wrote:

Oh, did this thread get a title change?

Si. A member messaged me asking that since the game was out to take the "coming out in the west" part and make it just Dragon Quest XI.

farley3k wrote:
A_Unicycle wrote:

Oh, did this thread get a title change?

Si. A member messaged me asking that since the game was out to take the "coming out in the west" part and make it just Dragon Quest XI.

I see what you did there.

Hope it's ok for me to mention this, there are some extra casino goodies after getting through a good chunk of act 2.

I was feeling particularly handy, so I devised this

https://twitter.com/UnicyclesWill/st...

And after an hour or so, I had enough to get one of the best whips in the game! I haven't used that weapon type at all, but Sylvando looks baddass with it! Can't wait to get it fully upgraded.

That is awesome!

I just finished up Mt. Pang Lai in Act 2. Really exciting to start getting the band back together. I wonder who I’ll come across next?

A guess / prediction:

Spoiler:

Mordegon = Morcant (?)

Nice, we're at the exact same point! I'm hoping we encounter them in reverse order, since I tended to stick with the characters I picked up earlier in Act 1. Rab for example I've barely used at all (to be honest I find him kind of annoying, but what can you do, he is family after all).

ComfortZone wrote:

Nice, we're at the exact same point! I'm hoping we encounter them in reverse order, since I tended to stick with the characters I picked up earlier in Act 1. Rab for example I've barely used at all (to be honest I find him kind of annoying, but what can you do, he is family after all).

Awesome! And, regarding Rab (spoilers for people who haven't yet finished Mt. Pang Lai):

Spoiler:

I really liked the way they presented Rab here, as a hopeless pupil who nonetheless was very powerful. I really chuckled when the High Lama said that he'd recognize Rab's poor posture anywhere, and at Hendrick's reaction to Rab's girly magazine. Some time to bond with Rab was nice from a story perspective, too, as I agree with you -- his character's not as strong as some of the others.

A_Unicycle wrote:

Oh, did this thread get a title change?

2 quick things:

1) Sylvando is Act 2 is a delight. Really surprised me and I was grinning from ear to ear.

...

YES YES YES. I finished up Phnom Nonh tonight and I'm sure I reached the point where you almost inhaled your keyboard. Everything about it was absolutely delightful.

Spoiler:

Hendrick's reaction to Rab's girly magazine

This bit!!! I've never laughed so much playing this game, it had me in stitches!

THE FIRST ISSUE?! I mean, ... ahem.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/URQq3Lw.png)

Ready for DAMAGE

Hell yes.

Still need to get the ability that negates the off-hand modifier, but just having 4 attacks is making metal slime farming so much easier.

And with all that deftness, he often crits! It's beautiful!

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/o0raWH2.png)

Update! Erik is a monster!

I just unlocked "Divide", which is a hidden skill that allows him to create 2 clones of himself to attack 3 times. With 3 falcon blade + 3s, things get a little bit silly.

It's amazing seeing all the damage numbers pop up!

Haha, is this for the post-game or something? Optimising damage just seems completely irrelevant in the regular game.

Final dungeon, but I'm playing on harder monsters so optimising damage is very much a necessity!

Speaking of which, I've just finished preparations for the final boss! Wish me luck!

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/OMBudYK.png)

Where do you find another Falcon blade?

There's one behind a red door on Insula Occidentalis, and another for collecting 35 mini medals!

Here's the spreadsheet I've been using to track down items, it's really handy.

You can actually get both before Act 2, which is awesome for Erik's damage output.

Spoilers about Act 2 (not sure when these can be talked about with a spoiler tag. Conscious of people waiting for a sale or for a Switch release)

Spoiler:

Just wait until you unlock Erik's Act 2 skill trees. He gets a skill called "Critical Claim" that is a guaranteed critical hit. Great for farming metals. Also Rab gets a spell that allows him to transfer some of his MP to another character, so you can use him to feed Erik MP for more slime farming!

Haven't bought it yet, but I love the idea of Interrupting Hendrick, forever calling you DARKSPAWN and spinning everything you're doing in the worst possible light. No matter what.

After almost a month off, I dipped back in tonight. Made some progress in Act 2:

Spoiler:

With a party of 4, I revisited Zwaardust and then Dundrasil, fighting the Restless Knight, sitting through the dream sequence, and finally taking down the Gloomnivore. That was a really well done sequence overall, I found it quite impactful. And, how appropriate that revisiting the past is what led my Hero to regain the power of the Luminary! I'm excited to play with the Character Builder, now.

The game suggested a couple of times that I head to Arboria, but I haven't gone back yet. I wonder if I could have regained 1-2 companions by heading there before Dundrasil?

It felt so good to be playing again; I just love this game!

I've been moving through Act 2 much more quickly than Act 1, where I took my sweet time, explored, and forged. If I can keep going with this -- despite the competing demands of P5 and DA:O -- I may pause the story to improve my gear a bit.

I kind of lost enthusiasm for this game, but it is nice how easy it is to pick up after a long break. The simple story, the bland but lovely atmosphere, straightforward combat and character systems, even the "Here's what happened last time..." - they all seem aimed at the player who dips in from time to time rather than the JRPG binger (i.e. me).

Pretty smart for a game that apparently takes 80+ hours to finish. I haven't played for a few weeks but I'm sure I'll get back to it eventually!

Yeah, it was very easy to pick back up again. It helped that I had a snow day on Monday and a partial snow day today (though it's weird to call it a snow day, when the US government is closed anyway).

I tore off another bit today, and made it to Octagonia in Act 2. That was ... just weird.

... and now I'm done with Octagonia! The world is really opening back up.

I looked at the spreadsheet A_Unicycle linked, and it's really helpful. I was a bit disappointed by comparing my mini medal count to the amount I could have, though. I feel like I've been super thorough, breaking every pot, exploring every nook and cranny, and I have about 49 medals to date, but I think there are 60+ available to me.

Tore off a little more of this, and now I'm back in Sniflheim!

Question for those of you who have finished Act 2:

Spoiler:

For the most part, I've been ignoring the side quests and plowing ahead with the main story. At this point, I think my next major task will be restoring Erik's memory, and I have everybody back in my party except Veronica and Serena. How close am I to reuniting with them? I feel like I could significantly improve my gear if start working on side quests. But, I also want to get my party back together.

And a prediction for the endgame / possible gripe (spoilers for all of Act 1 and the beginning of Act 2):

Spoiler:

I have a sense that the endgame will involve the Hero marrying Gemma, and I'll be disappointed if that's the case. It's not that I dislike her, she's a perfectly fine character. But the Hero has actually adventured with Jade, Veronica, and Serena, and thus as the player I feel a much stronger connection to each of them than to the Hero's hometown sweetheart. Plus I think it would make sense for the Prince of Dundrasil to marry the Princess of Heliodor (though I'm afraid she and Hendrik may get together instead), or a powerful mage who is also the reincarnation of one of the Luminary's old companions.

This kind of relates to a gripe I have about the whole "silent protagonist" thing. Yujii Hori insists on maintaining this trope because he views the protagonist as an avatar for the player. Yet, the Dragon Quest series continues to be a series in which, generally, the player cannot make choices that affect the outcome of the story. To me, if the Hero gets married, a decision about who to marry (assuming that each of the women is interested) would help reinforce the player-as-protagonist goal of the series, while being railroaded into marrying a specific person -- especially if that person was not a companion through the story's many, many hours -- would feel jarring.

LastSurprise wrote:

Tore off a little more of this, and now I'm back in Sniflheim!

Question for those of you who have finished Act 2:

Spoiler:

For the most part, I've been ignoring the side quests and plowing ahead with the main story. At this point, I think my next major task will be restoring Erik's memory, and I have everybody back in my party except Veronica and Serena. How close am I to reuniting with them? I feel like I could significantly improve my gear if start working on side quests. But, I also want to get my party back together.

Spoiler:

From memory, you're not too far away. The whole gang reunites not long after you're done in Sniflheim. Probably worth waiting until then.

Awesome, thanks! I think I might power up a little for the next dungeon, but otherwise I’ll press on and save the side quests.

Some details in the Switch version of DQXI: https://gematsu.com/2019/01/dragon-q...

Mostly voice acting cast (in Japanese) but they are adding some new material for the release, which is cool.

Ugh. That dragon just totally had its way with me.

Spoiler:

The aurural serpent, on my way to Arboria.

I think I won't start this until after KH3 is finished. I've had it in my possession since Black Friday. I'm happy that everyone seems to be enjoying it. I've never been a DQ fan although I've played the spinoffs - Builders and Heroes. I didn't have any connections to the characters though so I bounced off both of those after a bit. From everything I've read and seen (including that great Kotaku video) I think I'll see this one through. Besides, a baby will be coming in June and I'll need all the pause-able and "easy to immediately break away from" games I can get. I have Octopath Traveler that was pushed back for that reason.

LastSurprise wrote:

Ugh. That dragon just totally had its way with me.

Huh, I just arrived in Arboria myself, and the dragon seemed to go down pretty easily. I was kind of surprised because

Spoiler:

Gyldygga, the previous boss, was a real pain. She just kept gilding my party and buffing herself up, which hardly seemed fair.

I'm starting to wonder what level I should be at. I think my party is in the low-mid 40s, which seems fine for standard enemies, but I haven't spent any time grinding. Also starting to wish there was more info available in combat, like how much HP enemies have left, elemental weaknesses etc. Your companions seem to know this because they pick attacks that do just enough damage to kill if possible. Maybe it's meant to encourage you not to micromanage your party?