Dragon Quest VII: A Primer

With Dragon Quest VII for 3DS being released very soon, and me being who I am, I thought I’d write a little bit about this long-awaited RPG remake. There are people out there who aren't too familiar with the game or the DQ series out there, so I wanted to talk about what to expect!

One of the most important things to know about Dragon Quest VII is that it is a very gradual game. It doesn’t throw everything at you all at once. You’re eased into its gameplay elements and story, in an almost relaxing way.

For example, in every other Dragon Quest game (and most RPGs in general), you’ll likely encounter some low-level enemy a couple of steps outside the town you start in. Fighting a slime early on is something of a DQ tradition, but in DQ7, you start out in a world with no monsters whatsoever. The beginning of the game focuses on the efforts of you and your friends to explore the local ruins and find fun stuff to do (with no monsters around, life is boring, I guess!) and eventually you find yourself in a new location, face-to-face with some familiar blue guys staring you down.

If this isn't a smile-inducing sight for you now... it will be!

The buildup to this first enemy encounter is huge. I’ve never seen anything like it before in an RPG. You’ve spent the whole game without a battle and suddenly you’re thrust into the middle of one. It should be a completely ordinary thing, but until now you’ve been playing as some misfit kids goofing off around town with not a single enemy in sight. You feel unprepared and unsure of yourself. Just like your characters are feeling! It’s great.

After this, the game plays much like a typical RPG with regular enemy encounters. Your character’s progression is very straightforward at this point - you’ll get new abilities automatically as you gain levels. This allows you to learn the battle system and make your way forward in the story without worrying too much about the details.

You have no idea how important this costume is

Later in the game, you’re introduced to the job system, which allows you to go much more in-depth with the abilities your characters learn. Even further on, once you’ve mastered several jobs, you’ll unlock advanced jobs which give you even more options to play with. None of this feels too overwhelming because you feel familiar enough with the game to experiment a bit as new things are slowly introduced.

A lot of people are fixated on the 100+ hours of gameplay thing. What’s important to remember is that Dragon Quest games, and DQ7 in particular, aren’t about one long continuous story. DQ7 focuses on one region at a time, each with their own little scenario. It’s possible to finish with one area and take a break, then come back and tackle the next, without fear of forgetting what was going on when you played last. It’s a very laid back sort of format, without any pressure to put in those 100 hours all at once. Sort of like watching different episodes of a TV show. Binge at your leisure! The portable format of this version really makes this aspect of the game shine.

As a personal suggestion, I'd recommend playing the game from the beginning up until that first enemy encounter in one sitting if you can. It leaves you off at an exciting point to pick the game back up again, assuming you can put it down!

You can't really argoo with that!

Hopefully all this gives some people a more clear idea of what Dragon Quest VII is all about. It’s a really neat game and I’m very happy we’re finally getting this remake. This is the part where I ask everyone and anyone to do their part and purchase a copy - it’s important that we get this series worldwide and every sale counts!

FFXI update 5: The end, and a new beginning...

Here it is. The end of a long journey. Having stayed up a bit later than I should have to grind that last job to 75, on March 12, 2016, I unlocked the last Xbox 360 achievement in Final Fantasy XI.

I left my starting job for last. Also, yes, I stayed up til 5AM.

I did the math: that's about 1,610 hours. This probably includes quite a bit of idle time.

About a year ago, I set out to try and see if it was even possible for me to accomplish this. In the beginning, it was an ambitious "well, I'll try and see how far I get" sort of a project, but as time went on, I became more determined as the goal itself became more and more realistic. The looming deadline of March 2016 kept me motivated as I plugged away at over a decade's worth of content. I was anxious over achievements involving content I wasn't familiar with (especially Ballista), and there were times I wasn't sure I'd make it in time as the months passed into the new year.

In many ways it was a lonely sort of journey. Most players I know had long since stopped playing FFXI, even questioning why I'd go back and play it. Many others had never played the game to begin with, so talking about my latest accomplishments wasn't exactly an interesting topic to bring up with most people. Still, I knew I wasn't the only one still playing, nor was I the only one trying to unlock all the achievements. From Xbox 360 achievement forums to the FFXI subreddit and even finding friends on Twitter, I got encouragement and advice while on my quest to unlock 'em all.

Mumba and Bigbrett, indispensable allies in my quest for Ballista gold. Thanks again guys!

The achievements themselves are mostly an excuse to experience much of what FFXI has to offer, something I hadn't been able to do until recently. While one could argue that achievements themselves aren't important or worthwhile, they acted as a sort of roadmap for me to follow as I finished storyline after storyline, battlefield after battlefield. It was also nice to have "proof" that I accomplished these things, showing what I had finished and what I still needed to do.

I enjoyed a majority of the experience. FFXI is an older MMORPG with an older mindset, but I've always been comfortable with "old games" (because I remember when most of them were new), so that wasn't a negative thing for me at all. The changes made to the game in recent years made soloing most content very accessible, so most of the time, it just felt like I was playing an offline RPG with some online components.

There were certainly quests here and there with annoying requirements, there was quite a hefty level grind involved, and there were entire types of content (Assault...) that weren't very fun solo. At the end of it all, however, I was proud to have experienced FFXI in at least some form. The storylines, characters, and music will remain with me for many years to come, and as the title of this post indicates, I don't consider this the end.... not at all. The game will still continue strong on PC and eventually on mobile, and there are things I've still yet to accomplish in the game.

It's not always easy, Lovingyou...

I'll be writing up a couple more blog posts about my experiences in FFXI soon. One will detail the achievements themselves and my notes about them, and I'll probably write up my thoughts about FFXI itself as well. Stay tuned!

For now, though, I'll be taking an extended break and enjoying my newfound "freedom". When I do return, I'll take my time and enjoy what Vana'diel has to offer. Until then, this is Kittywoo of Asura, signing off!

One of my favorite areas in the game. The Blueblade Fell area in Lufaise Meadows. It seemed like a good place to take a nice long rest as I logged off.

FFXI update 4: Cleaning up the new year!

Happy 2016! ... err, yeah, I'm a bit late with that one, but I'm also late with this update, so at least I'm consistent!

The outfit of the now! I worked hard for that crown...

I got a bit distracted towards the end of December with the holidays and all, and what I really mean by that is, "I got a bunch of cool video games for Christmas so I didn't play FFXI as much". However, I was still able to finish up the Wings of the Goddess storyline and get a few more jobs to 75!

January brought with it a lot more progress: so far I've managed to complete both San d'Oria and Bastok storylines to rank 10. These were super easy and I could've probably done them in a day each. Having all the appropriate warps unlocked (plus being an invincible level 99 job...) made things zip by incredibly fast. Now I can return to being a Windurstian, as it should be!

One of the areas of content I hadn't touched up until very recently was Limbus. It's unlocked via Chains of Promathia progress and features dungeons where you can acquire key items to... access more dungeons! And at the very end you can unlock fights with both Omega and Ultima Weapons. Turns out each of those bosses are necessary for achievements, lucky me!

One of the reasons I hadn't touched it yet was due to the fact that Trusts aren't usable there (yet). I wasn't sure how easy it would be to solo, or whether I should wait to see if Trusts would be added in later, much how they were to Dynamis.

However, my Twitter friend and fellow FFXI player @MoombaB just so happened to scrounge up the items for the bosses, so teaming up sounded like a plan! As it turns out... I probably could've easily soloed both bosses, as well as farm the items needed myself without too much hassle. Still, it was fun to party with someone for once! Big thanks to Mumba of Asura for the help!

Bang, zoom, kapow! Other sound effects!

With Limbus down, I don't have too many achievements left to unlock! The current remaining list is:

Top Assault / Mercenary Rank

Value: 40 points

How to unlock: Earned the Top Assault / Mercenary Rank.

Assault hasn't been Trust-ified and there are a couple tricky/luck-based missions, especially if you're solo, but overall it's not SO bad. I like Aht Urhgan's town music so that'll be a treat to revisit.

Gold Ballistar

Value: 30 Points

How to unlock: Earned the title "Gold Ballistar."

Hoo boy... this is the toughie. Ballista isn't really played much (or at all) anymore from what I can tell, which might actually be an advantage. The Gold Ballistar title is earned from having the top Ballista score in a zone over the last 10 matches, which equates to roughly 60 real hours.

... so really, I just need to get 5 other people who don't mind letting me win! I'm definitely up for gil rewards or something for helping me out, since this is a pretty awkward achievement to get, and technically the only one I can't do solo!

Official Soul Reflector

Value: 5 Points

How to Unlock: Obtained an Official Soul Reflector.

This has to do with Pankration, which is a minigame where... you use monsters to fight other monsters and... maybe it's like Pokemon or something? Sadly, like much of FFXI's side content, nobody really does this.

That's okay though, because this achievement seems to be part of the quest to unlock access to Pankration... in other words, it's easy and I can solo it, so woohoo!

Medal of Altana

Value: 30 Points

How to unlock: Obtained the key item "Medal Of Altana"

This involves Wings of the Goddess' Campaign content. Basically, it's the highest rank of Campaign, so I'll have to warp back to the past and beat up a lot of beastmen to rank up! I haven't touched Campaign yet but from what I've read, ranking up is pretty easy.

Insert a bunch of jobs I don't have to 75 yet

Value: A lot

How to unlock: GRRRRINNNDDD

Uh, yeah. I have a number of jobs I still need to level up to 75. Corsair is the only one still stuck at level 1, though, and many of my jobs are in the 40s/50s/60s. I'll just have to get my grind on and finish things up!

... and that'll be it! I'm projecting I'll be done by sometime in February, which will be well ahead of the March 31st deadline. Of course, there's content not covered by achievements that I could experience, and the game itself isn't going anywhere. However, my assumption is that I'll be taking a well-deserved break from the game once that last achievement pops! But I shouldn't get ahead of myself, there's still plenty to do. See you on Asura!

Until we meet again... wait, there's no time to take it easy!