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Hello everyone, this is Fionordequester, and welcome to Let's Play Dragon Warrior! In which we...wait...what? The...the heck is THIS stupid thing doing here?! This isn't masculine at all! H-hold, on, let me...ah, there we go!  Now, this, THIS is Dragon Warrior! Because nothing says extreme like facing a huge dragon, surrounded by flames, doing a leg stretch across two precariously placed platforms while clothed in blue spandex! Silly Japanese  ...So then, what is Dragon Warrior 1? Well, not only is it the very first Dragon Warrior game, but it's one of the very first RPG's ever made! No, it is not THE first RPG ever made (in fact, Ultima 1-4 and Wizardry 1-3 all precede it), but it WAS the very first one to ever be made for the NES console, so it's still very much a grandfather to RPG's as we know them today. And while new and improved versions of this game have been made on the SNES, GBC, and IOS, we're going to be playing the first version, on the NES!  (PRG0)-65.png) Part of it is nostalgia, part of it is to show just how far the series came, part of it is to show this game in it's purest essence, and part of it...well...you will see   (PRG0)-67.png) First, let's input our name...  (PRG0)-68.png) And yes, "Z" is what our name is going to be. One, because the artist who worked on this game was Akira Toriyama, so this makes a nice throwback to Dragon Ball Z. And two, your name actually determines how strong your character gets as you go through the game. Yes, neither the game, the instruction manual, nor any of the Nintendo Power guides ever tell you this, but depending on which name you pick, your character will become slightly better at hitting things really hard. Or taking a ton of damage. Or casting lots of magic. You know, things like that. And of course, I'll get into how that all works later, but for now, all you need to know is that this name here gives you the best spread of stats for beating the game as quickly as possible, hence why I'm not leaving this character's name up for a vote. So, let us begin!   (PRG0)-69.png)  King Lorik: Descendant of Erdrick, listen now to my words. It is told that in ages past Erdrick fought demons with a Ball of Light. Then came the Dragonlord who stole the precious globe and hid it in the darkness. Now, Hero, thou must help us recover the Ball of Light and restore peace to our land. The Dragonlord must be defeated. Take now whatever thou may find in these Treasure Chests to aid thee in thy quest. Then speak with the guards, for they have much knowledge that may aid thee. May the light shine upon thee, Hero.And if you talk to him again... King Lorik (again): When thou art finished preparing for thy departure, please see me. I shall wait.So yes, Dragon Quest localizations have been adding in accents since even BEFORE Alpha Plus took over! So there's your mission, if you choose to accept it. Pretty standard fare, nothing too complicated because again, very old RPG. Speaking of which, let's talk about those treasure chests the King mentioned, shall we? In most RPGs, all you would have to do is move in front of them, press a certain button, and viola. You get your booty. This game though, is a bit different. Instead...  (PRG0)-70.png) You have to actually physically move onto the chest itself...  (PRG0)-71.png) Bring up this huge menu by pressing the A button, direct that little white arrow to the "Take" command (as I've done here)...  (PRG0)-72.png) And there we go. And you're going to be doing that for pretty much everything else as well, from going down stairs, to using items, to opening doors...it can get somewhat grating after a while. Still though, this system actually WAS pretty streamlined when put in the context of the mid-80's. Back then, when the only role-playing we really had was DnD? You had to actually roll dice just for doing any of that stuff! So at least this way, all you have to do is push some buttons >_<...  (PRG0)-73.png)  (PRG0)-74.png) Now then, moving on to the other chests, torches are an item that will be useful at a later date, but Magic Keys...well...See, apparently King Lorik was extremely paranoid about having anyone but me listen to his speech, because the guy has actually locked us in!  That's right! Not only do you need to go into your menus just to open a door, but you need Magic Keys as well! So if not for the King giving us one, we'd be locked in, forever stuck in the confines of the throne room! Not only that, but each Magic Key you have will disappear after just one use. So now, just using the almighty DOOR command is a herculean feat that we can as yet only dream of  ...So let's see what the guards have to say.  If thou hast collected all the Treasure Chests, a key will be found. Once used, the key will disappear, but the door will be open and thou may pass through.This we already covered. East of this castle is a town where armor, weapons, and many other items may be purchased. Return to the Inn for a rest if thou art wounded in battle, Hero. Sleep heals all.This goes over what you can do with that 120G we just got from Lorik. Dost thou know about Princess Gwaelin? (You then get a command prompt that gives you a choice between Yes and No) (if you say ‘No’): Half a year now hath passed since the Princess was kidnapped by the enemy. Never does the King speak of it, but he must be suffering much. Hero, please save the Princess. (if you say ‘Yes’): Hero, please save the Princess.And this here is our secondary objective! Because what old-school fantasy story would be complete without a princess to rescue? Although...you don't actually HAVE to do this to complete the game, but...it's there as something you can do, if you wish. So that's all that the guards up here have to say, so let's move on!  (PRG0)-75.png)  (PRG0)-77.png) And there we go, onto the lower floor, with all these wonderful people to talk to! Course, one of them we can't converse with due to that accursed DOOR  ...but, that's life. If thou art planning to take a rest, first see King Lorik. King Lorik will record thy deeds in his Imperial Scroll so thou may return to thy quest later.Translation: To save your game, go talk to the King, and say Yes when he asks to "record thy deeds in his Imperial Scroll".  There was a time when Brecconary was a paradise. Then the Dragonlord’s minions came. Where oh where can I find Princess Gwaelin? Where oh where can I find Princess Gwaelin? We are merchants who have traveled much in this land. Many of our colleagues have been killed by servants of the Dragonlord. Rumor has it that entire towns have been destroyed by the Dragonlord’s servants. Hero’s coming was foretold by legend. May the light shine upon this brave warrior. 2x Guards: Welcome to Tantegel Castle.One of the nice things about Dragon Warrior was that it was basically the first RPG to really have a consistent narrative from start to finish, with lots of NPC dialogue, flavor text, world building, and all that good stuff. Because even with Ultima and Wizardry, Wizardry didn't have much of any dialogue, and Ultima...Ultima literally had you go flying in a space ship, shooting down Tie Fighters. Despite being set in medieval times. Here though, there's an actual world here, with people to talk to, and FAR more dialogue than you would normally see in a game back then. Though of course, we have our obligatory tutorial text as well... Thou must have a key to open a door. When entering the cave, take with thee a torch.So obviously we already went over that first tip several times. But the 2nd bit is somewhat interesting. Basically, you know how in Pokemon games, you'll occasionally come across a place like the Rock Tunnel? Where almost the whole screen is pitch black, and you need Flash in order to see? Well every dungeon in this game is like that, and right now, Torches are about the closest thing to "Flash" that we have. Good thing we already have one, eh?  (PRG0)-78.png) Now then, that's all there is to Tantegel Castle at the moment, so let's head outside to...  (PRG0)-37.png) The overworld map, where we will be spending most of our time in the game! It may not look very populated, but don't be fooled...  Because unlike some other RPGs, like The 7th Saga, enemies can pop out of nowhere, at any time on the world map!  (PRG0)-79.png) Now then, we'd best do as that one guard said, and head right to Brecconary! Brecconary .png) Here's Brecconary, complete with all the swag we can get here! Of course, the Repellent shop is behind one of those accursed doors, and a lot of these items are pretty expensive...but we'll see what we can do. So then, first of all...  (PRG0)-81.png)  (PRG0)-82.png) Head up to get the Club and the Clothes at the weapons & armor shop, then head southeast to the item shop to get...  (PRG0)-84.png) The Dragon Scale! Now unlike most RPG's, all weapons and armor, like the Clothes and Club, are automatically equipped the moment you get them, so you don't have to do anything to enjoy the benefits they give. But the Dragon Scale, which also increases your Defense, is an item, which you have to use in order to get the boost. So...  (PRG0)-85.png) Open your Items menu...  (PRG0)-86.png)  (PRG0)-87.png) And use this Dragon Scale to get a small, but permanent boost to your Defense. Then after that...  (PRG0)-88.png)  (PRG0)-112.png) You can actually sell the Dragon Scale BACK to the owner for half-price while STILL enjoying the permanent boost! Granted, the game probably means for you to lose it when you sell it back, but, I guess the programmers failed to account for that...  (PRG0)-113.png) Anyways, once you do all that, finish up your shopping trip by buying an Herb, an item that recovers your health...Sorry if it seems like I'm going through this rather slowly, but I'm just going through this whole thing on the off-chance that anyone hear doesn't know how these things go. And for those who've played this before, yes, this is the optimal spread of items to buy for grinding, because this is the only way we can get a good amount of Defense while still getting the Club, which we REALLY want for the beginning enemies. And we even get an Herb out of the deal :8: ! In fact, while we're on the subject of Defence, let's take a look at our stats by choosing the "Status" button in the main menu...  (PRG0)-145.png) HP: The amount of Health you currently have, which goes down whenever an enemy hits you. And if it goes to 0, you die. MP: The amount of MP you currently have. Eventually, we will be able to use magic, and when that happens, this number will act as our ammunition. But since we have no magic yet, it's not relevant. G: Gold. Self-explanatory I think. E: Experience, which you earn by killing enemies. And when your Exp. amount reaches certain amounts, you gain what's called a "level". And when you get a level, your other stats will increase, and you might even learn some magic spells. So, 7 Exp. gets you Level 2, 23 Exp. gets you Level 3 and a magic spell, 47 Exp. gets you Level 4 and another magic spell, and etc. Strength: How hard you can hit enemies. Agility: 2 Points of Agility=1 more Point of Defense Power. Also plays a role in running away from enemies. And no, it does not affect how fast you are in battle, believe it or not. Maximum HP and Maximum MP: If your "HP" and "MP" match these numbers, that means you're at full health, and have a full clip of magic spells ready to be unleashed. Attack Power: This is our Strength + Weapon Bonuses. For example, Clubs have a Weapon Bonus of 4 while Bamboo Poles have a Weapon Bonus of 2. So if we had bought the Bamboo Pole instead of the Club, our Attack Power would have been 6, and not 8. As for how it works, basically, 2 Points of Attack Power=Around 0.75 more Points of Damage when hitting enemies. Defense Power: Same principle as Attack Power, except with Agility and Armor Bonuses. 6 Agility gives us 3 Defense. Then you add in the permanent 2+ bonus from the Dragon Scale, and the 2+ bonus from the Clothes we bought, and that means we have a Defense Power of 7. As for how this stat works...it's a little more complicated than Attack Power, so I'll save the details for later. So with that all done, let's converse with the townsfolk! Thou art most welcome in Brecconary. Welcome! Enter the shop and speak to its keeper across the desk. Enter where thou can. See King Lorik when thy experience levels are raised.Again, we have our usual hodgepodge of people giving us tips on how to play the game. If thou art cursed, come again.Some of these tips, not so useful. For example, in order to get cursed, you have to do some very specific things. And even when you do, it doesn't actually harm you in any way, so really it's as though curses don't even exist in this game. But some of the other tips, THEY are worth paying attention to.  Beware the bridges! Danger grows when thou crosses.For example, this here is actually some fairly helpful advice. I mean, it's not a perfect indicator of when you start encountering stronger enemies, but it's a fairly reliable one. So definitely keep that in mind. Watch thy Hit Points when in the Poisonous Marsh.Again, important tip here, though we'll get into that later... Go north to the seashore, then follow the coastline west until thou hath reached Garinham. There is a town where magic keys can be purchased. Within sight of Tantegel Castle to the south is Charlock, the fortress of the Dragonlord.And these are a list of places we are going to have to go at some point in our quest, with Garinham being the place the game seems to want us to go next. As for Charlock, we can't go there yet...and frankly, the way we're equipped, we wouldn't really want to anyway  . Art thou the descendant of Erdrick? Hast thou any proof? No, I am not Princess Gwaelin. Many have been the warriors who have perished on this quest. But for thee I wish success, Hero. Please, save us from the minions of the Dragonlord. Tell King Lorik that the search for his daughter hath failed. I am almost gone....And then, more flavor text! Rather nice of the game to set up the mood the way it has been eh? So, with all that said... .png) Let's go to Garinham! Why not?  (PRG0)-148.png) So off we go...  (PRG0)-114.png) But ah, seems like we're not getting there without resistance, so let's try out that Fight command!  Yes, brilliant! See that "Excellent move!"? That means that your attack completely ignores the enemy's Defense Power, and as a result, does far more damage than it usually would. So basically, whatever your Attack Power is, Excellent attacks can do anywhere from half that amount, to 100% of that amount, so they're pretty...well, excellent!  (PRG0)-115.png) Also, we get our Exp. and Gold, which we will get after every battle! Fighting monsters, btw, is how you're going to get all of your Exp. and how you're going to get most of your Gold. So, just like real life, you cannot become stronger without lots of experience and practice.  (PRG0)-116.png) So, we're getting pretty close! I wonder what other monsters we will meet along the way?  (PRG0)-117.png) Mmm, a Ghost huh? Wonder how tough this guy is?  (PRG0)-119.png) Eck, pretty tough. Not only did we do only one damage, but he did 2 back to us! But maybe we'll have better luck next round?  (PRG0)-120.png) Shoot! We missed! And yeah, that can happen sometimes against tougher enemies, with lots of Defense. But hey, it's not all bad! I mean, the guy's only doing... ...Ok, OWWW!! Man that hurt! Ergh...  (PRG0)-126.png)  (PRG0)-128.png) ...Ok, this isn't looking good...  (PRG0)-129.png) But if we use an Herb...  (PRG0)-130.png) We get all our health back! And yet...  (PRG0)-134.png) Even then, with all the damage I had done before using the Herb, he STILL managed to take off another 6 HP, so apparently, Ghosts are pretty tough! But, we ALSO got more Exp. and Gold from him than we did from the Red Slime! And that's one thing you'll want to remember. The stronger the enemy, the more Exp. and Gold that they tend to give, so keep that in mind.  (PRG0)-143.png) So can we make it without another encounter?  Nope! And after only one step too ...so let's see how well we-.gif)  ....... (PRG0)-144.png)  ...OK, I guess we're not going to Garinham then! (PRG0)-76.png) So, yes, here's the rub. Even at the beginning, you are COMPLETELY unequipped to handle most of that monsters that haunt this land, and not just because King Lorik is a money-grubbing dolt who won't give you more than a couple of coins to rub together . No, the fact is, you are just plain weak, regardless of whatever name you pick. So you're going to need to get a lot of Exp., and start churning out levels the same way cows churn out milk. In other words, as that one guy in Tantegel Castle said, this means you are going to have to fight a lot of enemies. And I mean...A...LOT...of enemies, before you can explore the world without getting your rear stomped into the ground... Anyways though, how about that game-over screen?  (PRG0)-141.png) Well, actually there is no game over screen! Why is that? Just take a listen. King Lorik: Death should not have taken thee, Z. I will give thee another chance. To reach the next level, thy Experience Points must increase by (however much they need to increase). Now, go, Z!Pretty neat that the King revives you...although it'd be a lot neater if he didn't take half your Gold in the process . Because while you may not get game-overs, you WILL lose half of the Gold you have every time you die... (PRG0)-80.png) So then, I think we're ready to call it a day! Note that none of that "traveling to Garinham" stuff actually happened, that was all staged to make a point. So now that I've shown how grueling this game can be...let me now also share one of the main goal behind this LP... You see, just like with 7th Saga, I'm going to be beating this game as quickly as possible, and this time, it's no-holds-bar. Whatever glitches I can abuse, I am going to abuse maliciously. And while that won't remove all the grinding, we WILL be going through the game much faster than normal, doing things that the game NEVER would have expected us to do. Yes, today's update may not have been very eventful, but next time, I am definitely NOT going to be playing this the way it was meant to be played! So hang on to your pitas folks, cuz next update is gonna get interesting... This is Fionordequester, signing out. Have a nice day! Fionordequester fucked around with this message at 23:45 on Jan 6, 2015 |
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Dec 21, 2014 04:36
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I never understood why the sequels based all battles in space.
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Dec 21, 2014 05:46
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The 80s were a really weird time.
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Dec 21, 2014 05:48
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Ooh, neat! I just downloaded a remake of this for my iPod earlier today. This game might not have the greatest plot or most intricate mechanics, but it still has a warm fuzzy spot in my nostalgic heart. And I just love the way they have everybody talk. It is just the best thing.
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Dec 21, 2014 07:14
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Edvarius posted:Ooh, neat! I just downloaded a remake of this for my iPod earlier today. This game might not have the greatest plot or most intricate mechanics, but it still has a warm fuzzy spot in my nostalgic heart. Oh really? That's cool! For those who don't know, that remake got an entirely new localization, while still using the "Ye Olde English" accents and everything! So if any of you have any iPods or Androids, that might be worth checking out, as well as DQ2 and DQ3 (though be warned, DQ3 had a LOT of silly name changes...Like Kandar being renamed to "Robbin 'Ood", as well as the names of many of the personalities). Fionordequester fucked around with this message at 07:32 on Dec 21, 2014 |
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Dec 21, 2014 07:30
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I always used to buy the Bamboo Pole and the Leather Armor but that's a bad idea and I'm never doing it again. Of course I'm probably never playing DW1 again because 30% of it is grinding scorpions on that one strip of mountains south of Tantangel and another 30% of it is grinding Wyverns or Goldmen. Still a lot less grinding than 7th Saga though! Anyway, Dragon Warrior 1: Sleep is truly the cousin of death
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Dec 21, 2014 07:33
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Ooooh! An SSLP of DW1 and it's a speed run! Praise be the su- *shot* Anyways, really looking forward to this.
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Dec 21, 2014 07:38
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I remember playing and beating the SNES remake of this in a single day. This is perhaps the single most basic RPG ever. Still oddly fun,
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Dec 21, 2014 08:41
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Was just thinking about replaying this the other day but I think I'll just watch your LP instead.  Good 1st update!
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Dec 21, 2014 10:26
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I look forward to seeing how many odd things exist in this, arguably one of the first of RPGs.
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Dec 21, 2014 10:32
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This will be a neat history lesson for me, as the first (and only) DragonQuestWarrior game I've played is VIII. I can't believe you have to tell the game when you want to go up and down stairs.
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Dec 21, 2014 11:05
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Sheep-Goats posted:Still a lot less grinding than 7th Saga though!
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Dec 21, 2014 16:02
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Definitely one of my favorite games of all time - occasionally I just find it in a convenient format and just blow through it, since it's not a very long game if you know what you're doing. I'm liking the town maps, though - they're a really nice touch. Also: Fionordquester posted:And even when you do, it doesn't actually harm you in any way, so really it's as though curses don't even exist in this game. Curses definitely do something important! But it's also easily ameliorated. Until you go to that guy to deal with your curse, you get thrown out of towns and castles when you try to do anything, as I recall. You definitely can't save.
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Dec 21, 2014 17:58
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MaskedHuzzah posted:Definitely one of my favorite games of all time - occasionally I just find it in a convenient format and just blow through it, since it's not a very long game if you know what you're doing. I'm liking the town maps, though - they're a really nice touch. Yeah, it's definitely got that charm to it...one thing though. When you say it doesn't take that long, are you talking about the remakes? Or are you talking about this version? Because there were a lot of changes made to the remakes to make this game go by more quickly and more easily.
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Dec 21, 2014 21:07
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So then, before we move on to the next update tomorrow, I think it would be good to do a brief little mini-update on something I touched on last update. Now, remember when I said that different names give you different stat distributions? Well, to explain that in a little more detail, first, check out the "Name choice and stats" section of this excellent guide by Ryan8Bit, who has done most of the heavy lifting in terms of figuring out this game's mechanics... Ryan8Bit's Game Mechanics Guide (I'd just post the section here, but I'm paranoid that copying and pasting it here would go against his wishes) Now then, once you do that, I'd like to explain a few more things. First of all, when he talks about "short term stats" the way he does here... Ryan8Bit posted:So now I need to find my short term stats. Again I take 43 / 4, but I round it down this time, giving me 10. I will take that result, divide by 4, and take the remainder, which is 2... Basically, he's referring to what is actually a rather unfair mechanic in the name selection process. See, suppose you name your character, say, "Zain", or "Zane" (depending on how you spell it). Doing all the calculations and the like on both names would give you a build that emphasizes long term HP and MP, and those values will always start and grow the same no matter what. However, for Strength and Agility, since those are short-term stats, your starting values actually VARY depending on what result you get from the formula above. So at Level 1, you can start off with as much as 6 Strength and Agility...  (PRG0)-140.png) ...or start off with as little as 3 Strength and Agility...  (PRG0)-141.png) And if you get the name that doesn't give you good short-term stats, the game will never...EVER do anything to make up for those deficits... So not only does the game hide this whole "Name" mechanic from us, but there are actually names that are objectively worse than other names. Because that's fair and balanced gameplay right there, right? I mean, it's not as though those deficits make THAT much of a difference in the long term...but it's still extremely irritating and unfair. Fortunately however, in addition to giving us the entire inner workings of the game on a silver platter, Ryan8Bit has ALSO given us this! Ryan8Bit's Name Stats and Battle Calculator Yes, that's right, it is a name calculator AND a battle simulator all in one! Want to see how powerful your name is, and what kind of growth it gives you? Go here! Want to see how likely you are to defeat a certain enemy at Level 13? Go here! If you want to see how high your chances of running from a certain enemy are? GO HERE!! Heh heh...so, all kidding aside, let's talk about the name I picked, shall we? First of all, it's a name that gives long-term HP and Strength, and of course, the most powerful short-term stats. Now Strength is an VERY important stat, as physical attacks are going to be your primary source of damage throughout the game. And if you don't have good strength when you get to the final boss? Hoooo-boy are you gonna be in a world of hurt... HP on the other hand, is a little more debatable. First of all, it gives you about a 94% chance of surviving the final boss fight at Level 19, as opposed to "only" an 81% chance. Plus, with the extra Agility that we get from the short-term stat boosts, it makes enemies do less damage to you at Level 1-3, and allows you to more easily run from early game monsters (which we will be doing a lot of soon). But, if you choost a build that focuses on Strength and Agility instead, that makes it about 1-4% easier to run away from most endgame enemies. Plus, it gives you enough defense to make leveling from Level 17 to Level 18 very slightly faster... So basically, you're kind of splitting hairs when comparing Hp/Str. builds to Str./Agl. builds. Nevertheless though, most speed runners choose Str./Agl., mainly because it allows them to more easily do what they want to do in the early game, and plus, if you lose to the final boss, you have to spend about a half hour making your way back to him just for another shot at him. And no speed runner wants to lose a World Record run just because of that...Well, that and they're insane enough to fight the Dragonlord at Level 18, but of course even we aren't going to be THAT silly! So there we go. I think that's enough  for one night. Hopefully that wasn't TOO hard to get through. Have a nice night, and Merry Christmas everyone!
Fionordequester fucked around with this message at 08:38 on Dec 22, 2014 |
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Dec 22, 2014 07:35
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How many screenshots of nothing but opening chests in the castle treasure room should I expect to see later in this LP? I can edit that out if you don't want to spoil the magic 
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Dec 22, 2014 10:07
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DACK FAYDEN posted:How many screenshots of nothing but opening chests in the castle treasure room should I expect to see later in this LP? Who knows? I suppose you'll just have to wait and see! quote:I can edit that out if you don't want to spoil the magic Nah, let's leave it in there, give the viewers something to keep them wondering .
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Dec 22, 2014 11:03
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I don't think this thread will be complete without this little gem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qL5_3EhqK8 I never played this game when I was a kid but damned if I didn't want to based off this commercial
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Dec 22, 2014 12:39
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Fionordequester posted:Yeah, it's definitely got that charm to it...one thing though. When you say it doesn't take that long, are you talking about the remakes? Or are you talking about this version? Because there were a lot of changes made to the remakes to make this game go by more quickly and more easily. Any, really. Even the original goes by fast enough when played at 3x speed.
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Dec 22, 2014 13:14
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Scalding Coffee posted:I never understood why the sequels based all battles in space. Hardware limitations. Same reason why both the background and HUD disappear during bosses in Life Force. DukeofCA posted:I can't believe you have to tell the game when you want to go up and down stairs. The original Japanese version made you select which direction you wanted to talk towards, the player and NPC sprites all faced the same way regardless of movement, and it didn't have a save battery. Passwords
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Dec 22, 2014 15:32
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I am pretty sure the SNES and PSX consoles can support backgrounds. Are the games really that unoptimized?
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Dec 22, 2014 15:35
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Scalding Coffee posted:I am pretty sure the SNES and PSX consoles can support backgrounds. Are the games really that unoptimized? They definitely did starting in the SNES era. Even the SNES remakes of 1,2, and 3 had backgrounds.
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Dec 22, 2014 15:43
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This is a good time for this thread. I just started playing Dragon Quest V DS on my 3DS for the first time, but can you ever truly play a Dragon Quest for the first time? Everything from the music to the graphics (admittedly by that point calling back Dragon Quest IV DS, but still) to the familiar enemies...Dragon Quest games are nostalgia in game form and I love that. Especially because they can bring back the good memories of this game and Dragon Quest II without the many many many lovely elements of the original two games. More Dragon Quest II than this one, admittedly, but this game has its fair share of bullshit and as much as I love this game I'd never want to play it or Dragon Quest II again.
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Dec 23, 2014 06:21
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Alright then everyone, welcome back to Let's Play Dragon Warrior 1! Now then, we're going to spend a little time grinding up to Level 4, but before we do that, let's talk about something called "Enemy Zones" for a bit....png) See this here? As you can see, every square is marked and labeled according to which monsters we can fight at which spot. Now, Red Slimes are weaklings who have only 4 HP, and do only 1-2 Damage to us. And the blue Slimes (simply called "Slimes") are even weaker versions of that, with only 3 HP. But what about those bat-like creatures?  (PRG0)-1.png)  (PRG0)-2.png) Well, these are Drakees, and while they're not as tough as Ghosts...they're still gonna rough us up real good right now. So much so, that at Level 1, you're better off running rather than fighting. So, you'd THINK the best place to grind would be in the Red Squares (Zone 0), which has only Slimes and Red Slimes, right? Wrong, because the thing about Zone 0? Well...let me explain. First of all, you know how in the overworld, you're seeing a bunch of different tiles? As in, we've got some trees, we've got some grass, we've got some deserty looking stuff, and all that? Well, whenever you walk on these tiles, there's a chance that you'll get a random encounter. And depending on what tile you walk on, you may be more or less likely to get a random encounter. For reference, we have...  Grassland Tiles: (1/24 chance of encounter) Forest Tiles: (1/16 chance of encounter) Swamp Tiles: (1/16 chance of encounter) Hill Tiles: (1/8 chance of encounter) Desert Tiles: (1/8 chance of encounter)And then of course, we have our ocean tiles and our other grey mountain tiles, but we can't walk on those. So on average, you'll get one battle for every 8 steps you take on a Desert or Hill tile, one battle for every 16 steps you take on a Swamp or Forest, and one battle for every 24 steps you take on a Grassland tile... Or, at least, that's the encounter rates for MOST of the areas on the world map. When it comes to Zone 0 however, the encounter rates are different. Instead, the encounter rates there are as follows... Grassland Tiles: (1/48 chance of encounter) Forest Tiles: (1/32 chance of encounter) Swamp Tiles: (1/32 chance of encounter) Hill Tiles: (1/32 chance of encounter) Desert Tiles: (1/16 chance of encounter)So at best, if you took 200 steps in Zone 0, then 200 steps in any of the other Zones, you'd only get about half of the random encounters in Zone 0 as you would anywhere else. And since Hills are going to be our main grinding zone, the comparison becomes even more lopsided. And as for Drakees... %20(PRG0)-3.png) Just run away. It's as easy as that. Because with our 6 Agility, we literally have an 87.4% chance of running away, which makes Drakees basically a non-issue. So that being said... %20(PRG0)-38.png) So then, these hills are where you'll want to grind until you get up to Level 2. And once you get there, you'll receive... %20(PRG0)-25.png) Some stat bonuses! Not anything mind-blowing, but we DO get the ability to potentially OHKO Red Slimes without an Excellent Move, so that's something. But you know what, our health is looking a little low... %20(PRG0)-33.png) So let's rest up at the Inn back at Brecconary! You do that... %20(PRG0)-36.png) And viola! You're as good as new! So then, back to the grind! %20(PRG0)-39.png) As you can see, the Club is already proving it's worth  ...%20(PRG0)-40.png) And out comes another Drakee after a time. And this time, I decide to fight it, because one, I can hit a bit harder than before, two, I have a bit more HP, and three... %20(PRG0)-45.png) Drakees give double the Exp. that Slimes and Red Slimes give, so that's pretty neat. Now, should your health drop to about 8 HP or below, I'd start running away from Drakees again, but otherwise, you should start fighting them now. And when you've almost gotten 23 Exp... %20(PRG0)-57.png) You can snag that last bit of Exp. on the way to the Inn, and get...!  (PRG0)-143.png) Some "Response Speed" (which is actually just Agility)...  (PRG0)-144.png) And Ooooooo, MP! Does that mean... %20(PRG0)-59.png) WHOOO! WE GOT THE HEAL SPELL  ! Awesome eh? More specifically, this spell heals anywhere from 10-17 HP, so before using it, you want to make sure that you're actually missing 17 HP or more. Otherwise, you could waste some MP. And that would be bad.  (PRG0)-61.png) So with that in tow, and with our body and mind refreshed, let us head onward, to some ORANGE squares!  (PRG0)-90.png) Speaking of orange, here's our old friend, back to haunt us once again.  (PRG0)-93.png) And of course, he's still a royal pain.  (PRG0)-98.png) But that's ok, because we've gotten a lot stronger than last time. In fact, this particular one went down after only 2 hits, and the 2nd Ghost was pretty easy as well! But the 3rd Ghost, well...here's the thing.  (PRG0)-108.png)  (PRG0)-109.png) In addition to packing a wallop, Ghosts are also pretty dodgy. For reference, most early game monsters have a 1/64 chance of dodging your attacks, but Ghosts have a 1/16 chance of dodging them. So while we still got kind of unlucky, it's not TOO surprising that something like this happened.  (PRG0)-111.png) And since we now only have a little bit of HP...  (PRG0)-113.png) It's time to demonstrate that Heal spell!  Oh yeah, look at all the HP I have now! Pretty cool eh? Of course, since it cost 4 MP, I can only use it once before having to fill it up at the Inn. But even still, we can now get much more Exp on this trip.  Or, at least, we WOULD have been able to get a lot more, except, I guess the game decided that it hated me that day ... (PRG0)-146.png) So yeah, what was suppose to happen was that I would fight Ghosts until I got to around 10 HP, then I would finish up grinding to 47 Exp. by going back into Zone 1. Then of course, if I ended up about a point away from Level 4, I would just fight a slime on my way back from the trip. But, as you can see, the game would have none of that, oh no  ...%20(PRG0)-158.png) Whatever though, I get it all the same. Which is good, because Level 4 is a very critical level for us for three reasons.  (PRG0)-159.png) Most importantly, we get a MASSIVE boost in MP, one that allows us to use the Heal spell four times instead of just once! Also, we get another 7 points in HP, a very nice bonus at these early levels. And of course, we get...  (PRG0)-160.png) THE HURT SPELL!!  Now unfortunately, the descriptor above is a blatant lie. Oh don't get me wrong, the "Hurt" spell does pretty much exactly what it says. But, it actually only does 5-12 Damage, so curse you Nintendo Power !! (PRG0)-164.png) But anyways, instead of the Inn, we want to go back to Tantegel and save our games. And while we're they, we may as well talk to this guy because...  He actually restores ALL of your MP every time you talk to him! And if you're wondering why I didn't use this before, it's because healing at the Inn is usually a little faster. But, since I already have business in Tantegel anyway, the Old Man ends up being faster instead!  (PRG0)-169.png) So after you save your game, here's where you want to go next... .png) For you Dragon Warrior 1 aficionados, yes, you are reading that right. It's that time already. We are going RIGHT to Rimuldar, because that town has Magic Keys, and we're going to need one before this update is over! So off we go!  (PRG0)-174.png) Also, again, we're done fighting for the update, just run from everything. And yes, you can do that, because right now, the game's pretty heavily slanted in your favor as far as that goes, for reasons I will explain a bit later in the update. For now though...  (PRG0)-177.png) Here's Marsh Cave! See those tiles? Well look at how much health I have, then watch what happens when we walk across it.  Owwch! That really hurt, didn't it?! Yeah, remember what that guy was saying about "swamps" last update? Well this is what he meant. Every time you step on one, you lose 2 HP, so you'd best watch out for that. In fact...  (PRG0)-187.png) You should definitely heal up after getting down to 14 or so HP. No sense taking any risks after all. So in we go, to the Marsh Cave! .png) Yep, as you can see, there's a woman in here, but since there's a DOOR in our way, we can't really do anything to help her out yet. And of course, there are some slightly stronger enemies, but most importantly...  (PRG0)-197.png) It is completely pitch black in here. Yup, it's like I said last update. Every cave is like the Rock Tunnel in Pokemon, which, actually, I think is a pretty neat touch. In fact, I kind of wish more Dragon Quest games could find a way to incorporate that mechanic, even if it can be a little inconvenient...but anyways, we COULD use the Torch to increase our field of vision, but as you can see, our path is very simple anyways. Basically, just go south until you hear this sound which starts 3 seconds into the video... Bonking Sound And that's your cue that you're hitting a wall. Once you hear that, go right until you hear the sound again, go down until you hear it again, go right, go down again, head to the left...  (PRG0)-139.png) And there we go! We're at the stairs! That wasn't so bad, was it?  (PRG0)-202.png) So heal up to full once you step on the Marsh, because now comes the hard part... .png) You see all these guys? Those are all the new enemies here, sorted and color-marked by where they show up. And while the yellow scorpion and the red Drakee look-alike are no problem, the rest of these guys will absolutely destroy you at these levels if they can help it. For example...  (PRG0)-204.png) I'm walking along, taking the optimal path to Rimuldar...  (PRG0)-206.png) And then this guy shows up, gets a pre-emptive strike...  (PRG0)-207.png) Then proceeds to take off over half of my HP ! (PRG0)-208.png) And then I fail to run! Could this be the end of me?  (PRG0)-211.png) Nope, guess not. Because after surviving the next round, I was able to run successfully...but still, you get the point. Now, the Wolf is the only monster who could actually reliably kill us in two hits, so that's good news right there. But the bad news is, all the other new baddies in the purple zone can easily kill us within three hits. "So', you may ask, 'what the heck are we doing here again"? "How are you supposed to survive the trip to Rimuldar"? Well, let me explain. Like I said, running is very easy in this game, and now, I will show you why... code:See this formula here? These are the (simplified) formulas for running away. As for "Group Factor", basically, all enemies in this game are grouped into four different groups. And depending on which group they are in, they can either have a value of 0.25, 0.375, 0.5, or 1.0. And fortunately for us, all of the monsters in this update, even the ones in Rimuldar, are in the Group with 0.25. What does that mean for us? Well, we happen to have 10 Agility at Level 4, and the Wolf has 30 Agility, which you would think would put us at a disadvantage. BUT, if we plug all the numbers into that formula, it turns out, we have about a 62.5% chance of running away from the Wolf, even though he has 3x our Agility! And this guy is supposed to be the 2nd fastest enemy we meet this update! The fastest is the Metal Scorpion (the grey one), and we only have a 47.64% chance of running from him. But, while he CAN kill us in 2 hits, it is very unlikely that he would manage that. And other than those two? There is not a SINGLE enemy in this area that we don't have at least a 72.42% chance of running from!... Of course, that said, these monsters do have a higher than normal chance of ambushing us... code:Yeah, basically the same formulas, except, the numbers are switched around. So basically, subtract your chances of running from 1.00, and that's how often enemies ambush you...so yes, Wolves and Metal Scorpions have a 37.5% and 52.36% chance respectively of ambushing you. Even still though, the trip to Rimuldar is so short, you may not even SEE those two enemies on your way there. And even if you DO die, the trip only takes about 2 minutes to do, so it's not even really a big deal if you die. Just make sure you reset your game so you don't lose your Gold. So basically what I'm saying is, even though there is some risk of death, your chances of survival are still relatively high. And the trip is still TOTALLY worth making...so anyways...  (PRG0)-220.png) I end up having to use my Herb, which restores about 23-30 HP. And that's fine, in fact, this trip was basically the main reason I bought it.  (PRG0)-223.png) And there we go! We made it to Rimuldar  ! Now, what is there in this town that is so valuable that I was willing to make such a huge fuss it?.png)  (PRG0)-228.png) Why, a Magic Key of course! Yes, this here is the main reason why I told you to save your game before coming to Rimuldar! Otherwise, if you had died, you would have lost half your Gold, and have ended up not being able to buy one! So, for our monumental achievement of running to Rimuldar, we have now been granted...the privilege...of opening a door!! One door! And that one door...oh man is it a heck of a door. You might even call it...the doorway...to many victories. Never has the ability to open a door been so exciting until now! So with that monumental victory under our belts...let's take some time to talk to the people of Rimuldar! Not just for completion's sake, but also because they all have some pretty interesting things to say...  Welcome to the town of Rimuldar.Well, most of them anyways.  Over the western part of this island Erdrick created a rainbow. ’Tis also said that he entered the darkness from a hidden entrance in the room of the Dragonlord.ALERT! ALERT! What this man is telling you right now will be absolutely essential for beating the game, and this is the ONLY guy who ever mentions it. So be absolutely CERTAIN you remember this for later, otherwise you're going to be one furious guy.  Thou shalt find the Stones of Sunlight in Tantegel Castle, if thou has not found them yet.ALERT! ALERT! Remember this tip too, because this one is ALSO mentioned only once in the entire game! I don't even know why THIS random guy, of all people, is the only one to know this, but there you go. Good day, I am Howard. Four steps south of the bath in Kol thou shalt find a magic item.ALERT! ALEr-  ... Ok fine, I won't do that anymore, sheesh. So ok, technically this is not the only guy who ever mentions said magic item, but he IS the only one who actually tells you where it is. So that's what, three crucial tips that we would miss if we never talked to anyone in Rimuldar? Man, better hope you were in a really talkative mood when you got here... Well, that, or you had the "Traveler's Handbook", an unusually well done instruction booklet that was like, the most thorough thing ever. Because believe it or not, Nintendo was nice enough to cut us kids a break there. Heed my warning! Travel not to the south for there the monsters are fierce and terrible.Normally I'd give a "hear hear!" to that statement, but... This is a magic place. Hast thou found a magic temple? (Yes/No) (if you say ‘No’): Go to the south. (if you say ‘Yes’): In this temple do the sun and rain meet.We ARE eventually going to have to fetch something from that temple. So, sucks to be us I guess. Art thou the descendant of Erdrick? Hast thou any proof?And finally, we have...not really a direct hint, but an allusion to something we'll have to worry about later. But yeah, that's all for the vital gameplay hints...now it's time for comedy hour!  No, I have no tomatoes. I have no tomatoes today."No, I am not the woman who offers that stupid Puff-Puff thing in every Dragon Warrior game. THAT woman is in another one of this game's towns." Who art thou? Leave at once or I will call my friends.Translation: "Dude! I'm changing! GET OUT OF HERE YOU PERVERTS!!"  (if you have the Fighter’s Ring): Is that a wedding ring? Thou seems too young to be married. (if you do not have the Fighter’s Ring): All true warriors wear a ring. Orwick is late again. I’m starving. I am Orwick, and I am waiting for my girl friend. So that's all pretty grand. Anything else? You are (name of Hero)? It has been long since last we met. The scales of the Dragonlord are as hard as steel. Before long the enemy will arrive. In this world is there any sword that can pierce the scales of the Dragonlord?Well, some gloomy talk to add to the Dragonlord's menace. And we've even got a bit of world-building to make the world feel more alive. Not bad for a game made in 1986, huh?  (PRG0)-142.png) So then, time to demonstrate another speed run trick...  Death Warping! Yes, to get back to Tantegel quickly, we let ourselves die...  (PRG0)-239.png) And there we go! Right back at Tantegel! And since we already spent most of our Gold anyway, we don't even lose anything from it!  (PRG0)-290.png) Now then, I WAS going to go on for a little longer...but this update went on for a bit longer than expected, so, I think this is a pretty good stopping point right here. So now that we're back at Tantegel, what shall we do now? What role will that Magic Key play in our future exploits? And will we be able to find a way to compete with those enemies at Rimuldar? Find out next time, on Let's Play Dragon Warrior! Have a nice day, and Merry Christmas! Fionordequester fucked around with this message at 08:59 on Jan 18, 2015 |
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Dec 23, 2014 09:45
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Goddamn, this was made in 1986? This game is as old as me. I never could handle it as a kid.
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Dec 23, 2014 10:01
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e: Huh, a picture just loaded strangely. Nevermind.
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Dec 23, 2014 11:19
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Fionordequester posted:
I saw weird instances of enemy zones in games before. FFV had one spot be a straight line with only one type of enemy and it was the best spot to level in the game. It varied between games since I was never able to find another spot that acted like that.
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Dec 23, 2014 15:18
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Scalding Coffee posted:I saw weird instances of enemy zones in games before. FFV had one spot be a straight line with only one type of enemy and it was the best spot to level in the game. It varied between games since I was never able to find another spot that acted like that. FF1 has the Corridor of Giants, which is similar to what you describe, plus of course the Peninsula of Power Leveling, though that one was unintentional.
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Dec 23, 2014 15:56
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Night10194 posted:Goddamn, this was made in 1986? This game is as old as me. I never could handle it as a kid. 1986 in Japan. It didn't come out here for a couple years (which is why we get battery saves and Japan gets passwords, as well as a couple other things like sprites that could turn. Fancy!). But yeah, it's old. And the beginning of one of my favourite series, so it's nice to see it here, simple as the game is.
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Dec 23, 2014 16:25
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Scalding Coffee posted:That is true. The grind point in FF5 is the best, though. Good XP, good JP, good GP, all one monster with a level that was a multiple of 5 (in a game where LVL5 Death was available) and an additional vulnerability to Soft (Became too soft to live, as they'd say in FF9). There was even an inn about 20 steps away.
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Dec 23, 2014 21:31
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I played this game when I was five years old, and I had to quit because the combat music scared the poo poo out of me.
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Dec 24, 2014 00:50
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Night10194 posted:Goddamn, this was made in 1986? This game is as old as me. I never could handle it as a kid. I was 10 when I got it for Christmas (free w/ a Nintendo Power sub!), and it really scratched an itch once I got into it (took a little bit, honestly). It was so refreshingly different than all the other NES games I had at the time. NP also included, among other goodies, the items/gear/monster poster for DW2. It looked so much cooler than DW1 in every aspect, and I studied the thing for over a year before I was finally able to get the game. I'll be honest, I've played through DW1 a dozen times but I've never been brave enough to go to Rimuldar at lv 4, and I have no idea what you plan to do with that key so early in the game. Excited to find out 
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Dec 24, 2014 03:43
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Ah, and the first sequence break pops out. You didn't even get jumped in the whole dark cave?
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Dec 24, 2014 05:36
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MaskedHuzzah posted:The grind point in FF5 is the best, though. Good XP, good JP, good GP, all one monster with a level that was a multiple of 5 (in a game where LVL5 Death was available) and an additional vulnerability to Soft (Became too soft to live, as they'd say in FF9). There was even an inn about 20 steps away.
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Dec 24, 2014 06:30
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Really enjoying your style, OP. Looking forward to your next update. I certainly never thought to play the game in that fashion.
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Dec 24, 2014 09:08
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Fionordequester posted:
Yay, the Howard Phillips cameo. Nester is somewhere else if I remember.
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Dec 25, 2014 06:38
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DeathChicken posted:Yay, the Howard Phillips cameo. Nester is somewhere else if I remember. That reminded me of something that I haven't thought of in years.  
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Dec 25, 2014 07:14
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Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a bit. I've been so busy! But right now, I'm hanging with my extended family till Tuesday and will be back at this after that! I'd write more, but, I'm communicating via cellphone, so, I'll be back later. Happy New Years everyone!
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Dec 29, 2014 00:26
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I'm readin all these posts to find out how to play Draggin Warrer correctly for once in my drat life, poo poo
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Dec 29, 2014 08:06
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Aces High posted:I don't think this thread will be complete without this little gem I saw this commercial on a day off from school. (Don't remember if I was sick, or it was a half day or what.) Later that day my dad came home with the game. It was the coolest thing for me. He and I spent many hours playing the game, even getting max xp before we finally beat it.
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Dec 30, 2014 22:34
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