Game:

Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line (1987)

Duration: 0:00

2 views

0

Originally recorded: July 31, 2025
---
There's a sense of karmic retribution exuding from this game. That probably doesn't make much sense if I just blurt that out without any context, so allow me to elaborate. For years, I've joked that Dari has considered "Dragon Quest II" to be the last "true" JRPG. This was meant as a bit of a joke over the fact that Dari seems to be a bit of a purist when it comes to the genre... though some of his decisions about what counted and what didn't could only be described as "baffling". Ironically, the only role he played in making me play this one was voting for it when it came up on the bonus poll. He can't even remember if he's played any iteration of this one.

Regardless, there is a nugget of truth buried deep within that inside joke. Dragon Warrior II definitely feels more like a "traditional" JRPG, even compared to its predecessor. In the first one, your sole playable character felt like a jack of all trades. Coupled with the fact that all of the battles -- at least in the GBC version -- were one-on-one affairs made everything feel a bit more streamlined than usual... with the exception of those all too necessary grinding sessions.

Having a party in DW2, on the other hand, means that everyone has a defined role. Of course, so far, I've only managed to get the hero and the paladin, with Dari warning me that I've still got some time before I get the third and final member of the group. That being said, there's still a lot of grinding... but it almost feels more balanced, if that makes any sense? Facing off with multiple enemies at a time makes for a way better payoff. And according to Dari, every character is going to start at Level 1 -- so far the Hero and Art have proven that -- so you need to do some grinding with each of them the second you get them. Otherwise, they're just dead weight.

That being said, I'm surprised that Art ended up being more of a general magic user, with healing and attack spells. I kind of expected magic duties to be split evenly between him and the Princess of Moonbrooke, with him serving as the "Black Mage" and her being the healer. Honestly, I am curious to see what she'll bring to the table instead... even if grinding another character from scratch doesn't exactly sound fun.