Game:

Counter-Strike: Source (2004)

Duration: 0:00

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Originally recorded: August 3, 2025
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Well, I ended up making it further than I was hoping to this time. But given just how much larger the game would of Dragon Warrior II is compared to its predecessor, I'm not sure how much further I've got left to go. The Ys I & II comparisons definitely feel more apt this time around. The first game is both duologies felt substantially more streamlined than their follow-ups -- Adol was strictly limited to bump combat in his first outing, while you had a single party member in DQ1 -- which in turn, expanded about the underlying framework of their predecessors and the game worlds themselves.

But, man, after making that comparison, don't I wish I was playing the first two Ys games again instead.

My goal for this session was obtaining the princess -- our third and final party member -- and doing enough grinding to make sure that she would be strong enough to contribute in some way. I managed to achieve both of those goals fairly early into the stream. With a full party, I finally understand how things were supposed to go. Originally, I assumed that the party composition was essentially "Warrior/Black Mage/White Mage"... but in reality, it's more akin to "pure physical attacker/balanced/pure magic user". Honestly, given the last game, you'd think that the "Hero" and "Prince" (they're both princes, after all) would've traded places. But I guess it would make sense to give you the sturdiest character from the start and gradually implement magic as you progress. Besides, having the ability to "run" ahead "magic" feels kind of important, given the implementation of "defend".

Given how little of the story I experienced this time around that seems worth reflecting on, I guess now would be a good time to discuss those "JRPG tropes" I mentioned way back at the beginning of this series. Random encounters are probably my biggest pet peeve with the genre... and the sad part is, my stance on the practice has actually gotten more extreme as time went on. I mean, the usual excuse for such a thing was "technical limitations". While I used to be able to accept that answer, I eventually learned that freaking Zelda II of all things could handle displaying "enemy tokens" on its overworld. Now, I'm not unhinged enough to use that as an bludgeon against other NES-era JRPGs. But doesn't that imply that even as far back as the SNES, it wasn't really a necessity? And yet, the practice didn't really die off until deep into the PS2 era? Seriously, what the hell?!

Then you've got what I call "Attack/Magic/Items/Run". I suppose in reality, this is a bit of a misnomer. I don't really mind having those specific options. What drives me up the wall is the fact that a lot of prototypical JRPGs will pretty much rely upon RNG and base stats to determine how combat plays out. I've just never really understood the appeal of "big numbers go BRRRR" as opposed to using actual skill or strategy. Like, I remember that action commands were what really got me into the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi series, but even things like arranging party members, elemental weaknesses and working around resistances to specific attack types makes way more engaging gameplay. It feels kind of poetic that I've finally come around to turn-based combat's inherent worth... and my reward for this revelation is being saddled with the exact stereotype I've been carrying with me for over two decades! It'd be funny if it weren't so damn sad.

Meanwhile, my aversion to grinding feels self-explanatory. Dari insists that most fans of the genre hate the practice in general, but given how often RPG fans of all stripes boast about the length of their favorite games, I'm not so sure how true that is.

Anyway, I managed to make it all the way back to Tantagel Castle this time, thanks in no small part to that boat I got from a wizard for saving his granddaughter. Having the boat just sort of illustrates something that popped into my head during DW1's end-game: it would've been so easy to just implement a shortcut between the start of the game and Dracolord's castle. Either way, I'm kind of surprised that DracoLord IV was actually a pretty chill dude. Come to think of it, I'm surprised there's a DracoLord IV in the first place. I guess that means we killed someone's dad last time. Kind of a bummer, in retrospect.

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