Dragon Quest VI: Realms of the Reverie
Capping off the Zenithian Trilogy is easily the best of the three, Dragon Quest VI. While gameplay wise it is a carbon copy of the other titles, which is to be expected in a Dragon Quest game, there are a few things that set this one apart. Let’s dive in!
Dragon Quest VI is a prequel of IV and V, much in the same way III was a prequel to I and II. It follows the story of the chosen warrior, destined to save the world… again. I named mine after the canon name for the hero, Reck. The story starts off with Reck having to go sell some village made goods at the nearby market town to purchase some other items. We quickly notice something is weird, after we fall down a hole in the ground saving a resident of the market town. We wind up in…. another place that looks a lot like where we came from, however no one can see us. They can sense something is nearby but we can’t interact with them! We make our way back to where we fell from via a magic well. As the story progresses we discover the mysterious connection between these two very similar worlds, and eventually are able to obtain a visible form in both. The story progresses by moving back and forth between these two lands. There was a character called the Dream Seer that would help guide you in the right direction if you ever felt confused on where to go next, and it helped you from feeling the need to google what to do. As long as you explore and talk to people you always find what you’re looking for! I thought it was well executed.
We take a little bit of the class system from Dragon Quest III along with finding a few choice monster companions like in V. There are a few optional characters to recruit, the monsters being the bulk of them. I found a couple, a slime knight, a healslime, and a dragon. The dragon, Lizzie, was an absolute monster! She crushed the battlefield. There was a secret human character that I didn’t recruit, I only realized it when I googled about an item I found early on, but much too late to make the recruitment! Oh well! It’s little things like that that make a game interesting, and make you feel your choices matter sometimes.
The characters were likable, and the party chat was always humorous and even helpful at times! My favorite character was Carver, a big brawny guy with a purple mohawk. He played the comic relief most of the time, but it never got old or cliche!
My one complaint of the game was that magic seems very underwhelming. By the end of the game none of my best skills required MP, and the best magic skill (that used your entire MP pool in one shot) was weaker than physical skills that required no MP. Even one of the best healing skill, Hustle Dance, required no MP.
I think V and VI, in my opinion, is where Dragon Quest really starts to dial in on what makes a classic JRPG good and represent the best of the classic titles. If you have a DS or 3DS definitely check this one out! I really think it can keep up with the more modern entries like VIII or XI.
