Over the holidays we’re reposting some select features from the past 12 months. A mix of talking points, interviews, opinions and more NL staff and associates, you’ll find our usual mix of thoughtfulness, expertise, frivolity, retro nostalgia, and — of course — enthusiasm for all things Nintendo. Happy Holidays!
It started with a simple question: Which Dragon Quest should I play first?
It’s one of my gaming shames that I’ve never touched Square Enix’s dedicated RPG series, and I’ve been wanting to dig into something really meaty for months now. Sure, I have about 30 unplayed RPGs ready and waiting on the Switch (now organized into a neat ‘Backlog’ folder), but 3DS games have been on my mind lately, so it seemed wise to grab Dragon Quest VII and VIII before jump into silly money such as registrations in the DS.
Dragon Quest XI is available on Switch, of course, and by all accounts, it’s the absolute best. The thing is, I didn’t want to start with the latest entry for fear of ‘spoiling’ the others below. Once you’ve had all the mods and experienced the game design wisdom that developers have gained over the years of entering the mainline — not to mention innovations from other parts of the industry — going back in chronology feels like this: going backwards. Even if I fall in love with a series, who wants the next experience to be more of the same but not quite as good?
There’s a whole banquet of delicious JRPG treats just waiting to be tucked away! I don’t want to stuff myself with grisina and dip.
It got me thinking about this precarious and preemptive dance we sometimes do (at least I to) where we try to evaluate opinions and jump into the series at the absolute point of “Goldilocks” — perfect an opening entry that not only gives us a solid overview of the show’s trademarks and/or characters, but also sets us up for further delights to come. It’s not necessarily a simple case of looking for the best Dragon Quest games and picking the leading one.
It should be noted that the original Dragon Quest is readily available on Switch and may seem like a logical starting point; something tells me though that it’s not the best jumping off point for a serial noob in 2022. For discerning gamers (with access to a variety of platforms) there are various factors to consider if you want to avoid rejection from a video game institution like Dragon Quest. There’s a whole banquet of delicious JRPG treats just waiting to be tucked away! I don’t want to stuff myself with grisina and dip.
This is something that is inherent in long-running video game franchises thanks to the rapid development of technology and knowledge that has emerged as the industry has grown. Compare that to movie series, for example, and most of the time you’re completely ‘safe’ to start from the beginning. Want to know if you’ll like the Marvel movies? Iron man it is as good as any for testing water. With smaller franchises it is even easier; you are obviously watching the first one Godfather or Toy story Or whatever. James Bond might be the exception here, as the dated earlier films don’t have the thrills you’d expect from modern action blockbusters, and sometimes it’s better to stick with the earlier films — hi alien(s) — but overall the time spent watching movies pales in comparison to work each DQ or each Mario or each Zelda.
And the time invested is only half of it. Are you nostalgic for 8-bit or early 3D? Are you happy to consider historical context when faced with outdated game design, or are you just looking for a good old time? How patient are you and how much time do you have available? I know people who prefer to play the series in chronological order… which is great for them — there’s no ‘wrong’ way to play it after all — but they’d probably turn me off pretty quickly. I do not have time for that.
There are so many long-running franchises today. Where do people who have never played Pokémon or Final Fantasy or Castlevania even begin?
There are also so many long-running franchises today. Where the hell do people who have never played Pokémon or Final Fantasy or Castlevania or Fire Emblem even start? What is the best Zelda game to start with? While it echoes past entries in certain ways, Breath of the Wild is such a departure for the series that it’s strange to recommend it to series virgins: if they don’t like the open world, it might change their attitude towards a more traditional Zelda template; alternatively, you might think that Divine Beasts represents the series’ dungeon design at its peak, which for me was the weakest part of BOTW.
Equally, there’s no way I’m going to hand someone The Legend of Zelda and say, ‘Hey, if you don’t like that, you don’t like Zelda.’ The core of exploration and wonder was there at the beginning, but it’s unrealistic for someone playing for the first time in the 21st century to ‘get’ it without a ton of context. Likewise, Ocarina of Time has some dated elements, especially if you’re not playing the 3DS remake. Majora’s Mask is too multi-layered and intricate for a series introduction. Wind Waker, maybe? It has a timeless artistic style — just until they get tired of sailing.
And that for a series with very few ‘low points’. Even the ‘worst’ main Zeldas are better than most other video games. Without wishing to cast aspersions or ruffle fan feathers, I’d hazard a guess that more people will want to play Zelda II instead of, say, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric.
In fact, the only series that came to my mind personally would recommending people start from the beginning would be the Sonic games — but I’m fully aware that I’m completely biased in that case. I’ve always preferred 2D Sonic games and ran into issues with younger members of the extended family when they just didn’t believe that the old, pixelated Sonic 2 could maybe be better than Sonic Forces.
The fact that the latter game will no doubt be an introduction to the Sonic series for some younger players is cause for great concern for brave old men like myself. That’s not to dismiss my nephew’s (misguided) penchant for pixels, which seems rich coming from someone who devours voxels so voraciously. If he doesn’t like 2D, no problem! But we can certainly do better than Forces as an introduction to the series, right? Sonic has had some fantastic 3D outings — let’s build a solid foundation with colors or something before we start juggling warnings.
Yes, it sure is heavy. With Dragon Quest, I asked online that I made the right decision and the consensus seemed to be that, yes, VIII was a good place to start the journey. Ultimately, trying to preserve the integrity of future experiences with the series is a bit academic — given my limited free time, I’ll be happy to sit through even one entry, let alone multiple. Getting stuck in what I have and not worrying about the future is the best approach for me at this point.
So that’s what I did. Last night I sat down with my new 3DS game within arm’s reach and proceeded to fire up my trusty console. I mean the Switch. And then I tried to escape from Hades once more.
Bahhh video games!!!
Tell us below which series, if any, you think would be a good start for newbies. And feel free to point Gavin towards another Dragon Quest if you think that would be a better starting point.
