like in that environment it can't NOT

obviously

my main impression of dqxi so far is that, like

it's the platonic ideal of JRPG

JRPG distilled down to its purest, most refined essence

is it doing anything revolutionary or new? no.

does it need to? ABSOLUTELY NOT

it executes on everything it's trying to do incredibly well

you're going on a globetrotting adventure with a bunch of friendly kooks as you unravel a mystery to defeat the dark lord and it owns

the sort of, like

episodic format that the game takes after you have your full party is really charming too

a rare solid example of, like, a nonlinear structure in a jrpg actually working well

Dragon Quest is like, a masterclass in vignette-based jrpg storytelling

there are a lot of dragon quests I've played where the main plot is kind of eh but the actual city to city journey is a lot of fun because you never know what's around the corner

people will tell you dq7 is a slog. they're kind of right but it's actually worth it if you just accept the vibes

yeah DQ11 is distilled JRPG goodness

8 will always hold a place in my heart but 11 is superior to 8 in literally every way except it doesn't have The Funniest Character To Hate Of All Time

There is not a single character in all of Dragon Quest 11 that holds a CANDLE to Marcello on the Hate Index

the game does have one, like, minor flaw that only occasionally pops up

in that sometimes it wants you to dramatically duel a boss just with eleven

and it just does not work because your options are so slim it becomes boring

the boss doesn't have the impact it should, either, since it's dealing plinky damage to make sure you don't die to it thanks to only having one party member

there's a one on one duel boss fight that's like, High Art, but it's a long fucking way out

also, after messing around with sword and board for a while then switching back to greatsword, i've fallen firmly on the side of greatsword

mostly because of unbridled cut

i.e. "delete any enemy you want for 16 mp"

it's NUTS

greatsword whips

i find it interesting that while hendrik is slavishly dedicated to his duty as a knight of heliodor, he's not actually dumb

he's pretty smart, even!

like. he figured out who jade was with just one look, and didn't waste time deluding himself into thinking that she was an impostor, which is where i thought that plot was going

what I genuinely love about Hendrik

is that nobody else talks like that

everyone else is just speaking normal english sentences and Hendrik is over here going the full Game of Thrones

and the instant that the ice witch blabs about getting a necklace from the person who freed her, hendrik's priorities shift so that finding jasper and getting him to spill what the FUCK is going on here is more important than capturing the darkspawn, which is honestly fair

hendrik isn't dumb but like, the king is basically his dad

so i get it

wait hang on.

RandomProphet: i just got there and it absolutely is

YEAH I EDITED IT because i remembered "oh right the locket thing happens before it gets real yuri as opposed to toxic yaoi"

honestly i was like a little. hm. when the queen's personal guards were both scantily-clad women

And Then

gayyyyyyyyy

frysabel is living the dream, getting a big titty bisexual ice witch gf