Current Events > I'll never understand why Final Fantasy is bigger in the US than Dragon Quest.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Yay graphics.
Yay realism.

I just don't see the fun in the FF series. Yes, yes, Dragon quest is "too slow" and "that battle system that never evolved" but the series is just far more fun. The games are so vibrant and you feel a universal connection with all games. It's great.
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Because the FF games were localized faster and at earlier times in the nes / snes lifetimes.

In Japan DQ always came first.
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I don't see the fun in the main Dragon Quest games.

I grew up with Dragon Quest Monsters. Those games were fucking awesome. Every time I try playing main Dragon Quest games it just feels like I'm playing Pokemon without the Pokemon.

I'll probably get a lot of hate, but I thought the dragon quest games I played were not as memorable as any FF I played.
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I find FF a lot more enjoyable than DQ. More surprised that Japan likes DQ better honestly.
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vibrant is bad

FF 1 and 2 are ok, 3 is crap. 4, 5, and 6 are fantastic. 7 is great, 8 is meh, and 9 is wonderful. 10 is meh and 11 was only good at one time, but 12 was marvelous. 13 is meh and 14 is blah, 15 is just there.
DQ 1, 2, and 3 are meh. 4 is good, 5 is wonderful, and 6 is still pretty good. 7 is good and 8 is fantastic, 9 is actually pretty good. 10 I never played but 11 looks to be amazing.

So I like both, but I have to give the edge to FF if we're talking both mainstreams.

Darklit_Minuet posted...

I grew up with Dragon Quest Monsters. Those games were fucking awesome. Every time I try playing main Dragon Quest games it just feels like I'm playing Pokemon without the Pokemon.

I felt the same way, don't get me wrong, started with DQ 8 i think and it was great, but since i grew with dragon warrior monster, it was like a complete different thing :/
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KarmaMuffin posted...

FF 1 and 2 are ok, 3 is crap. 4, 5, and 6 are fantastic. 7 is great, 8 is meh, and 9 is wonderful. 10 is meh and 11 was only good at one time, but 12 was marvelous. 13 is meh and 14 is blah, 15 is just there.
DQ 1, 2, and 3 are meh. 4 is good, 5 is wonderful, and 6 is still pretty good. 7 is good and 8 is fantastic, 9 is actually pretty good. 10 I never played but 11 looks to be amazing.

So I like both, but I have to give the edge to FF if we're talking both mainstreams.

How was 11 only good at one time yet 12 is marvelous

Dragon Quest is my favorite jrpg series. They're just simple, straightforward and solid games and completely reliable all around from start to finish. I can't really think of any other series that's so incredibly stalwart and consistent.
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I've only played DQ 8 and that rocket slime game from early in the DS' life cycle

While there's nice art and music, it just doesn't really connect with me. Heck, the cover art for the DS remakes and whatnot reminds me of the Tales of series and their obsession with short blonde haired knight-type characters. Yes, the design worked once or twice but if that's it then *shrugs*.
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Tyranthraxus posted...

Because the FF games were localized faster and at earlier times in the nes / snes lifetimes.

this. Final Fantasy is bigger in the US solely due to nostalgia.
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having a different name in the US probably didn't help either
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Dragon Quest in the US dropped off when literally nothing was localized for the SNES era.
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CruelBuffalo posted...

How was 11 only good at one time yet 12 is marvelous

Because 11 was a good MMO but does not hold up at all today.
12 is great all around and gets too much hate.
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cause they never port anything
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it's really the graphics and sounds.
when FF IV (II at that time) released in US, it was beautiful. the music was really outstanding too.
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Hinakuluiau posted...

CruelBuffalo posted...

How was 11 only good at one time yet 12 is marvelous

Because 11 was a good MMO but does not hold up at all today.
12 is great all around and gets too much hate.

12 is garbage. IZJS / TZA is pretty good though but the story and characters still suck.
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My problem with DQ is that the battle system and menu design is so 8-bit archaic it drives me bonkers.
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Tyranthraxus posted...

12 is garbage. IZJS / TZA is pretty good though but the story and characters still suck.

The story and characters are pretty good despite their flaws. IZJS / TZA do improve it, but the base game is still great.
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because dragon quest is cringe dragonball crap
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Roxborough4Ever posted...

because dragon quest is cringe dragonball crap

I mean so is Chrono Trigger but everyone seems to love that game.
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Tyranthraxus posted...

Roxborough4Ever posted...

because dragon quest is cringe dragonball crap

I mean so is Chrono Trigger but everyone seems to love that game.

Because CT is amazing.
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FF has better story and cutscenes.
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smoke_break posted...

FF has better story and cutscenes.

Depends on the FF, but generally this is true.
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Vyrulisse posted...

Dragon Quest in the US dropped off when literally nothing was localized for the SNES era.

This.

Add in only a single game for the PS1, the same for the PS2, and 3/4 of a game for the 3ds, and it's no surprise that it never gained the player base FF did.

Also, we've been waiting over half a year since DQXI came out in Japan and we still don't have a NA release date.
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we also still don't even know if we'll get the 3DS version which is its own thing

Hinakuluiau posted...

Tyranthraxus posted...

12 is garbage. IZJS / TZA is pretty good though but the story and characters still suck.

The story and characters are pretty good despite their flaws. IZJS / TZA do improve it, but the base game is still great.

I've always been puzzled when I see this particular complaint.

Other than the near-useless player stand-ins (Vaan and Penelo), I thought all the characters were interesting, as was the story overall.

_Rinku_ posted...

Hinakuluiau posted...

Tyranthraxus posted...

12 is garbage. IZJS / TZA is pretty good though but the story and characters still suck.

The story and characters are pretty good despite their flaws. IZJS / TZA do improve it, but the base game is still great.

I've always been puzzled when I see this particular complaint.

Other than the near-useless player stand-ins (Vaan and Penelo), I thought all the characters were interesting, as was the story overall.

The main character should have been Larsa.

It should have been Larsa, Ashe, Balthier, Fran, Basch, and El Cid
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Tyranthraxus posted...

_Rinku_ posted...

Hinakuluiau posted...

Tyranthraxus posted...

12 is garbage. IZJS / TZA is pretty good though but the story and characters still suck.

The story and characters are pretty good despite their flaws. IZJS / TZA do improve it, but the base game is still great.

I've always been puzzled when I see this particular complaint.

Other than the near-useless player stand-ins (Vaan and Penelo), I thought all the characters were interesting, as was the story overall.

The main character should have been Larsa.

It should have been Larsa, Ashe, Balthier, Fran, Basch, and El Cid

iirc, Ashe was originally intended to be the main character. I guess something about a married, adult protagonist didn't test well with audiences, so they subbed in Vaan, the most generic JRPG protagonist ever.

_Rinku_ posted...

Tyranthraxus posted...

_Rinku_ posted...

Hinakuluiau posted...

Tyranthraxus posted...

12 is garbage. IZJS / TZA is pretty good though but the story and characters still suck.

The story and characters are pretty good despite their flaws. IZJS / TZA do improve it, but the base game is still great.

I've always been puzzled when I see this particular complaint.

Other than the near-useless player stand-ins (Vaan and Penelo), I thought all the characters were interesting, as was the story overall.

The main character should have been Larsa.

It should have been Larsa, Ashe, Balthier, Fran, Basch, and El Cid

iirc, Ashe was originally intended to be the main character. I guess something about a married, adult protagonist didn't test well with audiences, so they subbed in Vaan, the most generic JRPG protagonist ever.

Sounds like made up fan theory bullshit.

Final Fantasy fucking loves their lowlife orphan hero stories.

Cecil, Terra, Squall, Zidane, and many others are all "tragic past orphans"

Tidus, explicitly not an orphan, instead has a story about how life would have been better if he was an orphan.
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Tyranthraxus posted...

_Rinku_ posted...

Tyranthraxus posted...

_Rinku_ posted...

Hinakuluiau posted...

Tyranthraxus posted...

12 is garbage. IZJS / TZA is pretty good though but the story and characters still suck.

The story and characters are pretty good despite their flaws. IZJS / TZA do improve it, but the base game is still great.

I've always been puzzled when I see this particular complaint.

Other than the near-useless player stand-ins (Vaan and Penelo), I thought all the characters were interesting, as was the story overall.

The main character should have been Larsa.

It should have been Larsa, Ashe, Balthier, Fran, Basch, and El Cid

iirc, Ashe was originally intended to be the main character. I guess something about a married, adult protagonist didn't test well with audiences, so they subbed in Vaan, the most generic JRPG protagonist ever.

Sounds like made up fan theory bullshit.

Final Fantasy fucking loves their lowlife orphan hero stories.

Cecil, Terra, Squall, Zidane, and many others are all "tragic past orphans"

Tidus, explicitly not an orphan, instead has a story about how life would have been better if he was an orphan.

The difference is that all those characters had damn valid reasons to be in the party, and were central to the plot and had a connection with the primary antagonist. Vaan literally doesn't do shit all game, nor does he have a personal connection to the final boss in any way. Hell, Vayne literally asks him who he is when you confront him for the final battle

Yeah they intended ashe and whats his face to be the protags, but they did the same bullshit they did with nier but in reverse for some reason, they thought adult wouldn't connect with the players so they slapped in vaan and penelo
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Tyranthraxus posted...

_Rinku_ posted...

Tyranthraxus posted...

_Rinku_ posted...

Hinakuluiau posted...

Tyranthraxus posted...

12 is garbage. IZJS / TZA is pretty good though but the story and characters still suck.

The story and characters are pretty good despite their flaws. IZJS / TZA do improve it, but the base game is still great.

I've always been puzzled when I see this particular complaint.

Other than the near-useless player stand-ins (Vaan and Penelo), I thought all the characters were interesting, as was the story overall.

The main character should have been Larsa.

It should have been Larsa, Ashe, Balthier, Fran, Basch, and El Cid

iirc, Ashe was originally intended to be the main character. I guess something about a married, adult protagonist didn't test well with audiences, so they subbed in Vaan, the most generic JRPG protagonist ever.

Sounds like made up fan theory bullshit.

Final Fantasy fucking loves their lowlife orphan hero stories.

Cecil, Terra, Squall, Zidane, and many others are all "tragic past orphans"

Tidus, explicitly not an orphan, instead has a story about how life would have been better if he was an orphan.

No need to get upset about it.

Ashe is also a tragic past orphan, isn't she?

You literally just listed the reasons. In general, video game developers realized a long time ago that western audiences prefer realism and action over cutesy graphics. If you look at pretty much any title released in both Japan and the West on consoles like the NES or SNES, the covers are markedly different.

Darklit_Minuet posted...

The difference is that all those characters had damn valid reasons to be in the party, and were central to the plot and had a connection with the primary antagonist. Vaan literally doesn't do shit all game, nor does he have a personal connection to the final boss in any way. Hell, Vayne literally asks him who he is when you confront him for the final battle

I actually kind of liked that part. I imagine most imperialists don't know the people whose lives they've destroyed in their conquest. To quote Bison "For you that was the most important day of your life. For me, it was Tuesday."

It didn't make up for the whole boring rest of Vaan's character but I like that scene.
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Darklit_Minuet posted...

Vaan literally doesn't do shit all game,

I mean, his character growth is tied directly to Ashe's and the way they both move on from their dead loved ones is related to the climax
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I liked that Vaan wasn't the main driving force, tbh.

He had no special bloodline. Nor heritage. He wasn't tested on to be some super soldier. He's no prodigy from an esteemed school. Not even a top tier athlete.

He's just some kid with a bone to pick.
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The little I've played of DQ just gave me the same feeling from most the earlier FFs (1, 2, 3, 5), solid gameplay mechanics but overall very dry. I've yet to play FF6 but the franchise for me really kicks into gear with 7 and I'm an outlier in that I feel FF9 is actually too much of a regression in places.
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To this day the DQ games are all like generic as fuck.
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ImaAskAQuestion posted...

Yay graphics.

Answered your own question in too fucking words.
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final fantasy series had better gameplay, characters, stories, and settings

Phantasy Star and Ultima trumps both of these, so the real question is why those series aren't in the running.

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I never really understood the appeal of Dragon Quest/Warrior until later in life, well into my twenties. I tried playing several of those games throughout my life, like Dragon Warrior on NES. Final Fantasy was just way more appealing to me for many years, but I really do enjoy the Dragon Quest series.

I'm really looking forward to the US release of XI
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FLOUR posted...

Phantasy Star and Ultima trumps both of these, so the real question is why those series aren't in the running.

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Sega and EA, respectively.
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FF was more marketed and more diligently localized.

It's funny because imo a solid 1/3 of the FF series is downright bad, whereas DW is incredibly consistent (but perhaps not reaching the same highs).

Tyranthraxus posted...

FLOUR posted...

Phantasy Star and Ultima trumps both of these, so the real question is why those series aren't in the running.

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Sega and EA, respectively.

Phantasy Star IV is really the only game in that series that holds up well. Hell, even FF1 on NES holds up better than Phantasy Star II.
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