Some Dragon Quest questions

[Yamcha]

I just got done playing Rocket Slime and now I have a hankering to play some more DQ games. After all this time the only other DQ game I've played and finished is DQI on GBC and now I'm trying to get through DQII.

I'm thinking of picking up DQIV remake for PSX and DQV remake for PS2, can anyone comment if these are significantly worth playing over the originals? I can get through the Japanese but English is obviously easier. Also, I heard that 4-6 are a trilogy, am I going to miss out if I play 6 before 4 & 5?

[epmode]

Dragon Quest 8 is pretty neat. The rest aren't.

[Metal_slime]

4-6 are a trilogy only in that they are set in the same game world. Just like 1-3 were. So there are some references to the other games but it's really nothing major and they are all really meant to be stand alone games.

I haven't played the re-makes myself but they seem to add a bunch of cool features(more monsters to get in V, more story parts in IV etc), and the updated graphics are pretty nice. So if you think you can handle the Japanese then go for it.

[Compass]

DWIII for GBC is kick-ass. Play that one.

[Finch]

Good luck on DQ II. It's ... old.

From Wikipedia-

DQIV

With this remake came new features. Among these features were a new chapter, a new character, an inter-party talk command similar to Dragon Quest VII, and the ability to turn off the artificial intelligence for party members.

DQV

It features 3D graphics that are similar to Dragon Quest VII, but it utilizes the extra PlayStation 2 graphical capabilities. The hero and his companions have to fight more monsters in the PlayStation 2 remake than they did in the Super Famicom original, but the character limit on the party has been increased from three to four. Also, there were only 40 monsters available to your party in the Super Famicom version of Dragon Quest V due to ROM limitations. The PlayStation 2 remake, however, does not suffer from this restriction. The music is performed by the NHK Symphony. Another new feature in the remake is the "Yuujii's Speciality Museum;" the player has to collect local specialties from all around the world, return the items back to a character named "Yuuji," and receive rewards for them

Also there's a new extra dungeon with HARD BOSS in DQ V.

[Saint of Killers]

Good luck on DQ II. It's ... old.

It's downright painful to play now. I can't see anyone who didn't play it when it when it first came out and is still in the throes of rampant nostalgia getting any kind of enjoyment out of it.

[Survival Kid]

DQVI-VIII are all good. No knowledge of any before it.

[Yamcha]

Does DQ7 really take 100 hours to beat? That seems to be what I remember reading.

[Finch]

Like 120. I was around 30 last time i played, several years ago. I felt like i got my money's worth.

[Compass]

105 for me. I felt sick to my stomach when I finished and pondered the clock. I remember thinking that I could've gotten a firm grip on a foreign language in the time I wasted just in random battles.

I did like the game however.