Dragon Quest - The Mother of All JRPGs | Retrospective Review

Dragon Quest wasn’t the first Japanese RPG. And depending on how you keep score, it might not even have been the first console RPG made in Japan. But it’s often regarded as the father of the JRPG genre, and with good reason.

In this retrospective review, we’ll take a thorough look at the original Dragon Quest – the mother of all JRPGs. What was so great about the game? Why did it have such a huge impact? And how does the experience hold up today?

#DragonQuest #JRPG #retrospective

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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:52 The first JRPG?
06:23 Enix from the ashes
11:14 From PC to console
16:04 Development
22:07 A series of fortunate events
28:18 The urban legend
33:41 Localization
38:15 Dragon Warrior
43:18 Accessibility over complexity
47:48 Freedom of movement
52:45 The critical path
57:51 The spirit of exploration
1:02:28 Flaws
1:08:00 Grinding
1:13:53 A warm, inviting world
1:18:25 You
1:24:03 The mother of all JRPGs

[AltercateTV]

Before moving forward with my retrospective series, I decided to go back to the beginning! Here's my retrospective review of the original Dragon Quest. Hope you like it and let me know what you think!

I'm planning to cover the whole mainline DQ series eventually, but my next project will probably be to redo my FF1 vid. It was the first retrospective I ever made (just over three years ago now), and I've been feeling increasingly dissatisfied with the treatment I gave the game at the time. I want to take another shot at it and give a more honest appraisal of what the game meant back in 1987. Plus there was so much interesting stuff I left out of the original version lol.

After that, we'll see. Let me know what games you want to see next and I'll keep it in mind. :)

[axthelm]

I remember my mother making a deal with me. She would buy me the 2 year subscription to Nintendo Power that came with the free Dragon Warrior game, if I promised to read every page of Nintendo Power that came in the mail (her way of trying to get me to read more and boost my literacy). I agreed, it worked, and dragon warrior saw years of playtime. Best deal of my life.

[rogueprince]

I never played Dragon Quest, but I did play Dragon Warrior. It was my first jrpg. It set an addiction that I still have today.

[chrisowens]

Thank you for this! As much as I enjoy FF retrospectives, DQ needs more of these in depth reviews. Can't wait to see more in the series.

[Yousef]

I dunno where all these DQ retrospectives are popping out of, but I have no complaints. Dragon quest is where I begun my rpg journey and it made the gamer I am today and for that I’m very grateful. To be, dragon quest is forever peak rpg so my heart will forever belong to it. Hail to the king.

[peterparker]

RIP Akira Toriyama. His works on the Dragon Quest games and Chrono Trigger cannot be understated. Truly a Legend

[Weast-Baryl]

RIP Akira Toriyama, the legend who create the art of Dragon Quest and so much more.

[Rod_Silva]

OMG FINALLY!
Finally¹: I missed your videos and
Finally²: someone (good) talking (hours) about Dragon Quest.

I CANNOT WAIT until you cover Dragon Quest IV, V and VI. Mostly becauso of your take on the story and the little details, not so much for the development parts (which are interesting, but just not what I long for on your videos).

Again, congratulations! Keep up the good work. It's a shame you're not satisfied and you're gonna re-do your FFI video, because I bet your fans still like it (but also because you'll take longer to make more Dragon Quest videos lol).

Have a great day!

[gavinlucas]

I'm glad to hear you talking about Dragon Quest. I've seen a lot of retrospectives on FF but not so much on DQ and I would really like to see more people talk about this series since it was FF and DQ that really made me love JRPGs!

[rotciv]

Dragon Quest is pure nostalgia for me. I received my copy via Nintendo Power and immediately obsessed over all of the included printed maps, profile of enemies and strategy book.

I remember being determined to figure out a way to hold onto the first key in the throne room, convinced that there must be a way and then trying to map out where, when and how i could finally get my hands on keys!!

The level up jingle, the sound of getting an excellent strike and the countless times i've said out loud, "fortune smile upon thee, thou hast found...a torch!" will always bring a smile to my face.

Thank you, once again for making another brilliant retrospective video. ❤

[Chris-dygw]

Got this free with my Nintendo Power subscription when I bought my NES....
People can't even agree on the title of this game because when I got it it was called Dragon Warrior which could have something to do with Wyatt's now known as a jrpg because it had to be localized

[Bistar]

Dq is my favorite series and you just done such an amazing video of the most basic game, really, great job.

In my experience I like dq so much because of the more relaxed tone, all of it is funny and kind of silly and that's awesome and fun, not all games must be so serious and with a dark tone, this is a great series specially when you're stressed or something like that, it's just an escape of everything.

[ZackBurnsOG]

I signed up for Nintendo Power because of the ad where I got a free game with it. That game was DW1, and it was my first exposure to RPGs and I fell in love with Dragon Warrior and RPGs in general after that.

[lukeshef]

Great video! Its great to hear you are interested in covering more Dragon Quest games, I would love to see a whole series in this style.

[Guts]

I played and beat this game only a couple years ago. It was such a long grind, but the monster designs are so unique and cool that it helped me keep going. I was always excited to see what the next areas monsters would look like.

[aestheticprima]

Another great video as always! Dragon Quest 1 really is an important title and your retrospective was informative and engaging.

I played through the snes remake a couple years ago for the first time and it was surprisingly nice and comfy, the level curve was fair, it wasn't very cryptic and I only used a guide for one item (Erdrick's Token in the swamp).

I'm excited to see you tackle the rest of the DQ series, along with the FF retrospective and other videos! Have a wonderful day!

[FaIInxAngeI]

This was very well paced and your voice was easy to listen to and understand. Great stuff!

[EdgedShadow]

Nintendo Power and this game is why I'm into JRPGs to this day.

[isturma]

I watch your retrospective series every time YouTube coughs one up and recommends it to me - you do a very thorough job on each game and it shows that you care about the source material. I remember playing this game when I was a child and it first came out. Pre-internet, this was a difficult game to 100% because you really had to explore everywhere to locate all of the Erdrick items, not to mention finding the princes and killling the green dragon. I'm looking forward to the promised HD-2D remake of this one and the second one later this year!

[TheBigBruvv]

Probably the best Dragon Quest Retrospective i’ve ever watched man, this was such a well presented video you’ve done more than earn my subscription my man, super underrated channel keep up the amazing work and much love! 🙏🏾💙