Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line Review (Switch eShop)

Oh...suddenly regretting my purchase of the trilogy now. That's two of the 3 that have scored poorly...

Eh, I think this is a bit harsh. I find the game to be quite fun. Challenging, but in the old school charming way

The game is fun and not that difficult at all. Reviews don’t mean everything. Play the game and decide on your own.

I don't understand Nintendo Life's reviews at all anymore. I find that most of the time they're so far from my experience that I wonder if we're even playing the same games. A 4/10? This game is at least a 6 or 7.

While I do agree with the sentiment that DQ2 is the weakest of the trilogy (and the entire series), it's still Dragon Quest. Fun, challenging (if a bit overmuch in this game), and classic.

That said, the second half of the game is the worst part. A bit more direction would have been nice, but it's not a deal breaker.

@RiggsHB There has been quite a bit of turnover at the site lately. I started reading here back in like 2012 range and those were the glory days. The editor, Tom Whitehead, ran a tight ship and the quality of writing and writers was consistently good. He left and a new editor came in ...I wanna say ...2016/2017 range? The quality of the site has dropped off HUGELY and now I barely recognize the names writing the articles. I think they have a lot of turnover in staff so different people means a lot of different views...I get that....but reviews are really short now. I enjoy the community here so I mainly come back for that. And "Hello there lovely, people". Other than that, I get my main news elsewhere (Nintendoeverything, Nintendo World Report, IGN).

@Baker1000 Did you get the physical version? I bought it from Play-Asia when it was announced. I'm still looking forward to it. Try the games for yourself =)

@Baker1000 They're all going to score poorly, due to most people really not liking the aesthetics of the mobile ports (which these themselves are ports of).

@Baker1000 personally the criticism is a bit harsh. The difficulty on these ports is actually easier than the original games thanks to more generous XP and gold rewards from battle which make grinding much faster than the original.

I have a bus commute for my work that's short enough I don't have enough time to really start anything serious before I arrive at my stop but which is still plenty enough to do a spot of grinding, especially since the ports allow players to quick save anywhere they want. Which is good as my bus is early enough in the day I really need something to keep me awake rather than drifting back to napping on the bus ^^;

This said I can confirm that DQ3 might be the better experience nonetheless. You can start with a full party of which you choose the composition right from the start which allow a lot more variety in battle strategy/etc right from the start of the game.

There's still a bit of "aimlessness" as you travel but the game's towns always include many NPCs who can give you hints of location you could or shield visit next. Some might even be considered prototypes of later eras' "sidequests" concepts as early in the game there are many optional "quests" that are nonetheless very useful by encouraging you to venture into areas that will help in getting the XP needed before venturing in more story critical areas.

Afterward aspects of the "main" quests might be slightly unguided by in a fashion that feel reminiscent of later open worlds despite the differences in game genres. There's a hunt for quest-required items that has you traveling the game world rp gather the items in the order you need(not online defeating Divine Beasts in the order of your choice in BOTW). As you didn't have a quest catalogue back then however, you may need to pay close attention to the dialogues of every NPCs you meet. On the Switch though this can be a perfect excuse to use the screenshot tool to save what might feel like important information.

A side note is that DQ3's main quest involving an hhunter mystical orbs is thus very similar to DQ2's hunt for sacred sigils. However DQ3 might be more polished with more obvious hints about locations you might need to visit either for the main quest critical orbs or useful sidequests-style objectives and rewards(and sometimes both, as its the case for the "pioneer boomtown" sidequests, when you hear in one town that once off their gist left a long time ago with the hopes of founding his own town, whose development and available powerful gear-selling shops can be a reward of it's own but also allow finding one of the rare orbs).

I enjoyed it. It's a game you grind on for 5-10 minutes between other games and quick save. If treated like knitting or crochet, it's a fun little diversion.

@Browny it's kind of funny because the second half is very similar to a major segment of DQ3's main quest but it's true that DQ3 might indeed be more polished with more means of stumbling not just on critical items you seek but also more obvious hints about where you need to go where to find them. The early game also has much clearer hints about where to go for SIDE quests that are helpful for getting the XP needed to be strong enough to go to the next main story area.

@Baker1000 id say dragon quest III on switch is a huge step up fro the other 2, not only in terms of the game itself but a lot of the technical issues 1 and 2 had are either absent or not as noticable and the smaller sprites looked a lot less out of place compared to 1 and 2's giant character sprites.

@Muddy_4_Ever pretty much how I play it myself! I take bus to work but my commute is too short for every other games(especially real time ones with no easy means to interrupt your game) but the battle length and quick save feature in every DQ ports games so far is just perfect for the length of my commute.

This score is very low. Yes it might be coming from the mobile the background graphics, but those are actually very fine. And the updated sprites yes it doesn't really fit in, but it's not that bad. And the gameplay is still the same as the SNES version. And Dragon Quest games aint for noobs. You do need to grind a bit experience points so you level up. You clearly don't have the patience or disliking the game to give this such low score. I just adore this game and all the Dragon Quest games. This should be at least a 6, but only because they used the ugly sprites. It should've been pixels too as the background with CRT filter then everyone would've been happy

BTW these graphics are still better than most indie games... and those gets easily an 8... doesn't really sound good.. does it? Well each is own

Not sure why there’s so much saltiness in the comments... I love the Dragon Quest series but this game does not hold up in 2019, and that an archaic 30-something JRPG has had a poor reception should not surprise anyone.

the character sprites look jarring compared to the environment. why did they do this? the remastered final fantasy games look much better in my opinion. they could have gone with that style. this just looks cheap.

Since the NES versions will probably never come to NSO, I’ll pick these three up sometime. I played the first one a lot on the NES, but have never played 2 or 3 yet.

@RiggsHB Yeah this site has really gone downhill since Thomas Whitehead left. The reviews are just useless to me, I can never relate to the critics around here anymore.

I only beat Dragon Warrior 2 once on the NES, and that is because of the final boss, which is an insanely tough battle since he has the HealAll spell. Otherwise, I really like Dragon Warrior/Quest 2.

I disagree with the review as well. It's most definitely my least favorite of the series that I've played so far, but it's still good. It's just the least good.

Difficult? I didn't really have any issues beating the game 2 weeks ago

@Baker1000 I haven't played the game in quite a number of years, but I really don't remember it being near as difficult as the reviewer is claiming. It has some of the issues inherent with games of the time (high encounter %, sometimes difficult to tell where to go next), but it's still a quite fun game.

I do agree it's not a must-have, though. It's probably one of the weaker Dragon Quest games.

@Baker1000
Hey! Don't worry. You'll have fun. They're all three worth playing, and this is honestly the best way to play the second one. Just don't be afraid to glance at a walkthrough or look something up if you need help. I'm nearing the end of DQII right now.

Game is good and all but the flash style sprite turn me down. I'll only get DQIII.

It's Dragon Quest. Shut up.

The introduction of the party introduces strategy as just smashing fight will only get you so far. The other key is finding Erdrick equipment as soon as possible and Power Shields (at least I think that is their name this version) for free heals.

The bad of this game is that it is still very difficult to know what you are supposed to do at any given point, and grinding was a feature more than an option. The graphics are also painful but eventually you adapt (just like SD Wii on an HD TV).

A 4. Is the review crazy. Clearly people want there hand held when playing a old school RPG. The only fail I see is that it is a port from a mobile. This is sacrilege! This review is disgusting. I swallowed vomit in my mouth. This game is not difficult you have to grind plain and simple. The reviewer is not capable of understanding this game.

@River3636 And apparently you don't understand basic grammar and opinions.

The first three games are brutal, I'd rank them 1, 3, 2 in that order. The grinding and difficulty seems unfair at times but for fans of the series that want to see where it all started they are essential.

@AllieKitsune the mobile ports look better then these ports. They don't have the jarringly awful sprites.

@JRRR92 Are you kidding me? Why don’t you go back to Yahoo or something, because I can smell a garbage can a mile away. I think I’m going to hurl another chunk. I am texting to speech. I am texting to speech. I teach children with speech impediments. So texting to speech is what I do. If I didn’t check my grammar I surely wouldn’t edit it later.If I want to go under a bridge and fight a troll. Something is obviously wrong with my iPad Pro. Lololol lol

this is one of the best DQ games and you scored it a 4/10...clap clap

@Baker1000 wtf dude, you decide on liking/not liking these game by playing not by reading these reviews

@Browny the open world is fantastic in DQ2, no handholding, no markers, just you and the open world in front of you... it is not for modern lazy players tho

In all seriousness, The game is an old-school JRPG. It is a grind fest. You have to work at it. What a concept. A four rating feels like I’m taking wax out of my ear and JRR92 can take that opinion to the bank.

I played it on Android and I don't consider it to be that difficult, but longer... Yes, it's longer. As a fan of the series I think it's a good Dragon Quest.

Such an odd art style. I see this a lot in indie games where they mix resolutions and it never, ever works. Choose a resolution, 320*240 perhaps, then author EVERYTHING to that resolution. It's really not a difficult thing to pull off. See games like Blazing Chrome and Ninja Saviors for examples of pixel perfection.

I am playing the translated Super Famicom ROM of this right now on my SNES Classic. My first time through. It’s... okay. I like the introduction of actual party members in addition to the Hero. The soundtrack is super repetitive, though. That battle theme is just obnoxious. Assuming this isn’t Koichi Sugiyama’s best work. Just about to head to the Underwater Volcano section. I get that it’s an NES RPG from the 80’s but I wish the game was a little clearer on where I’m supposed to go next.

At any rate, a damn sight better than Final Fantasy II for NES. I’m guessing it’ll be a solid 6/10 for me when all is said and done. Can’t say I’m not excited to finish it and get on with DQIII, though.

The tedious grinding of the early Dragon Quest games has not aged well. 4/10 is very generous.

Had this on NES when I was younger, which I luckily found at a flea market. I played it as long as I could and got really far, until the game froze and my file corrupted. I could never get back into it over the years.

I love the updated look of these games. Much more palatable than the originals.

Older RPG‘s were very rigid, but I still think they are good games (for people who can stomach older games) and must haves for any fan of the series or genre who are into retro. Personally I think this review is considerably more harsh than it should be. 6/10 I could agree with.

@Mikeloto31 I'll stick with gbc romhack to double experience/gold. Dunno if this version limited inventory but 8 items per character was annoying.

Fun to save scum with slot machine tokens I admit.

@River3636 Dragon quest III is a million times better. So skip the first 2, I don't blame anyone as they're nearly unplayable by comparison.

@MrVariant I own all the Dragon Quest on many platforms it is my favorite series of all time. I love DQ3, but DQ2 is special. I would rent it every week as a child. I played the heck out of it until someone else rented it and erased my game. I finally got it at ToysRus (RIP) on sale for $20 and beat it. I later purchased it on the game boy color which I think is a better version of the game. It is not the greatest game in the series but it is clearly better than the first. It reminded me of Ultima Exodus on the NES. I think it was the boat and traveling in and open world. This was before Final Fantasy.

the only thing wrong with these remakes is the jittery frames all over the place.

@River3636 Memories are beautiful lol I think of the Memorist job in final fantasy dimensions, to get powered up by visiting cutscene locations. Easy fave though i know it had flaws (had to play as everyone and it jumped around during cliffhangers).

That's all I ask to inform people you value something even if it didn't age well. I like dragon quest swords but it is a shame no switch/3ds port that fixed thrusts and had multiplayer. Thanks for stating the dq2 appeal; makes me want to play.

Just beat DQ1 and had a good time with it. It's definitely not the best way to play the game, but Dragon Quest is still a good time on its own.

So far, DQ2 is an improvement over one. The sprites with each other blend a lot better than in DQ1. The encounter rate has been super high on the world map, but that actually might be because I keep wandering off the plains into mountains and forests (the game warns you that these places are full of monsters at the beginning of the game, but I took it to mean there were tougher monster. Now I think it means there are higher encounter rates on non-plains tiles, but don't quote me on that.

Are there better ways to play DQ? Yeah, for sure. But these games are still fun and interesting in their own right. If you've ever loved the early DQ games or are a fan of old school JRPGs, this will certainly entertain.

@BlackenedHalo I'm still gonna play them and tbh I was half joking when I posted that. To be fair though, the whole point of reviews is to provide prospective buyers with information on whether or not it's worth their money...

As someone who feels Dragon Quest 2 is the weakest in the entire main series... and just went through this version, a score of 4 seems unjustified here.

I got halfway through your review. Have someone older do the review. You're clearly unable to handle the difficulty older games bring. This version of it is waaayyy easier then the original. You're clearly in over your head on this one. You should've just bowed out and let someone else do it. It's a damn shame. How do people like you get these jobs?

I would also like to add that i have not had one technical issue so far and I'm about 15 hours into it. So that is also false. You probably threw your controller around a lot as a kid and still as an "adult"

For a fiver and change I'm willing to give this a whirl — I've just finished DQXI and fired up the very first game out of curiosity. Granted it's dated (it's 34 years old!), but that's to be expected. The only thing that really irked me was the screen stuttering — took me an hour or so to get used to (genuinely made me nauseous), but I'm tempted to do the entire series, especially since the third game is meant to be a step up (and everything I've played afterwards is an absolute treat!)