Dragon Quest II

(Version: GameBoy Color, as recommended by a crazed man who ranted about random encounters with instant death in the original NES version.)

Doubling the cartridge size of its predecessor from 64kb to 128kb, the main theme of Dragon Quest II on first blush appears to be "more and bigger". The world map flaunts its size by literally containing the previous game's world map inside of it, you have three party members instead of one, and you can face six enemies in battle at once instead of only one. Releasing only 8 months after the first game, the upgrades were probably pretty spectacular to console players at the time. But I actually think just saying "it got bigger" is underselling it. Dragon Quest I was such a primordial console RPG that it doesn't actually resemble the genre it created that closely, while Dragon Quest II's changes basically establish it as the first proper console RPG (I hate the term JRPG and you're just going to have to deal with me not calling the genre that).

The first game's dungeons were in a weird limbo of trying to re-create first person dungeon crawlers in an overhead view (whether from technical limitations or to make mapping easier for kids is unclear). It did this by having a basic lighting system- initially only showing a few tiles around the player, but eventually expanding to several tiles with better spells. I never found the end result as satisfying to map as first person dungeon crawlers since it basically entailed copying the screen to paper, rather than having to do directional mental considerations with a compass. The sequel turns lighting into a vestigial mechanic of alternating "inside" and "outside" views, making it so it can obscure rooms when it wants to. It rarely takes advantage of this, so it's no wonder future games largely drop it entirely- though it does end up using it as a spectacular trap of tricking inattentive players into falling off a tower dungeon at one point.

Inside/outside transitions are used to so little effect I forgot to take a screenshot of them.

The original also had to use passwords for saving, which meant that it couldn't remember whether players had opened most chests. This turned dungeons less into dangerous resource management, and more like grinding hot spots (since you could repeatedly loot the chests). The sequel finally gets to put equipment and other unique things in chests, making exploration far more satisfying.

With these limitations lifted, the sequel transitions fully into proper console RPG dungeons. What took me by surprise is that they're actually pretty well crafted, something I didn't expect since modern Dragon Quest games pretty much reduced their dungeons into hallways with monsters. You've got the ability to jump off towers and land a few tiles further on the overworld (a little underutilized, but really cool for 1987), complete fake dungeon paths to throw you off the real hidden path, "three-dimensional" navigation of having to navigate numerous staircases, and for better or worse a trial-or-error version of the lost woods. Not only that, but the still present cartridge limitations mean that these dungeons are still relatively compact in size and strive to use every inch of space they've got- particularly beneficial for the hallway dungeons that do exist, since dead ends remain brief. In short, there's a genuine effort to give several of the dungeons their own identity.

The granddaddy of stairs.

 The original had so little space that most NPCs were reduced to strictly offering hints. With those limitations eased, this game adds NPCs that exist purely to give flavor to each town- a touch that pays off beautifully when all of their plots resolve in the victory lap ending where you can freely check out the world after beating the final boss (the original did the same, but it plays much better here). Not only that, but NPCs can finally be a little more dynamic. The opening of the game flexes that by teasing the player with narrowly missing the first party member as he moves between different locations, until you finally catch up. Even little cutscenes can play where you rescue a villager from monsters, or get lured into a trap by a mysterious stranger. The console RPG storytelling format gets established in this game, even though it still didn't have the space to really take advantage of it (your party member's character development ceasing entirely once they join, for instance).

This is more character building than the entirety of the first game.

The original Dragon Quest was very much an experience of figuring out where you were strong enough to go, and writing down every curious piece of NPC hint dialog you could. As these hints started to pile up, it evolved into a game of staring at your notepad, searching your memory of the world, and trying to piece things together of where to go next. The sequel very much keeps this format and expands on it by adding a new element to scratch your head about: looking at the massive paper world map and asking yourself: "can I get here?", "did I miss something in this spot?", etc. So rather than just evoking the sense of solving a mystery, you start to feel more like an explorer charting a dangerous world.

Get used to seeing this boat.

The downside is a slight simplification of the hints- most things just have one hint telling you where to go for something or how to solve something. They're self-contained hints, rather than needing to piece together two hints to get a solution. When they aren't giving you directions, they're usually giving you the solution for the immediate area rather than a different town. A necessary change for the expanded size since it wasn't nearly as much of a time investment to trek across the entire world in the original game.

But sometimes you still get stuck and end up having to traverse the expansive world all over again. The game tries to mitigate this by providing a teleport system across portions of it, but it isn't extensive and it doesn't always warp your boat with it, so it only goes so far. Worse, that heavily expanded combat means trash encounters suck up even more time while traversing it (alternately you get to constantly go into a menu to cast a spell to avoid encounters, but it quickly wears off). To put it simply: I played the majority of Dragon Quest I without resorting to an emulator's fast forward (primary exception being the hours of grinding required for the final boss). I hate using it because old games were designed in such a way that the player's time was also a factor (for example, you'd  be more inclined to try changing equipment for a boss rather than grinding to surpass it, but fast forward makes grinding a more appealing option). In short, I abused the hell out of fast forward for this game. It just goes over the line, despite best intentions.

You see that tiny continent between the two big ones? That's Dragon Quest I's overworld.

In a similar vein, I don't actually find the expanded combat improves the game so much as slows it down with all the extra monsters and players. I actually used even fewer spells than the original, which had a few enemies that you simply could not beat without proper spell usage. In the game's defense, the GBC version boosts the experience rate so maybe that just resulted in me being over leveled for everything until the endgame. But even in the best case Dragon Quest II's combat still pales in comparison to the game it was ripping off: Wizardry.

Possibly translated by a time traveler.

So what's the final verdict? I think Dragon Quest I is ultimately a far more timeless video game that I could see still recommending today to anyone willing to deal with some nuisances (especially since the note-taking mystery element just doesn't exist in modern games, making it fresh for newcomers). Dragon Quest II pushes the genre way further, but all the bumps in the road of progress make it way harder to appreciate today. There are a shockingly large number of cool things in it if you're willing to deal with (or cheat around) its flaws, but I can't recommend it casually (it will definitely reward you for your patience, though). It's maybe coolest as a historical piece since almost every console RPG trope gets established in it: a protagonist's town gets burned down in the opening, you have to fight in an arena, there's a slots minigame, a surprise true final boss, etc.

 ---------------------------------------

And now here's a list of all the cool (and not cool) stuff in the game that I could not find a place to put in the review, but feels wrong to omit. Contains spoilers, so only read this if you have no desire to actually play the game:

• The epilogue victory lap is seriously so full of great little touches. The shopkeep you steal from actually notices you did it during the ending, they finally let the guy who got locked out of his town back inside, Old Hint Man finally gets to reunite with his brother Other Old Hint Man since you unlocked the portal out of his hint hut, your party member gets to reunite with her dead father's ghost, that amnesiac guy reunites with his lost love, etc. These are great moments even today, and outright incredible for the time (only hindered by most NPCs still having to use stock lines due to space limits). This is a genuinely good ending in an era where most games ended on a mistranslated black screen.

The true reward for saving the world.

• There's a puzzle where you have to choose a hidden item in a shop menu. That's rad. 
• For some reason they made the optional hint item that clues you into the presence of required items one of the most obscure things in the game, and the only thing I had to check a guide for between DQ1 and 2. It's literally an unmarked spot in the entire, vast ocean where the only hint is that it's in "the northern ocean". It took me by surprise since DQ has been shockingly clean of typical NES impossible puzzles (possibly just due special circumstances of them being translated years after release so text didn't have to be cut and their success in Japan possibly compelling them to hire a real translator?). Maybe this is just an issue of the GBC version translating the hint poorly? I have no idea.
• Returning to DQ1's world is incredible. Partially because it's just showboating that the original game is a fraction of the new game's world. But also because it's so dang well executed. The game actually plays DQ1's overworld music on it, almost all of the old towns have been destroyed which is kind of an emotional gut punch, and then finally you make it to DQ1's final dungeon. The recreated all of it, they are showboating that hard. You finally work your way down to it and... oh my god, the old villain is back too?! But no, he's just his ancestor that your ancestor slew in DQ1. And this new villain? He's so bad the old villain's family is asking you to take care of him. Oh my god, what a perfect way to build up your new villain.

I expected no one to be in this chair.

• It's interesting how much of a direct sequel this game is (even including continuity!) when a lot of other NES sequels went off in completely different directions from their original games. 
• The start of the final dungeon is an illusion and complete recreation of your home town, with everyone telling you to chill out: this villain guy is an ok dude. It climaxes in a bunch of bunny girls hanging out in your throne room telling you to stay. The only part of this that isn't super rad is that there isn't a bad ending where you can accept their offers. That would have made Dragon Quest Builders 2 a very different game (the first Builders acted as a sequel to DQ1's bad ending). But this still makes DQ2's villain really cool, even if there's not much follow up after breaking the illusion.
• The first time I played DQ2 I actually quit when I saw how it made me run around the same few towns trying to find where the other prince ended up. I was severely concerned that this was an entire NES game of obscure NPC triggers. It turns out nothing else in the game is like it, which was a relief. Like it's a cool segment relative to DQ1's NPCs-who-never-move technology, but boy would it be a terrible game.
• As someone who started with DQ8, then played 9->7->11 it's legitimately shocking how many clever moments and gameplay spins DQ2 does considering how the newer games barely bother to do anything with dungeons or other gimmicks. It makes it really obvious that the new games are mostly made by taking Yuji Horii's story notes, a couple grand scale game ideas (8's overworld/style, 9's clothing/random dungeons, 11's twists, etc), but otherwise being scared of changing anything else. It's... really sad that the old games feel less old than the new games in a lot of ways?
• Wow I spent more time gushing about the game in the notes section than I did in the actual review. It really does have a lot of cool stuff for the time period, it actually makes a lot of sense to me now that Dragon Quest became such a phenomenon in Japan (even if most kids probably never saw the super rad final dungeon because they didn't bother to balance previous dungeon)

Update: Apparently after doing some research, some of these moments are exclusive or expanded on only in the SNES and onward versions of the game: the Illusion NPCs trying to convince you are just copies of the real town's dialog, bunny girl sprites didn't exist yet, most flavor NPCs don't actually change dialog in the ending (they use the same template as everyone else, but the flavor NPCs themselves did exist in the NES version to some degree), etc. So in summary:

1. I'm dumb.
2. The Internet has done a terrible job documenting the version differences of these games in one place.
3. Some of these moments are less impressive for the time than I thought (in particular, I take back that this was a great ending for the time- it's basically the same as 1's).
4. It's interesting that they sexed up the illusion.
5. Most of these changes are subtle and really good and probably what they originally wanted to make, but couldn't due to limitations.