CUTE RPGS FOREVER

Since I need an excuse to post more, I figured I'd give this thing a shot. I probably won't post every day for 30 days, because my busy video game playing schedule might interfere with my "posting about playing video games" schedule.

30 Days of Video Games Day One: Your current favorite game



I guess this should've been obvious...?

Anyway, DQIX is awesome. It's basically DQIII all over again, but with fully customizable characters and a deeper skill and battle system. It's got a story that's interesting enough without a dramatic cutscene every 5 minutes which explains that all your characters lived in the same orphanage until they went back in time and became their own grandfathers WHO WEREN'T REALLY THEIR GRANDFATHERS BUT THEIR GRANDFATHER'S NOBODIES who in a past life once served the last boss who is actually the main character's dog.

There are innovations like multiplayer co-op (you can actually play through the entire game with another person if you wanted to), an improved alchemy system, and a well-done job system that makes each job unique while allowing skills to be passed from one to another. There's also a wi-fi aspect with DQVC, which allows you to receive new quests and buy exclusive items.

Speaking of the quests, they're an interesting, time-consuming (yet usually fun) new aspect of DQIX. Basically, it gives you more to do in the game, including bizarre battle requests and your standard fetch quests. The rewards are usually worth it, too. Between all the content in the game itself plus downloadable quests and grottos, the game has a HUGE amount of post-game play. I'm currently hovering around 150 hours myself, and I've yet to do it all.

There's a lot of fanservice from other DQ games as well. Via DQVC, you can get "special guests" from other DQ games to visit the game's main hangout spot. From there, you can talk to them and possibly snag copies of their equipment and clothing to cosplay in. You can also fight "legacy bosses", which basically includes all the previous DQ game's last bosses, and they drop other nostalgic equipment to use.

All in all, it's a really great addition to the DQ series that retains all the traditional fun of DQ while adding in a lot of new things. I'm usually content to shelve a DQ game for a while once I beat the main game and whatever small amount of post-game content there is (though I always come crawling back eventually), but I just can't put DQIX down for long. The fact that it's on a portable system actually makes it more addicting since you can take it everywhere, and play in short bursts if your schedule doesn't allow for marathon sessions.

So, yeah, it's my current obsession. And being a DQ game puts it in an automatic "favorite" spot in my heart <3