Brainiac 8Don't call me Shirley...Registered Userregular
edited July 2009
Nintendo didn't buy the review for Nintendogs. It's not a game for me, but like Sporky said, it is an excellent piece of software. Repeat after me: Just because a game isn't for you, if it recieves a high score, it doesn't mean that it was a bogus review. A game can be of high quality even if it's not one you particularly care for.
Well, Famitsu is fairly notorious for ... accepting payment in return for review favoritism. That said, I really don't know how people could have expected Japan not to love DQIX. On a legendary console, a fabled series that even has light elements of another fabled series (Monster Hunter local wi-fi multiplayer). It's a literal recipe to print money.
S-E announced they had shipped 3 million copies in Japan within the first week. At that point I don't even really think reviews matter; people have long decided whether they're going to buy it or not.
Hey, does anyone know what the typical wait time is from a DQ game's JP release to the Western markets? I don't know when I should start getting my hopes up for DQIX in the States. Maybe next spring or summer?
Well, Famitsu is fairly notorious for ... accepting payment in return for review favoritism. That said, I really don't know how people could have expected Japan not to love DQIX. On a legendary console, a fabled series that even has light elements of another fabled series (Monster Hunter local wi-fi multiplayer). It's a literal recipe to print money.
S-E announced they had shipped 3 million copies in Japan within the first week. At that point I don't even really think reviews matter; people have long decided whether they're going to buy it or not.
Oh yea, I am well aware of Famitsu's....problems. But out of all the companies out there, Nintendo has never been one to buy a review for a game, as usually their games are of high enough quality to garner the great reviews they get.
Hey, does anyone know what the typical wait time is from a DQ game's JP release to the Western markets? I don't know when I should start getting my hopes up for DQIX in the States. Maybe next spring or summer?
17 years if you go by DQ V.
1 year if you go by DQ VIII.
Hey, does anyone know what the typical wait time is from a DQ game's JP release to the Western markets? I don't know when I should start getting my hopes up for DQIX in the States. Maybe next spring or summer?
Based on extensive data gathering (5 minutes):
Dragon Quest 1 - May 86 JP - Aug 89 NA
Dragon Quest 2 - Jan 87 JP - Dec 90 NA
Dragon Quest 3 - Feb 88 JP - Jun 91 NA
Dragon QUest 4 (NES) - Feb 90 JP - OCt 92 NA
Dragon Quest 4 (NDS) - Nov 07 JP - Sep 08 NA
Dragon Quest 5 (NDS) - Jul 08 JP - Feb 09 NA
Dragon Quest VII - Aug 00 JP - Nov 01 NA
Dragon Quest VIII - Nov 04 JP - Nov 05 NA
And intense analysis (2 seconds):
It appears that recently, the lag time has been about a year.
Famitsu has given DQIX a perfect 40/40 score. "This adventure is amazing!" Famitsu writes. "It's so much fun." The reviewers also praised the music and the multi-player, which Famitsu called "ground breaking". The publication calls the single player "fun" and states that "the story is easy to follow and straightforward, but also with moving scenes as well."
The bolded part indicates to me that the story is likely forgettable. I know there hasn't yet been any english reviewers posting their impressions of the story, but I hope I'm wrong.
Famitsu has given DQIX a perfect 40/40 score. "This adventure is amazing!" Famitsu writes. "It's so much fun." The reviewers also praised the music and the multi-player, which Famitsu called "ground breaking". The publication calls the single player "fun" and states that "the story is easy to follow and straightforward, but also with moving scenes as well."
The bolded part indicates to me that the story is likely forgettable. I know there hasn't yet been any english reviewers posting their impressions of the story, but I hope I'm wrong.
To be fair, none of the DQ games I've played have had particularly complex stories. They've always been pretty easy to follow and straightforward: Chosen Heroes, prophecies, big bad evils, larger big bad evils controlling smaller big bad evils, etc. It's why I like the series. It has a fairy tale aspect to it where you kind of know where everything's going to end up, but it's told well enough that you still enjoy yourself.
But out of all the companies out there, Nintendo has never been one to buy a review for a game
It is nice to have a knowledgable Nintendo marketing dept. insider in our midst to set us straight. Is that you, miss Dunaway?
Man alive, you're on a rampage to day eh.
I'm just speaking as a person who has been following the game industry for a very long time, and Nintendo has never been known as a company to have to buy their reviews, as they let the quality of their games speak for themselves.
Now, I could be wrong, since as you decided to point out in a rather jerkish way, I have no affiliation with Nintendo.
Hey, does anyone know what the typical wait time is from a DQ game's JP release to the Western markets? I don't know when I should start getting my hopes up for DQIX in the States. Maybe next spring or summer?
Based on extensive data gathering (5 minutes):
Dragon Quest 1 - May 86 JP - Aug 89 NA
Dragon Quest 2 - Jan 87 JP - Dec 90 NA
Dragon Quest 3 - Feb 88 JP - Jun 91 NA
Dragon QUest 4 (NES) - Feb 90 JP - OCt 92 NA
Dragon Quest 4 (NDS) - Nov 07 JP - Sep 08 NA
Dragon Quest 5 (NDS) - Jul 08 JP - Feb 09 NA
Dragon Quest VII - Aug 00 JP - Nov 01 NA
Dragon Quest VIII - Nov 04 JP - Nov 05 NA
And intense analysis (2 seconds):
It appears that recently, the lag time has been about a year.
Thanks! That's about what I was expecting; maybe summer of 2010, if we're lucky.
Thanks! That's about what I was expecting; maybe summer of 2010, if we're lucky.
Yeah, that sounds likely. I'd love for them to release it this year, but given that they'll probably release DQ6 DS this year, that'd probably be oversaturation.
Thanks! That's about what I was expecting; maybe summer of 2010, if we're lucky.
Yeah, that sounds likely. I'd love for them to release it this year, but given that they'll probably release DQ6 DS this year, that'd probably be oversaturation.
Hmmm...... dubious; unless you know something I don't.
No Japanese release date for DQ6, no screenshots, and no news past "we're working on it" doesn't lend heavily to a US release this year, especially since this year's more than half over. Unless there's some gigantic explosion of DQ6-related media in the very near future, I wouldn't count on it.
Don't get me wrong, I'd be the first to pee my pants in glee if this happened, but I'm not going to get my hopes up.
Thanks! That's about what I was expecting; maybe summer of 2010, if we're lucky.
Yeah, that sounds likely. I'd love for them to release it this year, but given that they'll probably release DQ6 DS this year, that'd probably be oversaturation.
Hmmm...... dubious; unless you know something I don't.
No Japanese release date for DQ6, no screenshots, and no news past "we're working on it" doesn't lend heavily to a US release this year, especially since this year's more than half over. Unless there's some gigantic explosion of DQ6-related media in the very near future, I wouldn't count on it.
Don't get me wrong, I'd be the first to pee my pants in glee if this happened, but I'm not going to get my hopes up.
What makes DQ6 the best in the series? I'm honestly curious/interested, because it wasn't really on my radar, but I hear this claim a lot these days. Is it just otakuism or something more?
Thanks! That's about what I was expecting; maybe summer of 2010, if we're lucky.
Yeah, that sounds likely. I'd love for them to release it this year, but given that they'll probably release DQ6 DS this year, that'd probably be oversaturation.
Hmmm...... dubious; unless you know something I don't.
No Japanese release date for DQ6, no screenshots, and no news past "we're working on it" doesn't lend heavily to a US release this year, especially since this year's more than half over. Unless there's some gigantic explosion of DQ6-related media in the very near future, I wouldn't count on it.
Don't get me wrong, I'd be the first to pee my pants in glee if this happened, but I'm not going to get my hopes up.
What makes DQ6 the best in the series? I'm honestly curious/interested, because it wasn't really on my radar, but I hear this claim a lot these days. Is it just otakuism or something more?
As far as I can tell, the Japanese collective considers it the worst in the series (I'm basing that on some Famitsu reader poll from a few years ago). I've actually never played it, and I hated VII, so I don't know if I'll like it much better. I just want a new DQ game.
Ah. So many of its Western fans are just praising it to look cultured then, like all games that get Godly status in the West primarily for never having been released here (also see: Sin & Punishment, Mother 3, Starfy, Doshin, etc.)
Ah. So many of its Western fans are just praising it to look cultured then, like all games that get Godly status in the West primarily for never having been released here (also see: Sin & Punishment, Mother 3, Starfy, Doshin, etc.)
Um, no. DQ6 was awesome. Best graphics in the series until DQ8 came along, great story with a cool double world, best job system in the series to date, and recruitable monsters (a feature that is only really in DQ5 & DQ6 and the portable DQ Monster spin-off series). DQ7 was a serious step back, but Japanese gamers seem to like it because it rewards an OCD-like mentality (DQ7 is huge and drawn out and requires hundreds of hours to completely master). DQ8 was a great game, but DQ6 is still more complex as far as gameplay goes. Can't say how it compares to DQ9 not having played it yet.
AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
edited July 2009
I gotta ask, why is Dragon Quest series so popular? Everything I read/see about it just seems so standard.
I am not trying to shit on the series or anything, I am legitimately puzzled at its crazy popularity in Japan.
Axen on
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
0
Brainiac 8Don't call me Shirley...Registered Userregular
edited July 2009
I'm not a huge fan of the series either, but from what I've been told by friends from japan, is that it is loved because it continues to retain the classic feel of old school RPGs.
I don't know if that's just them, or the nation as a whole, but I find the series to be a pretty by the book series of games.
I gotta ask, why is Dragon Quest series so popular? Everything I read/see about it just seems so standard.
I am not trying to shit on the series or anything, I am legitimately puzzled at its crazy popularity in Japan.
This is a comment I made on joystiq, which is a modified version of something we were discussing in the video game sales thread.
"Think of DQ as a sort of "comfort food" jrpg for a lot us big rpg fans. We all go on about the disappointment at the monotony within FF and other JRPGs, and it's true. Despite how much I love FF, you can often see me bitching about ridiculous melodrama and the like that's so common in JRPGs.
But I can go and play DQ and have a fun and charming world with no pretenses, just good, clean, fun. It's not the typical JRPG (at least not by todays standards) and thats the best part. I don't have to deal with overly dramatic and pretentious plots, or an overly convoluted story that makes less sense the more you play it. DQ is all about the charming and imaginative world, and it should stay that way. I don't need any angsty beltandzipper types in one of the only refuges I have left when it comes to rpg gaming.
Some things shouldn't try and change too much, and DQ is one of them."
I gotta ask, why is Dragon Quest series so popular? Everything I read/see about it just seems so standard.
I am not trying to shit on the series or anything, I am legitimately puzzled at its crazy popularity in Japan.
You know how God got it right the first time with the Cockroach? Replace God with Yuji Horii and Cockroach with Dragon Quest.
In an industry where consistency is often seen as a bad thing, it's easy to lose sight of the old adage: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
If you're asking why it's so popular in Japan, but not in the States, well... you can probably chalk that up to the canceled Dragon Quest V localization for the SNES.
I gotta ask, why is Dragon Quest series so popular? Everything I read/see about it just seems so standard.
I am not trying to shit on the series or anything, I am legitimately puzzled at its crazy popularity in Japan.
I would say that in a way DQ is the LotR of JRPGs. Except, unlike LotR, they keep making more of them. It is very "standard" in a way, but that's because it pretty much invented the standard.
As I write this, it's 11 AM on a Saturday in Japan, and the wait for Dragon Quest IX is finally over. By Monday, practically every salaryman, housewife and student will be toting their Nintendo DS on the train, and they'll be playing the same game. In Japan, Dragon Quest is in pretty much the same stratosphere as Star Wars is over here -- not everyone likes it, but everyone knows it. It's a cultural icon.
In the west, I can practically hear the snorts from video game enthusiasts. Going back to Nintendo's failed attempt to duplicate the franchise's mega-success in the west, Americans have never been able to "get" Dragon Quest. It's seen as another example of the "crazy old Japanese," still playing a game that's perceived as being largely identical to its original incarnation.
So why are the Japanese so crazy for anything Dragon Quest? Jeremy has already addressed the franchise's more admirable qualities, and the way that it's gotten its hooks into him. Having played Dragon Quest V not too long ago, I'm inclined to agree that it's an incredibly charming series. But I also think it runs deeper than that, to some extent.
"Nostalgia" is a word that gets kicked around a lot, but I think it means far more than we think it does. To give you an idea of what I believe nostalgia means to the Japanese, I'd like to point you to my favorite Studio Ghibli film -- the somewhat lesser-known Only Yesterday. In that film, a young women named Taeko living in Tokyo circa 1982 decides to go back to her hometown in the countryside, where she relives much of her childhood. Americans will probably the "back to the earth" theme, the longing for something simpler. But I feel like it goes a little deeper than that in Japan.
In America, we go to Transformers or GI Joe, and we spend a few hours reveling in our childhood. As a culture, when we walk out out of that movie, we generally look ahead and say, "Hey, the future looks bright, I can't wait." It's one of our charming little traits that's both widely admired and widely despised as insufferable.
There's not a lot of optimism in Japan though. There's an edge to there nostalgia, the feeling that Japanese culture is on an irreversible downward spiral. The Japanese people I've spoken with -- people from all different walks of life -- talk with pride about the Japanese way of doing things, but there also seems to be that latent fear that the "Japanese way" is on its way out. That whatever makes the Japanese unique or special will fade away thanks to that old devil "westernization."
So many of them turn to "simpler times," an age when Japan was still on the rise, and not mired in endless recession (even when the economy is growing, the Japanese think they're in recession). For millions of salarymen, Dragon Quest is woven deep into the fabric of those better days, and playing Dragon Quest is just like Taeko's trip back to the countryside.
Jeremy points to Dragon Quest's "lighthearted, undemanding adventure" as one of the reasons for its enduring success, and I completely agree. It's that lighthearted simplicity, along with the fact that every entry in the series is positively bursting with personality, that keeps people coming back. It hearkens back to an era in which games didn't have to be overly complicated to be successful -- those simpler, better times I mentioned earlier..
And if the developers have the nerve to trespass on all those warm fuzzies? Well, we got a glimpse of that when Level-5 tried to change up DQIX and make it more of an action-RPG -- people weren't happy. Like Astro Boy and Mazinger, some things are sacred. You can make it prettier, but you don't go changing the essence of what it is. Dragon Quest isn't GI Joe.
For those Japanese who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s -- the millions who are buying Dragon Quest as we speak -- it's a welcome return to the days when employment was still guaranteed, there was no such thing as a "shut-in," and the Famicom was king. A time, in other words, when Japan was seem to be on the rise and not on the decline.
Does that make Japan and its gaming stale? From our point of view, it probably does. But in these troubed times, who am I to begrudge them that train ride back to their childhood?
I gotta ask, why is Dragon Quest series so popular? Everything I read/see about it just seems so standard.
I am not trying to shit on the series or anything, I am legitimately puzzled at its crazy popularity in Japan.
Charm.
That and it is pretty much the untainted source of console RPGs. Dragon Quest quest came out before Final Fantasy and has remained true to the source. It is the original in what evolved into the pretty soap operas we got today.
The more I read about DQIX the more I wished I could understand jappanese.
I gotta ask, why is Dragon Quest series so popular? Everything I read/see about it just seems so standard.
I am not trying to shit on the series or anything, I am legitimately puzzled at its crazy popularity in Japan.
It is polished as shit.
There's rarely a time when you're playing a Dragon Quest game when you think "Man, this is just fluff to pad out the time for the game." DQ games end when they're done. You're not doing something just because. The main series games are crafted until the developer is happy with it. FFXIII is taking years to come out, but it's still going to have the same flaws that Final Fantasy games developed in two years have. DQ takes years to come out and you'd be hard pressed to find flaws that don't come down to personal preference.
It's also just how different DQ is, which sounds odd, but hear me out. While most JRPGs are about getting together some 12 friends who all happen to be capable fighters and saving the world from Villain X, DQ isn't about that. That's not to say it doesn't contain that, but the series is much more about the journey than the climax. It's more about the stories of people along the way - the king who misses his dead wife in DQVIII, for example. In DQV, you're not even the hero, your sole job is to raise the legendary hero who saves the world. It's about your life as the person searching for the chosen.
The game, as standard and cliche as it sometimes is, is completely refreshing and different from other things these days. It is refreshing in its adherence to tradition, if that makes any sense.
Posts
Nintendogs was really an excellent piece of software, though.
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S-E announced they had shipped 3 million copies in Japan within the first week. At that point I don't even really think reviews matter; people have long decided whether they're going to buy it or not.
Hey, does anyone know what the typical wait time is from a DQ game's JP release to the Western markets? I don't know when I should start getting my hopes up for DQIX in the States. Maybe next spring or summer?
Oh yea, I am well aware of Famitsu's....problems. But out of all the companies out there, Nintendo has never been one to buy a review for a game, as usually their games are of high enough quality to garner the great reviews they get.
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17 years if you go by DQ V.
1 year if you go by DQ VIII.
It is nice to have a knowledgable Nintendo marketing dept. insider in our midst to set us straight. Is that you, miss Dunaway?
Based on extensive data gathering (5 minutes):
Dragon Quest 1 - May 86 JP - Aug 89 NA
Dragon Quest 2 - Jan 87 JP - Dec 90 NA
Dragon Quest 3 - Feb 88 JP - Jun 91 NA
Dragon QUest 4 (NES) - Feb 90 JP - OCt 92 NA
Dragon Quest 4 (NDS) - Nov 07 JP - Sep 08 NA
Dragon Quest 5 (NDS) - Jul 08 JP - Feb 09 NA
Dragon Quest VII - Aug 00 JP - Nov 01 NA
Dragon Quest VIII - Nov 04 JP - Nov 05 NA
And intense analysis (2 seconds):
It appears that recently, the lag time has been about a year.
Famitsu has given DQIX a perfect 40/40 score. "This adventure is amazing!" Famitsu writes. "It's so much fun." The reviewers also praised the music and the multi-player, which Famitsu called "ground breaking". The publication calls the single player "fun" and states that "the story is easy to follow and straightforward, but also with moving scenes as well."
The bolded part indicates to me that the story is likely forgettable.
bahaha I love when someone disagrees with G&T. good work, Opium.
To be fair, none of the DQ games I've played have had particularly complex stories. They've always been pretty easy to follow and straightforward: Chosen Heroes, prophecies, big bad evils, larger big bad evils controlling smaller big bad evils, etc. It's why I like the series. It has a fairy tale aspect to it where you kind of know where everything's going to end up, but it's told well enough that you still enjoy yourself.
Man alive, you're on a rampage to day eh.
I'm just speaking as a person who has been following the game industry for a very long time, and Nintendo has never been known as a company to have to buy their reviews, as they let the quality of their games speak for themselves.
Now, I could be wrong, since as you decided to point out in a rather jerkish way, I have no affiliation with Nintendo.
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What do Gabe and Tycho have to do with this
They're huge Slime fanboys.
I hear Gabe has a giant stuffed Kingslime beanbag chair.
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Thanks! That's about what I was expecting; maybe summer of 2010, if we're lucky.
Yeah, that sounds likely. I'd love for them to release it this year, but given that they'll probably release DQ6 DS this year, that'd probably be oversaturation.
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Hmmm...... dubious; unless you know something I don't.
No Japanese release date for DQ6, no screenshots, and no news past "we're working on it" doesn't lend heavily to a US release this year, especially since this year's more than half over. Unless there's some gigantic explosion of DQ6-related media in the very near future, I wouldn't count on it.
Don't get me wrong, I'd be the first to pee my pants in glee if this happened, but I'm not going to get my hopes up.
What makes DQ6 the best in the series? I'm honestly curious/interested, because it wasn't really on my radar, but I hear this claim a lot these days. Is it just otakuism or something more?
As far as I can tell, the Japanese collective considers it the worst in the series (I'm basing that on some Famitsu reader poll from a few years ago). I've actually never played it, and I hated VII, so I don't know if I'll like it much better. I just want a new DQ game.
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At least S&P got it when it was released on the VC, and the high sales convinced Nintendo to talk Treasure into making a new one.
Mother 3...awesome stuff...great story...but I don't ever see it coming here considering how poorly Earthbound sold.
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Mother 3 is fucking awesome, and you should be shot for insinuating it's only praised because we never received it legitimately.
The Pipe Vault|Twitter|Steam|Backloggery|3DS:1332-7703-1083
Um, no. DQ6 was awesome. Best graphics in the series until DQ8 came along, great story with a cool double world, best job system in the series to date, and recruitable monsters (a feature that is only really in DQ5 & DQ6 and the portable DQ Monster spin-off series). DQ7 was a serious step back, but Japanese gamers seem to like it because it rewards an OCD-like mentality (DQ7 is huge and drawn out and requires hundreds of hours to completely master). DQ8 was a great game, but DQ6 is still more complex as far as gameplay goes. Can't say how it compares to DQ9 not having played it yet.
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Let's lime this. :^:
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I am not trying to shit on the series or anything, I am legitimately puzzled at its crazy popularity in Japan.
I don't know if that's just them, or the nation as a whole, but I find the series to be a pretty by the book series of games.
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Charm.
This is a comment I made on joystiq, which is a modified version of something we were discussing in the video game sales thread.
"Think of DQ as a sort of "comfort food" jrpg for a lot us big rpg fans. We all go on about the disappointment at the monotony within FF and other JRPGs, and it's true. Despite how much I love FF, you can often see me bitching about ridiculous melodrama and the like that's so common in JRPGs.
But I can go and play DQ and have a fun and charming world with no pretenses, just good, clean, fun. It's not the typical JRPG (at least not by todays standards) and thats the best part. I don't have to deal with overly dramatic and pretentious plots, or an overly convoluted story that makes less sense the more you play it. DQ is all about the charming and imaginative world, and it should stay that way. I don't need any angsty beltandzipper types in one of the only refuges I have left when it comes to rpg gaming.
Some things shouldn't try and change too much, and DQ is one of them."
The Pipe Vault|Twitter|Steam|Backloggery|3DS:1332-7703-1083
You know how God got it right the first time with the Cockroach? Replace God with Yuji Horii and Cockroach with Dragon Quest.
In an industry where consistency is often seen as a bad thing, it's easy to lose sight of the old adage: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
If you're asking why it's so popular in Japan, but not in the States, well... you can probably chalk that up to the canceled Dragon Quest V localization for the SNES.
I would say that in a way DQ is the LotR of JRPGs. Except, unlike LotR, they keep making more of them. It is very "standard" in a way, but that's because it pretty much invented the standard.
Have you seen their sale's charts?
I'm not going to say one country has better taste than the other, but saying that Japan has better taste in games is a joke.
EDIT: Actually, there's another post on 1up's RPG blog that addresses specifically why Japanese gamers go apeshit for DQ:
His explanation for DQ's popularity: every DQ fan is just a hikikomori.
That and it is pretty much the untainted source of console RPGs. Dragon Quest quest came out before Final Fantasy and has remained true to the source. It is the original in what evolved into the pretty soap operas we got today.
The more I read about DQIX the more I wished I could understand jappanese.
It is polished as shit.
There's rarely a time when you're playing a Dragon Quest game when you think "Man, this is just fluff to pad out the time for the game." DQ games end when they're done. You're not doing something just because. The main series games are crafted until the developer is happy with it. FFXIII is taking years to come out, but it's still going to have the same flaws that Final Fantasy games developed in two years have. DQ takes years to come out and you'd be hard pressed to find flaws that don't come down to personal preference.
It's also just how different DQ is, which sounds odd, but hear me out. While most JRPGs are about getting together some 12 friends who all happen to be capable fighters and saving the world from Villain X, DQ isn't about that. That's not to say it doesn't contain that, but the series is much more about the journey than the climax. It's more about the stories of people along the way - the king who misses his dead wife in DQVIII, for example. In DQV, you're not even the hero, your sole job is to raise the legendary hero who saves the world. It's about your life as the person searching for the chosen.
The game, as standard and cliche as it sometimes is, is completely refreshing and different from other things these days. It is refreshing in its adherence to tradition, if that makes any sense.
Because it invented the standard.
Every single JRPG owes it's existence directly to Dragon Quest. It invented every single standard and cliche the genre uses.