Boom!

I last wrote about Dragon Quest III almost a year ago, shortly after I'd finished the first two games in the series. I found I really enjoyed the format even though for years I'd be turned off by the idea that Dragon Quest was as generic a JRPG as there could possibly be. In some ways, this is true, but there is something to be said for the charm the series displays in its simplicity. There is a lot of fun to be had in Dragon Quest III traversing its many dungeons and uncovering its many hidden treasures, some of which may elude the player at first glance. As you progress through the game you'll uncover more and more items and equipment, including special keys that enable you to circumvent the locks that barred your progress before.

These features are not altogether different from those in the first two Dragon Quest titles. Where DQIII really distinguishes itself from its predecessors is the job class system. While the Hero has a static class, three (generic) party members can be recruited and assigned any of the game's seven classes. This is a slight variation on the previous year's Final Fantasy, in which a four person party could be created from any of its six classes. Of course, in that particular case, each class had its own unique upgrade--whereas Dragon Quest III handles things a little differently. Once characters reach level 20 and gain access to the Tower of Dharma, any of the generic character classes can freely change their profession to another of the available classes, although they must start at level 1. If in possession of the Book of Satori, one can change to a Sage, a strict upgrade to the Cleric and Wizard classes that can learn spells from both schools. It is possible to cycle through a number of classes to acquire skills and/or spells from the different classes to customize your characters to your preferences.

For instance, my final party featured a Thief that had gone through several levels as a Cleric. This resulted in a swift utility character with access to backup healing spells to support my Sage. Helpfully, Thieves have high MP growth, so casting these spells was never a problem for her. My monk stayed the same for the entire game mostly just because she was the primary damage dealer and had no reason to expand her repertoire. It is a job system that certainly lacks the complexity of a later RPGs, but it was an interesting twist on the established format at the time. I generally really enjoy job systems in RPGs and I feel Dragon Quest III's was done reasonably well, especially for the time.

I played a fan translation of the Super Famicom remake of the game, which added the Thief class and fleshed out a few of the existing classes. Merchants/Dealers gained a new set of skills exclusive to them as well. Aside from that, the graphics were updated to SNES standards and it's reasonable to assume several names were changed. I briefly considered playing the original NES version of the game, but I've generally made it a policy to play the "best" version of a game, whether or not that happens to be the most recent one. In this particular case, it seemed the SNES remake was very similar to the original version but with a more pleasing graphical style and extra content--so the choice was really rather easy.

All in all, Dragon Quest III is not the most remarkable or memorable game I've played, but I have to give it a little leeway considering the game's age. Even so, I had a fair amount of fun with it and will continue to play through the series. I've already finished the DS remake of Dragon Quest IV and liked it a lot (more on that soon). I'm not sure when I'll be continuing the series, but I think I'd like to finish up Etrian Odyssey (and possibly the second game as well) before I do so.