Dragon Quest 11 And The Subtle Art Of Subverting Expectations · 5:43am Oct 3rd, 2018
Okay, so before I get started, the following is going to have absolutely massive spoilers for the recently released Dragon Quest 11, so unless you've already gotten past what I will tacitly call "The Big Event" (And believe me, you would know it if you've reached it), don't read this. Either that, or if you don't care about spoilers. So, scroll down if you're willing and ready for this.
Again, SPOILERS. You've been warned.
Okay, so I've been playing Dragon Quest 11 on my laptop, and I have to say, it is simply marvelous. And there are two events in the game, thus far, that are absolutely mind-blowing that I must, repeat, must discuss. The first is very early on, and the second could easily be called the most pivotal and most unexpected moment in the game. And both manage to completely blow any expectations you had completely out of the water.
Moment One: The King Of Heliodor.
Kings are a really big deal in Dragon Quest games. They typically are major supporters for your character, and are typically the ones to hail you as the savior of the land, given that your character, in most Dragon Quest games, is basically Super Magic Sword Jesus (I defy you to think of a better way of describing the main character of half of the Dragon Quest games). Your first meeting with a king, any king, will usually be the first time you're given any major direction in the plot. In fact, in the first Dragon Quest game (Dragon Warrior here in the USA), the king is the first NPC you encounter, and the dude you had to speak with every time you had to save your game. So, when the hero, heeding the advice of a letter written by his late mother, goes to see the King of Heliodor, you expect everything to be fine and dandy. And for a few moments, there is much rejoicing... until one of the king's knights leaves the room, and then suddenly, the king states that, since the coming of the Luminary always precedes the coming of the Lord of Darkness, that means you're no savior, but basically Super Evil Sword Anti-Christ. You're arrested, thrown in jail, and told you're going to be executed shortly. This shocking swerve from what you were expecting is one of the biggest upsets in the game, taking everything you assumed was going to happen, and basically beating you over the head with it. Were it not for The Big Event, I'd call it the biggest upset in the game. But then, there's...
Moment Two: The Big Event
Okay, now this is about 30-40 hours in. You've spent this time gathering a party of allies, strengthening your party, and grabbing a set of magical MacGuffins needed to open up a path to Yggdrasil, the World Tree, source of all life and the focal point of all reincarnation in the game. Basically, The Biggest Of Deals. You've traversed the entire land, and while a few things are out of your reach, you expect they'll be unlocked in the post game. You're expecting this to be the end-game, the prelude to the final battle. Why else would you be going to the resting place of what is, traditionally, the best sword in the game that you usually only get just before the final dungeon?
You make it to the tree, and journey to its heart, where you find the Sword of Light. And then, just as you're about to grab the Ultimate Sword of Destiny, you get shot in the back by Jasper, a knight who had been tailing you for some time, and who had set several major events in motion. At this point, you're powerless to fight against him, and you're expecting that this guy was the Lord of Darkness you'll be expecting to overcome, given how effortlessly he owns you.
Just when things seem at their darkest, Hendrick, a royal knight that you've clashed with before but seems to be a decent enough guy, shows up with the King of Heliodor, proclaiming Jasper to be a traitor and in league with the dark forces assaulting this world. It looks like Hendrick is going to confront Jasper and give your party the chance you need to grab the Swordiest of Swords. Now, you'll have a chance in what is clearly meant to be a final boss fight... when suddenly, the King strikes Hendrick from behind. Then, the REAL Lord of Darkness, who'd been hiding within the King of Heliodor all this time, reveals himself. Jasper bows and proclaims his fealty to his true master. Then, the Lord of Darkness does something completely unexpected: He steals the Luminary's holy powers and uses them to grab the Sword of Light, and corrupts it, then drains Yggdrasil of its power and becomes something absolutely monstrous... and then he destroys Yggdrasil. He does the equivalent of destroying the game's version of Heaven. Your character has lost his holy powers and presumed dead, the party is scattered to the wind, and evil reigns triumphant across the land. The Lord of Darkness, in the span of a few short minutes, destroys your expectations utterly, and you're basically knocked down to the start of the game with a significant portion of your skill tree gone and the world now populated by armies of much stronger versions of the monsters you've fought before. Just when you thought the game was nearly over, you learn that it's barely gotten started with you. Suddenly, you realize that this is no 40 hour game, and you've barely even gotten started.
This game has done a masterful job of taking the expectations built from 10 previous games, about 30 years of gaming tradition, and turning it on its head in the most unexpected ways.
Sounds interesting. Might be worth a look.
Oh ho, sounds like well done story telling
Its a great rpg, that gives you so much to do in so many ways, with a variety of personalities.
I have much to say but that would be spoilers for end game and true end game
edit: I finished it the other day and yeah it's a great game and Erik is a monster of a party member.
Oh you think that little upset got to you? My friend, this game is just winding up for the next couple of emotional gut-punches. I think my favorite character might just be Sylvando. His abilities, his special attacks, he's. Just. Fabuloooooouuuus!
I remember the first Dragon Quest game... Known as Dragonwarrior in the US.
So in other words it was subversion done right. Not gonna lie after the “subversions” in Star Wars I’m a little wary of those throwing the term about. That being said I myself am enjoying Valkyrie Chronicles 4. So far it seems like a less brutal turn-based strategy than i’ve Been subjected to, which is nice.
Ah, this reminds me of Tales of Symphonia for Game Cube. Spoiler alert for the 15 year old game (from someone who hasn't played it in over a decade).
In a medival world where mana is draining, and an army of half-elves supressing the population and demanding tribute and taxes, punishing those villages who cannot comply, you set out to fight alongside your childhood friend who was chosen by the angels to save the world. (That's right, your character isn't the chosen one!
)
After just the first two hours you realize that there's more to the medival fantasy world than you knew, as a platoon of half-elves attack your village after your character has been spotted sneaking through one of their bases --- by a security camera.
Banished from your village, and with nowhere else to go, you set out into the wider world, coming after the chosen one to aid them. Along your way, you keep fighting off monsters and these half-elves thinking themselves better than everyone else, and saving several villages and all that, it seems fairly straight forward.
After 30 hours, you think the adventure is nearing its end... and then it throws you a complete curveball. Turns out, there's more than one faction of half-elves, working at cross-purposes, with their own political agendy, that sometimes coincides with yours and sometimes doesn't.
After 50 hours, you think "This is it", only for the game to reveal AN ENTIRE SECOND PLANET (
) for you to explore that you didn't know anything about. A world much like yours that's overflowing with the mana your world is lacking, and the cause of the problems. Except - the people here aren't bad, they just live in better health and more secure lives than those back home.
At the 70 hour mark, you realize that the angels who set you on your quest along with the chosen one were actually the bad guys, that the prophecy was a ruse, and that the whole thing was a setup.
The chosen one is kidnapped from your party, to be sacrificed to perpetuate the cycle of both worlds - the mana flow will reverse, and your world will prosper at the cost of the other world's inhabitants, some of whom have joined your party by this point.
Somewhere around the 90 hour mark, it seems your plan to heal the world tree Yggdrasiel might be successful ---
TOO SUCCESSFUL, IT STARTS SPREADING OVER BOTH WORLDS LIKE A WEED! IT WAS SUPPOSED TO SOLVE YOUR PROBLEMS, WHAT THE HECK!?!?!??!
So now it turns out the thing you've been trying to do to save both worlds doesn't work either, and you have to find some entirely different way to do so.
Somewhere after the 100 hour mark, you fight the angels, and you defeat them. Long ending cutscene.
Except... it still didn't work! The main bad guy isn't dead! A young child you rescued, staying with you at an inn, turns out to be him in diguise! GAH!
And only sometime between 120 - 130 hours in, the game, after, like, five to seven different "fake-out endings" that genuinely made you think "it's over", actually comes to a close.
At which point you're almost expecting the credits to get interrupted and for something else to go horribly wrong setting you on another 30-hour quest across two worlds (technically three at this point, but the third planet doesn't count as more than the angel's base of operations).
Now THAT was an awesome game. Or that's how I remember it, anyway. I probably misremembered a bunch of things. A lot of things. Most of the things. It's a bit hard to spare another 100+ hours to replay the whole thing, even though I've tried to start over twice, and I don't remember even finding a full "cutscenes / dialogue only" playthrough on youtube to rewatch.
Also, admittedly, pretty sure the "130 hour" gametime is in no small part because the timer never stopped during the pause screens.
Also at least 8 hours of that was setting the characters to "auto-battle", then glueing the control-stick in place with duck-tape and letting them run in circles and fight battles while I went for a walk. The best way to grind levels.
So... This is probably how you'll remember Dragon Quest 11 in a decade and a half. Completely inaccurately but as really really awesome.
In Xenoblade, the first twist death (30 minutes in) happens not because Fiora was sitting pretty waiting for a sword through the spine (*cough* Arieth *cough*) but because she was the only one left fighting after the Mechon killing Monado did absolutely nothing to Metal Face.
EDIT::
Just noticed, you have 33 stories, 333 blogs, and you are following 3 writers. Go find 565 more followers, my OCD demands it.
Wow, i must have read dozens of blog posts about cool story techniques in games on fimfiction but this actually wants to make me
pick it upget it for my "friends" ps4Huh, that is cool, sound a bit like another game with a twist. Both Kotor and jade empire have shocking "this literally changes everything" moments... Bit neither of them powered down the main character. That.... That... Is a ballsy move.