An actual review because I cannot joke about how amazing this game is.

I acquired this game on-sale over the winter sale but I would most definitely pay full price for it (and I will once the Switch version comes out outside of Japan God knows when :V).

This game is truly wonderful. The story is wonderfully crafted with some nice (but sometimes expected) twists and is full of wonderful scenarios that keep you playing for hours on end. It provides a variety of turns that make you feel all kinds of emotions about the situation and characters at-hand. A few events even brought me to tears at certain points just because of how raw the story gets, and deals with a plethora of hard situations that even make these magical, skillful characters nervous, frustrated, or upset. As you progress through and take on each objective thrown your way, you're truly rewarded with a great deal of satisfaction and appreciate the outcomes of everything you do, even when you think you shouldn't appreciate it.

The characters are simply phenomenal and have all kinds of emotion and motives that truly bring you to adore every single one of them. Their dialogue is quirky and adds lots of flavor individually that blends together into a group full of uniqueness and exhileration. Even the NPCs have their own unique flavors, despite many of them using the same character model (Shout out to Akira Toriyama for knowing like 5 character models lmao).

The voice acting may seem odd at first, and you may even dislike it initially (I sure as hell did). But the more you play through and experience different parts of the world, you start to respect the accents each area distinctly possesses. By around the halfway point of the main-story, after going through about 8 different towns, the varying accents really made me appreciate the diversity of the world that's open to you.

The gameplay is typical of any other Dragon Quest game or of any simple JRPG in general, yet it keeps you in an enjoyed state throughout the whole thing. Nothing is overly-simple or immensely dificult to figure out, and hits a nice sweet-spot that JRPG players of all skill-levels can enjoy. The open-world is breathtaking, captivating you with the different geographical landscapes and adding another level to the gameplay experience. The monsters are nothing strange to those familiar with the Dragon Quest series; and if you're not familiar, you'll definitely appreciate the variety offered!

I've seen lots of complaints about the reptitiveness of the sountrack, but I have nothing wrong with it. It's extremely catchy and pleasant; I could honestly listen to it (and I have) for hours and not get annoyed by it in the slightest. To pair with the soundtrack, the classic dragon quest sound effects are as present as ever and are always enjoyable.

The length of the game is incredible compared to many other games in the modern-era. Lots of tedious grinding or online multiplayer is not needed to extend the game's playtime. You will easily sink in 40-60 hours (I myself put in over 50) for just the main story alone. This is not including the extremely lengthy, 20+ hour post-game which enriches the plot even further and provides an even newer experience.

This game is, without a doubt, the best game released in 2018 for me. It's perfectly comfortable with itself and takes the role of a JRPG in a way that reaches out of normality but always stays true to its roots. The combination of an extremely captivating story, amazing and dynamic characters, a breathtaking open-world, and very comfortable gameplay make this a must-have and a must-play.

(Also Luminary for Smash omegalul but for real though that'd be great)

An actual review because I cannot joke about how amazing this game is. I acquired this game on-sale over the winter sale but I would most definitely pay full price for it (and I will once the Switch version comes out outside of Japan God knows when :V). This game is truly wonderful. The story is wonderfully crafted with some nice (but sometimes expected) twists and is full of wonderful scenarios that keep you playing for hours on end. It provides a variety of turns that make you feel all kinds of emotions about the situation and characters at-hand. A few events even brought me to tears at certain points just because of how raw the story gets, and deals with a plethora of hard situations that even make these magical, skillful characters nervous, frustrated, or upset. As you progress through and take on each objective thrown your way, you're truly rewarded with a great deal of satisfaction and appreciate the outcomes of everything you do, even when you think you shouldn't appreciate it. The characters are simply phenomenal and have all kinds of emotion and motives that truly bring you to adore every single one of them. Their dialogue is quirky and adds lots of flavor individually that blends together into a group full of uniqueness and exhileration. Even the NPCs have their own unique flavors, despite many of them using the same character model (Shout out to Akira Toriyama for knowing like 5 character models lmao). The voice acting may seem odd at first, and you may even dislike it initially (I sure as hell did). But the more you play through and experience different parts of the world, you start to respect the accents each area distinctly possesses. By around the halfway point of the main-story, after going through about 8 different towns, the varying accents really made me appreciate the diversity of the world that's open to you. The gameplay is typical of any other Dragon Quest game or of any simple JRPG in general, yet it keeps you in an enjoyed state throughout the whole thing. Nothing is overly-simple or immensely dificult to figure out, and hits a nice sweet-spot that JRPG players of all skill-levels can enjoy. The open-world is breathtaking, captivating you with the different geographical landscapes and adding another level to the gameplay experience. The monsters are nothing strange to those familiar with the Dragon Quest series; and if you're not familiar, you'll definitely appreciate the variety offered! I've seen lots of complaints about the reptitiveness of the sountrack, but I have nothing wrong with it. It's extremely catchy and pleasant; I could honestly listen to it (and I have) for hours and not get annoyed by it in the slightest. To pair with the soundtrack, the classic dragon quest sound effects are as present as ever and are always enjoyable. The length of the game is incredible compared to many other games in the modern-era. Lots of tedious grinding or online multiplayer is not needed to extend the game's playtime. You will easily sink in 40-60 hours (I myself put in over 50) for just the main story alone. This is not including the extremely lengthy, 20+ hour post-game which enriches the plot even further and provides an even newer experience. This game is, without a doubt, the best game released in 2018 for me. It's perfectly comfortable with itself and takes the role of a JRPG in a way that reaches out of normality but always stays true to its roots. The combination of an extremely captivating story, amazing and dynamic characters, a breathtaking open-world, and very comfortable gameplay make this a must-have and a must-play. (Also Luminary for Smash omegalul but for real though that'd be great)