Dragon Quest 1 HD-2D, Part 4 - The Faerie Queene

 

Angry mobs suck.

Today on Dragon Quest, lots of new stuff happens. With the crests and the exploration, this version of the game has more in common with DQ2 than it ever did before. I like how these early DQ games feel like you're playing old literary tales like The Faerie Queene. It's a quality that the Ultima series also had in the 80's.

A quick equipment check before I continue on here. Outside of my cheat2win armor, this is a pretty solid third-best tier of equipment here. Cantlin likely has the second-best tier, then there's the rest of the Erdrick gear. And Cantlin is pretty much the only major area left, so that's where we're going.

Nearby, a cat is grooming a slime. Now I've seen it all.

This slime is NOT down with being groomed!

The route there is treacherous, with... what the hell? Blue Dragons outside of the final dungeon? And multiple Blue Dragons at once? Yeah, good luck dealing with any of this without gimping up Erdrick's Armor first. The only reason I lasted longer than two rounds here is because I forgot to turn off invincibility. They really should have kept the fights one on one because every so often something like this comes along that feels unbalanced AF compared to the content around it.

Outside Cantlin is one of the three major minibosses of the game, Golem. In the DQIII remake last year we saw this guy under construction to protect the town. Now, he's been taken control of and keeps people trapped inside.

This is another tough fight, but it isn't as strong as the Axe Knight, and is very doable with no tricks. He can be put to sleep with the Faerie Flute, so you can basically use the Axe Knight's strategy against him.

Fun Fact: This guy is the first boss of Dragon Quest VII.

Turns out, the evil menace that took control of Golem was this flying imp, Spiketail. He's a new addition to this version of the game and a seedy little bastard.

The townspeople of Cantlin have been unable to leave, trapped in a prison of their own making, as a machine built for their own safety and protection became an instrument of their demise instead.

A development that unfortunately isn't relegated to... The Twilight Zone.

Here's the second-to-last tier of weapon and shield. That's right, Silver Shield and Erdrick's Shield are now separate (we just had to infer that the Silver Shield was the one used by Erdrick, before). The Fire Blade looks cool (we'll see it in a bit here) and procs a fire attack after the regular slash. This is an underrated move and makes the Fire Sword better than usual in this version.

I stop to pet a cat and GET SCRATCHED.

Cats in this game have a real attitude!

The Dragonlord is a deadly foe, especially in this version. And especially when I missed the Scroll of Moreheal, which I could have gotten right about now in this very town. It would have made the last 20% of the game easier, and really shouldn't have been an optional scroll. Have that be one of the final spells acquired from leveling, and leave scrolls to the oddball abilities and new abilities, like Sandstorm, Whistle, or Wild Side. Not the crucial best heal. Which you'll miss unless you're following a guide, or systematically checking every single shelf and bookcase in a huge town like Cantlin, which most players aren't.

Looks like a bridge has to be reconstructed to continue. And when you need bridges reconstructed, there's only one place to turn:

The Dorfs. They owe our hero one, so they put on their spiked Cossack helmets, grab their tool belts, and get to work.

"Small hands, but take it from me, big where it counts!" says the young woman while everyone else turns and looks at her.

With the bridge reconstructed, I can get to this sandy maze area on the overworld. I was always curious about this part of the world in previous versions of the game and felt like it should have been used for something. Most likely it involved some sort of cut content in the NES original. It was such an odd area, considering it lead nowhere despite clearly being designed with some purpose in mind. Maybe this was the original location to launch the Rainbow Bridge towards the central island?

It's basically a long ravine; nothing to see here. Cool for something underutilized to get reimagined, either way. Get to the end of the "maze" and there's...

...the Miquella's Haligtree of the game, this new area that just sort of materialized off the coast.

Weeping Isle is no postgame uber-dungeon though. It's a pretty basic, if longer than most, cave. The objective here is to track down Spiketail.

A component of one of the Sigils is found in here. Finding the parts for all of them is this sort of back-burner objective throughout the game.

The Cantlin town priest went off to fight Spiketail by himself. This is DQ1 so all the good guys fight honorably by themselves and proceed to get beaten down by their five opponents.

While our hero just sort of stands in the doorway and I can't do anything, Spiketail rants at and eventually TORCHES THE PRIEST.

This scene actually made me kind of mad. What the hell took so long for the hero to walk into the damn room? Spiketail flew off and escaped too.

The priest was basically the hero of Cantlin, respected/loved by everybody. This whole section is very well-done and you get to know some of these people.

Our heroes go to track down Spiketail, and run into Kandar IV. He's basically the hero's bro at this point.

Gwaelin talks about how hard Erdrick IV gets, while Kandar IV listens thoughtfully and slathers his pecs in oil.

Wait, here he is. This guy seems like a real asshole!

We finally get a gander at the Fire Blade, as I take on Spiketail. He's by himself. Why not bring the swarm of goons he had in all the cutscenes? The game has no trouble throwing 5 enemies at me at once the rest of the time.

After a surprisingly easy fight, I get the last key. Mentioned already that I wish I'd kept a list of Ultimate Key doors/chests up to this point. It's easy enough to find a list online now, but when the game first dropped that wasn't the case.

With the Ultimate Key, I can go right back to the Stardust room of Weeping Isle and get the locked chest there, which contains the best shield. Now the only Erdrick armor remaining is the Erdrick Helm, which wasn't in the original either. Where could it be?

Next step on the Ultimate Key tour: Galen's Tomb, which can now be infiltrated beyond the first floor. The Lyre of Ire is the big reward here, and needed to get to the Dragonlord's Castle.

We get a poem written by the legendary bard himself, Galen.

I go turn in all my components and get the rest of the Sigils. I probably could have done this earlier.

This one is particularly good for MP restoration during dungeons, allowing you to unleash damaging spells without worrying about it as much.

Next up is Rubiss' Tower, which has high-level foes like Metal Golems and Star Wyverns. At the top is another new boss:

This gargoyle dude casts Stopspell and puts up a better fight than Spiketail. Nothing to write home about though.

Gwaelin is really all-in with this guy being her dude for the rest of time. Then again, it isn't like she's going to find a better option than a guy who KILLED A DRAGON for her and is a hero to most of the realm.

At the top of the tower is Rubiss, the Gandalf of Alefgard. She's super-powerful, but tends to stay out of the affairs of regular folk. While she was corporeal in DQ3, that was long ago. Her existence now appears to be tied to whether or not the Sigils are all gathered in one place. Like the Eternal Dragon in DBZ.

Another key item obtained, as I trade the Lyre of Ire for the Staff of Rain.

With the Sun Stone and Staff of Rain acquired, all I need now is the Mark of Erdrick and I can roll this up.

In previous versions, you got the Mark by just going out into the swamp and searching around. Now, there's a new dungeon there, some sort of old ruin. This is a cool addition, and it always felt like the Mark of Erdrick deserved better than just being dropped on the ground.

Another new boss, a skeleton. This is the toughest fight out of the last batch of new boss fights, and actually poses a suitable last challenge before the Dragonlord's Castle. It's pretty much a level/gear check. Definitely seems like you're intended to do this last, out of the Spiketail/Gargoyle/this guy trio.

That's the last item, time to go form the light-bridge and go to the final dungeon. But first, I take a quick detour to Tantegel to return Gwaelin and then reset:

Returning her results in a big celebration at the castle, after which Gwaelin insists on going with the hero. The hero shuts her down, "right prettily", so she stays put here. Surprised they didn't give the player any sort of option on this. You have to sit there and watch the hero turn her down as she offers to go with, whether you want to or not. It'd make a lot of sense to let you choose to bring her, since you could continue with the game with her in tow as the game now seems intended for... while also not missing out on this return to Tantegel scene. Instead a reset is forced.

Next up: Dragonlord's Castle. Also supplemental scans, as Dragon Quest 1 HD-2D wraps up. Unfortunately, there's no postgame to be found in this remake.

In the meantime...I can't get the cat grooming the slime out of my head