Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation, was my first Dragon Quest game initially, buying it on a whim when in Canada along with Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of The Starry Skies as I am a big fan of general Japanese RPG games, particularly ports of earlier Nintendo gems. Starting the game, I noticed the updated visuals and graphics of the older Nintendo classic to the Nintendo DS with 3D designs, and environments. I already took these improvements positively as I owned Final Fantasy 3 port on the DS already, which was updated with 3D visuals also.
As for it's plot and story, I knew Dragon Quest games came with some amazing plots and characters to journey with, and immediately within the first thirty minutes I was thoroughly enjoying it's world and it's lore. You go on a quest to find an evil, and vanquish it with your party only to discover twists and turns in the plot, some game-changing even. This pushed me onto discover more towns and quests, with characters who spoke to me regularly.
In terms of it's graphics, it's general exploration is portrayed in 3D design and environments, with character portraits and combat portrayed in classic, 2D design like the original game. As a fan of these older, 2D games from the 1990's the combat system is still enjoyable, as is the exploration played out in 3D.
Game-play is simple enough like the original, requiring some grinding to level up and gain experience to take on harder, more difficult enemies ahead. Not only this but combat is much like the original in terms of choosing attacks, powers and abilities in a turn-based system, as well as using items and such as well.
For it's musical score, it's quite similar to classic RPG games of the Nintendo systems, with up-beat music for combat sequences, and more laid back fantasy-themed music for the exploration.
The Good:
- A solid, classic Nintendo RPG gem port with updated 3D graphics, visuals and game mechanics.
- A fun, enjoyable story and plot with twists and turns you would never see coming.
- The game-play stays true to the original in terms of exploration, and a 2D combat system.
- Visually, Dragon Quest VI is updated heavily with more recent 3D design, and smoother environments.
- It's musical score, stays true to the Dragon Quest franchise with combat soundtracks, and exploration background music.
The Bad:
- Only issue I found with Dragon Quest VI, is the troublesome save mechanic which can be quite irritating and requires you to play through long segments before being able to save your progress, or risking going back to a town or village you've just come from.
Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation is a solid, fun port of a classic RPG gem that I never got a chance to enjoy back when it was released. With it's updated graphics, and visuals you do not feel as if you've just been given a copy of the original game, but a newer, enhanced port of it. Well worth paying full price for, and a definite buy if you find it at a bargain price.