BoF Dragon Quarter

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is this game as bad as it looks? I've heard comparisons to a "Resident Evil RPG" of sorts with a very unique battle system.

I've seen it for the past two years as low as $6 canadian new, but its always eluded me because the cover and the back of the box have some of the ugliest graphics I've ever seen. I've read some reviews on it but I still can't decide, because the IGN review even goes as far as to say it has beautiful graphics.

Even for its time period, those graphics are hideous. Maybe they're better in motion. But has anyone played it and can give any insight? Worth picking up on the cheap? It's $14 canadian at Superstore, which I'm willing to spring for if its any good. I've loved every other BoF, but this looks radically different.
 
This game was my favorite back in 2003.

There is only one reason behind the great majority of the hate that Dragon Quarter got. It wasn't another mediocre jRPG. There's absolutely nothing more to it than that. The "Breath of Fire" series distinguishing feature has always been how stunningly unambitious they are, and the series' fans hated the fact that Dragon Quarter actually tried to be something.

Fortunately a couple of months after its release, all the hate died down as all it's little kinks and quirks were figured out. IMO, I believe this is one time where calling it "Breath of Fire" may have actually backfired. Fans of the series jumped in expecting one thing and they screamed foul.

Do not be afraid of the restart system. This is just the game letting know that you can completely screw up and HAVE to start over. It's nothing rewarding, but think of it as a sort of powerleveling. If you don't want to think when running through the game, they'll make it a chore. I started over twice if you're curious.

Combat is all about space and zoning. It takes the gridless battle systems of games like Arc the Lad and Phantom Brave and presents them to you in a well executed manner. You can abstract the field to your advantage depending on how you angle your party. This is where the game is most flexible. Keep little Nina behind the knocked over machine to prevent enemeies from wasting her fragile tail. While Rin snipes and the Hero bashes away from up close. It's real solid once you get into a few battles and strategize for yourself.

Work with you inventory limits. Always pack healing items and a save token or two. Do not be afraid of discarding junk and toys to extend your life. Death is a very real thing in this game. With death you lose all items that are in your inventory, save for what you have equipped that moment. Also if this scares you I want to let you know that there is a Win button that most people just don't grasp. PROTIP (Highlight): When you transform, don't just go straight into your attack; for the amount of damage you get, it just wastes D-Meter. Charge twice, then use the Circle attack. A double-charged attack will kill nearly ANY boss in a single blow. That's your desperation move. It's 8% meter or something like that. You shouldn't be using D-Meter for anything else.
So as you can see the gameplay is pretty standard once you get into its core. Everything else surrounding it endears this title to me. This title tries really hard to be ugly and with that provides a very gritty atmosphere. And the soundtrack really lends a nice aura to the game itself. The way the narrative handles itself allowed me to enjoy this title on my restarts as well. One of the finest RPG experiences I've had this generation.
 
The restart system is very intimidating to all comers. The game kinda just drops you into the thick of things without really explaining itself very well. I'll try to run through some of the basics.

You can pretty much save anywhere in this game by picking "Quit" in the menu. You'll make a temporary save state on your memory card that you can restart from later on. It will be deleted as soon as you do.

To make a "Hard Save" you're gonna need a save token. Usually you'll see a payphone in your travels, this is your save spot. Think of the Ink Ribbons and Typewriters from Resident Evil. Now this "Hard Save" isn't as cool as you'd think.

In the menu you'll see an option, "Give Up". From there you get two more options, "SOL: Restore" and "SOL: Restart". Pick the Restore option and you will reload at whatever the last place you hard saved at. You keep all Party XP (think of this as a Level Up piggy bank), equipment, and stuff that you put in your locker. Restart is the same style except you start over from the beginning.

All the stuff in your backpack is lost and you will restart with 5 Heal Kits, 1 Tonic, and 1 Save Token. If you end up dying or having too much fun with your dragon powers, you will get the same treatment. The main difference being that your money and Party XP are halved. Keep this in mind when you have an upcoming boss.

I know it all sounds weird, but it's really worth trying to grasp. Technically these SOL functions are abusable, but the game kinda expects to be played this way. It is built around restarting and replaying so don't think you are exploiting a glitch by doing so.
 
Dragon Quarter is one of my favorite PS2 RPGs. Outside of having a Ryu and Nina, it's nothing like the first four, so don't buy it just because you're a fan of the series. The battle system is a blast and the story is great. My only problem with it is the restart system. When you restart from the begining, new story scenes are introduced. If you play through without restarting, you'll miss a good chunk of the story. Contrary to popular belief, it's not that hard to get through the game without restarting.

And yeah, it looks better in motion. Why do the graphics concern you so much? The restart system is what seems to scare most people away from the game.
 
I have this game, but it's more of a chore to play than fun for me. Also, if you want to get the most out of it, you really need to play it over and over as new scenes and areas get unlocked.
 
BF: DQ to this day remains one of my favorite RPGs and yet I wouldn't automatically recommend this game to everyone. It has very unorthodox game mechanics and a battle system nothing like the previous ones in the series (or most other RPGs for that matter). I played this game back when I was getting burned out on console RPGs and I absolutely fell in love with it.

My problem is I can never seem to describe how great this game is in a general sense. I start going into all the little details that were so intuitively designed and the person I'm talking to just loses interest and his eyes glaze over. I think Pijaibros did a pretty good job though and I'm glad to see a few other people on this board that love it as much as me.

I'll try to answer the OP without getting to fanboy-ish. The graphics are a delibrate style of cel animation. In the game, everything has a very fluid flow to it so it does look much better when you play. I thought it was a little odd at first too but once I got into the game I found myself actually preferring this over other cel games.

Should you get it? If you enjoyed the previous BOF games and you're looking for a similar sequel then no, you would probably hate this. Everything except the names Ryu and Nina are radically different from the rest of the series. If you've played one RPG too many and you're getting tired of the same old turn based battles, enemies so easy you can win simply by pressing X repeatedly, and plots that meander aimlessly for half the game then you should definitely try this.
 
Well, I'm going to pick it up. For less than twenty clams, its worth trying, even with the horrible sounding restart system.
 
[quote name='LaseK']Well, I'm going to pick it up. For less than twenty clams, its worth trying, even with the horrible sounding restart system.[/QUOTE]

So what did you think of it? You can be brutally honest. I hope you liked it but I'm not gonna be an ass if you didn't.
 
Get it, it is an amazingly good game.

How could you say the graphics are ugly? The character models are well-designed and beautifully colored. Everything looks pretty good for the whole game, even if the effects aren't tremendous. There is a noisy grain which troubles the visuals throughout, but underneath the "static" it's gorgeous. I think the filter actually adds to the atmosphere of the game.

The FMVs (there are two) are the best looking 3d attempt at anime I've ever seen.

Take another look at the graphics, explain to me what is bad about them.

As far as gameplay, the battle system is superb. The game doesn't take advantage of its unique system enough, but it's great to fiddle with. I consider it a turn-based action RPG. The story is actually quite interesting, if not confusing.

As you can tell, I cannot recommend this game enough.
 
Even though I picked this up for $5 at the July 2004 CC clearance, I didn't really enjoy it at all. It just wasn't my kind of RPG, but the few hours I played was decent. Luckily I was able to trade it in for more than I paid, so I got some good games in return. :)
 
[quote name='cletus']So what did you think of it? You can be brutally honest. I hope you liked it but I'm not gonna be an ass if you didn't.[/QUOTE]

Hehe, I haven't actually played it yet. I did buy it, but I got Atelier Iris in the mail the next day, and I started that first [as well as picked up Mega Man X Collection].

I think I'm almost done with Atelier, so then I'm on to BoF.

To the other guy: The graphics just look very ugly to me. I'm not going to get too indepth, I just find they're hard to look at, but I havent' actually played the game yet, so here's hoping that'll change it.
 
That reminds me, I still haven't finished Atelier Iris yet. I traded for it almost half a year ago now and I really need to finish it. I don't think I've even turned on my PS2 in 3 weeks now because of this DS.
 
I'm absolutely loving Atelier Iris. The jokes are awesome too, especially the videogame related ones, like the ESRB, and Street Fighter Alpha X+ Omega Hyperdriver, or whatever it was.

Hopefully BoF:DQ turns out as good as this, recently I've been playing a stream of PS2 games that are just topping the charts on my favorite games lists, compared to when I used to own a PS2 years ago, and everything I played sucked.
 
BoF: DQ doesn't have the same light hearted tone as Atelier Iris but I enjoyed the game mechanics more. I really need to finish this since Atelier Iris 2 is coming out soon (4th quarter?). How long does it take to finish the first one?
 
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