Dragon Quest VI is a highly addictive, fun and rich RPG from yester year.
Graphics: Much like Dragon Quest V, the game is a really great looking mixture of 2D sprites and 3D architecture. It worked well for V, and it works well here. The game looks amazing, even when you start to rotate the camera to admire the buildings and towns. The color palette is a decidedly bright one, and it pays off in a big way. On top of that, the artistic design of the game is quite attractive, filled with cool looking towns/ castles, charming enemies (who animate very well for being 2D), and plenty of variety. Worth noting is that the game takes place in two different worlds, and the way each one is designed helps them to stand apart from one another. In the Dream World, the world looks brighter, with a more upbeat song, while in the real world, the palette is slightly darker and more dreary. While it may be disappointing that the game doesn't make use of the fully 3D engine of Dragon Quest IX, the game still looks great. 10/ 10
Sound: The game is, like number V, a mix of highly orchestrated music and old school sound effects. One thing I found to be somewhat lacking in the fifth game was that, aside from a few tunes (one of which is the ever present theme song), there wasn't a whole lot of memorable music in the game. In this one, the battle music, boss music, overworld, town, castle and more has been redone, and it is generally higher quality. To me, the game has a much better soundtrack. Meanwhile, the sound effects are pretty much the same. Old school, 8- bit sounding, but in a good way. Much like the graphics, the hybrid of old and new helps add to the charm of the game. While the music still isn't quite on the level of, say, Final Fantasy, it is still very well done and memorable. 8/ 10
Story: The game starts out with you, the Hero (and, of course, silent as always) and two mysterious people fighting a monster named Murdaw. However, the fight turns out to be less than successful, and your character is turned to stone… or is he? Because, right after this scene, you awake in a mountain town, and are told to deliver a shipment of goods to a nearby bazaar by the mayor. From here, many events occur, and you learn that there are two worlds: The real world, and the dream world, and that the dream world exists because of the trickster who defeated you in the beginning, Murdaw. From there, you do a lot of world hopping, meeting many people (including the ones who were with you in the beginning) as you set out to defeat Murdaw and bring peace to the world. The story has a great concept, and some memorable scenarios, as well as some surprisingly poignant moments that I won't spoil. While the characters are rather shallow, the story still manages to hold up well. It has several interesting turns over its long course, and it will likely surprise you in ways you won't be expecting. There are also many great side stories, like two lovers who are pushed apart when one of them is framed for poisoning a mayor's dog. Despite the lack of character depth, the concept and conflicts throughout the game make the story worth seeing through to the end. It doesn't quite pack the same emotional punch as the fifth game, but it's is still quite enjoyable. 8/ 10
Gameplay: As many have come to expect from the Dragon Quest series, it is rooted in tradition, sometimes to a fault. You wander around a multi- continent world (in this case, two worlds), fight randomly encountered monsters, grind for levels and money, hardly ever defend and so on and so forth. However, this game has a few unique features that helps it stand apart.
The first thing is the job system. No, it's not a new idea to RPG's at all, especially JRPG's. However, here, it is refined to a highly addictive, fast paced and meaningful upgrade system. Essentially, after a certain point in the game, you gain access to Alltrades Abby, where you can change every character's Vocation. There are numerous ones to choose from, like the warrior (a slow but powerful physical fighter), the priest (the weak but helpful healer/ support character) and some more atypical ones like Monster Master. (You learn abilities monsters throughout the game have.) The way it works is that, basically, each job has eight "levels" to master. You level up a job by fighting battles, and, after a certain number, you'll increase your mastery. With each level comes a new ability or two. Once you reach level 8, you can't learn anything more and can choose to stay with that job or switch to a new one. The benefits of keeping a job is that some have better stat changes than others. For instance, the warrior has high HP and high attack and defense, but has low agility and magic points. Meanwhile, the mage has low… well, everything, but high magic points. Additionally, after mastering certain combinations of jobs, second tier jobs become available. For instance, mastering both the warrior and martial artist jobs allows the gladiator to be used.
The job system is smartly implemented so that you aren't penalized if you choose to switch jobs before mastering your current one. The game has a very nice sense of progression, because you unlock new skills and abilities at a pretty constant rate. One issue I have, however, is that some jobs are clearly better than others. Arguably the best second tier job is the gladiator, due to its huge HP, attack an defense boost. It only gives negative stat changes in magic points and wisdom. It is great for pretty much any character who isn't focused on using magic. (The Paladin is probably the second best choice, since it nicely balances attack and magic.) Meanwhile, the Luminary vocation pretty much has negative stat changes for every single stat. It does pose issues if you go through the game with a specific strategy for your party in mind. (However, there are certain areas where you can grind away and gain experience for jobs. Most areas have level caps, but a few don't. I personally grinded for hours mastering every single job.) You will likely only make somebody a Dancer just so you can get some of the skills, and swiftly change the vocation ASAP. Meanwhile, you'll feel regret at changing your high HP warrior to an incredibly weak mage. Additionally, some jobs don't have too many useful skills. The most notable of this is the Monster Master. Most of its skills are useful for lower level random encounters, and they become obsolete once you reach a certain point in the game, because they either do negligible damage, or they just don't do anything. Despite these flaws, the job system makes battling much more fun, because it offers a tangible sense of progression.
Outside of that, not much is different from previous installments. That is if you don't count the two worlds. This game is massive, with two full worlds to explore. That's not like two mini sized worlds that would cumulatively make up the size of one Dragon Quest game. Each map is the size of one map in previous games. This makes it so there is a ton of places to go and explore. However, it can make it rather difficult to figure out exactly what to do next. You are liable to have times in the game where you just wander, not really sure what to do. Usually you can find some sort of clue, but it can be frustrating when you're stuck.
In addition to the typical JRPG tropes, there are some unique mini games that factor into side quests and party recruitment. In Dragon Quest V, you could randomly recruit the majority of the monsters in the game. However, in this one, you are limited to the humans the story brings your way and some optional monster characters. This may be disappointing to some, but I personally didn't have too much of an issue with it. Anyways, the mini games include things such as the Best Dressed contest, where you must experiment with vocations and equipment to get the highest Style attribute possible to win a beauty contest. (There are eight levels.) Another one has you entering one of your slimes to battle in mini tournaments. These are fun little diversions, with some nice rewards, including new party members.
The game is also pretty long. It took me 50 hours to beat (that's with at least ten hours of grinding.) It is a very meaty quest, with lots to do. Despite this, it retains the same gameplay of Dragon quest V.
If the fact that there are changes that don't hugely affect the Dragon Quest gameplay bothers you, this game will do nothing to change your mind. However, if you love old school RPG's, this game has you covered in the gameplay department. 8/ 10
Dragon Quest VI is a great, old school JRPG. It features an addictive (if a bit flawed) job system, great graphics, a good soundtrack and a surprisingly neat story. If you've been hankering an old school gaming fix, you could do much worse than Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation.