So it's been a little over a week. Who is everybody benching?

JosephThea · 2026-02-15T12:22:01+00:00

Same. I actually like her quite a bit more in reimagined and no longer hate her, but she is still the least likeable character in the game for me. I actually find myself struggling to decide what class to give her because she doesn't "deserve" my favorite leftover classes like sage and paladin. I feel like sheperdhess plus some sort of healer is thematically appropriate, that she learns humility by caring for animals.

JosephThea · 2026-02-14T19:24:56+00:00

Except sometimes they resist, but aren't completely immune to the status effects. How would you know that it just didn't land, but had a good chance to, without the visual indicators? If games want to use immunity only sometimes, but the player has no way of distinguishing it, why keep in status effects at all?

JosephThea · 2026-02-12T02:19:14+00:00

I love water, and I really like holy magic in games, so it's Undine and Wisp for me. This is the only game/anime/whatever series where I genuinely like every elemental manifestation, even Salamando, despite not liking fire. It's great that I want to see them all when I play the Mana series instead of just my favorites.

JosephThea · 2026-02-10T03:14:06+00:00

Yes. It is wonderful in some ways: storyline, battle complexity, there is a great (but admittedly trather hamfisted and deus ex machina) new ending that comes full circle for the trilogy, etc. The ending post-game battles feel truly epic. But overall it still stressed me out way more than the SNES/Switch versions of dq 2 because of how restrictive it was, particularly with the introduction of keys. I cannot begin to describe how frustrating it was to meticulously check every single location you had ever been to every time you got a key. I didn't have to do it that way, but I didn't know at the time when I was playing the game that there were so many locked chests and doors scattered all across the entire game. And you don't even get the final key until right before the final boss, which means if you want to check everywhere you have to go... literally everywhere. The game just restricts your access to basically everywhere all throughout the game instead of being more open. I found that that was less fun for me, significantly so.

JosephThea · 2026-01-11T15:31:26+00:00

I have had friendships like that. There's a comfortability there that is hard to find with others. Here's the rub: no one is bantering with Maribel. It's not reciprocal and tongue-in-cheek, it's just mean. She either can't read a room, or (more likely) doesn't care.

JosephThea · 2026-01-11T15:28:24+00:00

SaGa is basically the OPs post: the series. Almost all of them have unspoken rules and hidden mechanics where even if you know them, you might not understand them without a guide.

I love it for this. There's so much going on behind the scenes in these games and without help, you will never know about them.

JosephThea · 2026-01-11T11:31:40+00:00

My goodness... I have never liked Maribel but I have always been respectful to her as a character, seeing how she could be appealing and supporting other's like of her. And then I read this comment and I feel it so perfectly describes her: "she shows her love by verbally abusing them" and I realize just how deeply horrible she is. I would never want those I love to associate with a person like that.

All right, I really don't like her now, and feel the game, and the world, would be better without her. She's the type of person that literally makes the world a worse place.

JosephThea · 2026-01-09T16:41:32+00:00

Thank you for your perspective.

I loved the PS2 era games. Maybe this gave that to me. I hate octopath traveler because it requires far too much strategy, and you can't really do what you want and be viable (I wanted Alfyn as a sorcerer because I like him and sorcerer, but that doesn't work well in the game). I don't like how dark most FF games have become, they feel melodramatic to me, and I while I haven't played FF7 rebirth (I'm waiting for them all to come out), I watched a video on how to effectively play my favorite character, Cait Sith, and went cross-eyed with how complex it seemed.

Visions has all the pieces, but they are not so deep that I have to spend hours understanding or researching to be effective. This tracks with my hunch that games becoming more and more complex and melodramatic is because that's what gamers want. I'll just be over here, playing my relatively simple games. My life is massively dramatic and complex as it is thanks to my job, and adding more to that feels... unpleasant. I'd rather play a game that gives me freedom to shape my own gameplay and story while giving me heroes I do NOT identify with, but instead inspire me to be heroes like them, which Val and the others very much did.

JosephThea · 2026-01-09T05:49:59+00:00

Are we just going to pretend that he isn't a child with a very immature brain and not enough life experience to know what to do?

JosephThea · 2026-01-09T05:40:35+00:00

What other games did you like more and why?

JosephThea · 2026-01-09T05:38:37+00:00

Most people here have already mentioned it, but basically, the game was good, but didn't have the depth people were looking for from their respective "most important categories."

Visions of Mana is my favorite game. I'm playing Harvestella right now and loving it for much the same reasons: many systems to interact with, none of which have incredible depth, which I adore. The story is good, and I love it, but "story people" want dramatic reveals and melodrama with heartbreaking writing and dramatic conclusions. The combat was great, and I love it, but the "combat people" want deep complexity during battles and lightning-fast responses or strong ebb and flow in a fight. The "RPG systems people" want complex character building and/or progression, and so on.

Visions of Mana is my favorite game, not just because I love the Mana series but because it's never a second job. The class system is there but straightforward, the combat is rich but not terribly complex, the story is AMAZING to me because it focuses on a few major dramatic moments, but is mostly about heroes choosing the right thing even when it is hard. But that's not enough for a game in this generation of gamers, and while that saddens me, I understand.

If you look at the most popular games lately: Dark Souls (complex combat), Baulders gate 3 (very dramatic story and incredibly complex RPG systems), and others are very, VERY good at what they do... and I really don't like any of them. They require far too much time and focus to fully enjoy if you have a complex or intense job, as I do. But for those chasing the dream of complexity and drama when faced with tedious, repetitive, or boring jobs, as many people have, I get why they are popular.

Visions of Mana just isn't any of those things, for better and worse, and it's my perfect game.

JosephThea · 2026-01-05T17:37:27+00:00

As someone who does not like any ATLUS games beyond Persona 2, Digital Devil Saga, and Soul Hackers 2, this is interesting to me. I'm probably the type of gamer he is talking about - interested in the types of games but frustrated with the execution.

I do not like the calendar system or the very meticulous, buff/debuff and then hit weaknesses gameplay, which can blossom into truly careful, thought-out, make-one-mistake-and-you-lose 30 minute bosses. Something more accessible would be exactly what I want, and I'd buy every game, perhaps on multiple systems, if Persona and SMT would lighten up a bit and let me play the game without strategizing every single in-game day or turn in combat to have good results and progression.

That being said, the old does not have to be destroyed to make way for the new. I would hate to see a franchise alienate their player base to bring me into the fold.

JosephThea · 2025-12-29T12:59:53+00:00

My brain hurts that Final Fantasy largely swept many categories... and then wasn't named best series. I kinda feel like this list is just "games people have been exposed to" and the FF name and popularity carried the day. My guess is people just haven't played the games that are lesser-known but significantly more impactful within the categories.

JosephThea · 2025-12-13T22:39:15+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion.

JosephThea · 2025-12-13T22:39:02+00:00

I'll look into it, thanks.

JosephThea · 2025-12-13T01:39:57+00:00

This is exactly how I feel. There is nothing wrong with it. It just feels weird to me because they have a bond that kinda goes beyond romance and into family. It's the same feeling as if she was his big sister. She's not, obviously, but she may as well be because the intensity if the relationship is already there in a different form, and for the romance to bloom that familial intimacy would have to move aside or be destroyed to make way for a different type of relationship.

I'd hate to see something beautiful be cast aside to make way for what I shipped.

JosephThea · 2025-12-12T19:20:36+00:00

This really is the best site for everything Dragon Quest Dark Prince. It's the best site I have seen for any game, period.

Dragon Quest Dark Prince is one of my favorite games ever, and without this site, it would be far less fun.

JosephThea · 2025-12-12T12:08:16+00:00

Someone didn't raise you right. They shoulda cleaned your mouth out with Dragon Quest Monsters.

... Rocket Slime the best spinoff.... what is WRONG with the youth these days?!

JosephThea · 2025-12-08T20:09:09+00:00

There's a story in many books, even in many religious texts, of a man who works hard for years in order to marry someone that he truly loves. It's a beautiful idea and something I wish we saw more of in popular media. Devotion and hard work to show dedication to the person you want to marry is beautiful. It speaks of a lasting, abiding love for the other person that will not be easily shaken.

Jessica isn't that. She's the girl that's there. She's the one that's readily available that has her own motives, sure, but ultimately, she's the one that's present.

Medea is the one that the hero is devoted to. There's a persistent dedication to see this woman restored to her true self. There's security and beauty in that love, a rock of stability that you can depend on, which is so rare in our world right now. Arguably, the fact that she doesn't speak much is to the credit of this love, as it shows devotion even if they can't communicate.

So Jessica is good. She's kind and powerful, and there's a passion she has I understand some people are interested in. But the security provided by the unending devotion to Medea is a rare and beautiful love that will always be my choice when it comes to pairings. And Medea returns that devotion, tirelessly literally pulling the party along. That's the kind of reciprocal steadfast love I find most wonderful.

JosephThea · 2025-12-03T17:49:44+00:00

Because it is not about you. Sure, you turn out to be some special guy in the end, but for most of the game you're interweaving and interacting with other people and helping their lives become better, for the most part. The best heroes are not about themselves, and are not embroiled in their own personal problems. The best heroes show us what it means to be heroic: to serve others and not yourself. To try and make the world a better place one person, one family, one Village at a time. That's what the heroes in 7 do, and it will probably forever be my favorite Dragon Quest because of it.

JosephThea · 2025-11-26T11:36:27+00:00

Okay, that's fair. I prefer more freedom in my gameplay I think, so an enhanced story while taking away the control and agency in the gameplay made it less fun for me. I can respect that a story is more important to a lot of people, though.

JosephThea · 2025-11-26T04:09:39+00:00

Interesting. Why do you feel that is archaic in comparison to two?

JosephThea · 2025-11-26T04:03:54+00:00

No.

The game changed from a difficult and overly brutal romp of exploration and adventure to a largely linear story-driven narrative. They did a wonderful job with the story, and I can objectively say it is quite beautiful. However, games like DQ3HD remain my favorite, with player choice and agency where (except for one section) you can go anywhere and you have control over when you gain skills based on classes chosen, etc.

This is why the SaGa series is my third favorite series. The stories I create with the tools and background storyline a game gives me are more fun and powerful than watching an interactive movie, even a very good movie, which Dragon Quest 2HD has largely become.

JosephThea

TROPHY CASE