Nostalgic review: Dragon Warrior and Turn-Based RPGs

When I was growing up, video games were played on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).  When I try to think back to the first games I ever played, I remember Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Duck Hunt, Adventure Island, and… Dragon Warrior.

Dragon Warrior didn’t go straight to the top on my list of great games.  That achievement went to Super Mario Bros.  Adventure Island was pretty cool too, but I wasn’t very good at it.  I wasn’t very good at most games, actually.  The Legend of Zelda made me feel downright incompetent, and I had to stand right next to the television to accomplish anything on Duck Hunt… Despite my love of video games, I’m obviously not a gamer.

So imagine my surprise when I started playing Dragon Warrior, my first turn-based RPG experience, which allowed me to train my character, and to get more powerful after every victory.  Well, honestly, I didn’t know what the hell I was supposed to do.  The character couldn’t jump, and I couldn’t even see the bad guys until the screen suddenly transported me into battle.  Then, I couldn’t even swing a sword; I had to choose an option to swing a sword (actually, it was a club to start off with… Actually, I’m pretty sure I went into battle without buying any weapons at all when I first played the game.  It never occurred to me that I would be responsible to purchasing my own gear).  All that I knew, was that my dad’s character was completely awesome, and mine could be killed by slime balls.

It wasn’t until later, in my teens, that I realized how great Dragon Warrior really was.  The memory of the game had stayed with me; how I had to win battles to make my character stronger, and how the focus of the game was on role-playing, instead of the actual gameplay.  Dragon Warrior was like being involved in a book.  I had to pay attention to the non-playable characters, and use critical thinking to figure out what I was supposed to do.  My character would gain experience whenever I won in battle, and occasionally, would level up.  Leveling up is a great feeling of accomplishment.  It’s accompanied by a grandiose melody, and a list of improved stats.  Buying better weapons and armor is also a satisfying part of playing the game.

I’ve used Dragon Warrior as an example, simply because it’s one of my turn-based RPGs.  It really is the most basic example of the things I enjoy about these kinds of games.  It’s a simple back-and-forth between fighting battles, resting your character, buying new weapons and armor, and pushing forward into harder areas of the game once you think you can handle the challenge.

So… Who would like Dragon Warrior?  Even though this isn’t my usual template for reviews, I wanted to give some background for this specific genre of game.  My blog is mainly about writing, but I think it should also focus on storytelling.  Playing a turn-based RPG is like taking part of a story.  If you would like to play a game where you can take your time, experience a story, and aren’t necessarily looking for a big challenge, this game might be for you.  There will be times when you have to spend a lot of your time raising your character’s level in order to get strong enough to progress.

Personally, I enjoy leveling up.  Like I said previously, I’m not a hardcore gamer.  When a game gives me the opportunity to make my character(s) stronger, I take it.  I want my character to overpower the competition, or at least give me an advantage.  Games like Dragon Warrior, and other turn-based RPGs give me the opportunity to fight weaker enemies to gain experience, and the time to save up money in order to buy the best weapons and armor.

Of course, there is always the story.  Stories have made a lot of progress since Dragon Warrior, but the game is still immersive enough to keep players involved.  You have to talk to the other non-playable characters in the game, and actually pay attention to what’s going on.  Games, like books, put participants inside of an imagined world, and hope the delusion is strong enough, vivid enough, and well-constructed enough to be entertaining.  Books offer very specific paths for taking a journey.  Games drop you into the world where the adventure takes place, and offer a variety of different paths to completion (sometimes, to different results).

Stories can be found almost anywhere:  Books, video games, movies, comic books, and even music.  When we can enjoy a world so full of stories, it would be a shame to limit ourselves to just one specific interest.  I have many interests, and they all influence my writing, because they all influence my personality.

Thanks for reading.