Throwback Video Games – Dragon Warrior.
(AfroGamers.com) I have written a few articles in which I talked about how much I absolutely love RPG video games and how they have played such a very big role in my life like helping me develop other skills and talents in other areas that I thought I never even had.
A lot of the current young generation of gamers don’t truly understand the value and importance that RPG video games can have on their lives later own down the road like it did for me.
Along with beat em ups, RPGs are have always been my other favorite genre of video games because you learn many things while playing them such as getting stronger by leveling up and equipping new armors, shields, and swords. You also learn how to use critical thinking skills to solve complex mazes or puzzles to maneuver around while playing the games. I also love the fact that unlike many past RPGs, many modern day RPGs are more diverse than ever when I see more characters that not only look like me, but I can even create characters that look like me which is Such Good Shit.
My love of RPGs actually started during my childhood days growing up in The Jackson St. neighborhood when I remember playing an RPG video game for The NES called Dragon Warrior (aka Dragon Quest in Japan) and when I first played it, I was like, “okay this looks like a good game”, but then as I played it even further, the monsters got more stronger and the level up grind became even more brutal than ever making this game definitely one of the hardest RPG video games that I have ever played.
Note: The person that made The Dragon Quest series into one of the most famous and legendary video game franchises ever is Yuji Horii who was inspired by previous RPG games such as Wizardry and Ultima as well as his own 1983 video game “The Portopia Serial Murder Case”. To that end, he decided to come up with an RPG video game that would appeal to a much wider, broader audience who were unfamiliar with RPGs in general at the time. He wanted to place a much greater emphasis on storytelling and emotional aspects, as well as simplify the interface and expose the mostly Western computer genre to the Japanese video game console market.
Level Up System – Dragon Warrior was one of the first RPGs to actually implement a level up system where you not only get stronger through battling monsters and gaining experience points, but you also learn skills when you reach certain levels within the game like you learn a skill called Heal once you reach level 2. But after you reach level 5, the game’s level up grind becomes more brutal and demanding to the point of me remembering that I would sometimes get headaches or slowly falling asleep during that brutal leveling up grind.
Monsters – Legendary Japanese mangaka Akira Toriyama came up with the monster designs for the game and I really loved the monster designs and some of my favorite monster designs for the game are of course the series signature monster Slime, Dragon, Armor Knight, and Metal Slime (the rarest monster to encounter in the entire Dragon Quest video game series)
The Conclusion – Dragon Warrior for the NES was enjoyable for me to play at times, but was brutal and demanding for me other times particularly the level up grind which makes it one of the hardest RPGs I have ever played.
Staff Writer; Kwame Shakir (aka Joe D.)
