Dragon Warrior III (NES - Released 1991)

Also known as Dragon Quest III. This game is fucking HARD. I don't mean like "aww I can't beat that boss" hard.. I mean, you just walked into the wrong part of town, and now this regular enemy will pull down your pants and rape you in the buttcave in one dry, wicked shot.

For us Americans, the year was 1991. RPG games were in the beginnings of it's hay-day, and unfortunately for DW III, it was pushed aside due to the Nintendo Power hype of the SNES. This was before the days of Square Enix, when it was merely Enix that was cranking the Command style of RPG battle, never breaking from the plan that worked.

Synopsis:

Dragon Warrior III takes place before the first Dragon Warrior game. The hero can be male or female per the players choice. You can control all 4 characters from the very beginning and can change their classes to whatever suits your needs. This can be done in towns and can be done on a reoccurring basis, making those tough to beat spots easy with the right party combination.



Full Description: Dragon Warrior III - Wikipedia

The Good Points:

Like I said before, this game is hard. It's challenging. It makes you remember why you liked RPG's in the first place. Straight classic command battles, earning expierience points, gaining solid levels.. a good classic game. There's not much of a learning curve either, you pick Fight, you pick Spell, and so on and so forth. The game was sold in America with an extravagant amount of supplementary material. It came with a full color manual, and at the end a walkthru for most of the game. It came with a fold out World Map with equipment and items list on the back. These are things that designers of today are missing the ball on. Package your shit with AWESOMESAUCE like the internet has gone out of style. We miss the days of having help ON HAND without going ONLINE.

DW III is pretty linear. Point A at the begining with the King of Aliahan, all the way to Baramos, the games final master. At level 20, the player can change classes at The Temple of Dhama. There's plenty of dungeon crawling to be done in this game. It became standard for the Dragon Warrior / Quest series after III was released to feature long dungeon crawls, difficult puzzles, and an overall feeling of despair when you see in it's roots that DW III is where the ninth level of hell resides.

The Bad Shit:

Seriously. This is what it seems like: EVERY. FIVE. STEPS. I'm in a battle. There are waaaay too many random encounters in this game. It's ridiculous, in the same vein as Breath of Fire (SNES) was. I mean C'MON. Enough fucking slimes already, I was able to one shot them since level FREAKIN 1 !!

One thing I should note is that the music was dropped a bit in DW III. Actually, none of the Dragon Warrior games had the best music (they had that shitty 8bit midi sound), but the kept continuity between all games in the series, even up to the most recent. (EX. the sound you hear when you win a battle)

Now we can all bitch about how hard this game is... of course it's a plus that it's challenging.. but really, you can walk into the wrong part of the world map or enter a dungeon you're not supposed to be in yet, and you get FUCKED. HARD. Prison style. There's almost no indication you went the right or wrong way, so you goddamned better listen to those villagers in the towns. Jot down some quick notes or go grab an old Nintendo Power mag.. and enjoy the cock stuffer that is DW III because it is an un-relentless and unforgiving anal basting.

Conlusion:

Dragon Warrior III on the NES is a rough ride. It's got all the elements of classic style RPG, but all the elements you hated. So if you are in the mood for some real nostalgia, grab a copy. Found on ebay (box + book, good condition) for around $80 bucks.

Rating:

3 / 5 Cave Skulls: Game will make you cry tears of 8bit blood.

Official Site: Dragon Quest

Ebay Link: Dragon Warrior III NES

Best Fansite: RPG Classics