Dragon Quest II is a true sequel in every sense of the word – a bigger and better Dragon Quest. But not all of the changes made were for the better, and the game's cursed development cycle nearly ended the careers of series co-creators Yuji Horii and Koichi Nakamura.

But when Dragon Quest II was first released in January of 1987, it was very well received, and many Japanese fans remember it fondly decades later. Because even the game’s most glaring flaws ended up working in its favor.

This is my retrospective review of Dragon Quest II – the right game at the right time.

#DragonQuest #JRPG #retrospective

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Timestamps:
0:00:00 Intro
0:01:11 Background and development
0:06:41 Gameplay and presentation
0:11:59 Story
0:16:53 Party of three
0:22:05 Strategic combat
0:27:48 Genuine terror
0:32:18 Botched progression
0:37:23 A vast world
0:42:40 The critical path
0:46:05 Unlocking the world
0:51:05 The great adventure
0:56:45 Unclear instructions
1:01:36 Dungeon crawling
1:07:15 Survivalism
1:12:38 Development hell
1:18:22 Localization
1:23:46 The remake
1:28:33 The right game at the right time
1:33:56 Conclusion