Dragon Quest XI looks glorious

[Mickeymac92]

I'd also agree with others here that they shouldn't have bothered with giving you the ability to move your characters around if they weren't going to do anything with it...but I still play around with it sometimes just for fun. I also wish that Pepping wasn't so RNG-based, so I can plan around it better, but it's not like there isn't some strategy to it.

You know you can keep Pep Up status indefinitely so long as you keep the Pepped Up Person on the bench right? It makes setting up Hallelujah! that much easier (although doing that requires locking down the MC, Erik and Jade for extended periods of time which kinda sucks).

The MC also gets a skill that lets him trigger Pep Up at any time you're willing to put down the MP for it, which is really useful since he's so indispensable to the majority of the Pep Powers.

Yes, I just don't like RNG. That's a lot of extra work when I'd rather have it be something I could encorporate into the moment-to-moment gameplay, like in Final Fantasy. Pep guage, anyone?

Wait, I didn't know about that last part though...guess I gotta reorder my skill points...

The hidden skills thing is kind of annoying, too, btw. Sure, you can reorder your skillpoints whenever you need to, sgold-permitting, but I don't like that I can't see what I'm working towards...I have already put extra points in a skill I didn't want just to unlock access to a skill I also didn't want, and then had to reorder it later several times. Nor have I touched every skill path yet, so there are a good number of skill I don't even know about...

[Aeolus]

I'd also agree with others here that they shouldn't have bothered with giving you the ability to move your characters around if they weren't going to do anything with it...but I still play around with it sometimes just for fun. I also wish that Pepping wasn't so RNG-based, so I can plan around it better, but it's not like there isn't some strategy to it.

You know you can keep Pep Up status indefinitely so long as you keep the Pepped Up Person on the bench right? It makes setting up Hallelujah! that much easier (although doing that requires locking down the MC, Erik and Jade for extended periods of time which kinda sucks).

The MC also gets a skill that lets him trigger Pep Up at any time you're willing to put down the MP for it, which is really useful since he's so indispensable to the majority of the Pep Powers.

Yes, I just don't like RNG. That's a lot of extra work when I'd rather have it be something I could encorporate into the moment-to-moment gameplay, like in Final Fantasy. Pep guage, anyone?

Wait, I didn't know about that last part though...guess I gotta reorder my skill points...

The hidden skills thing is kind of annoying, too, btw. Sure, you can reorder your skillpoints whenever you need to, sgold-permitting, but I don't like that I can't see what I'm working towards...I have already put extra points in a skill I didn't want just to unlock access to a skill I also didn't want, and then had to reorder it later several times. Nor have I touched every skill path yet, so there are a good number of skill I don't even know about...

You can see what the hidden skills are in a character's Attribute file. You need to go three pages down to see their accumulated skills and it lists all of them, including the hidden ones. Granted, it doesn't specify what's under what hidden panel, but I believe that once you reveal a panel, it'll stay revealed even after respeccing (and generally speaking, it's pretty obvious which skills are hidden where).

Other fun facts about Skill Panels:
- Not all skills are available even though you can see them (i.e. Erik's advanced stuff).
- Certain skills also conceal a Skill Point bonus beneath them (Sylvando has one under his Charm +40 skill).

[Ranadiel]

I think Ranadiel's much more experienced than I am with JRPGs so I have assume that his criticisms have real merit.  However, hating on the town design is pure insanity.  The towns in this game are about as "generic" as pasta in Italy; sure it's what you expect, but it's flipping amazing and each bite is a sensation.  The attention to detail in the art direction is superlative and really pulls the player in.  Or at least it does me.

I genuinely just don't get what you are seeing in them. I guess I kinda liked the setup in the slums? But barely enough to be worth a mention.

[Arvis]

Really cannot get enough of the art direction in this game!  The little details in the design make it come to life:


Warm and inviting interiors, too:

[Aeolus]

Now post the double water bed from Nautica (bonus points if you screen grab the mer-maid speaking on about her mistress and her newly wed).

Spoiler: show

Because talk about twisting the knife. Lol.

[Arvis]

I admit I didn't get a shot of that :P

[MonCapitan2002]

That was a particularly tragic part of that story beat.

[Aeolus]

Another swell place to request a screenshot is the fight with Skeletor in the throne room of a ruined castle. That was almost Murdaw levels of awesome set piece boss fights (it just needed better music and maybe be a little less heavy handed on the clones). You could transplant it into a Fighting Game and it'd be right at home.

Although I can fully understand why you wouldn't want to post it.

[Andrew]

Beat this yesterday and got the Platinum Trophy. Absolutely loved it; one of the best JRPGs I've played in a long time and I think my favourite on PS4 (close call with Persona 5). I can name a number of faults with it, but I honestly just enjoyed it so much overall that they didn't matter. Took 92 hours, but I did absolutely everything other than filling out the bestiary and the item databse (I could... but it doesn't sound like much fun).

[Aeolus]

I'm close to finishing up the post game as well (all that remains are the last two Trial Isle fights, the last Wheel of Harma and the final final dungeon + boss).

Granted, I've got like 240 hours clocked on the game, but most of that time was me either walking away for awhile, hunting for those stupid targets, gathering mats for forges by hand instead of from shops (due to the No Shops Draconian Quest), or chatting as many people up as I could (granted Shypox could've easily added a couple of hours to my playtime on its own thanks to strings of Shypox messages every other odd time I tried to talk to NPCs).

I'm very tempted to go through it a second time with just the No Armor Dracoian Quest active since that's legit the only challenge left to me other than gambling (and I want to have a run where I have a use for money beyond stuffing it in a bank or the occasional respeccing).

[Andrew]

I didn't try any of the Draconian Quests, but if I ever play it again I definitely will. The no shops one, at least at a glance, seems likee it wouldn't be that hard? I barely touched the shops on my run-through anyway, and when I did it was only for convinience.

[Aeolus]

Its not too bad on its own (and there's even a couple of items that you can get for free rather than having to pay for them like you would normally), but when paired with More Difficult Enemies, you're going to feel the need to farm and steal as you can't buy materials for the Forge (especially Perfectionist Pearls, since you only generate them from the Forge or through the occasional Chest).

[MonCapitan2002]

If I revisit the game, it'll be on PC since I have the plat for the PS 4 version.

[Arvis]

^ I look forward to screens of your Nude Rab mod.

[MonCapitan2002]

Arvis...  You scare me sometimes.