This is such a strange game! I started out really liking it, and, honestly, I didn't hate the ending. But the middle bits were so, so terrible.
What sucked?
The middle part. The whole second and third act after the fall of Mudo. By which, I'm meaning Arcbolt to Durren. The team walks around, almost aimlessly, doing things with no rhyme or reason. You fund out a few of those chapters tie in at the end, but even those have some flaws. Jamerias was introduced and immediately lost all plot relevance. I found two random NPCs that gave us a hint about a Sleeping Sickness, and then there's no mention of anything past Calcado. Glacias had even less of an introduction, and it could have been less had I not followed a walkthrough to find Poseidon. Durren, somehow, had an even poorer impact than Glacias. Including Mudo, all four of those guys are high ranking commanders for Deathtamoor. Why give an entire section of story to Mudo but not the others? I would have loved it if all of them had the same strength. Have a soldier from Arcbolt ask Reidock for aid in their problem with Jamiras. Holsten/Foan could be a big seafaring nation having trouble with the seas because of Glacias. Have Durren be the last King of Grandino! Tie everything together WHILE in progress. I'm glad it all came around towards the end, but I felt so lost for a week. But that's the major plot points.
Why did we baptize that kid? I don't know if anyone could tell, but that whole section was when I began to sour on the game. The kid ran away five times, and we had to go find him. It was so terrible. Tedium shouldn't be a game mechanic, and it damn sure shouldn't be a plot mechanic. For that matter, what was the point of Foan, other than because they have the Watergate Key? World building is cool, but not at the expense of your actual characters.
Everyone's boring. Muriel had a lot going for her, but it all stopped once you get her. When and how did she reunite with her physical body? Why can't we do anything about her past in Grandino? Based on the intro scene, she's supposed to be one of three important characters, but I felt that Chamaro was more relevant than her. Barbara didn't get much of a spotlight either. With her backstory, I'm not sure how she could have, admittedly. Have her give random outlooks on things? "I don't remember this being here." Or have her be a voice of reason. Hell, who's Barbarella? Give her some lore and tie them together. Make us think, even if it's clearly obvious there's a connection. Hassan is a strong guy for the sake of being strong, Rek is a silent protag, and the other people are just there. Draggy doesn't even get ending scenes!
The secondary characters felt flat too. The Mountain Spirit (who lives in the water) has nothing to do aside from one scene. The translation team didn't help this as returning to old towns gives empty text boxes. Maybe there's more to be said, but NoProgress is a terribly apt name. I'd say I'd love to play the DS remake, but the rest of the game has soiled me on that thought. I just went to know why my horse gets more of a shine than most others?
Why were there were so many secondary plots that were never touched upon? The San Marino mayor debacle, for example. The mayor imprisons the wrong girl, who later joins a traveling merchant. We never see this merchant. When she's back in San Marino, the mayor is gone. We never see the mayor again. And the real culprit is never punished! In Clear Veil, there was talk of an entertainer everyone liked. We never see this guy at all. What happened to Rob and Denae? I didn't even get blank text boxes explaining them if you return to their towns. And don't even get me started on Grandino's confusing rulership that goes nowhere!
Also, the ending wasn't that great, either. An evil guy is evil, so he wants to take over the world by splitting one world into two and creating a third world for himself? How memorable.
So, I'm done being mad. What did the game do well?
It sure is pretty. I love good background artwork. Lifecod, alone, filled that for me several times. Battle scenes aren't just pixels in the back, but they give us a good reminder of where we are. Towns and castles feel alive. Square has always been the bar with graphics in RPGs, retro especially, but Dragon Quest VI hangs with the best of them. Sprite work went up several notches from DQV. There's even animations and emotion that might be better than Final Fantasy VI.
I'm digging the music. All of the overworld themes would go on Spotify playlist if they were there. A few dungeon themes, emotional tunes, even town songs have a uniqueness to them. Not every place gets the same melody as its precursor did.
Every dungeon had its own thing, and I'd like to point out The Mirror's Tower gimmick, especially. I don't recall too many functional mirrors in older video games, so don't let anyone say how advanced modern games are because of Raytracing. I doubt DQVI did Rarytracing, but I only care about reflections, not how they're implemented.
The first quarter of the game is great! I'm grasping at straws now, but I thoroughly enjoyed the first few nights of Dragon Quest VI. Everything seemed tight and properly, carefully strewn together, but once the big evil died, it all fell apart. Was I a mercenary for hire or someone looking for the truth? What would have happened if I didn't continue on? Probably bad things, but I'm sure Terry could have handled it. I need a conflict to get invested, or at least some good hook or clue, but DQVI just tossed me out into the cold, unforgiving world of seemingly random events. Why did we need to baptize that kid?!
As you can see, that's all I enjoyed about Dragon Quest VI: The Realms of Revelations. It starts absolutely amazingly but comes undone pretty fast. And once it's undone, it takes even longer to get back together. I don't think I would have minded being directionless for so long if it wasn't for so long! It might come back around, but by then, the soul is gone, and I'm deep into the doldrums. It was a very long winter, you see. I loved me some Dragon Quest V, but its sequel proves they can't all be zingers. I'm gonna try another game in the franchise at some point, but not for a while. I'm moving on to something else. I'm not ready to get hurt again. Maybe in the fall. If not, March of 2022. Ready for fourth lockdown!?
Why did we baptize the goddamn kid!
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