"And so we marched. We burst into Zoma's Castle and saw it utterly empty. We checked around the keep and only saw a dead end. All four stairwells took us to the same place. But we searched around the throne. A supposedly crazy man in Rimuldar suggested a secret path there, and it turns out madmen can be correct.
The layout of his basements are surprisingly generic from what we've already seen. It's filled with various obstacles we've already mastered, so it was only the monster horde that impacted us. And all they did was help us. Zoma's hordes only made us stronger! It was quite the struggle, but it was nothing we couldn't handle. And then we saw an ally.
A lone man was fighting Hydra King, another underling of Zoma. He handled his own for a good while, but the beast won out in the end. His fire breath was relentless. And all we did was watch on from the back. Hydra King defeated the warrior and slunk deeper into the keep, and we checked on the fallen. He said his name was Ortega! Arusu's father? He couldn't see us, but he knew we were there. He urged us to find Aliahan because his daughter lived there. He wanted to apologize for missing so much of her life. Arusu watched in silence as her father passed. I'll never know why we watched on and didn't aid him. And her lack of reaction is something that will always stick with me. In hindsight, I believe this broke our leader in ways I can never comprehend.
But it didn't break her commitment. We continued to the final throne and alter of the God of Destruction, Zoma. We've defeated his stone guards and mobile hoards, so the revived corpse of Baramos was nothing. Neither was his disembodied soul. The Hydra King was a bit more worthy, but all of us were wearing armor that reduces breath and magic damage, so it was pure attrition, which we could finally handle. And so we stood before the true archfiend. We used our wizard rings and made sure we were fully healed before our final approach.
Zoma reminded us who he was and how we were nothing compared to him. I think there was more to his speech, but I was too focused to pay attention to him. And for good measure, too.
Zoma had quick reaction speeds. He could use both a fire breath attack and an ice spell. Those could be defended against with a good Barrier and our armor. His physical attacks were a bit rougher to handle, but Increase worked. Despite being a borderline god, he was vulnerable to Defense, making our Bikilled fighters chunk him. That is, of course, if we could even hit him. We tried to damage the beast for a while, but nothing worked. And then Arusu remembered something! The Light Orb! She picked it up with Carmellos, so I never knew, but the gift from the dying Dragon Queen was the most important item given to us on this journey. It negated Zoma's impenetrable magic field.
There was another massive problem with our usual strategy, though. Zoma could simply nullify it. He had the ability to remove all buffs and debuffs, and he did so quite often. But I considered that a good trade. Any time he wasn't beating on us was a win. Cordy and I would cast those spells, and Zoma would remove them. But we'd do it again anyway. And it worked! Arusu had to Healusall twice while learning his strategy, but none of us died. Three healers, two physical powerhouses, and the love and hope of everyone we've met since leaving Aliahan led to Arusu cleaving the wannabe god in two. His last words were swearing that someone like him would return long after we died. All of this could happen again?
Zoma was dead, and his castle began to crumble. We fell into a sinkhole, but we wound up in the North Cave. But it was at peace. We walked out unmolested and reached the light of the sun in peace. The World of Darkness is dark no more, and the light shines again. But the hole between Alefgard and Aliahan closed. Were we stuck here?
We returned to Tintagel. Just as they had in Aliahan, the citizens thanked us. The King did the same, and his soldiers played their trumpets for us. I got a bad feeling, but no super Zoma showed up. King Lars gave Arusu the title of Ruto, and, at last, we were at peace.
But Zoma's final words shook Arusu. She believed every word and began to prepare for that event. Shortly after the celebrations, Arusu disappeared. She contacts Tryton, Cordy, and myself from time to time, and we've stayed quiet about her whereabouts. It's not nice, as the four of us are stuck in Alefgard, but what else can be done? There are a few others from the world above, but most of them are their own islands. But I think the ordeal changed her. She saved two worlds, saw her father die, left her mother alone, and now she's stuck in a strange world. For a young girl who just wanted to nap, this was not ideal.
If anyone is reading this, then you're likely the children of Ludo Arusu. I loved your mother, so I can only hope you are also my children. But even if you're not, take our words with great gravitas. Arusu has chiseled a note in stone where we saved the world. Those are her words. As for me, remember this. You are never alone if you fight on the side of the light. You are surrounded by allies on the field and at home. Talk to everyone on your travels; they will guide you in ways you might not understand. Besides the legendary armor of Ludo, there are other items scattered about the world you will need. Don't let our legacy fade, and go make your own. "
-Sage Cid
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And with that, I've finished the Eldrick Saga of Dragon Quest. And it was phenomenal! Playing historical games is always worth it. That being said, I don't know what else to say about DQ3 that I haven't for the other two. So let's just quickly review it!
Plot: not great. I liked the story, but the cast of characters and villains suck. Nothing is more representative of this than the scene where we meet Ortega, who we've been following for the last twenty hours. But the Hero doesn't do anything. No teary reunion, no gritty words of wisdom, no emotion. And bosses are your typical bland DQ affair. Had I not added Kandar to the list, DQ3 would be the first RPG with a zero. And it only gets a one because of my generous rounding. 7/10
Gameplay: best in the franchise. The vocation system was started here, and it practically perfected it. You can change your job, but everything you've done wasn't wasted. You keep your spells and half your stats. It's better than IX in that regard and more fun than VI. 9/10
Art: best in the franchise. Being based on the DQVI engine has its perks, mainly that it looks amazing. It's also learned from its predecessor's mistakes, and the devs added more stuff to look at. 8/10
Sound: I hate Koichi Sugiyama. He may have been a racist, but he and Wagner have a lot in common. 10/10
Charm: I love vocations. Jobs allow for so much replayability and challenge runs. Can you win without a sage, a rare job anyway? What do other roles have that makes them fun? It's a shame NPCs were so short lived. Poor Ortega. 8/10
With no active negatives, Dragon Quest III for the Super Nintendo gets a 42/50. Had any named character had any bit of personality, I'd probably consider this a game that has aged well. I'm sure it was amazing for the 80s, but the medium has grown, and I kinda hate this game. Characterization is the most important thing in a game to me, which is why I still think DQV is the best. DQIII has the best final grade, but Abel's friends make the Heavenly Bride better than the Seeds of Salvation. But seriously, this was amazing! Go play it!
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