Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation -- All-In-One.

It took me sixty-five hours to run through Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation for the Nintendo DS. The game was developed by ArtePiazza. Square-Enix published Dragon Quest IV and V for the Nintendo DS and based on their performances it looked like we weren't going to actually get Dragon Quest VI but thankfully Nintendo stepped up as publisher. Dragon Quest V and VI were once among the holy grail titles that seemed destined to remain in Japan forever. But with the release of Dragon Quest VI in North America we've finally gotten the complete published mainline series. Was it worth the sixteen year wait? Yes. Is it the best Dragon Quest title ever made? No. Dragon Quest VI shares the same graphic style employed by the previous two remakes for the Nintendo DS. What that means is the game is graphically clean and well detailed and features some good battle animations. The game employs the series' lightning fast battle engine and returns to and updates the class system first used in Dragon Quest III. As with most Dragon Quest systems this means you can do as much or as little of it as you'd want. You don't need to focus a tremendous amount of effort to leveling up your character's job. The system is also as forgiving as possible as you retain all your learned skills and experience throughout every job. It's made even easier by a universal equipment system so you don't have to equip each character every time you change a job. The music is classic Sugiyama Dragon Quest score. You know it, you love it. Unless you're one of those who hate it. This score won't change your opinion either way. Surprisingly I found the story to be this entry's weakest element. It's a complex tale, and it remains a tad too confusing for too long. It's a case of wondering what the hell is going on for most of the game. It also suffers from Dragon Quest's VII's flaw in that past a certain point in the game it's rarely clear where to go or what to do next and it's compounded by the fact that there are dual worlds with shared locations to explore. And the game's hint system isn't as helpful as it should be. The characters are the typical Dragon Quest variety, colorful and interesting. The series party chat really shines here. Getting party commentary on every single NPC statement in the game is truly impressive. If you're a fan of the series then this entry is a must and it's been a treat to finally get the missing piece to the puzzle all these years later. I wouldn't suggest you use Dragon Quest VI as an entry point into the series however. I'm giving Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation a 7.5.