Dragon Fantasy: The Volumes of Westeria

I can't reccomend this game enough as an old school turn based JRPG fan! Very Dragon Quest like which I love! A bit grindy, but that's how it was back in the day.

This is a thumbs solid sideways for me, but if you're even looking at this game, you know what you're getting into; the recommend is for you. This is one of those retro JRPG things, and most everything that comes with that. You're gonna grind, you're gonna travel to the next town or dungeon, and you're gonna grind some more. This is also one of those parodies of oldschool JRPGs, and the jokes are a lot more miss than hit; a lot of your standard pokes at the 8-bit era, with some bafflingly out-of-place references to things like Resident Evil; you already know which one, because Breath of Death 7 did it, too. There's also an oddly large emphasis on things with bad smells. There are occasional hits that are worth a chuckle, and I got a kick out of Ramona, but as a whole, the humor falls right on its face. That said, there's nothing really wrong with the [i]gameplay[/i]. It's a bit grindy at times, as you'd expect, but if you're diligent in the beginning, you'll do just fine with few stops for more. If you don't like your party, or you want more of them, you can capture any non-boss monster; they don't level, but you can always get new ones. There are a few quality of life improvements, like a dash, bestiary, and the ability to switch between retro and enhanced music, visuals, etc. Chapter 3 and the interlude also bring some interesting mechanics and structure into it, so it keeps things fresh. If you're looking for a good parody, check out Barkley: Shut-up and Jam Gaiden; if you're looking for a good oldschool RPG, you'll probably like this.

Really enjoy this game. It is fairly short but is highly amusing. It feels very similar to early dragon quest/warrior games. It goes on sale fairly often and you can get it crazy cheap. I recommend picking this one up and if you like it grab the 2nd part too.

By far the better of the two games, very old-school Dragon Quest feel to it, but with an odd sense of humor interjected into the story to keep it feeling fresh. Both games are worth playing, but this is the one you'll remember and come back to, the sequel is passable but ultimately forgettable while this hits a Doom and Destiny or Unepic level of indie awesomeness.

Game crashes too often. Seems like it would of been a great game if not for that. Crash seems to be when I go to use an item or spell and cancel the action and/or when I go into a character xp screen and exit out of it. The game crashes and exits me out to desk top. : (

Ehh...

As long as you go into this game understanding what it is, and isn't, I think you'll enjoy yourself. The game itself doesn't take things too seriously, I quite enjoyed many of the small jokes and puns. One thing I'll note is that it's obvious the developers of the game got better as time went on. Each subsequent chapter is generally better/smoother than the one before it. And the last chapter just tickled my funny bone to no end!

Lots of feelings of Nostalgia while playing this. 1st part plays like Dragon Quest I, 2nd part plays like some aspects of Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest IV (specifically thinking Torneko Taloon's chapter), and 3rd part reminds me of Locke's section from Final Fantasy VI, or possibly Rogue. Final section, of course is Minecraft. All throughout, you can capture monsters ala Dragon Quest V or Pokemon. Very enjoyable for the price. :)

Dragon Fantasy: The Volumes of Westeria is a short-ish JRPG which reminds me of the Dragon Warrior games of old. The story is simple enough, but it kept me coming back through to the end. I just wish it were a little longer. I did not experience any bugs. Just a fun little story...well, technically four little stories all tied together.

This is a fun and interesting little JRPG. While it appears to be only the first chapter of the "Volumes of Westeria", it works well on its own. Great gameplay, fun plot, and interesting mechanics. Would recommend getting on discount, but otherwise very good. Note: There appears to be a sequel called The Black Tome of Ice. I may have to check that out in the future...