This week on Dragon Quest FM, Austin is taking a close look at Dragon Warrior VII and its legacy. The PS1 game shattered records in Japan but is heavily criticized for its graphics and pacing. Still, the game holds up fairly well in 2020, and Austin takes a look at the differences between the PS1 and 3DS versions of the game. This episode actually follows the structure of his other podcast, JRPGs and Me , which you can listen to if you like the set up of this week. B.J. should be back next week ...
Dec 11, 2020•29 min•Season 2Ep. 48
This week, we start our deep dive into Dragon Quest VII . We’re mostly going to be using names from Dragon Quest VII on 3DS, and if you’re confused as to why - check out our Translations episode or just the fact that this is a deep dive into Dragon Quest VII and NOT Dragon Warrior VII. Dragon Quest VII has some great characters, and we’re going to be talking about the ones who make up your party today. For one of the longest DQ games, the party keeps expanding almost into the very end of the mai...
Dec 04, 2020•43 min•Season 2Ep. 47
Like Veronica in DQ11, this week's episode is a little short. Austin is sick, so Beej recorded up a little something by himself. He talks about all the improvements Dragon Quest XI S has over the vanilla version - and why he thinks the game is still worth buying (again) on PS4 and Xbox One. Remember, you can talk to us directly on Twitter @DragonQuestFM And help support the podcast by visiting Patreon.com/DragonQuestFM...
Nov 27, 2020•13 min•Season 2Ep. 46
Next year is the 35th anniversary of the series, which means we will hopefully get lots of DQ goodies next year in the West! We know Square Enix and Armor Project have things in store, but we don’t really know what those are yet - and we definitely don’t know if they’re coming West (although some of them probably will, at least). Since it’s Thanksgiving, we want to thank you all for being such wonderful listeners and supporters. We couldn't do this without you, and we want you to know that your ...
Nov 20, 2020•35 min•Season 2Ep. 45
This week, we’re talking about Yakuza 7 ...which is Like a Dragon (Quest). It’s a video game where players play as a Dragon Quest FAN, Ichiban Kasuga, which makes it fairly unique. It basically feels like Grand Theft Auto and classic arcade beat ‘em ups combined to make a weird gangster RPG baby. It's really good, and even though we haven't gotten terribly far ito the game, we wanted to kind of give you an overview of what to expect and whether or not this was worth picking up for DQ fans. (Spoi...
Nov 13, 2020•40 min•Season 2Ep. 44
This week, we’re talking about translation and localization in Dragon Quest games. It’s a bit of a touchy subject with some fans. I compared it to putting my hand in a beartrap a while back. It’s like, you can’t please everyone, and no matter, you’re losing a few fingers. So let’s put our hands into that bear trap! It all goes back to early Dragon Quest games. Everyone talked in Ye Olde English. Which we both kinda hate. Turns out, Yuji Horii does too! Here's the link to Polygon article where he...
Nov 06, 2020•41 min•Season 2Ep. 43
Welcome to our DQFM Halloween Spooktacular! Last year, we focused mostly on Dragon Quest’s spookiest moments. This year, though, we’re totally talking about the monsters. And not just any monsters, but the Halloween-themed ones (and the SPOOKY ones!). If you scare easily...beware! (Or not, it’s just two dudes talking about video games). https://twitter.com/DragonQuestFM/status/1320767479019352066?s=20 Austin’s List of Terrifying Monsters Pumpkin Knight from Caravan Heart (Had a nice callback in ...
Oct 30, 2020•37 min•Season 2Ep. 42
Austin had some top secret access on iOS and B.J. got selected for it on Google Play Store. So today, we’re talking about it! Austin was able to write about it for work, so read his ScreenRant article here: https://screenrant.com/dragon-quest-tact-preview-monster-collecting-mechanics/ Monsters and Gameplay It’s like Pokemon meets FF Tactics, but all simplified for a mobile game (for good and bad). Collecting monsters is cool, and it almost makes Austin want a strategy-based combat system in the ...
Oct 23, 2020•38 min•Season 2Ep. 41
This week, we’re talking all about collecting in Dragon Quest. We got to talking about toys so much last week, it seemed like a good time to do a follow-up this week. Also, shoutout to Todd, one of our patrons who gave us this idea while back on Patreon ! Weird doing a podcast about toys, but we can’t show them to people. So how are we doing it? Well, we asked you for your favorites, and we have a thread of them here! https://twitter.com/DragonQuestFM/status/1316123792360574976?s=20 The response...
Oct 16, 2020•43 min•Season 2Ep. 40
This week on Dragon Quest FM, we're talking about a whole lotta DQ stuff! First off, B.J. got the new Hero amiibo. He tells Austin (and you guys) all about it. This leads to arguably the weirdest segment we've ever done, in which B.J. starts licking all sorts of action figures to see which tastes best. After that, it's off to discussing Dragon Quest Tact, which is coming West! Woohoo! Hear our thoughts on the upcoming mobile game, and how Austin won a DQ Tact prize pack from Japan (but doesn't h...
Oct 09, 2020•45 min•Season 2Ep. 39
This week on Dragon Quest FM, we're continuing our discussion on archetypes within the series. For our final episode on the subject, we're talking about the orphan hero! Hero orphan? Orphaned hero? Whatever. You get it. The hero whose parents are either dead or abandoned them. As usual, we walk you through every single mainline Dragon Quest game. We start off discussing Dragon Quest 1-3, and talk about how once again, these Campbellian archetypes don't really start to kick in until around DQ III...
Oct 02, 2020•37 min•Season 2Ep. 38
This week, we’re continuing our talks into archetypes in Dragon Quest games. So far, we’ve discussed the old man and best friend archetypes, and today we’re talking all about woman warriors - those tough ladies who can kick all our butts! Dragon Quest has a pretty good history of strong female characters, and today we’re going to talk about them! What is the Woman Warrior Archetype? So the woman warrior is a super old archetype, but it’s been suppressed in most societies over the last few thousa...
Sep 25, 2020•39 min•Season 2Ep. 37
This week, we’re returning to our discussion on archetypes in DQ games. For our second episode in the series, we’re focusing on the booniest of all boon companions...the best friend. The BFF. The bro. The chosen family. Basically...Beej and Austin. But first, we have a brand-new Patreon patron to give a REAL NICE THANK YOU to...Matt Reibach! What’s a best friend archetype? Well, you gotta listen to know the full deal. But while it may sound like a side-kick...the boon companion, the BFF, the bes...
Sep 18, 2020•40 min•Season 2Ep. 36
This week, we’re talking all about the unsung NPCs in Dragon Quest games. From our favorites, to icons, to weird oddities we’ve stumbled upon in the games. We also have a new Patron ! Real nice thank you to KevinOnline! So...we have two questions. Does Dragon Quest have the best NPCs? And of those, who is the best Dragon Quest NPC? Other games have good NPCs that feel like real characters. Trails of Cold Steel has some pretty good NPCs, and so does FF IX. But they aren’t necessarily iconic like ...
Sep 11, 2020•36 min•Season 2Ep. 35
This week, we’re talking about the music in Dragon Quest! It’s a special Patreon patron-request episode. Our newest patron, Abigail, belongs to the tier that lets you choose your own episode topic, and she chose music. Which is great. We haven’t really done a full episode on music before, so it’s the perfect time to do that! The music of DQ has always been done by Koichi Sugiyama, who is kind of a turd. Who is Koichi Sugiyama? Should’ve mentioned him in the Old Man episode, because he’s the olde...
Sep 04, 2020•41 min•Season 2Ep. 34
After our Twitter poll on Old Men in Dragon Quest, we had to do an episode on it. Not just because the results were fun to see, but also because of how adamant the DQ community was about what age one has to be to be an old man, how we did Borya dirty, and just some general Mervyn love/hate. Over the course of our discussion, we touch on Borya, Ragnar McRyan, King Trode, Morrie, Mervyn (Melvin?), and Rab. In the end, we talk a lot about the archetype of the wizened old man, as well as how much ac...
Aug 28, 2020•29 min•Season 2Ep. 33
It's been a year since we did a specifically manga episode , so this week...we're talking about manga! And anime! Particularly, about The Adventures of Dai, or Dai no Daibouken. Dai no Daibouken ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1989 to 1996, in what became one of their most popular manga ever. WSJ didn't originally intend to be more than the first volume, then it was incredibly popular. So they did a second. Then they did it for real and made a continuous story...for, like, 330 chapters. In Englis...
Aug 21, 2020•36 min•Season 2Ep. 32
In this episode of DQFM, we discuss the role of religion in Dragon Quest games, from confessing in churches to visiting the underworld. We talk about the Goddess Rubiss, fighting the Almighty in DQ 7, corruption in the church in DQ 8, and heaven & angels in DQ 9. But that's not all! We also talk about Yuji Horii's own thoughts on religion within the series he created, and how Horii's philosophy impacted the series over the years. Remember, you can support this podcast at Patreon.com/DragonQu...
Aug 14, 2020•42 min•Season 2Ep. 31
This week, we're talking about Dragon Quest's first cousin once removed... Chrono Trigger . With the 25th anniversary of its North American release coming up in just a few days, we thought that there was no better time to talk about a game that was created by Yuji Horii and Akira Toriyama -- two of the masterminds behind our favorite JRPG series. Beej loves Chrono Trigger for a number of reasons, but Austin is a newcomer to the title, and his opinions vary. We might even get a #ChronoGate out of...
Aug 07, 2020•54 min•Season 2Ep. 30
It's the second and final portion of our listener Q & A! This week, B.J. is back and ready to answer all your questions! We kick off the show by celebrating the news that Dragon Quest XI S is coming to PS4, Xbox One, and Steam on December 4th. We think it's a great way for more people to play an excellent game, and we're really excited about it! After that, B.J. answers some of your questions about what he expects in DQ XII and shares his wife's thoughts on DQ (and, oddly enough, Dragon Age)...
Jul 31, 2020•42 min•Season 2Ep. 29
It's time for our annual listener Q & A! This week, B.J. is still out because of his jaw, so we split our answers into two separate episodes. He'll be back next week to give his answers on everything. This week, though, Austin answered a wide variety of questions regarding Dragon Quest XI , speculating on XII, dreaming about Heroes 3 and Builders 3, and just what about Dragon Quest was so appealing to him in the first place. You can find the link to the Dragon Quest Art tumblr talked about i...
Jul 24, 2020•27 min•Season 2Ep. 28
It's our fourth and final episode of our Deep Dive into Dragon Quest IV! This week, B.J. injured his jaw and can't talk, so he wrote up his thoughts and Austin reads them aloud in the show. We kick things off by giving a REAL NICE THANK YOU to our newest (and anonymous) Patreon patron. Is it someone famous? Yuji Horii, maybe? Ehhh...probably not, no. For the first part of the episode, we talk about some of our favorite towns like Riverton and Zenithia, dungeons like the Mamon Mines, and random N...
Jul 17, 2020•34 min•Season 2Ep. 27
It's week three of our Deep Dive into Dragon Quest IV! This time around, we're discussing the monsters and villains we liked, loved, and hated (to fight, at least). In the first part of the show, we discuss Austin's latest DQ swag, like the Ukulele Tab book and Slime teapot, and then we dive straight into the iconic monsters like the king slime that got their start in DQ IV! From there, we talk about some of our favorite (and not-so-favorite) monsters and bosses in the game! In the second half o...
Jul 10, 2020•50 min•Season 2Ep. 26
It's week two of our Deep Dive into Dragon Quest IV! This week, we're talking all about the main characters and playable companions that make this game so great. Warning: There are lots of spoilers for DQ IV in this episode! First, we talk about the Dragon Quest X event that's happening in Final Fantasy XIV this month, as well as how you can play it for free! And after that bit of news, we dive right into discussing the memorable main characters in the game. In the second half of the show, we di...
Jul 03, 2020•56 min•Season 2Ep. 25
It's the first in our Deep Dive series of Dragon Quest IV! This week, we're starting off by discussing the history of Dragon Quest IV (Dragon Warrior IV on the NES in the States) and some of the behind-the-scenes stuff that was happening while the game was being made, as well as the making of the DS Remake and Enix's failed attempt to get a PS1 remake to the West in 2002. We also discuss some of the DQ IV spin-offs and media, like the Princess Alena manga and characters appearing in other DQ ani...
Jun 26, 2020•56 min•Season 2Ep. 24
This week, we're bringing you another one of our "vs." episodes! This time around, we're comparing two Square Enix MMORPGs we love: Final Fantasy XIV and Dragon Quest X . Turns out, they have a LOT in common! We also compare them to other MMOs we've played, like Neverwinter, Elder Scrolls Online, World of Warcraft, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. We discuss things like job systems, story beats, combat, housing, and other game mechanics. Plus, we talk about the probability (or lack thereof) of a...
Jun 19, 2020•51 min•Season 2Ep. 23
This week on Dragon Quest FM we're talking about Fortune Street for the Wii, and the Itadaki Street series of games! For the third time in the podcast's history, B.J. and Austin are in the same room again! We start the episode by giving some quick facts about the series. Then, Austin shares how he and his wife Grace got super into Fortune Street during quarantine. Because of a family emergency, they had to fly back to TN, which meant they also go to play it a bit with B.J. and his wife, Jennifer...
Jun 12, 2020•36 min•Season 2Ep. 22
This week, we are doing something a little different. Austin has a family emergency, and we have been unable to record a new episode. But that doesn't mean you don't get cool stuff to listen to. We've compiled some of the best of Austin's DQ Quarantine Cast and put them together for you to hear as one long episode. Make sure that you check out our Patreon page where you can listen to all fifty (50!!) episodes of Austin's quarantine cast at https://patreon.com/dragonquestfm and best of all...lots...
Jun 05, 2020•43 min•Season 2Ep. 21
Surprise! This week's episode is a little early, since we couldn't want to talk about the Adventure of Dai announcements we got on Dragon Quest Day. Plus, today is the anniversary of our podcast! In this episode, we discuss the new Dai anime series, the mobile game, the arcade game (and cards!), and the console action-RPG that's scheduled to release in 2021. You can hear all our reactions to that stuff, plus we talk about our favorite Dai toys that got announced today! After that, we share a cou...
May 27, 2020•31 min•Season 2Ep. 20
Welcome to Dragon Quest FM! This week, it's our final character spotlight for Dragon Quest XI, and it's all about the Luminary! We start the episode by discussing the various ways we used him in combat, whether we think he's TOO powerful, and our favorite alt outfits. Then, we head over to Twitter to see why everyone else loves him. Special thanks to everyone who participated! Then, we discuss the hair . Most people hate it, but Austin loves it. This starts a debate over the best designed DQ pro...
May 22, 2020•47 min•Season 2Ep. 19
