Genre: Platformer
Developer: Chunsoft
Publisher: Enix
Year: 1990
Basic Idea: Play the prize lottery in towns and a lottery with your lives in the dungeons.
Review: In 1990, America was still behind on the RPG front as this game took three years to get here from Japan. Final Fantasy took the same amount of the time to cross the pond and was released a few months before this game. That game probably hurt any momentum Enix hoped to gain with the Dragon Warrior series, especially since graphically Enix seemed to be way behind. Still, this is a solid, if not always memorable game.
Like its predecessor, you begin the game as the lone party member. However, as the game progresses, you gain two additional party members that enhance the story line and add variety to the battles. I think the most memorable part of this game for me is the towns you visit. There are many hidden passageways and genuinely interesting puzzles to solve when you’re not mindlessly building up levels. The overall story is not terribly compelling, but there are individual highlights that make up for it.
Where the game falters the most is near the end, where some level-building is required, and the final cave has mazes that not only are pointless but hard to figure out. They are zero clues how to navigate them, and the enemies steal magic points and are brutal.
If you love old-school RPGs, this isn’t a must-play by any means, but you probably wouldn’t be disappointed either. It certainly is less frustrating than the original game and makes some positive steps, but Enix still hadn’t come into their own.
Death By Troggles 
When I see “Square” by itself I never bat an eye, but “Enix” on its own always throws me. I suppose it’s because I never played these.
Graphics don’t mean much to me, but yeah, they were eons behind. I remember seeing someone playing this and thinking it was about the ugliest-looking interface I’d ever seen, and they were fighting the famous Slime, which is the least-detailed enemy in just about any game.
I was RPG-obsessed from the ages of 16 to about 25. I’ve really backed off from that, but with the state of the average RPG these days (it’s getting better, but it’s been a mess) I’d probably go back and play one of these if I got the urge to play one at all.
I was RPG-obsessed from the ages of 16 to about 25. I’ve really backed off from that, but with the state of the average RPG these days (it’s getting better, but it’s been a mess) I’d probably go back and play one of these if I got the urge to play one at all.
This is why I’m thrilled that I missed a bunch of the golden age of RPGs (SNES, imo). I played through Chrono Trigger, I’m most of the way done with Final Fantasy V (which I’m loving), and there’s still dozens of good ones to play. All of them will be fresh new experiences.
I don’t have any experience with an RPG from the past decade. What are their main problems now?
The Dragon Warrior interface never really improves, unfortunately. You no longer need a STAIRS command, but otherwise it remains fairly clunky. The slimes do improve in their aesthetics, at least.