#053 - "I say Warrior, you say Quest" (Dragon Quest 1)

10/12/20 • 106 min

1 Listener

Grab your favorite bard and travel back in time to where it all started! We're talking Dragon Quest 1 on this episode, featuring special guest musician and writer Russell Gordon. We'll discuss localization woes, Western reception, and Dragon Warrior vs Dragon Quest, the series' two trilogies, proto-RPGs, our first RPGs, NA vs JP cover art, Nintendo Power subscriptions, differences between the versions of DQ1, grinding vs whittling and the trance-like state of play, where to start with the Dragon Quest series, Dragon Quest 1 as a fairy tale and not an engaging drama or epic, story vs plot and the player's experiences creating the narrative in real time, dungeon crawling, the game's single character, and how you don't even have to save the princess!

Guest: https://soundcloud.com/shredrussell-1
youtube.com/RussellGHello
twitter.com/rus_gordon

Links: http://thewellredmage.com/2019/12/11/dragon-quest-nintendo-switch-review-2019/
https://thewellredmage.com/2017/09/06/dragon-warrior-1989-dragon-quest-1993/
Music: "Overture March" & "Tantegel Castle" composed by Koichi Sugiyama

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Guest: https://soundcloud.com/shredrussell-1
youtube.com/RussellGHello
twitter.com/rus_gordon

Support the show

Previous Episode

#052 - "Respect for Faerie Tales" (Vagrant Story)

Vagrant Story hates the player but we love you! That's why we here at Mage Cast are making things simpler by tackling just what makes Vagrant Story such a tough nut to crack. Together with my special guest, Cory the Senior Games Editor of Popzara.com, we cover topics like what makes the game so demanding, how to overcome its convoluted systems, its mixture of genres and postgame content, its disrespect for players, Vagrant Story's place in the Final Fantasy world of Ivalice, and what we'd fix in a potential remake (U and I both know we'd fix the UI!).

Guest: https://www.popzara.com/

Links: https://thewellredmage.com/2017/09/09/vagrant-story/
Music: "Opening Movie", "Snowfly Forest", & "Valendia Knights of the Peace Headquarters - Duke Bardorba's Manor" composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto

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Next Episode

#054 - “Highway to the Phantom Zone” (Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within)

Get ready for the greebles as Mage Cast sits down with art director James H. Dargie for things that can neither be confirmed nor denied. James is an artist and designer who has worked on titles like Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Matrix Reloaded, Metroid Prime, Solaris, and Final Fantasy The Spirits Within. Our discussion centers on that film, the first photorealistic computed animated theatrical movie, and what might've happened to derail its performance at the box office. James also shares his memories of being a part of various other studios as well as working under Hironobu Sakaguchi, plus we talk marketing woes, anecdotes about the Grey Project, the hidden chocobo in Spirits Within, art serving the game design, Aki's ambitions as a digital actress, content that didn't make the final cut, how to handle feedback and criticism, the Spirits Within SEIKO wristwatch, and more designer insights!

Guest: https://twitter.com/JHDargie
https://www.claviusbase.com/
https://www.firstcontactent.com/

Links: https://www.amazon.com/Final-Fantasy-Spirits-Original-Soundtrack/dp/B00005Q41K
Music: "The Spirits Within" & "A Child Recalled" composed by Elliot Goldenthal

Support the show (http://www.patreon.com/thewellredmage)

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