Dragon Warrior III First Impressions

So I came across a copy of Dragon Warrior III for the NES last week for a decent deal, and since it was in fantastic condition I bought it. After Phantasy Star IV, I wanted some more classic-style RPG to sink my teeth into.

I've heard good things about Dragon Warrior III, too. It has a rudimentary job system, and you get to name all of your characters and pick their classes and all that. It's also an NES RPG, which means once you've saved, you have to hold the Reset button as you turn the power off - and I'm playing this thing on a knock off Famiclone, so we'll see how well the save stays in the cartridge. Although when I turned it on the first time, there was a save with the guys at level 36, with names like Kain and Crono - which says to me the game was started back in the mid nineties. So obviously the save battery still works in the cart...

Anyway, as for game impressions, I will start by saying the encounter rate is too high. I know, I know, it's an 8-bit RPG so I should expect as much, but still. The battles are fast paced, though, which is nice - I sort of expected incredibly slowly moving text, but it moves pretty fast if you set it that way. I love the music, and the graphics look like a 1986 NES game, even though it was released in Japan in 1988. I like them, though. They're simple, but not boring looking, like Paladin's Quest, which I also picked up when I bought Dragon Warrior III.

I reached the first boss, though, about three dungeons in - and he kicked my ass. I forgot, this being a Dragon Warrior game, that when you lost a battle, you get sent back to the last town you saved at, minus half your gold - but you keep your experience. Which was nice! I would have lost a half hours worth of grinding had that not been the case. I'm going to have to grind some more to beat that guy, though.

It's difficult to write about these old RPGs. The battle system is classic Dragon Warrior/Quest, which is to say it didn't change all the way up to Dragon Quest IX (and even then, it wasn't too different). And it's not like the story is really worth writing about. Either way, I'm having a good time.