Dragon Quest VI

I've noted that as I play through the Dragon Quest series, each game has been better than the last. This was easy to note with the first few installments as developers at the time were just starting to figure out what works and what doesn't in role-playing video games- going from a party of one in Dragon Warrior, to a party of three in Dragon Warrior II, to eventually a party where you could recruit enemies in Dragon Quest V; or the evolution of a character's inventory and menus becoming easier to manage; or the movement from a strictly linear storyline to something more open-ended with side-quests and optional levels.By the time Dragon Quest IV rolled around, the basic formula seemed to be perfected, and as such there doesn't feel like many big differences between 4, 5 and 6. The gimmick in Dragon Quest VI is some well-worn territory- parallel worlds, with two separate world maps featuring two versions of most towns- is one a dream world? Or do they both exist simultaneously with no awareness of each other? The reliance on that cliched plot point and a messy story that mostly ended like 30% of the way through the game are the only reason why I didn't like Dragon Quest VI as much as the previous installment. The gameplay all checks out and is fun aside from a little too much grinding for the final boss, but that's just RPGs in general I guess. Still though, that's six Dragon Quest games down, and while I don't regret playing through the series, not one game has really blown me away. Japan apparently loves the shit out of the Dragon Quest series, but it's not nearly as popular in the US, and this is affecting my backlog. My next game, Dragon Quest VII was released for the PS1 and the cheapest, crappiest copies available still cost like $40 on Amazon; it was also remade for the 3DS in Japan, but there's been no announcement of it coming stateside. So, my progress through the series may be halted for a long time. Farewell for now, Dragon Quest!