History VideoGame / DragonQuestII

* ChromaticArrangement: Midenhall wears blue, Cannock wears green, and Moonbrooke wears- well, ''pink'', but a particularly dark shade.

This is reflected in its porting and release history - it did get an {{UsefulNotes/MSX}} port (complete with that salacious picture of Princess Moonbrooke), but that was more or less it until it got ported to the Super Famicom in a package deal with ''[=DQ1=]'', and even then, the porting felt rather perfunctory compared to ''[=DQ1=]'''s improvements (and nothing like the SFC port of ''[=DQ3=]''). It also got Game Boy Color and feature phone versions like its trilogy-mates, but again they were not particularly high-effort. Finally, like the other games, it got a smartphone version in 2014, based on the SFC version but with ''[=DQ3=]''-size sprites... on the unaltered SFC maps, which makes things look oddly scaled. Of these, English speakers got the GBC and smartphone versions, the latter of which remains widely available.

This is reflected in its porting and release history - it did get an {{UsefulNotes/MSX}} port (complete with that salacious picture of P.Moonbrooke), but that was more or less it until it got ported to the Super Famicom in a package deal with ''[=DQ1=]'', and even then, the porting felt rather perfunctory compared to ''[=DQ1=]'''s improvements (and nothing like the SFC port of ''[=DQ3=]''). It also got Game Boy Color and feature phone versions like its trilogy-mates, but again they were not particularly high-effort. Finally, like the other games, it got a smartphone version in 2014, based on the SFC version but with ''[=DQ3=]''-size sprites... on the unaltered SFC maps, which makes things look oddly scaled. Of these, English speakers got the GBC and smartphone versions, the latter of which remains widely available.

From a historical perspective, ''[=DQ2=]'' is an odd duck - while its influence on its ''own'' [[VideoGame/DragonQuestIII successor]] is all-encompassing (''every'' major gameplay system, or near-as-dammit, in ''[=DQ3=]'' was designed with consideration from the feedback Chunsoft got concerning ''[=DQ2=]'' and its trouble areas), and while it was in many ways comprehensively superior to [[VideoGame/DragonQuestI its predecessor]], because said successor so thoroughly outclassed ''it'' in turn and went on to become the real cornerstone of the franchise and the wider concept of the JRPG, and because ''[=DQ2=]'' itself still had a lot of rough edges due to its incredibly short development time (barely six goddamn ''months'') and still being somewhat "in the reeds" design-wise as a result of being such an early RPG, it has become the uncomfortable middle child of the Erdrick Trilogy. It was still ''important'', but it is often forgotten in favor of the other two and not played or discussed as often. If it has any enduring claim to [[TropeCodifier Trope Codification]], it is in setting the model for party progression - if a JRPG isn't using the ''[=DQ3=]'' "make the whole party yourself" system, it will instead follow ''[=DQ2=]'''s model of "travel to certain new locations early in the game, some plot happens, gain one new party member each time".

From a historical perspective, ''[=DQ2=]'' is an odd duck - while its influence on its ''own'' [[VideoGame/DragonQuestIII successor]] is all-encompassing (''every'' major gameplay system, or near-as-dammit, in ''[=DQ3=]'' was designed with consideration from the feedback Chunsoft got concerning ''[=DQ2=]'' and its trouble areas), and while it was in many ways comprehensively superior to [[VideoGame/DragonQuestI its predecessor]], because said successor so thoroughly outclassed ''it'' in turn and went on to become the real cornerstone of the franchise and the wider concept of the JRPG, and because ''[=DQ2=]'' itself still had a lot of rough edges due to its incredibly short development time (barely six goddamn ''months'') and still being somewhat "in the reeds" as a result of being such an early RPG, it has become the uncomfortable middle child of the Erdrick Trilogy. It was still ''important'', but it is often forgotten in favor of the other two and not played or discussed as often.

* WithThisHerring: In order to ensure your journey is a successful one, the King bestows upon you... a Copper Sword and 50 gold. Thanks, Dad.
** To be fair, it IS more than you get in the first game, and the Copper Sword is stronger than a few other weapons. Heck, Cannock only had a club. Also, none of the nations are technically implied to be "rich", just in charge.

* BossRush: One in the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon.

* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Malroth (Sidoh in the Japanese version) has the unique distinction of being possibly the first in an RPG. In the original NES English translation, at least. Absolutely nothing in the entire game even hinted at his presence aside from a quest item called the Eye of Malroth. In the Japanese version and further English translations, Malroth is revealed to be the demonic god that Hargon worships.

* {{Expy}}: The "classic" version of the Princess of Moonbrooke looks ''suspiciously'' like a palette-swapped version of {{Nausicaa|OfTheValleyOfTheWind}} with slightly longer hair. This may explain the explicitly blonde redesign that popped up for the SNES remake. (The more recent artwork for the Wii compilation and related material opts for making her hair aggressively ''purple''.)

* RegionalBonus: For those who played this on the Japanese MSX cart, they got an extra scene of the Princess of Moonbrooke in a "Dangerous Swimsuit".
** And yes, this is what {{La-Mulana}} was referencing.

* {{Combo}}: The Falcon Sword. For the first time in the series, a character could strike twice in a row. Unfortunately, the Attack buff was only PLUS FIVE (Seven in the remix, but still, whoopdeedoo).

* SmashMook: The Cyclops, the Gigantes, and (if you count bosses) the Atlas. These enemies do one thing only and one thing well; smash your party into goo with a club.

* BalefulPolymorph: [[spoiler: The Princess of Moonbrooke gets turned into a dog before you meet her, forcing you to find out how to break the curse before you can recruit her.]]

* TheCameo: The trio of heroes from this game appear as summonable helpers in the arcade game ''Dragon Quest Monster Battle Road Victory'', both supporting the player and their monsters with defensive buffs and finishing their enemies off with Kazapple, also known as Alldain or Thordain - a spell that didn't exist until ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV''. The Cousins also pop up in ''VideoGame/FortuneStreet'' spinoffs.
* CanonName: The English localization of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'' gives the cousin's names as Princeton and Princessa. In ''VideoGame/FortuneStreet'' (at least in Japan), they're known as Cookie (Cannock) and Pudding (Moonbrooke) - how Toriyama-esque.

* {{Curse}}: Hargon really likes his curses. He curses the entire castle of Moonbrooke after its fall, turns [[spoiler: the princess into a dog]], and as the heroes draw closer to his kingdom, [[spoiler: he curses the Prince of Cannock to become bedridden, prompting a side quest to cure him (Remake only. Furthermore, you can beat the final boss without him, hard as it may be.)]].

** This is sort of ironic considering Toriyama created a character in Manga/DragonBall named Launch. Whenever she sneezes she switches from a Blue Haired Nice Girl to a Blond Haired Evil Woman.

* TheDragon: Hargon has three: Atlas, Pazuzu, and Belial. Also [[spoiler: Hargon himself is one for Malroth]].

* HauntedCastle: [[spoiler: Moonbrooke is haunted by the flaming spirits of those slain by Hargon's forces. This includes the King himself. Talking to him after saving the Princess leads to a [[TearJerker rather depressing conversation]].]]
* HelloInsertNameHere: The Prince of Midenhall. The Prince of Cannock and the Princess of Moonbrooke have their names randomly selected from an internal list. [[spoiler: You can rename them yourself after recruiting them by highlighting the save file and holding Left/Right + A.]]

* NintendoHard: Whoever said this game is easy is either a liar or very, ''very'' good at [=RPG=]s. You will need to level grind '''INTENSELY''' this time out and even when you do, it isn't enough.

* PrincessesPreferPink: The Princess of Moonbrooke, though again it is a rather dark shade.

** {{Justified|Trope}} considering that he is a descendent of Loto/Erdrick along with his royal counterparts in the other kingdoms.

* TookALevelInBadass: The Prince of Cannock. In the NES, his best gear was roughly The Prince of Midenhall's early to middle-game gear, and due to everyone only having TWO non-HP/MP stats, he could die A LOT if you weren't careful. He was upgraded notably in the I+II Remix. The Princess Moonbrooke also qualifies, but to a far lesser extent.

** To be fair it IS more than you get in the first game and the Copper Sword is stronger than a few other weapons. Heck, Cannock only had a club. Also, none of the nations are technically implied to be "rich", just in charge.

After the events of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestI'', the descendant of Erdrick married Princess Laura and sailed away from Alefgard. They founded the kingdom of Torland where the couple and their children happily lived out their days. Generations later, chaos broke out with rumors of a powerful evil being emerging from the southern impassible cliffs of the frozen plateau, Rhone. His name was Hargon, an EvilSorcerer bent on world destruction. He chose Moonbrooke Castle to launch his reign of terror.

* BreatherLevel: In a strictly-design sense, the last dungeon is stupidly easy to navigate. Everything else about it though? [[BossRush Well...]]
* {{Cameo}}: The trio of heroes from this game appear as summonable helpers in the arcade game ''Dragon Quest Monster Battle Road Victory'', both supporting the player and their monsters with defensive buffs and finishing their enemies off with Kazapple, also known as Alldain or Thordain - a spell that didn't exist until ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV''. The Cousins also pop up in ''VideoGame/FortuneStreet'' spinoffs.

** The point of the Falcon Sword is probably to increase your chances of killing {{MetalSlime}}s and Metal Babbles, since you can only deal ScratchDamage to them regardless of attack power. It essentially doubles your potential damage to them.
* {{Curse}}: Hargon really likes his curses. He curses the entire castle of Moonbrooke after its fall, turns [[spoiler: the princess into a dog]], and as the heroes draw closer to his kingdom, [[spoiler: curses the Prince of Cannock to become bedridden, prompting a side quest to cure him (Remake only. Furthermore, you can beat the final boss without him, hard as it may be.)]].

** This is sort of ironic considering Toriyama created a character in DragonBall named Launch. Whenever she sneezes she switches from a Blue Haired Nice Girl to a Blond Haired Evil Woman.

* TheDragon: Hargon has three: Atlas, Pazuzu, and Belial. Also [[spoiler: Hargon himself is one for Malroth.]]
* EvilSorcerer: Hargon

* {{Expy}}: The "classic" version of the Princess of Moonbrooke looks ''suspiciously'' like a palette-swapped version of [[NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind Nausicaa]] with slightly longer hair. This may explain the explicitly blonde redesign that popped up for the SNES remake. (The more recent artwork for the Wii compilation and related material opts for making her hair aggressively ''purple''.)

** Can go beyond NintendoHard to plain unfair. The Gold Batboons/Bat Demons will randomly cast Sacrifice, [[RocksFallEveryoneDies wiping themselves out and taking your whole party with them]]. [[{{Unwinnable}} There's no way to prevent this]]. Yes, that's right. You can get a GameOver ''through no fault of your own''. And they can do this ''in the very first round before you even have a chance to do anything'' if so inclined. At least the Rockbombs in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'' and beyond would wait until you pounded them to near-death.

** And yes, this is what [[{{La-Mulana}} La Mulana]] was referencing.

** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] considering that he is a descendent of Loto/Erdrick along with his royal counterparts in the other kingdoms.

* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: Maybe. An NPC in Midenhall castle is implied to be head over heels for the Prince, and even wanted to confess to him before she knew he was going to go on his quest. She never gets brought up again, so the player never learns if she eventually confesses or not.

** Considering that he, like his parents and ancestors over the past hundred years since the events of Dragon Warrior I, are all descendents of Loto/Erdrick, it is only natural for him and his royal counterparts in the other kingdoms to be badasses.

* RegionalBonus: For those who played this on the Japanese MSX cart, they got an extra scene of the Princess of Moonbrooke in a "Dangerous Swimsuit". Unfortunately, unlike other "scrupulously crafted" scenes in certain games that catered specifically to a certain audience, the scene takes a colossal plunge from FetishFuel to FetishRetardant the second you see it. It's probably NSFW, just for the sake of how weird it looks. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjlSMGVEXJA It must be seen to be believed.]]

After the events of ''DragonQuestI'', the descendant of Erdrick married Princess Laura and sailed away from Alefgard. They founded the kingdom of Torland where the couple and their children happily lived out their days. Generations later, chaos broke out with rumors of a powerful evil being emerging from the southern impassible cliffs of the frozen plateau, Rhone. His name was Hargon, an EvilSorcerer bent on world destruction. He chose Moonbrooke Castle to launch his reign of terror.

* {{Cameo}}: The trio of heroes from this game appear as summonable helpers in the arcade game ''Dragon Quest Monster Battle Road Victory'', both supporting the player and their monsters with defensive buffs and finishing their enemies off with Kazapple, also known as Alldain or Thordain - a spell that didn't exist until ''DragonQuestIV''. The Cousins also pop up in ''VideoGame/FortuneStreet'' spinoffs.
* CanonName: The English localization of ''DragonQuestIX'' gives the cousin's names as Princeton and Princessa. In ''VideoGame/FortuneStreet'' (at least in Japan), they're known as Cookie (Cannock) and Pudding (Moonbrooke) - how Toriyama-esque.

** Perhaps a western equivalent would be something like "Derp". (The localizers of ''DragonQuestIX'' apparently weren't aware of the joke in the Japanese version and instead call him Prince Princeton of Cannock.)

** Can go beyond NintendoHard to plain unfair. The Gold Batboons/Bat Demons will randomly cast Sacrifice, [[RocksFallEveryoneDies wiping themselves out and taking your whole party with them]]. [[{{Unwinnable}} There's no way to prevent this]]. Yes, that's right. You can get a GameOver ''through no fault of your own''. And they can do this ''in the very first round before you even have a chance to do anything'' if so inclined. At least the Rockbombs in ''DragonQuestIII'' and beyond would wait until you pounded them to near-death.

* PALBonus: For those who played this on the Japanese MSX cart, they got an extra scene of the Princess of Moonbrooke in a "Dangerous Swimsuit". Unfortunately, unlike other "scrupulously crafted" scenes in certain games that catered specifically to a certain audience, the scene takes a colossal plunge from FetishFuel to FetishRetardant the second you see it. It's probably NSFW, just for the sake of how weird it looks. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjlSMGVEXJA It must be seen to be believed.]]
** And yes, this is what [[{{La-Mulana}} La Mulana]] was referencing.

After the events of ''DragonQuestI'', the descendant of Erdrick married Princess Laura and sailed away from Alefgard. They founded the kingdom of Torland where the couple and their children happily lived out their days. Generations later, chaos broke out with rumors of a powerful evil being emerging from the southern impassible cliffs of the frozen plateau, Rhone. His name was Hargon, an evil sorcerer bent on world destruction. He chose Moonbrooke Castle to launch his reign of terror.

* {{Curse}}: Hargon really likes his curses. He curses the entire castle of Moonbrooke after its fall, turns [[spoiler: the princess into a dog]], and as the heroes draw closer to his kingdom, [[spoiler: curses the Prince of Cannock to become bedridden, prompting a side quest to cure him]].

** Can go beyond NintendoHard to plain unfair. The Gold Batboons/Bat Demons will randomly cast Sacrifice, wiping themselves out and taking your whole party with them. [[{{Unwinnable}} There's no way to prevent this]]. Yes, that's right. You can get a GameOver ''[[RocksFallEveryoneDies through no fault of your own]]''. And they can do this ''in the very first round before you even have a chance to do anything'' if so inclined. At least the Rockbombs in ''DragonQuestIII'' and beyond would wait until you pounded them to near-death.

** Can go beyond NintendoHard to plain unfair. The Gold Batboons/Bat Demons will randomly cast Sacrifice, wiping themselves out and taking your whole party with them. [[{{Unwinnable}} There's no way to prevent this]]. Yes, that's right. You can get a GameOver ''through no fault of your own''. And they can do this ''in the very first round before you even have a chance to do anything'' if so inclined. At least the Rockbombs in ''DragonQuestIII'' and beyond would wait until you pounded them to near-death.

* ReligionOfEvil: The unnamed cult that Hargon leads.
** It's called the Shadowtime.