In terms of leveling up I wasn't really inferring that you should make your
characters gods , just that some people were talking about dying, and
if that's the case an extra level or two may save them a lot of grief (as
I mentioned a level gives you a decent chunk of skill points which then
may get you a strength boost for your weapon if attributed correctly).

As for the equip menu, as far as I know it was not given its own place
in the Japanese release (when asking a friend who played through the
Japanese release his reply was "That's retained from the original design
100%."), you still had to go fishing for it via another catagory.

There's an EQUIP option under the Misc. tab.

I'm about 50+ hours in now thanks to the extended weekend. I spent a LOT of time wandering the western continent after I got my ship before getting back on track. I'm still enjoying the hell out of this game. Quite a testament that 50 hours in and not only has it not dragged on at any point and it feels like I'm only half way through (especially given the where the story goes once you get to the Dark Ruins). I've just arrived at the northern island and am heading to the snowy area now. I suffered my first defeat there.. it was a sad moment indeed, a single Thwack spell took out all four of my characters! I saved to a new slot because I might just "redo" that hour mainly because I lost a LOT of scratch.

I know, but it needs its own actual menu (whereby you can choose what
you want to do and from your inventory of items, like any other rpg.

The way it's set up now, you need to enter the misc catagory, scroll
down to "equip", choose your character, then equip/re-equip practically
every weapon/armor/accessory the character has (sure you can backup
via the triangle button, but you'll need to do so for every item selected
instead of just once). ...And if something is in the bag, or in another's
pack you can't see it while in the character's equip screen, instead you'll
need to transfer it before even checking if it's worth equipping at all
(the individual packs I can forgive, as it is on another player, but the
bag? C'mon, that's your inventory).

Why not have a menu catagory where you can access these things
individually? I know one of the reasons DQ is kept "old school" is out
of fear of lost sales, but would anyone really complain if they revamped
the menu system a bit? Sometimes change can be a good thing.

The way it's set up now it's not just old school, it's archaic, and it's
little things like this that sap some of the fun from the game. Usually
I enjoy acquiring new items for my characters, but this system can
make it a chore. I can't think of another rpg where I even gave this
issue a second thought.

What are the battles like, I hear they are different than your typical RPG. For myself, I am the type to level up a lot in Rpgs. If I have an hour to kill, I will throw the game on and spend that hour fighting so a good battle system is important to me.

I don't know, it seems like you're making a mountain out of a mole-hill. Plus, it's more of a limitation of having a per-character inventory system rather than an adherence to being old-school (the Lunar games work almost identically if I remember). I'm not saying it can't be done better but with how infrequently equipment changes occur I can't see the few seconds it takes to move something from the bag to your character as being too much of a bother (the various load times associated with the new "improved" menu are more of a concern to be honest). I've actually never used the equip command seeing as you can equip new items as you buy them or when you put them in your character's inventory (and it'll show you the stat difference for each character as you do so).

It's been stated several times already how great the battle system is and that it is turn based.

If you find wandering around for an hour killing monsters and leveling up fun you'll enjoy it a lot.

The battles are extremely old school. Your squad lines up on one side and
the foes take the other. You can choose from, Attack (use regular weapon),
Spells (self explanatory), Defend (see prior), Abilities (these are skills you
learn at level ups that correspond to the way you distribute your points...
points are received at level ups... if you build up the boomerang on your
main character for example you'll eventually receive things like "crosscutter
throw" which may damage the enemies differently than a standard attack),
Items (choose from only those previously equipped on said character) or
Psyche-Up (power up the chosen character for its next battle turn while
skipping the current turn... useless, as it essentially doubles the regular
attack damage... may as well just attack both turns, you'd dish out the
same damage and be able to choose a different target if the original had
been eliminated by your second turn). Think Japanese Genesis/Snes console
rpgs, but with excellent cel-shaded graphics.

If leveling up to pass time is your thing in rpgs, I wouldn't recommend this
one. The only time you're really in any danger of dying is if an enemy casts
a sleep or otherwise immobilizing spell (unlike a lot of other rpgs, getting
hit by a physical attack doesn't always awaken the afflicted character),
and as such, extra unwarranted leveling would make the game insanely
repetitive as far as the battles go (as I eluded to, in my current game
they're teetering on that now without the extra leveling).

If you're looking for a good rpg with room for leveling and a great battle
system, I'd suggest Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne (it may have dropped
the III for the North American Market). Battle systems don't get much
better than that.

I'm constantly accessing the menus. Are you using the Alchemy Pot? You
gain new equipment that way too. As for the equipping when an item is
in the character's pack, you have to access each item individually, rather
than say clicking "weapon" and seeing a list of everything you have that
the character can equip. While not a deal-killer, I'd say that there's plenty
of room for improvement. And Lunar... Ugh, the mere mention of its name
brings up some nasty flashbacks of countless hours testing that lovely game
for the PSX

I love Lunar, too bad Lunar 2 is so freakin expensive. ($70-$80 used)

Can't wait until this weekend of my birthday to get the game. I have been waiting a long time. When it comes to rpg's, I am one of those geeks who try to get to level 99. Dont ask why?

For you leveling up freaks, I recommend Dragon Warrior 7. Also Disgaea (word of mouth only, I haven't had time to play it much).

As far as equipping, I've been doing that from in the normal item list. As in, select person, select item, equip it there.

I'm just burning through this game. I feel like I need to take a breather or something from the last week. I just wish I could get my damn couch already.. 60 hours of a game in varying forms of discomfort is starting to suck. I finally ran into some Metal King Slimes but didn't get a chance to kill one and haven't met once since. Boo, hiss.

just finished Pickham and the Labyrinth. Getting close to the monster arena part and I have a question...

If ive previously killed any "Infamous Monsters" in the overworld is there no way to recruit them to an arena team now? if so that seems kinda lame since the monsters themselves are aggressive and can be tough to avoid

I haven't had a problem refinding infamous monsters that I've already killed. For example, Hackzilla (the Axoraptor by Farebury). I killed him before I even found the Monster Arena, but went back to recollect him when my starting team got destroyed in round 2 of rank G.

The next time I tried the Monster Arena, I breezed through ranks G, F, and E. Didn't try D yet. The team I had was:

That reminds me.. I need to go back to the Monster Arena, I've got a new crew. Made it to rank B before.

Just got the game for my bday today from the lovely Mrs. ElementZ

Can't wait to get into it. Just waiting for my family to get here and leave

Busy weekend but I managed to get in 6 hours of playing time to start the game. It has lived up to my expectations thus far. It's a very fun game. I just finished the Alexandria Tower. The games world is huge, I never follow the road since I like to stray off the path and look around for treasure.

The landscaping is beautiful. I really wish their was a zoom button when you go in 1st person mode. I had no trouble at all with any fights save for Buffalo Bill. I was trying to beat him before the tower but his attacks were too strong. Beat him after the tower though. Not much of a reward for it

Okay, I've got my main complaint for this game. It's too damn long!

Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed every minute of it.. but damn, if I'm spending 80 hours with a game it'll be because I'm power-playing it: maxing out skills and levels, finding all the items, etc.. to still be on the main quest at this point gets tiring. For all the story naysayers, the story in the game has some cool twists and turns throughout. It's still an "evil overlord resurrecting" type story but it's told well and that means more to me than forcibly trying to be ridiculous in the plot to be "fresh."

SNOW IN TEXAS!

Lots of news flying around that Dallas is going to be hit with an inch of snow/ice overnight and into Thursday. Even though it tends to happen at least once a year we still have no idea how to handle it and even though I live down the street from my job it's a guaranteed day off for me. I've got my fingers crossed that I can spend the next two days bundled up in blankets with a pot of coffee and my mind set on Dragon Questing.

You've got to be kidding me. They just dropped our esimate from 6" to 4" here. The worst part about it is, like you said, we have no idea how to handle it. People drive like they're going to go careening into the ditch at any minute and have to run from their car ablaze while it continues to lightly snow screaming "OH THE IRONY!". I usually just work from home (lucky I have that option) to avoid the aftermath. Being home with DQ and not being able to play is torture.

I've got the week off after Christmas and will be dedicating many hours to this game. I'm about to battle , but am going to level up some more and do the Monster Arena.

Make sure you're at least level 29-30 for the battle. Also it helps if

I spent last night fighting metal slimes for that very reason. I'd get a group of 8 and the most I could kill was 3. The exp on that was very nice though.

I've yet to kill a King Metal Slime.

I do know from previous games that the only chance you have is scoring a critical hit and there are skills for just that but thus far, nothing. The experience is nice but there's that hole in my defeated monsters book I want to fill.

The area I went through last night (Dark Cathedral?) was pretty damn cool.. leading up to a boss battle I was sure I was going to lose. Here's a hint.. the mirror shield and mirror armor are DANGEROUS. Those bastards will reflect Zing and Kazing! So needless to say after Beer was killed and he kept reflecting my attempts to revive him, Angelo kicked it leaving Jessica and Yangus. No more revive spells. Jessica dies. Yangus stands alone. Somehow.. the next hit killed him, which is good because that castle took like two hours to explore.

Fantastic game, I love it.

By the way, the game and guide are on sale at Best Buy this week. Game $39.99, Guide $12.99. I'll be picking up the guide tonight if it hasn't started icing/snowing by the time I leave work. I'll keep it closed until I beat the game, of course.. but it'll be great for a second play-through. Still hoping for a weather day tomorrow.. I've got to be at the end of this now.. I mean, I just HAVE to be.