Roll for It! #01

EDIT: The original title for this post was a total spoiler for which game I ended up choosing. I've fixed it now, and added a few extra notes to the release list for the winning game at the bottom!

This is the part where I point out that I haven't played Torneko in over two weeks.

What!? Has it really been that long? Unfortunately, yes. And unfortunately, I'm just not in the mood to continue right now. I'll come back to it (and be horribly lost when I do, picking up from the middle of a dungeon), but for now I'm moving on.

On a related note, I've been playing Theatrhythm Final Fantasy on the 3DS. Now this is a fun game. I bring the 3DS to work with me and play it during breaks; since it's a rhythm game, it's great for annoying people nearby with game music and J-pop. ^_^

Anyway, now it's time to decide what to play next. As I did when I chose Torneko (it's not in the blog, it was on Twitter), I'm going to split my games into groups and go from there! So, should I play:

1. Dragon Quest,
2. Final Fantasy,
3. A spin-off of one of those, or
4. Is it time for something completely different?

And we roll a 1—Dragon Quest! Next question: Which one? I want to do this one a little differently. Instead of just picking from I to IX, I'm going to split these into trilogies (I know VII, VIII, and IX don't make a trilogy—just bear with me anyway, k?!). So will I start:

1. The Loto Trilogy,
2. The Zenithia Trilogy, or
3. Those other three games?

Drum roll, please! ... ... ... And the answer is...2! Nice! So I'll be going back into DQ with my favorite characters of the series, and also starting the trilogy that contains V and VI, the only two which I have not yet seriously played. Dragon Quest IV, starting next time on Let's Play: Side × Side!

...I don't really feel like making the fancy starting post like I have in the past, so I'll just put up the basic release info and mention which versions I'll be playing.

• NES
• Dragon Quest IV: 導かれし者たち [michibikareshi monotachi], JP 1990—The subtitle loosely translates to "The Guided Ones."
• Dragon Warrior IV, US 1992—Name changed to protect the innocent once again. I'll be playing both this version and the original Japanese, although to save time I won't be attempting to translate everything.
• PlayStation
• Dragon Quest IV: 導かれし者たち, JP 2001—A North American localization of this remake was planned, and was in fact advertized in the packaging for Dragon Warrior VII, but it never materialized. I actually imported a copy of this, so I will definitely play this version in Japanese!
• Nintendo DS
• Dragon Quest IV: 導かれし者たち, JP 2007—This remake is basically a port of the PlayStation version, with a few extra features.
• Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen, US 2008—And finally the west gets the remake! From among the DS releases, I'll only be playing this one.
• Dragon Quest: The Chapters of the Chosen, EU/AU 2008—I almost forgot about the European and Australian releases! This was the first time this game was released outside of Japan or North America, and it was only the second Dragon Quest game to get that treatment. As with Dragon Quest VIII the number was dropped from the title, apparently because so few entries from the series had been released in those regions. (VIII was the first, followed by IV and V. Starting with IX in 2010, and subsequently VI in 2011, the numbers have been kept in the titles.)

So there you have it! I'll start next time with the NES, and go from there!