>Yes/No.
Today’s deck is the Ancient Italian Tarot.
This one stumped me slightly. I didn’t know if it was a modern deck evoking old deck imagery or an actual old deck.
I still don’t know. I COULD look it up but in my mind this sort of more first-impression-y summary is what I like doing. That said, I’m assuming it’s a literal old deck because a) the imagery looks familiar enough, and b) it’s not a pirated deck but still lacks an author credit.
Deck’s cool besides the bit where the pips (the minor arcana) aren’t individual illustrations, though that fits the theme.
Today’s reading is reflecting on… something. For some reason some old traumas/emotional scars have been flaring up recently. It’s not severe but I’ve been wondering why they’re in that situation to begin with.
I know it’s normal for it to happen once you feel safe and calm… but I’ve been anything but that lately with all the work stress so who knows.
Well well well, if it ain’t my old nemesis The Consequences Of My Actions…
I’mma spoil something right now: there’s not much interesting to talk about today. We were nursing hangovers of different intensity through the day.
That said, I’ve been thinking about Dragon Quest 3 a lot lately. It’s probably DQ Walk being a constant presence in my routine right now… or maybe the Loto Medallion I got a while ago.
Regardless, DQ3 is so monolithic that it’s not hard for a game to copy something it did BY ACCIDENT. Like you try some variant of the opening with a mother waking up the main character on the first day of adventure mainly through exposure to something like Chrono Trigger and not be aware DQ3 did it.
A useless character that evolves into one of the most broken classes? You might think Magikarp but there’s the Gadabout becoming a Sage.
That bit in Earthbound where you get asked your real name? You bet your ass it’s a nod to DQ3.
Even the image of the Brave/Yuusha that’s barely put-upon while they raid someone’s house and grab their stuff is basically existing in the psyche as the DQ3 hero. It’s a very specific imagery that has existed across the DECADES from Moon RPG to Baki Gaiden: Retsu Kaiou wa Isekai Tensei Shitemo Ikkou ni Kamawan.
The adventurer’s absentee dad that died protecting everyone, the apparent last boss only being the mid-point boss while the actual person pulling the strings is still alive, a faction of pirates that turns out to be on your side… you can make plenty of arguments about where it all came first, but the fact that DQ3 has so many of those ideas and that future media has been codified by it is impressive… especially considering it’s a fucking NES/Famicom game.
Like, you start hearing the list of features like monster battles, interchangeable party members, a job system, TWO OVERWORLDS. FF4 needed to find narrative excuses to push characters out of the party and you’re telling me here you can just dismiss and recruit people like it’s nothing?
What’s also interesting to me is that DQ3 is a very specific kind of Monolithic. What I mean is that there’s DQ3 Monolithic and FF7 Monolithic.
FF7 Monolithic is the kind where it’s super notorious, but also to reference it is referencing it directly. In fact, one of the most fascinating things about me from Remake is the fact that it has to consider the fact that it’s coming out in a world where it no longer holds any surprises, and so it has to find a way to bring something fresh in such circumstances.
DQ3 is just as well-known but the kind where the beats are well-known and expected. Everyone wants to see Ortega’s last stand, the big bird being revived, the second overworld reveal, and so on.
Now that I think about it, that’s pretty much the difference between DQ and FF. While FF does have a formula and tradition that they seek to refine, they’re more known for trying something completely new in each entry. While on the Dragon Quest front, for example, I’m playing DQ Walk and the game is recognizably Dragon Quest from its implementation of jobs to weapon proficiencies to magic.
Thinking about it, though. It’s actually interesting how JRPGs are associated with more linear stories compared to western RPGs, but the original DQ trilogy is shockingly open-ended.
There’s no bigger point here, though. Guess I’m just in the mood for that kind RPG.