Dragon Quest II

Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line is a role-playing game released in 1987 in Japan and in 1990 in North America as Dragon Warrior II.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) The game continues 100 years after the events of the first game and follows the descendants of the hero in the first game.
 * 2) Instead of simply controlling one character like in the first game, this game allows you to recruit your 2 cousins which makes for a party of 3.
 * 3) There is a much larger world map to explore which makes for a bigger adventure.
 * 4) Eventually the player can get a boat which allows them to explore almost the whole game world.
 * 5) There is more than one enemy during fights now so grinding is much easier in comparison with the first game.
 * 6) There is more than one place to save unlike in the first game.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The lategame is very unforgiving. The Prince of Cannock is very useless at this point of the game to the point where Japanese players made a meme that involves him being dragged into a coffin.
 * 2) The game was rushed due to the success of the first one. Thankfully, it's get positive review reception.

Reception
The game is what ultimately led to the Dragon Quest series becoming a cultural phenomena in Japan, though it did not get the same traction in other countries.