*Spoiler Discussion* In regards to Act 3.

[Oddy]

Was anybody else as frustrated as I was with how the Luminary did absolutely nothing to stop Mordegon when he confronts him at the world tree for the second time? He knew full well that the king was possessed by Mordegon but just stood there dumbfounded when Mordegon tries to reach for the Sword of Light only to be stopped by the little dark spirit (Calasmos). The Luminary even accepts the kings invitation to stay at his castle for the night. He might as well be saying "Sure, you can kill me in my sleep so you can destroy the world again". Mordegon, again, tries to go for the sword while the luminary sleeps only to, again, be foiled by Calasmos. Basically the world would have been destroyed again had it not have been for Calasmos. Just bad writing is how I viewed it. These two parts frustrated me to the point where I interpret that the story ended after Act 2 because up until this point they did a great job at explaining some of the plot choices the characters make. I had a few good examples, but I can't remember them off the top of my head.
I'm almost finished the game; just got past the luminary trial, 4/6 characters at lvl 99, now working on cleaning up the super bosses around the world and I'm hoping the Luminary will at least mention the alternate timeline he came from at some point.

[Xathyr]

After time traveling his memory becomes incomplete and just has some flashbacks after a piece of memory is triggered by an event or situation. I think it is made clear after seeing his initial reaction on the tree the first time it happens.

[Oddy]

Originally posted by Xathyr:

After time traveling his memory becomes incomplete and just has some flashbacks after a piece of memory is triggered by an event or situation. I think it is made clear after seeing his initial reaction on the tree the first time it happens.

I tried to convince myself the same thing, but I think that's a bit of a stretch. You'd think that after seeing someone like Carnellion, especially after something so traumatic like Mordegon coming out of him and ending the world, some sort of flashback would happen, but it doesn't. It's stated with the Timekeeper that his memories, knowledge of battle, and items would be preserved. Is it not the reason that he's so surprised to see Veronica again because the last time he saw her she was sacrificing herself for him? Especially after Erik says "You better not mess this up" and all the characters going on about being loyal to the luminary, you'd think something would happen, but instead he actually almost messes it up were it not for the plot armour of Calasmos intervening.
There's even one part where in the Luminary Trial where if you use the party talk Hendrick comments something like "you seem to know where you are going, have you been here before?" So, I don't think his memory was really all that messed up.

[Xathyr]

Originally posted by Oddy:

"you seem to know where you are going, have you been here before?"

Can't reply to anything else since this is just mere speculation, all we can do is assume (and still, by my way of interpreting the situations, it is implied the way I said), but this sentence refers to the actions delivered by the player not the luminary itself, since it implies that even if the luminary holds no memories you as player still do and can drive the actions to a certain convenient way that makes the rest of the main characters keep wondering. There's a reason why the MC is a mute one.

[Oddy]

Originally posted by Xathyr:

After time traveling his memory becomes incomplete and just has some flashbacks after a piece of memory is triggered by an event or situation. I think it is made clear after seeing his initial reaction on the tree the first time it happens.

Oh, I forgot one thing the Timekeeper says "You will retain some semblence of your present self" as she's explaining what will be saved during time travel. Whether or not it implies that only some of his memories will be preserved isn't clearly stated and is confusing considering it's implied that he retains much of himself during the time travel with his level and luminary power tree staying the same, and some character dialogue pointing out something different about him. There's also one piece of dialogue where Father Benedictus of Arboria comments about how unsually more determined you look.

[Oddy]

Originally posted by Xathyr:

Originally posted by Oddy:

"you seem to know where you are going, have you been here before?"

Can't reply to anything else since this is just mere speculation, all we can do is assume (and still, by my way of interpreting the situations, it is implied the way I said), but this sentence refers to the actions delivered by the player not the luminary itself, since it implies that even if the luminary holds no memories you as player still do and can drive the actions to a certain convenient way that makes the rest of the main characters keep wondering. There's a reason why the MC is a mute one.

I know. They did a good job at explaining some nuances during the plot, but this was a big one I couldn't let go of. If they had just come out and said "You may not remember everything", then i wouldn't be here. but like you said, it is merely speculation. I guess what frustrates me the most is all that emotional build up from act 1 and 2 just feels like is all tossed aside for a poorly explained "happy ending".

[Xathyr]

Good thing they decided to add it as an alternative plot, you can always ignore that there's a part 3 by skipping it, never going back to time, and stick to the better ending.

Since i'm currently replaying it i'll refresh my own memories of every dialogue, but, too little can be stated as fact if the MC never talks and says what's going on further than what the rest of the characters let's you know by mimicking him so little often. Then again this is intended, to make you feel as a player more integrated with the world and less like watching a movie, and this is specially effective when some lines can be both delivered to either you as a player or the luminary as an individual.

What i'm trying to say is, the luminary will never interact with any character further than what you can do with your controller, which also applies to all the situations that would involve having your memory back to talk to them rather than preventing an action, which is what the luminary always did. So, the only free will that the luminary will ever display is as a reactive element to the enviroment rather than an active one, to essentially keep the feeling of you being the hero.

Since english is not my native language I may be lacking some explanatory skills, but I hope the point is a bit cleaner now.

[Oddy]

Originally posted by Xathyr:

Good thing they decided to add it as an alternative plot, you can always ignore that there's a part 3 by skipping it, never going back to time, and stick to the better ending.

Since i'm currently replaying it i'll refresh my own memories of every dialogue, but, too little can be stated as fact if the MC never talks and says what's going on further than what the rest of the characters let's you know by mimicking him so little often. Then again this is intended, to make you feel as a player more integrated with the world and less like watching a movie, and this is specially effective when some lines can be both delivered to either you as a player or the luminary as an individual.

What i'm trying to say is, the luminary will never interact with any character further than what you can do with your controller, which also applies to all the situations that would involve having your memory back to talk to them rather than preventing an action, which is what the luminary always did. So, the only free will that the luminary will ever display is as a reactive element to the enviroment rather than an active one, to essentially keep the feeling of you being the hero.

Since english is not my native language I may be lacking some explanatory skills, but I hope the point is a bit cleaner now.

Your English is perfect, better than most people I converse with through typing. I completely understood what you were saying. If that is what they intended, I hope they rethink this approach for story telling for the next game if they decide to do one. This is my first Dragon Quest game and it has left a very positive impression for the series with me despite this one thing. Hopefully you find some explanation I may have missed on your second playthrough. I myself will be doing a second playthrough, though probably on the Nintendo Switch.