Warning about the post game.

[Drawable]

So recently I managed to beat the game alongside unlocking every achievement and I just wanted to give a bit of a warning for anyone else looking to do the same.

The post game aside from the optional side quests/bosses (which you should do) mostly consists of hours of grinding in order to get the different materials and familiars for the Mad Scientist/Familiarologist achievements. So just be prepared to deal with a lot of mindless luck based grinding if you want to complete it all. I would only recommend dedicated fans do this and not casual players due to how insanely long it all takes.

They don't call the achievement MAD scientist for nothing.

[Skl3ros]

How many hours do you have now?

[Drawable]

Currently I'm at 103 hours of playtime finishing the main game at around 65-70 hours. So yeah spent around 30 hours doing the post game content with a big chunk of that being grinding.

[Jor-Mun-Gandr]

I am in for it then. I played this in 2013 and I am only up to collecting the stones. I want to complete the game this time. I am still playing this on PS3 but I will buy it if it comes down just a little in price.

One thing I am doing is grinding as I go. I have to do it anyway for Mad Scientist so I may as well get the benefit. Having the wiki up really helps. I wish there were more crossreference lists though. I only found a familiar with Upsy-Daisy and Aurora Curialis because the game made me tame a Lotus Bubbud. It is amazing to catch a familiar with revive so early in the game (Yule) In 2013 I put off the sidequest. This time I ground it out when I got it.

Turns out I have the Mad Scientist trophy but I have to open all hidden chests and tame all familiars. I am just before Nevermore now and I got the bonus for familiars and the second bonus for drops. I plan to grind out the drops for gems before moving on. Stealing is useless unless Swaine gets a gold glim and he always gets blocked when a gold glim appears. I will just fight until they drop. At least half of them are available at this point. Auroralynx drops Healing Tear. I would rather have the gem than an auroralynx.

[Schnittertm]

You think 103 hours is bad? I've tried to finish all achievements for Dragon Quest Heroes 2 and am sitting at 173 hours there and still haven't finished all. Part of it is due to the fact that you have to mindlessly grind the same mobs in one area for hours and hours on end to get weapon proficiency to level 20 for all weapons. After that you'd still have to grind mini medals and the randomized dungeon modes to get all types of weapons. Now that is what I'd call a mindless grind.

Though I guess it is still somewhat better than another RPG, Baten Kaitos on the Gamecube, which has a speedrun at about 342 hours for 100% compeletion. This isn't due to grinding or anything like that, but rather because there is one item that takes two weeks real time to upgrade and you need that for a 100% completion.

[Drawable]

Originally posted by Schnittertm:

You think 103 hours is bad? I've tried to finish all achievements for Dragon Quest Heroes 2 and am sitting at 173 hours there and still haven't finished all. Part of it is due to the fact that you have to mindlessly grind the same mobs in one area for hours and hours on end to get weapon proficiency to level 20 for all weapons. After that you'd still have to grind mini medals and the randomized dungeon modes to get all types of weapons. Now that is what I'd call a mindless grind.

Though I guess it is still somewhat better than another RPG, Baten Kaitos on the Gamecube, which has a speedrun at about 342 hours for 100% compeletion. This isn't due to grinding or anything like that, but rather because there is one item that takes two weeks real time to upgrade and you need that for a 100% completion.

So? I mean of course there are other games out there with much worse grinding to deal with but this isn't about that. I was simply making a post warning people who don't have hours to spend mindlessly grinding IN THIS GAME that's all. Sure that's a lot more hours than what Ni No Kuni puts you through but that doesn't make 30 or so hours of grinding any less unappealing. Thanks for the comment though.

[Schnittertm]

It might not make it less appealing, but at least there is still a bit of variety there. In DQH2 there is no variety if you grind for weapon proficiencies.

[Jor-Mun-Gandr]

Now I wonder how much time I put into Baten Kaitos and its sequel. a lot I guess.