The Dragon Quest franchise is undoubtedly one of the most prominent names in the RPG genre. It ranks with the likes of Final Fantasy and Pokémon in terms of cultural relevance, and it shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. 2023’s Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince was a hit, for instance. Early teaser footage of the upcoming Dragon Quest XII shows a radical departure in tone for the relatively lighthearted fantasy series. Of course, the series has been active and busy since its debut all the way back in 1986. The first Dragon Quest had a bit of a slow launch, but subsequent games like 1987’s Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line helped pick up the slack.
Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line Premise
©Screenshot from Dragon Quest II – License
Like its predecessor Dragon Quest, Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line is also a turn-based RPG. It is the first game in the series to introduce party members, something that’s now more or less an expected feature of most turn-based RPGs. Unlike its contemporaries, Dragon Quest II’s party members must be found in the world and recruited into your party throughout your journey. Incidentally, this is another thing that’s generally accepted as the norm in modern NPCs. Major examples like Persona 5 even give new party members a dedicated arc to explore their characters and personal motivations while they become acquainted with the rest of the group.
Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line picks up 100 years after the events of the first game. The evil wizard Hargon attacks Moonbrooke Castle in his scheme to summon the demon Malroth and go on to destroy the world. The King of Midenhall, upon learning of the attack, sends his son to travel the world and defeat Hargon, before his grim purpose can come to pass. The Prince is eventually joined by his cousins, the Prince of Cannock and the Princess of Moonbrooke. In their journey to bring down Hargon they travel the wide world, even visiting Alefgard, the setting of the previous game.
Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line Main Characters
©Screenshot from Dragon Quest II – License
As the first Dragon Quest game with a party, Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line has a slightly more robust list of characters than its predecessor. During your travels to overthrow the evil wizard Hargon, you will meet some surprising characters. Here are some of the most important people to know in Dragon Quest II.
- The Prince of Midenhall: The Prince of Midenhall is the main player character and the one you start your journey with. In addition to being the son of the King, the prince is also a descendant of the legendary hero Erdrick, who fans of the first game will no doubt be intimately familiar with. Unlike the heroes of the other games in the franchise, the Prince of Midenhall does not have any magical abilities. He is a traditional warrior, who chiefly gets through situations by the strength of his sword arm.
- The Prince of Cannock: The second party member in the game, the Prince of Cannock, is something of a jack of all trades. He cannot wield quite as many varieties of weapons and armor as the Prince of Midenhall, and he isn’t quite as adept at magic as the other companion, the Princess of Moonbrooke. He makes up for this with a very important specialty in healing magic, making him an indispensable companion on your quest.
- The Princess of Moonbrooke: As a member of the royal family of the original kingdom Hargon attacked, the Princess of Moonbrooke is closer to the heart of the conflict than most characters. She is also a very powerful mage, making her an important character to recruit for your party. Unfortunately, when her kingdom was attacked, Hargon used his sinister magic to turn her into a dog. You must find a way to break the Princess’s curse before she can accompany you.
- The Dragonlord’s Grandson: Surprisingly enough, the descendant of the original game’s main antagonist also appears in Dragon Quest II. Unlike his grandfather, the Dragonlord’s Grandson is not hostile. On the contrary, he’s quite friendly, and happy to offer assistance in overthrowing the evil Hargon. The advice he gives the main characters is invaluable to overthrowing the evil sorcerer.
Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line Titles in the Series
Dragon Quest is undoubtedly one of the longest-running RPG franchises out there, and there have been countless entries in the main series. There have also been numerous spinoffs released over the years. Most prominent among these are the Monster Hunter franchise, where players can collect and train monsters like Pokémon, and Dragon Quest Builders, which takes the characters and unique art style of the game and puts a Minecraft-style spin on the whole thing. Here is a full list of every Dragon Quest game that has been released so far.
- Dragon Quest (1986)
- Dragon Quest II (1987)
- Dragon Quest III (1988)
- Dragon Quest IV (1990)
- Dragon Quest V (1992)
- Torneko’s Great Adventure: Mystery Dungeon (1993)
- Dragon Quest VI (1995)
- Dragon Warrior Monsters (1998)
- Torneko: The Last Hope (1999)
- Dragon Quest VII (2000)
- Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 (2001)
- Dragon Quest Characters: Torneko’s Great Adventure 3 – Mystery Dungeon (2002)
- Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart (2003)
- Slime Mori Mori Dragon Quest (2003)
- Swordmaster Dragon Quest: Resurrection of the Legendary Sword (2003)
- Dragon Quest VIII (2004)
- Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime (2005)
- Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker (2006)
- Dragon Quest: Young Yangus and the Mystery Dungeon (2006)
- Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road (2007)
- Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors (2007)
- Dragon Quest IX (2009)
- Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road II (2009)
- Dragon Quest Wars (2009)
- Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 (2010)
- Dragon Quest Monsters: Wanted! (2010)
- Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road Victory (2010)
- Slime Mori Mori Dragon Quest 3 (2011)
- Dragon Quest X (2012)
- Dragon Quest Monster Parade (2013)
- Dragon Quest Monsters: Super Light (2014)
- Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree’s Woe and the Blight Below (2015)
- Theatrhythm Dragon Quest (2015)
- Dragon Quest of the Stars (2015)
- Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3 (2016)
- Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road Scanner (2016)
- Dragon Quest Builders (2016)
- Dragon Quest Heroes II (2016)
- Dragon Quest XI (2017)
- Dragon Quest Rivals (2017)
- Dragon Quest Builders 2 (2018)
- Dragon Quest Walk (2019)
- Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai: Xross Blade (2020)
- Dragon Quest Tact (2020)
- Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai: A Hero’s Bonds (2021)
- Dragon Quest Keshi Keshi (2021)
- Dragon Quest Treasures (2022)
- Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai (2023)
- Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince (2023)
Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line Cheat Codes
©Screenshot from Dragon Quest II – License
Unfortunately, there isn’t much in the way of cheat codes for Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line. There’s really just one behind-the-scenes exploit you can try, and that has to do with the characters’ names. Just like in the first game, you can freely name the main character whatever you want. However, using a little exploit revealed on GameFAQs, you can also change the names of your two party members as well. When you start a new game and name your hero, simply hold Select and Start before typing in the last letter. After you finish naming the hero, you should be taken to a second screen where you can name the Prince of Cannock. Just repeat the process on his screen and you can do the same for the Princess of Moonbrooke as well.
Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line Cheats FAQ
How long is Dragon Quest II? Nowadays, RPGs have a reputation for packing in hundreds of hours of length. Even Dragon Quest XI S, the most recent entry in the series, has an overwhelming runtime of 90-122 hours. However, this is very much a recent trend. Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line is only 15-20 hours in length, making it a very short game by modern Dragon Quest standards.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©Screenshot from Dragon Quest II.