Greetings,

This is Ostarion and I am new to both this site and video games in general. The reason I decided to sign up is for two reasons. Partly because all of my Japanese students ( I teach in Japan) know so much about video games and I don't and partly because I am somewhat intrigued. You see, I did try to get into American video games while I was still in the United states but I find them to be overly complicated.

Long story short, my Japanese students convinced me to try video games again but this time, Japanese video games, claiming them to be better. (I am of course aware that the Japanese in general prefer domestic goods rather than foreign goods but that is a viewpoint born out of culture rather than any serious distaste for anything other than Japanese.) The game they convinced me to try is Dragon quest. Everyone in Japan seems to know about this game.

The game is difficult be relatively simple, quite a relief from the games in the U.S. I tried some years back. I beat the game eventually so now I want to finish the rest of the series and try other Japanese games as well. If Dragon Quest is representative of the Japanese philosophy on video games then I definitely prefer it to the more complex and suspense driven games of the United States (as far as I know.)

I hope to enjoy learning about those video games as I play them here.

Hello Ostarion, nice to meet you and welcome to Vizzed Board.

Wow, you teach in Japan? So cool! How does Japan look? Is that what you expected before going there? I'm just curious because it's one of my favorite destinations. I love travelling, exploring the world, yes I feel myself like an explorer or an adventurer

I see your students have good taste in videogames, Dragon Quest is a good series to try, they didn't mention Final Fantasy, oh well I suggest you to try this one too and Phantasy Star. Another one that I completely forgot: the Tales of... (Vesperia, Symphonia, Phantasia), I think it's ok ^^

Enjoy your stay here, have fun and feel free to ask if you have any questions, sir

Actually they did mention final fantasy, but they insisted that I try dragon quest first.

I initially went to Japan as a career option in teaching English as a second language. As usual, no matter what you seem to read about, nothing is quite the same as actually coming to Japan.

For example, popular culture is more integrated within all of the industries through advertising and special offers than in the United States. Indeed even the textbooks I use in class have what the Japanese refer to as 'Anime and Manga' characters and art style.

So do I; it certainly seems that I will enjoy my time here at vizzed.

Teaching in Japan (or internationally for that matter) is interesting because you almost get celebrity status amongst students due to how you look. However, it can be relatively difficult to find a position if you have no experience speaking Japanese or living in Japan. I was relatively lucky because of my background (In which I am Chinese) which is more familiar to the Japanese than the West.

On another note, I assume that most users will share their thoughts or ideas once they have beaten a game. If this is true then I will share my thoughts on Dragon Warrior shortly in another forum suited to it.

Thank you for your advice.