I just checked, and Dragon Quest 2 released in January of the same year as both of those games and ends with you fighting Malroth, god of destruction. If anything is patient zero, it’s the Dragon Quest series.

You can always spot a Kirby fan based on how they react to a butterfly appearing late into the game.

I was enchanted by the game the moment I saw how it was played, I loved it as soon as I started playing, and I was captivated as soon as Ash’s plot played out. At one point, the game said my life’s philosophy in plain text, and another person said it was dumb and pointed out the flaws in that philosophy.

How good are the characters? As soon as I learned you can exhaust dialogue trees, there was not a soul I didn’t wander next to to hear more dialogue.

How good is the soundtrack? I have learned how to play I Want To Be The Hero on ukulele.

It’s tragic, but it isn’t surprising. They were really hoping for another hit like Saints Row, and they just didn’t get it. Sad to see them go, none the less.