I popped into my Neopets account recently to toy around, as I do every year or two just to see how things are going. Boy, has the site gone downhill over the years. It's absolutely tragic, and what's left is a largely hollow shell. I still keep coming back now and then out of nostalgia, to laugh at my stocks, and to play Neoquest. I'm glad someone's been talking about it so recently, because as simple as the Neoquest games are, they are well constructed examples of classic RPGs. I remember when the first Neoquest came out you couldn't play it at peak hours because the site simply couldn't handle as much traffic as it was already getting. Times sure have changed since then.
You're quite right with this comment. I occasionally check my account too, and each time I do so, I'm reminded that I'll likely never come back to the site for good. I do still hope that they can prove me wrong at some point, though.
Really glad to see this game made an impact on others. Yes it was primitive, yes it was overblown with random encounters. But fuck dude taking down Teresk II on insane for the first time was a really good feeling. Way better than Xantan reborn, he was pretty anticlimactic. Probably the first feat of gaming I was genuinely proud of.
Played neo quest 2 when I was a kid didn't understand most of the dialogue or story only the gist of it due to poor English at the time but even so I still enjoy playing this, got a bronze trophy out of it and it was very satisfying. Also agrees with most of what you said in the video such as opening a guide to play the game hahah and the frustrating aspect of loading pages each time you perform an action.
Great video, I hope you get big soon. I hope you don't find my long comment unbearable, but I'd really like to tell someone my views on NeoQuest 1 and 2. Although it's an unpopular opinion, I always liked the charm of NeoQuest 1 more (though I enjoy all of Mr Insane's games), but NQ1 was what got me into JRPGs. It was so fun for its time though it played like a SNES JRPG, in 1999 or 2000 I remember the original announcement of NeoQuest, there was a big speedrunning competition (not like livestreams you see nowadays haha), but basically if you were the first to beat it you'd get special prizes. It was the old internet, I played it on release day with no guides but I remember we had the Neoboards and Guilds, and we all shared our tips with each other (no custom avatars back then though). I beat it in a few days completely blind and still didn't win the competition, but I suspect there were extremely skilled players, who were used to old-school JRPGs, who probably beat it in one sitting. There are records for also being able to beat the games in a minimal amount of time, but sadly a lot of them used cheats and the security even back then wasn't good. What I really enjoyed about NQ1 was its rich lore, the worldbuilding was actually decent and I enjoyed the different areas and bosses, it really felt like a fantasy world for Neopets and NQ1 was set in what would've been Neopets' medieval times. I also really liked the difficulty (NQ2 is easy compared to NQ1), you had to actually gather drops from enemies to make better weapons, you had to talk to many NPC's to progress, and you even had multiple final bosses depending on your difficulty. I liked making your own build for your character (compared to NQ2, the builds you can do in NQ1 are vastly different, and in NQ1 you could get a lot of passives that really had a lot of synergy even though you only had 1 protagonist) and I liked the smaller scope 1 used. Most people didn't like this approach, but I liked it. NQ2 was also an amazing game, but I just didn't like its approach. See, NQ1 was completely novel and fantasy and its characters and plot are featured nowhere else, whereas NQ2 used a lot of characters that were not new like Meridell had Skarl and Fairyland had Fiora who was already a Neopets character, etc. if you see what I mean. Though I do respect your point where you say that NQ2 does let you see these characters from the site in a new light, but I just really liked how NQ1 was completely fictional, it truely felt like a game within a game and really felt original. Yeah I really enjoyed NQ2's long length, and it has guaranteed prizes for beating it, but I just didn't like the whole ("spoiler") approach after act 1 BUT I do admit it was an interesting twist and they did take risks. Most of the game is more forgiving and you generally don't have to talk to too many NPC's anymore to progress, and the bosses are a lot easier in NQ2. Seriously, in NQ1 I remember Gors, The Temple of Roo's Archmagus Roo, and Faelinn all being brutal bosses, but they're all technically optional but you need their boss item drops for better weapons. If you pay attention to the plot and talk to the right people, you can even skip fighting Faelinn which I loved, but it's not a good idea, you should make sure you can beat her to make sure you can handle the endgame bosses. The final boss, Jahbal, is downright terrible on Insane and you actually need to not get unlucky - he can freeze you for 3 turns and he does 150+ damage per turn, if your frozen you need to BEG he doesn't use his powerful attack each time because your max HP is only like 300 at the max level. I've died on Insane mode to this and it was just bad luck, no build can help you! Not to mention many bosses in NQ1 actually have vampire spells, they'll not only damage you but heal themselves with the damage they dealt, sheesh! And if you're on Insane difficulty on NQ1, you actually have to fight 3 bosses back to back, they're easier as you go along, but it is an endurance test so you need to come prepared. In NQ1's insane mode I really liked how the first boss who is really weak and pathetic ends up becoming the true final boss with a giant scary form, with his own flash cutscenes too! I was a fan of the team of four party in NQ2, but again I was disappointed you couldn't make your own builds to the same extent you could in 1, but at the same time I suppose it protects the player from themselves. Some bosses were really fun though in NQ2, like the 4 Faeries who imitate your team of four, that was a nice fight on Insane difficulty I'll admit (from the video you didn't like them that much haha, you really need to focus fire on that healing faerie first). At the same time, I think NQ2 was a tad bloated. 8:28 Funny thing is that NQ2 upgraded the field of view, NQ1 had only like a basic 8 square field of view around your character (a 1 square radius around your character) it was horrible haha but back then it was fun! I enjoyed all the janky Flash cutscenes in both of them though. I watched this video, and it does make me depressed how Neopets was destroyed by itself and politics, man was it so much fun back in the day. Seriously, the old developers were amazing, and I used to play and be in the top 10 for all of Mr. Insane's games, they really play like a lot of SNES games and now I can play hard retro JRPGs with no problem. You really hit the nail on the head, most of us were poor and all we had was a computer and time. I played a lot of NeoPets and Runescape which were popular in their heyday. Thanks again for making this video.
Thank you for such an in-depth and kind comment! I definitely agree with your points about NQ1 (and that game was WAY too hard for me when I was a kid that I never ended up finishing it lol), and I definitely wish Neopets wasn't destroyed as you said it was.
I know this video is kinda old now, but this was a really great and thorough look at the game! Having just finished NQ1/started NQ2 this week, what really stands out to me is how different they feel, even though they're built on the same general system. NQ1 has all those different magic styles and their associated weapons, so theoretically, it could've made for a really neat character-building setup. But because of the game's restrictions and difficulty, it's not well-balanced. You've got one character and very limited healing options - not even any inns or shops! - so damage-mitigation becomes the name of the game. Why bother blasting enemies with fire and ice when shock and evasion let you stun enemies altogether or avoid damage entirely? NQ2 is simpler, with just the damage boosts and choosing between single-target/group-target skills, but spreading them across four separate characters alone makes everything feel more engaging. The level progression is also way less grindy (which says a lot about NQ1, lemme tell you :Y ), and having inns and shops helps to round everything out better. Honestly, playing NQ2 right now makes me wonder how well it could translate to something like RPG Maker. That's kinda the vibe it gives me: a simple but solid RPG Maker game, in the best and most positive way possible.
Stumbled across this video when just searching CZcams for Neopets things. I just realised recently the NeoQuest games seem to be based off of Dragon Warrior for the NES, even if you search for the maps there's an uncanny resemblance.
I just finished neoquest 2 about a week ago. It was definitely a tedious experience, but I am happy to have finished something I started a decade ago. Now I want to try my hands on neoquest 1, but sadly there aren't that many guides out there.
who knows? maybe when neopets comes on switch and gen z brings it on its wave of popularity. imagine if its neoquest or even some other darkest faerie sequel? a boy could dream again can't we?
Lol I think you might be misremembering I’m pretty sure it was available at all times but you were probably restricted in the hours you were allowed to play because like the rest of us you played on dial up 😂
This game was clearly bounds over all the other games on the site. A lot of time and love was put into this game.
Agreed!
I popped into my Neopets account recently to toy around, as I do every year or two just to see how things are going. Boy, has the site gone downhill over the years. It's absolutely tragic, and what's left is a largely hollow shell. I still keep coming back now and then out of nostalgia, to laugh at my stocks, and to play Neoquest. I'm glad someone's been talking about it so recently, because as simple as the Neoquest games are, they are well constructed examples of classic RPGs. I remember when the first Neoquest came out you couldn't play it at peak hours because the site simply couldn't handle as much traffic as it was already getting. Times sure have changed since then.
You're quite right with this comment. I occasionally check my account too, and each time I do so, I'm reminded that I'll likely never come back to the site for good. I do still hope that they can prove me wrong at some point, though.
Really glad to see this game made an impact on others. Yes it was primitive, yes it was overblown with random encounters. But fuck dude taking down Teresk II on insane for the first time was a really good feeling. Way better than Xantan reborn, he was pretty anticlimactic. Probably the first feat of gaming I was genuinely proud of.
Played neo quest 2 when I was a kid didn't understand most of the dialogue or story only the gist of it due to poor English at the time but even so I still enjoy playing this, got a bronze trophy out of it and it was very satisfying. Also agrees with most of what you said in the video such as opening a guide to play the game hahah and the frustrating aspect of loading pages each time you perform an action.
Great video, I hope you get big soon. I hope you don't find my long comment unbearable, but I'd really like to tell someone my views on NeoQuest 1 and 2.
Although it's an unpopular opinion, I always liked the charm of NeoQuest 1 more (though I enjoy all of Mr Insane's games), but NQ1 was what got me into JRPGs. It was so fun for its time though it played like a SNES JRPG, in 1999 or 2000 I remember the original announcement of NeoQuest, there was a big speedrunning competition (not like livestreams you see nowadays haha), but basically if you were the first to beat it you'd get special prizes.
It was the old internet, I played it on release day with no guides but I remember we had the Neoboards and Guilds, and we all shared our tips with each other (no custom avatars back then though). I beat it in a few days completely blind and still didn't win the competition, but I suspect there were extremely skilled players, who were used to old-school JRPGs, who probably beat it in one sitting.
There are records for also being able to beat the games in a minimal amount of time, but sadly a lot of them used cheats and the security even back then wasn't good.
What I really enjoyed about NQ1 was its rich lore, the worldbuilding was actually decent and I enjoyed the different areas and bosses, it really felt like a fantasy world for Neopets and NQ1 was set in what would've been Neopets' medieval times.
I also really liked the difficulty (NQ2 is easy compared to NQ1), you had to actually gather drops from enemies to make better weapons, you had to talk to many NPC's to progress, and you even had multiple final bosses depending on your difficulty.
I liked making your own build for your character (compared to NQ2, the builds you can do in NQ1 are vastly different, and in NQ1 you could get a lot of passives that really had a lot of synergy even though you only had 1 protagonist) and I liked the smaller scope 1 used. Most people didn't like this approach, but I liked it.
NQ2 was also an amazing game, but I just didn't like its approach.
See, NQ1 was completely novel and fantasy and its characters and plot are featured nowhere else, whereas NQ2 used a lot of characters that were not new like Meridell had Skarl and Fairyland had Fiora who was already a Neopets character, etc. if you see what I mean. Though I do respect your point where you say that NQ2 does let you see these characters from the site in a new light, but I just really liked how NQ1 was completely fictional, it truely felt like a game within a game and really felt original.
Yeah I really enjoyed NQ2's long length, and it has guaranteed prizes for beating it, but I just didn't like the whole ("spoiler") approach after act 1 BUT I do admit it was an interesting twist and they did take risks. Most of the game is more forgiving and you generally don't have to talk to too many NPC's anymore to progress, and the bosses are a lot easier in NQ2.
Seriously, in NQ1 I remember Gors, The Temple of Roo's Archmagus Roo, and Faelinn all being brutal bosses, but they're all technically optional but you need their boss item drops for better weapons. If you pay attention to the plot and talk to the right people, you can even skip fighting Faelinn which I loved, but it's not a good idea, you should make sure you can beat her to make sure you can handle the endgame bosses.
The final boss, Jahbal, is downright terrible on Insane and you actually need to not get unlucky - he can freeze you for 3 turns and he does 150+ damage per turn, if your frozen you need to BEG he doesn't use his powerful attack each time because your max HP is only like 300 at the max level. I've died on Insane mode to this and it was just bad luck, no build can help you!
Not to mention many bosses in NQ1 actually have vampire spells, they'll not only damage you but heal themselves with the damage they dealt, sheesh! And if you're on Insane difficulty on NQ1, you actually have to fight 3 bosses back to back, they're easier as you go along, but it is an endurance test so you need to come prepared. In NQ1's insane mode I really liked how the first boss who is really weak and pathetic ends up becoming the true final boss with a giant scary form, with his own flash cutscenes too!
I was a fan of the team of four party in NQ2, but again I was disappointed you couldn't make your own builds to the same extent you could in 1, but at the same time I suppose it protects the player from themselves.
Some bosses were really fun though in NQ2, like the 4 Faeries who imitate your team of four, that was a nice fight on Insane difficulty I'll admit (from the video you didn't like them that much haha, you really need to focus fire on that healing faerie first).
At the same time, I think NQ2 was a tad bloated. 8:28 Funny thing is that NQ2 upgraded the field of view, NQ1 had only like a basic 8 square field of view around your character (a 1 square radius around your character) it was horrible haha but back then it was fun! I enjoyed all the janky Flash cutscenes in both of them though.
I watched this video, and it does make me depressed how Neopets was destroyed by itself and politics, man was it so much fun back in the day. Seriously, the old developers were amazing, and I used to play and be in the top 10 for all of Mr. Insane's games, they really play like a lot of SNES games and now I can play hard retro JRPGs with no problem.
You really hit the nail on the head, most of us were poor and all we had was a computer and time. I played a lot of NeoPets and Runescape which were popular in their heyday. Thanks again for making this video.
Thank you for such an in-depth and kind comment! I definitely agree with your points about NQ1 (and that game was WAY too hard for me when I was a kid that I never ended up finishing it lol), and I definitely wish Neopets wasn't destroyed as you said it was.
Wow another NQ1 preferrer in the wild. 👋
I KNEW I DIDNT IMAGINE THIS GAME
I know this video is kinda old now, but this was a really great and thorough look at the game!
Having just finished NQ1/started NQ2 this week, what really stands out to me is how different they feel, even though they're built on the same general system. NQ1 has all those different magic styles and their associated weapons, so theoretically, it could've made for a really neat character-building setup. But because of the game's restrictions and difficulty, it's not well-balanced. You've got one character and very limited healing options - not even any inns or shops! - so damage-mitigation becomes the name of the game. Why bother blasting enemies with fire and ice when shock and evasion let you stun enemies altogether or avoid damage entirely?
NQ2 is simpler, with just the damage boosts and choosing between single-target/group-target skills, but spreading them across four separate characters alone makes everything feel more engaging. The level progression is also way less grindy (which says a lot about NQ1, lemme tell you :Y ), and having inns and shops helps to round everything out better.
Honestly, playing NQ2 right now makes me wonder how well it could translate to something like RPG Maker. That's kinda the vibe it gives me: a simple but solid RPG Maker game, in the best and most positive way possible.
Late reply -- but yeah, NQ2 as an RPG Maker game would actually be a nice project for someone to take on lol
Stumbled across this video when just searching CZcams for Neopets things. I just realised recently the NeoQuest games seem to be based off of Dragon Warrior for the NES, even if you search for the maps there's an uncanny resemblance.
This actually blows my mind lol
I just finished neoquest 2 about a week ago. It was definitely a tedious experience, but I am happy to have finished something I started a decade ago. Now I want to try my hands on neoquest 1, but sadly there aren't that many guides out there.
yeah, after idnq went down, there doesn't seem to be a lot of reliable guides out there
who knows? maybe when neopets comes on switch and gen z brings it on its wave of popularity. imagine if its neoquest or even some other darkest faerie sequel? a boy could dream again can't we?
yeah, maybe it just has to go viral on tiktok lol
Neoquest 2 best RPG
I know it's been a year and you probably won't even see my comment but should also talk about NQ1
cant stop binging this guys videos love the content plus the runescape bgm is an added plus lol
thanks for the support!
I loved this game as a kid.. never got enough of a time to play it though, because it was only available during certain hours?! Who remembers that lol
I actually don't remember that, but I was restricted to certain hours to play regardless lol
Lol I think you might be misremembering I’m pretty sure it was available at all times but you were probably restricted in the hours you were allowed to play because like the rest of us you played on dial up 😂