So Dragon Quest IX is out tomorrow(In Japan)

[Llydis]

I cannot wait for the surprised reactions to it's sales, long lines, and such from the blogosphere.

I also can't wait for it to come out over here, but that's another story.

What is surprising though are the reactions of people who have never played a Dragon Quest game before,or started with VIII and the news of some of it's features and stuff like 1 adventure log slot only for this version. Actually I'd be interested in seeing people's 1st time reactions to the first Dragon Quest in this modern age.

The major complaints seem to be that since Dragon Quest IX has one save slot, it'll be hard to beat the game if you're stuck in a dungeon. Anyone who has played Dragon Quest before knows you're never stuck in a dungeon... There's also no game over screen in one. As slow as a Dragon Quest's pace is, and the difficulty of some of it's bosses the game never hates you for not being able to beat one.

Iunno. For a series that is the originator of the modern Japanese RPG there seems to be a lot of misunderstanding of how it plays. The only other games I can think of that are analogous to Dragon Quest in it's play style are the Earthbound/Mother games and Pokemon if someone who plays JRPGs constantly needs some sort of modern game comparison.

I was also annoyed with the reactions to it being on DS originally by people who started with VIII. Mostly because they didn't pay attention to what platforms Dragon Quest games have been released on. I'm pretty sure if PSP or PS3 were the dominant systems in Japan IX and X would be going to those. It is kind of weird a mainline Dragon Quest title is going to a portable. But, everyone and their grandmother in Japan seems to have a DS so it was a logical choice I guess.

Ah well, Dragon Quest IX looks pretty good IMO. I'm glad that the game allows for some character customization in appearance and such. There have been light facets of it before in DQ/DW III's class system and changes in appearance with the hero and Jessica in VIII(moreso Jessica). But, it's going to a much more customizable in IX which is a good sign.

Also IX is going to have a quest system which is somehow becoming more popular in JRPGs lately. Like with Star Ocean 4. Hopefully Dragon Quest IX will make that kind of feature more popular in JRPGs.

Although JRPGs kind of bore me nowadays, Dragon Quest seems to be a series I enjoy even if it is a bit still set in it's roots. It's probably because it's a comfort food game that I know how the gameplay system works, what spells and attacks do what and such. There's also a charm to playing them that you don't get from games that take themselves too seriously, and usually the NPCs you meet tend to have something interesting to say. I'm just wondering how long it'll take for us to get the game.

[FortNinety]

All I've got to say is that it's hilarious how there was a copy floating around the internet a few days ago that presented you with hentai before permanently frying your DS.

[Llydis]

Just goes to show how popular the game is, I guess.

One of the reasons I don't like doing that kind of thing is mostly because I don't know if I'm downloading something that won't mess up something in some way. You never know, especially since SE is kind of sneaky in how they make games practically unplayable if you pirate them nowadays.

[dmauro]

lol Joe got a virus on his computer trying to download a DS rom. I guess that's the hot new way to grief?

[Llydis]

Yeah, I think it's always been the case with downloading ROMs though. Going through sources you can trust and such.

In DQ IX news, Tim Rogers is covering the launch for Kotaku.

http://kotaku.com/5312366/you-too-can-experience-the-dragon-quest-ix-launch#pager

I'm beginning to wonder how many people's image of Japan is getting a little realer because of it. Other than that, it's a nice turnout for a game that already had 2 million pre-orders.

Iwata said that Nintendo of America is going to give it a marketing push when it comes over here. Still not sure how well it'd catch on with the DS crowd, but hopefully it'll see more sales than VIII since gamers were reintroduced to the series with that one.

[isfet]

i want to play this game

i really love the Dragon Quest games of this era i.e. the remakes and new games.

i find the original NES games to be cute, but unplayable.  the DS remakes have been wonderful, though, and DQ8 was a lot of fun.


the only thing with IX is that it's lost a lot of its oomph for me.

initially it was going to be a realtime battle multiplayer game.

then it went back to turn based.

and now it's multiplayer only locally (no wi-fi).  which, i guess is popular and works in Japan, because they keep making shit like that, but really, who am i going to play this game with that i know personally?  let alone three other people.

[FortNinety]

Well, let's see...

You have the summer off, Dave has the summer off, I have the summer off... we need a fourth unemployed/waiting for school to start bum to start a game.

And while we wait for an English patched version of the game to surface,  how about Monster Hunter Freedom Unite instead?

[isfet]

but you're both gonna hate DQ9



also, i find it kind of hilarious every time i see a Monster Hunter poster in a subway car.  i guess i'm more surprised, than anything else.

[isfet]

i can't get the ROM to load in my M3.  i assume there will be some kind of patched ROM sometime in the future, but i want to play my customizable DQ RIGHT NOW

[FortNinety]

Haven't tried it myself, but have you updated to the latest Sakura OS? Seems to run most games that I couldn't in the regular software. Though Bob's Game doesn't work with it... just as well.

[isfet]

where might i get said OS?  i'm willing to try it out.  don't really know which OS i'm currently using, but i know there's a few.

[FortNinety]

Here you go...

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?download=5113

[isfet]

well, that GUI is certainly nicer than the one i had been using before, but unfortunately, the ROM still won't load.  it basically loads up a blank white screen and nothing more.  it seems to an issue across the board.

doesn't really matter all that much since my Japanese reading comprehension isn't all that great to begin with, but it would be nice to try this game out a little bit before it comes out here in a few months or a year or whatever.

[FortNinety]

Every single game news source has been covering the launch, but the only one that really counts is Sankaku Complex...

http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2009/07/13/dragon-quest-ix-release-total-fiasco/

[dmauro]

Yeah, sorry. I'm not going to be playing this.