Square Enix demonstrated the world's first glimpse of Dragon Quest X through a live stream tonight. As the company has previously indicated, the next Dragon Quest game will be for Wii; and, as some predicted, it will also feature an MMO-like style that expands on the multiplayer component of Dragon Quest IX. In fact, the title of the game is "Dragon Quest X Online: Rise of the Five Tribes."
The game demo displayed footage in a style that feels like a combination of Dragon Quest VIII's visual style and world view mixed with the original MMO action-style trailer for DQIX, complete with breakout (non-random) battle sequences that allow players to move about freely during combat while selecting commands from a menu. It's certainly not as radical a departure from series tradition as the original design of DQIX, but rather seems like an evolution of the final version of that game into a proper online game.
Series creator Yuji Horii and other key personnel were on-hand to describe the game's behind-the-scenes story. Apparently DQX will be first game in the series to be developed by an internal Square Enix team (previous titles since the original having been contracted out to developers like Chun Soft, Heartbeat, TOSE, and Level-5). Development is being headed up by Yosuke Saito, whose most recent project, Nier, has become a cult phenomenon among certain RPG fanatics. While Nier and Dragon Quest could make for some strange bedfellows, at the very least it probably won't be boring.
Like DQIX, the upcoming game will feature dynamic character stylings, beginning with an Akira Toriyama build-a-hero char-gen system and extending to designs that reflect your current choice of equipment. New to this chapter will be the ability to take on the role not only of the standard human hero in either gender, but also other fantasy races like Ogres and Elves. The creators seem keen to stress the importance of teamwork, taking a lone hero up against a Golem and suffering a quick defeat, then returning with a full party of other players to seek revenge.
The idea of a multiplayer online game for Wii is hardly unprecedented, as Monster Hunter Tri was praised for its cooperative online experience. DQIX often felt like the series' attempt to borrow from Capcom's breakout hit, and DQX appears to be Square Enix taking their inspiration to the next level.
The Internet's initial reaction -- at least judging by comments on several major forums -- appears to be one of dismay this turn of events. As for ourselves, we'll reserve judgment until we see the game in action -- hopefully there'll be more details next week at Tokyo Game Show -- though the move to online is certainly neither an unexpected or unprecedented one for the series. [Edit: It wasn't entirely clear from the presentation, but it seems DQX includes another similarity to its predecessor in that it supports offline play as well. Among other features, the game is said to include the ability to let your own hero avatar appear as an NPC in other players' worlds while you're offline, possibly through a Mii Parade-like mingle system.]
What is unexpected is Nintendo president Satoru Iwata's announcement that DQX will come to Wii U with potential graphical improvements and cross-platform play with the Wii version. Horii recently confirmed that DQX would be a Wii game, so seeing online speculation that the game would be ported to Wii U come partially true is a little surprising. Iwata also indicated that the game will feature some sort of cross-compatibility with 3DS, possibly in the form of a Street Pass-enabled character viewer.
DQX will launch in Japan sometime in 2012. And since it's coming to Nintendo platforms, that means we actually stand a reasonable chance of seeing it in the U.S. nine to 12 months later; Nintendo appears committed to localizing Dragon Quest, whereas Square Enix has more or less given up. More details on the game should be forthcoming next week, either at TGS or else in the Japanese launch of the Dragon Quest 25th Anniversary Collection set for Wii.
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