Dragon Quest IX

Main series games Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies
North American box art Developer(s) Level-5 Publisher(s) Square Enix Designer(s) Yūji Horii
Akihiro Hino Artist(s) Akira Toriyama Composer(s) Kōichi Sugiyama Series Dragon Quest Platform(s) Nintendo DS Release date(s) ^JP July 11, 2009
^NA July 11, 2010
^EU July 23, 2010
Genre(s) Role-playing game Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer Rating(s) CERO: A
Media Nintendo DS Game Card

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (Hoshizora no Mamoribito, ドラゴンクエストIX 星空の守り人) is the ninth installment of the main Dragon Quest series, and the first to be initially released on a handheld console. The game was released on July 11, 2009 in Japan. It will be released in July 2010 in both North America and Europe.

Plot

Dragon Quest IX begins in the Observatory, the floating kingdom of the Celestrians, including the main protagonist, reside. The main character begins as the guardian who has just undertaken protection of Angel Falls, a human village. The Celestrians have been trying for some time to move into the God's Land. However, before they can leave, they require a fruit called the fygg. The fruit is very rare and Yggdrasil the "World Tree" it grows on must be empowered with benevolessence, which are obtained by helping people in the mortal world,[11] known as the Protectorate. By helping and protecting his town and earning their thanks, the main character obtains enough benevolessence for the World Tree to produce the fyggs. Just as the Starflight Express that will take the angels to the kingdom of God arrives, the Protectorate is attacked from below by a mysterious and powerful force. The force scatters the assembled angels and knocks the fyggs, the Starflight Express, and the main character down to the Protectorate. The main character awakens without wings or a halo and finds he has been rescued from the base of the waterfall in Angel Falls. As he comes to he learns a little about his fall and the great earthquake that happened at the same time. Having lost most of his Celestrian's powers, but not his memory or the ability to see deceased and magical spirits, he travels about trying to find a way back to the Observatory. During an adventure to reconnect his village to the nearby castle after landslides caused by the great earthquake, the main character finds the broken down celestial train and its faerie driver, Stella (? Sandy?). Stella promises to help the main character return to the kingdom of angels if he can prove he is one. By helping humans, the main character gathers benevolessence though he can no longer see them. His ability to aid and protect the humans convinces Stella who, restoring power to the Starflight Express with the benevolessence, helps the main character return to the Observatory. Upon his return, the main character discovers that the fyggs have also fallen to the human world and that many Celestrian have been dispatched to find them, though no one has yet returned. His prayers to become a Celestrian again are unanswered but a vision is presented to the main character as he stands before the World Tree. Taking the vision as a sign, the main character is charged with returning to the human world to help collect the Fyggs. As the main character travels the Protectorate in search of the fyggs he finds that the fruit have the ability to grant those who eat it any wish. Unfortunately, the wishes are not always fulfilled in the way they were expected and those who eat the fruit succumb to strange and demented ways. It is the hero's mission to travel from land to land, finding and battling those possessed by the Goddess Fruit's power. As he defeats their twisted form, the main character sets the possessed free and regains the fyggs one by one. Eventually, the hero learns that a Celestrian named Corvus is responsible for the attack on Yggdrasil and the Starflight Express, and defeats him.

Warning: Spoilers!
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Characters

Aquila: A fellow Celestrian who was your teacher while at the Observatory. later goes missing looking for the Fyggs, but something is strange about his disappearance.

Erinn: Daughter Of The Inncredible Inntertainer, Erinn finds you after you fall into the base of Angle Fall's. She Joins Patty And Takes Over Her Father's In IN Stornway.

Patty: A friend of Erinn's Father who you meet in the Hexagon. Also The Owner Of Patty's Party Planning.

Jona Jones: A Timid girl from Port Llaffan. Her Father turn's into a fake Llevianathan after eating a Fygg.

Stella: A Faerie And Also The Co-captain of the Starflight Express.

Sterling: Captain of the Starflight Express. The one Stella has been looking for.

Serena: A Ghost That When Alive, Found Corvus on a beach south of Wormwood, She Is Also From Wormwood.

[Corvus]: The Guardian Of Wormwood Creek, And Also Aquila's Teacher, Goes Missing After He Falls Down From The Observatory, He Caused The Earthquake And Killed The Almighty One.

Celestia: The Daughter Of The Almighty One, Celestia Sacrificed Herself and transformed into the World Tree Yggdrasil, until it is proven Mortals have goodness in there hearts.

Gameplay

Dragon Quest IX continues the Dragon Quest tradition of turn-based combat, but is much harder than its previous titles. The game allows players to have a cooperative wireless multiplayer experience with up to four players.

The game includes a quest system. Quests serve as side-stories helping non-player characters around the game's world. Multiple quests can be performed simultaneously with some even interlocking and unlocking various stages in fellow quests. Early quests include gathering magical spring water, slaying monsters and stealing for a fellow thief. Unlike previous Dragon Quest installments, Dragon Quest IX contains many open ended mini-quests. Upon completion of the quests, a "Quest List log," serving as an in-game achievement list.

Unlike the other Dragon Quest games, the game includes only one save slot.

Game features

• Highly customizable characters, with many different faces, skin colors, weapons and armors.
• Co-operative play with up to four players through local ad-hoc.
• 3D graphics similar to those found in the previous installment, .Dragon Quest VIII.
• The touch screen will be used for inputting commands during battle
• Real time map like to Dragon Quest VIII

Multiplayer

Dragon Quest IX features various forms of multiplayer using the Nintendo DS's built in wireless. There are 3 different modes.

Co-op Mode

Co-op mode consists of up to 4 DS systems linking together using local wireless (similar to Pictochat) to play together. The 3 guests join the host system's world and can go anywhere which the host has explored. Guests are not required to stay with the host, but rather can wander wherever they like. Battles can be fought as a group with the host having the ability to summon the other players into a battle using the 'Call to Arms' command. Guest players are given a special 'Watchers Wing' item which allows them to teleport back to the inn where wireless can be exited. Players can leave multiplayer at any time by speaking to Pavo at Quester's Rest.

WiFi Shop

Dragon Quest IX features an online WiFi shop which can be accessed from Quester's Rest. This shop sells items and treasure maps which the player can purchase. The contents of the shop vary each week from player to player, so 2 different players will likely have different items for sale each week. Nintendo and Square have used the shop to distribute special bonuses such as bonus party members from past games (Hassan from Dragon Quest VI) and treasure maps which lead to caves featuring past bosses (Zoma, Dragonlord). The WiFi shop can be accessed by talking to Sellma at Quester's Rest. The WiFi shop is the only multiplayer mode that uses WAN internet rather than the DS-to-DS wireless.

Tag Mode

Tag Mode is Dragon Quest IX's passive wireless mode which is active only when the DS is placed into sleep mode. Tag mode is activated by speaking to Erinn at Quester's Rest and selecting the 'Canvass for guests' option. While in tag mode, Dragon Quest IX looks for other Dragon Quest IX games and exchanges data with them.

When data is exchanged, a clone of the main character from each game is placed in the other player's Quester's Rest. This cloned character holds an item which can then be received by talking to him/her. The clone then continues to stay in the upper floors of Quester's Rest unless dimissed by the player. Using tag mode like this, players can exchange various items including equipment and treasure maps with other Dragon Quest IX players.

Tag mode is wildly popular in Japan, breaking several records for most players communicating wirelessly while playing a video game. Treasure maps in particular are highly sought after as some are extremely rare with special items/equipment, while others contain excellent enemies for building levels. Tag mode, however, is dependent on the number of other Dragon Quest IX players using tag mode in any local area.

Development

Dragon Quest IX was primarily designed around the idea of attracting a wider overseas market by "giving the game a more action-oriented premise than previous games in the series. In mid-2006, Dragon Quest series composer Koichi Sugiyama confirmed that Dragon Quest IX is in development. He is quoted by Japanese video game magazine Famitsu as saying, "I'm not sure when Dragon Quest IX will be released, but it seems that progress is continually being made. I'm personally excited." On December 12, 2006, during a press conference celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Dragon Quest franchise, Square Enix announced that Dragon Quest IX will be released exclusively for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console making it the first numbered Dragon Quest title to debut on a handheld.

The Japanese release of Dragon Quest IX was subsequently delayed from 2007 to 2008. The company cited the need for more time to make a better game as reason for the delay. At the 2008 Tokyo Game Show, a new trailer was shown at the Square Enix booth which showed a glimpse of the changes made to the gameplay and graphics. At the end of the video, a confirmation of the release date (set for March 2009) was unveiled. Square Enix released another new trailer for the game, showing various aspects of the storyline, boss battles, along with cutscenes; the end of the trailer showed a then-correct release date for March 28, 2009, along with a price point of ¥5,980, which still stands.

On February 12, 2009, after having delayed the release of its quarterly financials by a week, Square Enix announced the game would be delayed once again to a Japanese release on July 11 of the same year. The game's release delay worried Final Fantasy fans, who were told by Square Enix president Yoichi Wada that Dragon Quest IX's delay may affect Final Fantasy XIII's release, stating that he "[could] not say there [would not] be an effect."

Dragon Quest IX was designed to be the hardest Dragon Quest game yet. The rationale is that, according to Brian Ashcraft, Night Editor for Kotaku, the Dragon Quest IX developers say "people can always find out information on the internet　— like that's part of the game experience." In addition the game has only one game slot. Ryutaro Ichimura, producer of Dragon Quest IX, clarified the reason explaining that there is not enough space on the system for two traditional save-slots given the amount of freedom the game allows. Instead the save area is used for a backup save-slot in case of battery failure.

Release

Japan

Dragon Quest IX shipped with over 2 million pre-order sales. While the official release date for Dragon Quest IX was July 11, 2009, some retailers had already shipped orders; one such dealer asked its customers to not play the game until the official release date. In spite the large number of pre-orders and additional release shipments by Square-Enix, lines still formed for the release. Within a two period the title had sold 2,318,932 copies out of an estimated 3 million copies that had been shipped. Some analyst say that 3 million may be too conservative and expect 5 million copies sold in Japan alone with large overseas sales expectations that could break previous Dragon Quest sales records. The sale is the largest post 2000 debut week sale which was previously held by the former title, Dragon Quest VIII.

Reception

Japan

A malware version of the ROM was released early on 2chan. Instead of the actual game, it is a hentai slideshow that bricks the Nintendo DS.

While Nintendo expects a boost in their DSi sales with the simultaneously timed launch of the red DSi in Japan, Square-Enix is expected to not fare as well despite the record sales. After a last minute delay in the release date from March 11, 2009 to July 11, 2009 Square-Enix dropped its expected yearly earnings by 17 percent and profits by 62.5 percent. The company hopes to bolster the appeal of the series with the redesign of the game.

Since the day of the game's launch, it has largely received mixed to highly negative response from fans on the Internet, particularly towards Stella, the gyaru-ish fairy. According to Kotaku night editor Brian Ashcraft, however, it could have been an organized attempt to "slam" the game. Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has scored the game with 40/40, the tenth game to achieve a perfect score.

External links

• Official Dragon Quest IX Japanese Website
• Teaser Site The Official Dragon Quest IX Teaser Website from Level 5
• Dragon Quest IX at IGN