Dragon Quest IX

Main series games Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies 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. Nintendo announced in early 2010 that they had plans to publish the game in North American in the summer of 2010. Further details are expected to be revealed at E3.

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; there is not, however, multiplayer mode via Nintendo Wi-Fi.

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.

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

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.

North America

Nintendo announced in early 2010 that they plan to release the game in the summer of 2010.

Europe

No details regarding a European release have been announced.

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 Sandy 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