Dragon Quest - Revision history

Follower of Light: /* Gallery */

2026-07-14T15:33:42Z

Gallery

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:33, 14 July 2026
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	Dragon Quest monster stats production document 1985.png\|Monster stats		Dragon Quest monster stats production document 1985.png\|Monster stats
	Dragon Quest battle text production document 1985.png\|Battle text		Dragon Quest battle text production document 1985.png\|Battle text
	Dragon Quest spell of ~~resurrection~~ production document 1985.png\|Spell of Restoration mock up		Dragon Quest spell of restoration production document 1985.png\|Spell of Restoration mock up
	</gallery></center>		</gallery></center>
	===Print ads===		===Print ads===
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	===Famicom Shinken coverage===		===Famicom Shinken coverage===
	Famicom Shinken pages, including the very first reveal of ''Dragon Quest'' in the 11th issue of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, February 1986. Scans taken from the [[Dragon Quest 25th Anniversary Collection]], released for the Nintendo Wii in 2011; portions masked with slime-print boxes were coverage of other games.		Famicom Shinken pages, including the very first reveal of ''Dragon Quest'' in the 11th issue of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, February 1986. Scans taken from the ''[[Dragon Quest 25th Anniversary Collection]]'', released for the Nintendo Wii in 2011; portions masked with slime-print boxes were coverage of other games.
	<center><gallery>		<center><gallery>
	Famicom Shinken Dragon Quest I 1.jpg		Famicom Shinken Dragon Quest I 1.jpg

Follower of Light: /* Development */

2026-07-14T00:17:40Z

Development

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:17, 14 July 2026
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	Development became a whirlwind of balancing adjustments near the end based on feedback provided by play testers, leading to the game's release being pushed back by one week. The changes were so drastic that {{MFamilies}} behavior was completely restructured from the ground up, effectively leaving [[Chunsoft]] to reprogram half of the game all over again. The {{Hero 1}} himself was also rebalanced as he was deemed to be lagging too far behind the strength of the {{MFamilies}}s after level 15<ref>Source: ドラゴンクエストへの道 page 234 ISBN 978-4-9005-2726-3</ref>.		Development became a whirlwind of balancing adjustments near the end based on feedback provided by play testers, leading to the game's release being pushed back by one week. The changes were so drastic that {{MFamilies}} behavior was completely restructured from the ground up, effectively leaving [[Chunsoft]] to reprogram half of the game all over again. The {{Hero 1}} himself was also rebalanced as he was deemed to be lagging too far behind the strength of the {{MFamilies}}s after level 15<ref>Source: ドラゴンクエストへの道 page 234 ISBN 978-4-9005-2726-3</ref>.

			[[File:Famicom Shinken Dragon Quest I 1.jpg\|200px\|right\|thumb\|The original Famicom Shinken article that revealed the game to the world]]

	While busy developing on the game, Horii was still taking freelance work as a writer and was working on the ''Famicom Shinken'' section of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine under the pen name of Emperor Yu (ゆう帝). ''Famicom Shinken'' was the video game section of the magazine, created by editor [[Kazuhiko Torishima]]. Horii and Torishima met years prior when introduced by their mutual friend [https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%95%E3%81%8F%E3%81%BE%E3%81%82%E3%81%8D%E3%82%89 Akira Sakuma] and quickly became friends themselves, which led to Torishima learning of the development of ''Dragon Quest'' in passing. This was the news the editor needed to hear, as Shonen Jump was struggling to compete with rival magazine [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoroCoro_Comic CoroCoro comics] when it came to video game coverage, and being able to use ''Famicom Shinken'' to provide coverage on the development of a brand new title would give Jump an unprecedented advantage. Torishima convinced the skeptical management of Shonen Jump to provide page space for the unreleased and experimental title in the magazine, using his authority as the editor of [[Akira Toriyama]] to assign the rising star artist to the project as chief illustrator. The game's title screen was designed by [https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%89%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B4%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AF%E3%82%A8%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%82%B7%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BA Kazuo Enomoto], also a Shonen Jump employee, who suggested adding the silhouette of the dragon to the logo due to being in the game's title and the importance of the beasts in the game's setting. As Enomoto did not know what an RPG was at the time, he used films as a point of reference and created a title screen that resembles a wide-screen lens to replicate the cinematic effect.		While busy developing on the game, Horii was still taking freelance work as a writer and was working on the ''Famicom Shinken'' section of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine under the pen name of Emperor Yu (ゆう帝). ''Famicom Shinken'' was the video game section of the magazine, created by editor [[Kazuhiko Torishima]]. Horii and Torishima met years prior when introduced by their mutual friend [https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%95%E3%81%8F%E3%81%BE%E3%81%82%E3%81%8D%E3%82%89 Akira Sakuma] and quickly became friends themselves, which led to Torishima learning of the development of ''Dragon Quest'' in passing. This was the news the editor needed to hear, as Shonen Jump was struggling to compete with rival magazine [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoroCoro_Comic CoroCoro comics] when it came to video game coverage, and being able to use ''Famicom Shinken'' to provide coverage on the development of a brand new title would give Jump an unprecedented advantage. Torishima convinced the skeptical management of Shonen Jump to provide page space for the unreleased and experimental title in the magazine, using his authority as the editor of [[Akira Toriyama]] to assign the rising star artist to the project as chief illustrator. The game's title screen was designed by [https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%89%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B4%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AF%E3%82%A8%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%82%B7%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BA Kazuo Enomoto], also a Shonen Jump employee, who suggested adding the silhouette of the dragon to the logo due to being in the game's title and the importance of the beasts in the game's setting. As Enomoto did not know what an RPG was at the time, he used films as a point of reference and created a title screen that resembles a wide-screen lens to replicate the cinematic effect.

Follower of Light: /* Gallery */ I wasn't sure how to arrange the production documents after the dialogue, so I followed the game's sequence of throne room -> castle -> world map -> battle -> revival

2026-07-14T00:14:31Z

Gallery: I wasn't sure how to arrange the production documents after the dialogue, so I followed the game's sequence of throne room -> castle -> world map -> battle -> revival

@@ Line 176: / Line 176: @@
 ==Gallery==
 <center><gallery>
 Dragon Quest 1 box.jpg|{{Famicom}} box art.
 Dragon_Warrior_NES.png|{{NES}} box art.
 DQ Famicom guide.png|{{Famicom}} guide.
 File:Dragon Warrior Guide.jpeg|{{NES}} guide.
 Higuchi_Dragon_Quest.png|Adventure novel.
 Shousetsu Dragon Quest.png|Novelization.
@@ Line 186: / Line 237: @@
 DQI CD Theater.png|CD Theater.
 DQ 4koma Gekijou Extra 9.png|4koma comics.
 Dragon Quest NES Slime battle.png|Battle against [[Slime]].
 DW NES Characters.jpg|Characters. ({{NES}})
 Adventure Time S6 Episode 30.png|Unnamed video game from ''Adventure Time'' S6 Episode 30 resembling the {{NES}} version of ''Dragon Quest''.
 </gallery></center>
-===Videos===
+==Videos==
 {{Videos|The original TV commercial for ''Dragon Quest''.|{{#ev:youtube|D2ve2cpcLi4|340}}
 |The original TV commercial for ''Dragon Warrior''.|{{#ev:youtube|1qL5_3EhqK8|340}}

Follower of Light: /* Development */

2026-07-13T16:38:19Z

Development

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:38, 13 July 2026
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	Released on November 29 1985, the Famicom iteration of ''Portopia'' stood out among the plethora of action titles the console had become known for due to it's focus on story and deductive reasoning, providing a distinctly unique type of challenge then what the average consumer had experienced up to that point. Sales of ''Portopia'' were also aided by the explosive popularity of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Bros. ''Super Mario Bros''], released earlier that year on September 13. The Italian adventure drove the sales of the hardware through the roof and confirmed that console-based video games were not a passing fad, with the combination of their own dark horse title's success and the growing market created by ''[[Super Mario]] Bros.'' encouraging Horii and Nakamura to bring the RPG genre they loved to the {{Famicom}}.		Released on November 29 1985, the Famicom iteration of ''Portopia'' stood out among the plethora of action titles the console had become known for due to it's focus on story and deductive reasoning, providing a distinctly unique type of challenge then what the average consumer had experienced up to that point. Sales of ''Portopia'' were also aided by the explosive popularity of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Bros. ''Super Mario Bros''], released earlier that year on September 13. The Italian adventure drove the sales of the hardware through the roof and confirmed that console-based video games were not a passing fad, with the combination of their own dark horse title's success and the growing market created by ''[[Super Mario]] Bros.'' encouraging Horii and Nakamura to bring the RPG genre they loved to the {{Famicom}}.

	Formal development on the title began the same month of November through Nakamura's development studio [[Chunsoft]], with a staff of five men over a span of five months<ref>https://web-archive-org.translate.goog/web/20100614061622/http://plaza.bunka.go.jp/museum/meister/entertainment/vol2/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=no</ref>. The goal of the project was to combine the best aspects of computer RPGs while also streamlining the obtuse gameplay systems that prevented the genre from reaching a wider audience; even ''Ultima'' and ''Wizardry'' were only able to sell approximately 20K and 24K units in 1982<ref>https://archive.org/details/cgw_6/page/n3/mode/2up</ref>. To this end it was decided that the game would utilize the bird's eye view world map of ''Ultima'' for it's own field screen as well as in dungeons, giving players more spacial awareness than the first-person dungeons that were the genre standard at the time. Owing to the praise of the system in ''Okhotsk'' and the Famicom ''Portopia'', the command menu was also applied to the game and written in the simplest terms to make it clear to players what actions he or she could perform at any time<ref>In the 8-bit original these actions are TALK, SPELL, STATUS, ITEM, STAIRS, DOOR, SEARCH, & TAKE</ref>. In addition, the dialogue of the game was written in such a way for the player to deduce how to progress through the adventure simply by talking to the cast of characters. Said dialogue was often humorous in a way not commonly seen in games at the time, such as the [[Puff-Puff]] scene of [[Kol]], thus injecting a strong sense of personality into the scenario and contrasting the other RPGs that focused exclusively on combat and exploration. Granting the player the option to not rescue [[Princess ~~Gawelin~~]] and to accept the [[Dragonlord]]'s ominous offer of half the world also added a high degree of player agency, aiding in the immersion into the game's world.		Formal development on the title began the same month of November through Nakamura's development studio [[Chunsoft]], with a staff of five men over a span of five months<ref>https://web-archive-org.translate.goog/web/20100614061622/http://plaza.bunka.go.jp/museum/meister/entertainment/vol2/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=no</ref>. The goal of the project was to combine the best aspects of computer RPGs while also streamlining the obtuse gameplay systems that prevented the genre from reaching a wider audience; even ''Ultima'' and ''Wizardry'' were only able to sell approximately 20K and 24K units in 1982<ref>https://archive.org/details/cgw_6/page/n3/mode/2up</ref>. To this end it was decided that the game would utilize the bird's eye view world map of ''Ultima'' for it's own field screen as well as in dungeons, giving players more spacial awareness than the first-person dungeons that were the genre standard at the time. Owing to the praise of the system in ''Okhotsk'' and the Famicom ''Portopia'', the command menu was also applied to the game and written in the simplest terms to make it clear to players what actions he or she could perform at any time<ref>In the 8-bit original these actions are TALK, SPELL, STATUS, ITEM, STAIRS, DOOR, SEARCH, & TAKE</ref>. In addition, the dialogue of the game was written in such a way for the player to deduce how to progress through the adventure simply by talking to the cast of characters. Said dialogue was often humorous in a way not commonly seen in games at the time, such as the [[Puff-Puff]] scene of [[Kol]], thus injecting a strong sense of personality into the scenario and contrasting the other RPGs that focused exclusively on combat and exploration. Granting the player the option to not rescue [[Princess Gwaelin]] and to accept the [[Dragonlord]]'s ominous offer of half the world also added a high degree of player agency, aiding in the immersion into the game's world.

	The greatest challenge in the game's development was working with in the confines of the 64 kilobyte ROM capacity, which necessitated the truncating of several aspects to fit the project into the cartridge. This included the scrapping of the traditional [[party]] of heroes for a single player character, limiting the selection of items to just 15, and only being able to display a single enemy in battle<ref>なぜなら、第1作をつくるときは本当にやりたかったことをいろいろ切り捨てたんですよ。なにしろ64キロバイトしかないので、やりたいことがすべてできたわけではないんです。パーティーも1人しかできない。アイテムは15種類しかない。モンスターもこれしか出せない。こうした制約のなかでおもしろいエッセンスだけを抽出して制作したので、逆にファミコンがどんどん進化して容量が増えるにしたがって、入れたかった要素を足していったんです。だからつくっていて楽しかったですね。</ref>. Even the language of the game was affected, limited to a mere 18 katakana instead of the full set of 50 to display the text<ref>Only イ、カ、キ、コ、シ、ス、タ、ト、ヘ、ホ、マ、ミ、ム、メ、ラ、リ、ル、レ、ロ、and ン are in the game, with the hirugana characters ヘ and り also being used due to taking up less memory than their katakana counterparts</ref>, and the exclusion of sprites showing characters walking from side to side and thus having the cast always face the player even while moving. Animation for monsters was also excluded due to this limited space, with the compromise being that the screen would shake when the player is attacked.		The greatest challenge in the game's development was working with in the confines of the 64 kilobyte ROM capacity, which necessitated the truncating of several aspects to fit the project into the cartridge. This included the scrapping of the traditional [[party]] of heroes for a single player character, limiting the selection of items to just 15, and only being able to display a single enemy in battle<ref>なぜなら、第1作をつくるときは本当にやりたかったことをいろいろ切り捨てたんですよ。なにしろ64キロバイトしかないので、やりたいことがすべてできたわけではないんです。パーティーも1人しかできない。アイテムは15種類しかない。モンスターもこれしか出せない。こうした制約のなかでおもしろいエッセンスだけを抽出して制作したので、逆にファミコンがどんどん進化して容量が増えるにしたがって、入れたかった要素を足していったんです。だからつくっていて楽しかったですね。</ref>. Even the language of the game was affected, limited to a mere 18 katakana instead of the full set of 50 to display the text<ref>Only イ、カ、キ、コ、シ、ス、タ、ト、ヘ、ホ、マ、ミ、ム、メ、ラ、リ、ル、レ、ロ、and ン are in the game, with the hirugana characters ヘ and り also being used due to taking up less memory than their katakana counterparts</ref>, and the exclusion of sprites showing characters walking from side to side and thus having the cast always face the player even while moving. Animation for monsters was also excluded due to this limited space, with the compromise being that the screen would shake when the player is attacked.

	Special consideration was given to younger players, whom Horii knew would have no familiarity with RPGs at all. To this end the opening portion of the game was crafted so that the player would stand in the throne room of [[~~Tantagel~~]] castle: in order to progress from this screen, the player will have to speak to []King Lorik]], open a [[treasure chest]] to retrieve a [[Magic Key\|key]] and use it to open the chamber door, and then use the stairs command to descend to the ground floor of the castle―every action necessary to traverse the game's overworld is conveyed to the player in a single, unobtrusive moment<ref>「戦って強くなっていくんだよ」「文字でやりとりしながら物語を体験するゲームだよ」と言うと、じつは子どものほうが興味をもつし、たとえ難しかったとしても、それを「おもしろい」と言ってくれましたね。『ドラクエ』を出すまではアクションゲームが主流だったので、どうなるのかなあという気持ちはありました。そのために、とっつきやすくなるような工夫はいっぱいしましたけどね。まずゲームの最初は、王様の部屋にとじこめられていて、とりあえずコマンドをいろいろ入れないと出られない。でも部屋を出たときには、宝箱をあけて、人と話して、ドアを開けて、階段を降りるといった、ゲームに必要なコマンドをだいたい覚えられるようにしたんです。</ref>. To teach younger players the importance of leveling up and becoming stronger, the threshold for reaching level 2 was dropped from 20 {{Exp}}erience points to just 7<ref>戦闘になれば、相手が襲ってくるので「たたかう」を押していればいい。そうすれば経験値があがって、レベルアップして、どんどん強くなっていく。早い段階ですぐレベルアップするようにして、強くなることが気持ちいいっていう感覚を味わってもらいたかった。</ref>. In addition the penalties for losing a battle were greatly reduced compared to computer RPGs, with players only losing half their [[gold]] and being sent back to [[King Lorik]] instead of suffering a game over that voided all of their [[gold]] and {{Exp}}erience points and thus wasting the time spent playing the game<ref>HIPPON SUPER編集部・編『ドラゴンクエストIV MASTER'S CLUB』（JICC、1990年）pp.4-9 堀井雄二インタビュー</ref>. The presence of the status screen was implemented at Yukinobu Chida's request, who insisted that all information pertaining to the {{Hero 1}}'s capability be conveyed to the player when it was obscured in computer RPGs. His basis for this argument was an incident after the {{Famicom}} release of ''Portopia'', where elementary-aged children called [[Enix]] to ask for tips. Chida could overhear the children happily chatting with the [[Enix]] representatives during these calls, leading him to conclude that video games were not just entertainment, but a communication tool for people. As such he insisted that the {{Hero 1}}'s capabilities be displayed via the status command, certain that children would discuss which areas of the game could be explored at a given level and thus increase the word of mouth amongst the target demographic<ref>PCでのRPGのプレイに慣れていた堀井や中村は、開発中の『ドラゴンクエスト』のレベル表示について「レベルの強さはいつでもコマンドで見られる」「自分が今レベルいくつかはだいたい分かる」と主張し、ウインドウ内の表示を出来るだけ少なくして、画面を見やすくすることを提案した。しかし、それに対して千田は「レベル表示は絶対必要だよ」と反論。千田の弁によると、『ポートピア連続殺人事件』が発売されたばかりの頃、エニックスに小学生のプレイヤーから質問の電話がかかってきて、電話の向こうでわいわいとにぎやかに楽しんでいる声が聞こえてきたという。それを体験した千田は、「ファミコンはパソコンのようにひとりで遊ぶゲームではない」「ゲームセンターのようにみんなでワイワイやりながら遊ぶ、パソコンとは異なるコミュニケーションメディアだ」と力説。それを聞いた堀井と中村は、「なるほどコミュニケーションメディアですね」と返答し、その提案を受け入れることになった。Source: ドラゴンクエストへの道 page 129~133 ISBN 978-4-9005-2726-3</ref>.		Special consideration was given to younger players, whom Horii knew would have no familiarity with RPGs at all. To this end the opening portion of the game was crafted so that the player would stand in the throne room of [[Tantegel]] castle: in order to progress from this screen, the player will have to speak to [[King Lorik]], open a [[treasure chest]] to retrieve a [[Magic Key\|key]] and use it to open the chamber door, and then use the stairs command to descend to the ground floor of the castle―every action necessary to traverse the game's overworld is conveyed to the player in a single, unobtrusive moment<ref>「戦って強くなっていくんだよ」「文字でやりとりしながら物語を体験するゲームだよ」と言うと、じつは子どものほうが興味をもつし、たとえ難しかったとしても、それを「おもしろい」と言ってくれましたね。『ドラクエ』を出すまではアクションゲームが主流だったので、どうなるのかなあという気持ちはありました。そのために、とっつきやすくなるような工夫はいっぱいしましたけどね。まずゲームの最初は、王様の部屋にとじこめられていて、とりあえずコマンドをいろいろ入れないと出られない。でも部屋を出たときには、宝箱をあけて、人と話して、ドアを開けて、階段を降りるといった、ゲームに必要なコマンドをだいたい覚えられるようにしたんです。</ref>. To teach younger players the importance of leveling up and becoming stronger, the threshold for reaching level 2 was dropped from 20 {{Exp}}erience points to just 7<ref>戦闘になれば、相手が襲ってくるので「たたかう」を押していればいい。そうすれば経験値があがって、レベルアップして、どんどん強くなっていく。早い段階ですぐレベルアップするようにして、強くなることが気持ちいいっていう感覚を味わってもらいたかった。</ref>. In addition the penalties for losing a battle were greatly reduced compared to computer RPGs, with players only losing half their [[gold]] and being sent back to [[King Lorik]] instead of suffering a game over that voided all of their [[gold]] and {{Exp}}erience points and thus wasting the time spent playing the game<ref>HIPPON SUPER編集部・編『ドラゴンクエストIV MASTER'S CLUB』（JICC、1990年）pp.4-9 堀井雄二インタビュー</ref>. The presence of the status screen was implemented at Yukinobu Chida's request, who insisted that all information pertaining to the {{Hero 1}}'s capability be conveyed to the player when it was obscured in computer RPGs. His basis for this argument was an incident after the {{Famicom}} release of ''Portopia'', where elementary-aged children called [[Enix]] to ask for tips. Chida could overhear the children happily chatting with the [[Enix]] representatives during these calls, leading him to conclude that video games were not just entertainment, but a communication tool for people. As such he insisted that the {{Hero 1}}'s capabilities be displayed via the status command, certain that children would discuss which areas of the game could be explored at a given level and thus increase the word of mouth amongst the target demographic<ref>PCでのRPGのプレイに慣れていた堀井や中村は、開発中の『ドラゴンクエスト』のレベル表示について「レベルの強さはいつでもコマンドで見られる」「自分が今レベルいくつかはだいたい分かる」と主張し、ウインドウ内の表示を出来るだけ少なくして、画面を見やすくすることを提案した。しかし、それに対して千田は「レベル表示は絶対必要だよ」と反論。千田の弁によると、『ポートピア連続殺人事件』が発売されたばかりの頃、エニックスに小学生のプレイヤーから質問の電話がかかってきて、電話の向こうでわいわいとにぎやかに楽しんでいる声が聞こえてきたという。それを体験した千田は、「ファミコンはパソコンのようにひとりで遊ぶゲームではない」「ゲームセンターのようにみんなでワイワイやりながら遊ぶ、パソコンとは異なるコミュニケーションメディアだ」と力説。それを聞いた堀井と中村は、「なるほどコミュニケーションメディアですね」と返答し、その提案を受け入れることになった。Source: ドラゴンクエストへの道 page 129~133 ISBN 978-4-9005-2726-3</ref>.

	Chida was also responsible for involving maestro [[Kōichi Sugiyama]] with the project. Sugiyama had witnessed the emergence of technology in the music industry over his career and became interested in computers as a result, purchasing a PC-8801 in the early 80's to experiment with and subsequently developing a hobby for playing games. An Enix title called ''Kazuo Morita's Shogi'' (森田和郎の将棋) caught his interest at one point, and Sugiyama filled out the customer feedback questionnaire in a cheeky manner for fun. Leaving the card on his desk as he left for other business, his wife Yukiko would slip it into the family mailbox as she stepped out to go grocery shopping<ref>"（笑）。そのアンケートはがきには「終盤は強いけど、序盤の駒組みがイマイチ」みたいに、ちょっと生意気なことを書いて、そのままほったらかしにしておいたんです。そしたら、たまたまうちのカミさんがそれを見つけて、買い物に行く途中にポストに放り込んだみたいなんです。" https://archive.fo/pz7E3</ref>. The questionnaire was presented to Chida, who was shocked to see that the celebrity had written his answers in hiragana like an elementary school student, and an [[Enix]] representative was quickly dispatched to Sugiyama's home to negotiate a working contract for the company: Sugiyama was officially hired on to compose the music for ''Wingman 2: The Resurrection of Kitaklar'' (ウイングマン2 -キータクラーの復活).		Chida was also responsible for involving maestro [[Kōichi Sugiyama]] with the project. Sugiyama had witnessed the emergence of technology in the music industry over his career and became interested in computers as a result, purchasing a PC-8801 in the early 80's to experiment with and subsequently developing a hobby for playing games. An Enix title called ''Kazuo Morita's Shogi'' (森田和郎の将棋) caught his interest at one point, and Sugiyama filled out the customer feedback questionnaire in a cheeky manner for fun. Leaving the card on his desk as he left for other business, his wife Yukiko would slip it into the family mailbox as she stepped out to go grocery shopping<ref>"（笑）。そのアンケートはがきには「終盤は強いけど、序盤の駒組みがイマイチ」みたいに、ちょっと生意気なことを書いて、そのままほったらかしにしておいたんです。そしたら、たまたまうちのカミさんがそれを見つけて、買い物に行く途中にポストに放り込んだみたいなんです。" https://archive.fo/pz7E3</ref>. The questionnaire was presented to Chida, who was shocked to see that the celebrity had written his answers in hiragana like an elementary school student, and an [[Enix]] representative was quickly dispatched to Sugiyama's home to negotiate a working contract for the company: Sugiyama was officially hired on to compose the music for ''Wingman 2: The Resurrection of Kitaklar'' (ウイングマン2 -キータクラーの復活).

Zenni30 03: /* Gallery */

2026-01-17T22:08:29Z

Gallery

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:08, 17 January 2026
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	Dragon_Warrior_NES.png\|{{NES}} box art.		Dragon_Warrior_NES.png\|{{NES}} box art.
	DQ Famicom guide.png\|{{Famicom}} guide.		DQ Famicom guide.png\|{{Famicom}} guide.
			File:Dragon Warrior Guide.jpeg\|{{NES}} guide.
	Higuchi_Dragon_Quest.png\|Adventure novel.		Higuchi_Dragon_Quest.png\|Adventure novel.
	Shousetsu Dragon Quest.png\|Novelization.		Shousetsu Dragon Quest.png\|Novelization.

Zenni30 03: /* Gallery */

2026-01-17T22:07:23Z

Gallery

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:07, 17 January 2026
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	DQ 4koma Gekijou Extra 9.png\|4koma comics.		DQ 4koma Gekijou Extra 9.png\|4koma comics.
	Dragon Quest NES Slime battle.png\|Battle against [[Slime]].		Dragon Quest NES Slime battle.png\|Battle against [[Slime]].
	~~DQIGroupArt~~.png\|		File:Saving the Princess.png
	DQI iOS Android.png\|[[Cell phone\|iOS/Android]].		DQI iOS Android.png\|[[Cell phone\|iOS/Android]].
	DQI 25th Anniversary wallpaper.png\|25th Anniversary wallpaper.		DQI 25th Anniversary wallpaper.png\|25th Anniversary wallpaper.

Antiyonder at 02:45, 24 August 2025

2025-08-24T02:45:22Z

Show changes

Follower of Light: /* Trivia */

2025-08-04T16:51:49Z

Trivia

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:51, 4 August 2025
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	==Trivia==		==Trivia==
	[[File:Dragon Quest jp manual art.png\|right\|border\|325px]]		[[File:Dragon Quest jp manual art.png\|right\|border\|325px]]
			* The amount of time that takes place between {{Dragon Quest III}} and ''Dragon Quest'' is left ambiguous in English, but the Japanese versions imply that the latter is sixteen generations removed from the former. This is suggested by [[King Lorik]] being named as the sixteenth descendant of the original [[King of Alefgard]].
	* Although the [[iron helmet]], [[leather hat]], and helm of [[Ortega]] are featured in official illustrations, there is no equipment slot for helmets.		* Although the [[iron helmet]], [[leather hat]], and helm of [[Ortega]] are featured in official illustrations, there is no equipment slot for helmets.
	* In the original versions, there are special menu commands to climb stairs and open chests (done automatically in later games), and in the Japanese version to select directions for certain commands, since characters do not have facings in these versions.		* In the original 8-bit versions there are special menu commands to climb stairs and open chests (done automatically in later games), and in the Japanese version to select directions for certain commands, since characters do not have sprites facings in these versions.
	* The Japanese Famicom and MSX versions of this game (and {{~~DQ2~~}}) have a [[Spell of Restoration~~\|Spell of Health Multiplication~~]] (password system), in place of the "Imperial Scrolls of Honor" (battery save system). The password does not save current {{HP}} and {{MP}}, or the contents of the chests. So all of these will be reset on a reload.		* The Japanese Famicom and MSX versions of this game and {{Dragon Quest II}} have a [[Spell of Restoration]] (password system), in place of the "Imperial Scrolls of Honor" (battery save system). The password does not save current {{HP}} and {{MP}}, or the contents of the chests. So all of these will be reset on a reload.
	* Whether a treasure chest has been opened or not is never recorded. By reloading the game, ~~you~~ can collect a chest multiple times.		:* Whether a treasure chest has been opened or not is never recorded through these passwords. By reloading the game, the player can collect a chest's contents multiple times.
	* The [[Game Boy]] Color release changed several character and town names to ~~more closely~~ match the Japanese text.		* The American [[Game Boy]] Color release of ''[[Dragon Quest I & II]]'' changed several character and town names from the {{NES}} script to better match the original Japanese names, and to account for the limited text display space of the handheld. These changes would be reverted in the 2014 Android/iOS English release, which utilizes the names invented for the NES release with a script that is more faithful to the original Japanese than either previous version.
	* A recolor of Erdrick's Sword appears in ''Final Fantasy XII'', named Tournesol and used by the optional boss Gilgamesh.		* A recolor of Erdrick's Sword appears in ''Final Fantasy XII'', named Tournesol and used by the optional boss Gilgamesh.

2600:1702:6F20:C7C0:25E3:74F5:E413:7607 at 06:05, 10 January 2025

2025-01-10T06:05:27Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:05, 10 January 2025
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	Development became a whirlwind of balancing adjustments near the end based on feedback provided by play testers, leading to the game's release being pushed back by one week. The changes were so drastic that monster behavior was completely restructured from the ground up, effectively leaving Chunsoft to reprogram half of the game all over again. The Hero himself was also rebalanced as he was deemed to be lagging too far behind the strength of the monsters after level 15<ref>Source: ドラゴンクエストへの道 page 234 ISBN 978-4-9005-2726-3</ref>.		Development became a whirlwind of balancing adjustments near the end based on feedback provided by play testers, leading to the game's release being pushed back by one week. The changes were so drastic that monster behavior was completely restructured from the ground up, effectively leaving Chunsoft to reprogram half of the game all over again. The Hero himself was also rebalanced as he was deemed to be lagging too far behind the strength of the monsters after level 15<ref>Source: ドラゴンクエストへの道 page 234 ISBN 978-4-9005-2726-3</ref>.

	While busy developing on the game, Horii was still taking freelance work as a writer and was working on the ''Famicom Shinken'' section of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine under the pen name of Emperor Yu (ゆう帝). ''Famicom Shinken'' was the video game section of the magazine, created by editor [[Kazuhiko Torishima]]. Horii and Torishima met years prior when introduced by their mutual friend [https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%95%E3%81%8F%E3%81%BE%E3%81%82%E3%81%8D%E3%82%89 Akira ~~Sakamura~~] and quickly became friends themselves, which led to Torishima learning of the development of ''Dragon Quest'' in passing. This was the news the editor needed to hear, as Shonen Jump was struggling to compete with rival magazine [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoroCoro_Comic CoroCoro comics] when it came to video game coverage, and being able to use ''Famicom Shinken'' to provide coverage on the development of a brand new title would give Jump an unprecedented advantage. Torishima convinced the skeptical management of Shonen Jump to provide page space for the unreleased and experimental title in the magazine, using his authority as the editor of [[Akira Toriyama]] to assign the rising star artist to the project as chief illustrator. The game's title screen was designed by [https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%89%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B4%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AF%E3%82%A8%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%82%B7%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BA Kazuo Enomoto], also a Shonen Jump employee, who suggested adding the silhouette of the dragon to the logo due to being in the game's title and the importance of the beasts in the game's setting. As Enomoto did not know what an RPG was at the time, he used films as a point of reference and created a title screen that resembles a wide-screen lens to replicate the cinematic effect.		While busy developing on the game, Horii was still taking freelance work as a writer and was working on the ''Famicom Shinken'' section of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine under the pen name of Emperor Yu (ゆう帝). ''Famicom Shinken'' was the video game section of the magazine, created by editor [[Kazuhiko Torishima]]. Horii and Torishima met years prior when introduced by their mutual friend [https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%95%E3%81%8F%E3%81%BE%E3%81%82%E3%81%8D%E3%82%89 Akira Sakuma] and quickly became friends themselves, which led to Torishima learning of the development of ''Dragon Quest'' in passing. This was the news the editor needed to hear, as Shonen Jump was struggling to compete with rival magazine [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoroCoro_Comic CoroCoro comics] when it came to video game coverage, and being able to use ''Famicom Shinken'' to provide coverage on the development of a brand new title would give Jump an unprecedented advantage. Torishima convinced the skeptical management of Shonen Jump to provide page space for the unreleased and experimental title in the magazine, using his authority as the editor of [[Akira Toriyama]] to assign the rising star artist to the project as chief illustrator. The game's title screen was designed by [https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%89%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B4%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AF%E3%82%A8%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%82%B7%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BA Kazuo Enomoto], also a Shonen Jump employee, who suggested adding the silhouette of the dragon to the logo due to being in the game's title and the importance of the beasts in the game's setting. As Enomoto did not know what an RPG was at the time, he used films as a point of reference and created a title screen that resembles a wide-screen lens to replicate the cinematic effect.

	''Dragon Quest'' would first be shown to the world in the February 11, 1986 issue of Shonen Jump, which continued providing behind the scenes coverage of the game until it's May 27 release.		''Dragon Quest'' would first be shown to the world in the February 11, 1986 issue of Shonen Jump, which continued providing behind the scenes coverage of the game until it's May 27 release.

Follower of Light: /* Development */

2024-10-13T16:46:55Z

Development

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:46, 13 October 2024
Line 58:		Line 58:

	==Development==		==Development==
	The genesis of the game that would become ''Dragon Quest'' took place in 1983, when the fledgling video game publisher [[Enix]] announced that it would host a national programming contest with a prize of ¥1,000,000―a value of over $21,000 in 2024―as well as the option for the amateur programmers to have their titles professionally released. Yuji Horii had been programming his own games as a hobby during this period in his life, and on a whim decided to enter what he considered to be his most accomplished work: ''Love Match Tennis'' (ラブマッチテニス). Later when Horii arrived at the awards ceremony to report on the event, he was shocked to discover that his tennis game had earned him second place. The awards ceremony was also the fateful day when Horii met [[Koichi Nakamura]], ~~the~~ first place ~~winner of the contest, who~~ was only in his junior year of high school at the time. The two became fast friends and began publishing their work through Enix, with Horii's first commercial success being the murder mystery title ''[[Portopia]]''.		The genesis of the game that would become ''Dragon Quest'' took place in 1983, when the fledgling video game publisher [[Enix]] announced that it would host a national programming contest with a prize of ¥1,000,000―a value of over $21,000 in 2024―as well as the option for the amateur programmers to have their titles professionally released. Yuji Horii had been programming his own games as a hobby during this period in his life, and on a whim decided to enter what he considered to be his most accomplished work: ''Love Match Tennis'' (ラブマッチテニス). Later when Horii arrived at the awards ceremony to report on the event, he was shocked to discover that his tennis game had earned him second place. The awards ceremony was also the fateful day when Horii met [[Koichi Nakamura]], who won first place with ''Door Door'' (ドアドア) and was only in his junior year of high school at the time. The two became fast friends and began publishing their work through Enix, with Horii's first commercial success being the murder mystery title ''[[Portopia]]''.

	~~Later~~ that same year would see Horii and Nakamura travel to the [https://en.~~wikipedia~~.org/~~wiki~~/~~KansasFest consumer electronics trade show~~ Applefest], along with Enix director [[Yukinobu Chida]]. It was here that all three men would first encounter the concept of the RPG genre through the titles [~~https~~:~~//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultima_(series)~~ Ultima] and [~~https~~:~~//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/~~Wizardry Wizardry]. The younger men quickly became enamored with the two titles, having never encountered games where success was dependent on the player's strategy rather than quick reflexes, and upon returning to Japan Horii would purchase a compatible machine to play the games. Concurrent to this was the release of the ~~[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainment_System Family Computer]~~ in July of '83, which quickly made waves in the consumer electronics industry as an affordable alternative to the traditional computer. Enix would experiment with the new hardware by publishing a port of ''Portopia'' programmed by Namakura and marked the first time that he and Horii collaborated on commercial software.		October of that same year would see Horii and Nakamura travel to the [https://www.apple2history.org/appendix/ahb/ahb3/ Applefest], along with Enix director [[Yukinobu Chida]]. It was here that all three men would first encounter the concept of the RPG genre through the titles [[Wikipedia:Ultima I\|Ultima]] and [[Wikipedia:Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord\|Wizardry]]. The younger men quickly became enamored with the two titles, having never encountered games where success was dependent on the player's strategy rather than quick reflexes, and upon returning to Japan Horii would purchase a compatible machine to play the games. Concurrent to this was the release of the {{Famicom}} in July of '83, which quickly made waves in the consumer electronics industry as an affordable alternative to the traditional computer. Enix would experiment with the new hardware by publishing a port of ''Portopia'' programmed by Namakura and marked the first time that he and Horii collaborated on commercial software.

	The porting process of the mystery game laid the groundwork for the [[Command menu\|command menu]] that would be the cornerstone of ''Dragon Quest's'' user interface. ''Portopia'' required players to type out commands on a keyboard in order to interact with the software, but this was impossible on the four-button controller of the Famicom. Instead players would maneuver through the game via a list of commands that appeared from a drop-down menu upon pressing the A button, which listed every action the protagonist of the game could take and insured that the player would not get stuck due to forgetting the commands for key actions. This user interface method was actually first used in ''[[The Hokkaidō Serial Murder Case: The Okhotsk Disappearance]]'' (オホーツクに消ゆ), released in 1984, but is commonly attributed to the Famicom version of ''Portopia'' due to the greater number of units sold.		The porting process of the mystery game laid the groundwork for the [[Command menu\|command menu]] that would be the cornerstone of ''Dragon Quest's'' user interface. ''Portopia'' required players to type out commands on a keyboard in order to interact with the software, but this was impossible on the four-button controller of the Famicom. Instead players would maneuver through the game via a list of commands that appeared from a drop-down menu upon pressing the A button, which listed every action the protagonist of the game could take and insured that the player would not get stuck due to forgetting the commands for key actions. This user interface method was actually first used in ''[[The Hokkaidō Serial Murder Case: The Okhotsk Disappearance]]'' (オホーツクに消ゆ), released in 1984, but is commonly attributed to the Famicom version of ''Portopia'' due to the greater number of units sold.
Line 80:		Line 80:
	While busy developing on the game, Horii was still taking freelance work as a writer and was working on the ''Famicom Shinken'' section of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine under the pen name of Emperor Yu (ゆう帝). ''Famicom Shinken'' was the video game section of the magazine, created by editor [[Kazuhiko Torishima]]. Horii and Torishima met years prior when introduced by their mutual friend [https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%95%E3%81%8F%E3%81%BE%E3%81%82%E3%81%8D%E3%82%89 Akira Sakamura] and quickly became friends themselves, which led to Torishima learning of the development of ''Dragon Quest'' in passing. This was the news the editor needed to hear, as Shonen Jump was struggling to compete with rival magazine [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoroCoro_Comic CoroCoro comics] when it came to video game coverage, and being able to use ''Famicom Shinken'' to provide coverage on the development of a brand new title would give Jump an unprecedented advantage. Torishima convinced the skeptical management of Shonen Jump to provide page space for the unreleased and experimental title in the magazine, using his authority as the editor of [[Akira Toriyama]] to assign the rising star artist to the project as chief illustrator. The game's title screen was designed by [https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%89%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B4%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AF%E3%82%A8%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%82%B7%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BA Kazuo Enomoto], also a Shonen Jump employee, who suggested adding the silhouette of the dragon to the logo due to being in the game's title and the importance of the beasts in the game's setting. As Enomoto did not know what an RPG was at the time, he used films as a point of reference and created a title screen that resembles a wide-screen lens to replicate the cinematic effect.		While busy developing on the game, Horii was still taking freelance work as a writer and was working on the ''Famicom Shinken'' section of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine under the pen name of Emperor Yu (ゆう帝). ''Famicom Shinken'' was the video game section of the magazine, created by editor [[Kazuhiko Torishima]]. Horii and Torishima met years prior when introduced by their mutual friend [https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%95%E3%81%8F%E3%81%BE%E3%81%82%E3%81%8D%E3%82%89 Akira Sakamura] and quickly became friends themselves, which led to Torishima learning of the development of ''Dragon Quest'' in passing. This was the news the editor needed to hear, as Shonen Jump was struggling to compete with rival magazine [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoroCoro_Comic CoroCoro comics] when it came to video game coverage, and being able to use ''Famicom Shinken'' to provide coverage on the development of a brand new title would give Jump an unprecedented advantage. Torishima convinced the skeptical management of Shonen Jump to provide page space for the unreleased and experimental title in the magazine, using his authority as the editor of [[Akira Toriyama]] to assign the rising star artist to the project as chief illustrator. The game's title screen was designed by [https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%89%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B4%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AF%E3%82%A8%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%82%B7%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BA Kazuo Enomoto], also a Shonen Jump employee, who suggested adding the silhouette of the dragon to the logo due to being in the game's title and the importance of the beasts in the game's setting. As Enomoto did not know what an RPG was at the time, he used films as a point of reference and created a title screen that resembles a wide-screen lens to replicate the cinematic effect.

	''Dragon Quest'' would first be shown to the world in the February 11, 1986 issue of Shonen Jump, which continued providing behind the scenes coverage of the game until it's May 27 release.		''Dragon Quest'' would first be shown to the world in the February 11, 1986 issue of Shonen Jump, which continued providing behind the scenes coverage of the game until it's May 27 release.



	==Legacy==		==Legacy==