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Dragon Quest Monsters: Difference between revisions
It feels strange that this laid-back and lighthearted game would be used as a weapon in a vicious corporate war, but that's business for you
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|type=Spinoff games | |type=Spinoff games | ||
|title=Dragon Quest Monsters | |title=Dragon Quest Monsters | ||
|image=[[Image:DWM_Logo.png|340px]][[File:DQM | |image=[[Image:DWM_Logo.png|340px]][[File:DQM 1 page header image.png|350px]] | ||
|developer=[[TOSE]] | |developer=[[TOSE]] | ||
|publisher={{vgrelease|JP=[[Enix]]}}{{vgrelease|NA=Enix/[[Wikipedia:Square Enix Europe|Eidos Interactive]]}} | |publisher={{vgrelease|JP=[[Enix]]}}{{vgrelease|NA=Enix/[[Wikipedia:Square Enix Europe|Eidos Interactive]]}} | ||
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'''Dragon Quest Monsters''' (titled Dragon '''Warrior''' Monsters for the US release) is the first game in the ''Dragon Quest'' spin-off series, {{Monsters Series}}. | '''Dragon Quest Monsters''' (titled Dragon '''Warrior''' Monsters for the US release) is the first game in the ''Dragon Quest'' spin-off series, {{Monsters Series}}. The very first title published for the Nintendo [[Game Boy]] Color and released one month before the handheld itself in 1998, it stars a young [[Terry]] from {{Dragon Quest VI}} as the [[Hero]] as he journeys to the fantastical kingdom of [[Lushland]] to rescue his sister [[Milly]]. | ||
Whereas the main series focuses on the adventures of a hero rising up against the forces of darkness, ''DQM'' revolves around what it means to be a [[Monster | Whereas the main series focuses on the adventures of a hero rising up against the forces of darkness, ''DQM'' revolves around what it means to be a [[Monster Wrangler]] and is the much smaller-scale story of two little siblings, Terry and Milly, when they were just small children. The game opens with Milly's kidnapping by a naughty creature called [[Scruffy]], after which a polite monster called [[Fluffy]] appears and explains the situation to the shocked lad, spiriting Terry off to Lushland and starting his quest to rescue his sister. | ||
==Story== | ==Story== | ||
The game begins with young [[Terry]] and [[Milly]] living peacefully in their house, in the days before {{Dragon Quest VI}}, when Terry and Milly were just children. When they go to bed at night, Terry gets up and goes into the next room. A strange monster then appears from a dresser kidnaps Milly and then vanishes back into the dresser he came from. Soon after, another monster, similar to the kidnapper, appears from the same dresser looking for Milly, but is surprised to learn that she has already been taken away. The monster, | The game begins with young [[Terry]] and [[Milly]] living peacefully in their house, in the days before {{Dragon Quest VI}}, when Terry and Milly were just children. When they go to bed at night, Terry gets up and goes into the next room. A strange monster then appears from a dresser kidnaps Milly and then vanishes back into the dresser he came from. Soon after, another monster, similar to the kidnapper, appears from the same dresser looking for Milly, but is surprised to learn that she has already been taken away. The monster, Fluffy, then asks Terry if he would like to find out where his sister and the kidnapper are, and to follow him to the Kingdom of Lushland. Fluffy and Terry both go into the dresser and Terry then finds himself in a tree so large an entire thriving kingdom is set within its branches. Terry speaks with the king and explains his situation, with the king suggesting that the best way to find his sister is to win the Monster Wrangler's [[Starry Night Tournament]], as he will be granted a wish. Terry is then given a [[Slime]] named Slib to help him along, and the two set out to explore the many worlds connected to Lushland to win the tournament and rescue his sister. | ||
==Gameplay== | ==Gameplay== | ||
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===Teleportals=== | ===Teleportals=== | ||
As the kingdom of | As the kingdom of Lushland is rather small, Terry must venture out via the castle [[List of teleportals in Dragon Quest Monsters|teleportals]] and explore other worlds to recruit monsters. These warp vortexes are called ''travelers' gates'' in the game itself, as was the standard [[Dragon Quest localization history|Enix of America localization policy]] at the time. These gates lead to randomly-generated worlds based around set themes with a fixed variety of monsters assigned, and are located underneath the throne room. To access the portals, the player needs to defeat a class ranking in the starry night tournament. There are a certain number of areas in a given world, and at the last one the player needs to defeat a boss. Other gates are hidden throughout Lushland, such as one in the library that is only accessible after befriending over 100 different monsters. | ||
Players of other games in the ''Dragon Quest'' series will recognize many of the bosses and and their lairs as homages to the main series. Examples include the [[Golem]] guarding the town of [[Cantlin]] and the [[Green dragon|Dragon]] holding [[Princess Gwaelin]] captive in the [[Quagmire Cave]] (both from the original {{Dragon Quest}}). Some bosses in the game offer to join the player's party automatically, some have to be won over with meat, and some will not join at all. | Players of other games in the ''Dragon Quest'' series will recognize many of the bosses and and their lairs as homages to the main series. Examples include the [[Golem]] guarding the town of [[Cantlin]] and the [[Green dragon|Dragon]] holding [[Princess Gwaelin]] captive in the [[Quagmire Cave]] (both from the original {{Dragon Quest}}). Some bosses in the game offer to join the player's party automatically, some have to be won over with meat, and some will not join at all. | ||
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===Mini medals=== | ===Mini medals=== | ||
These [[Mini medals|medals]] are scattered throughout different worlds and are randomly picked up. In the game, | These [[Mini medals|medals]] are scattered throughout different worlds and are randomly picked up. In the game, the King of Lushland pulls double duty as the requisite medal king, located east of the Monster Arena, and will give the following eggs for the cumulative number of mini medals brought to him in the original Game Boy game: | ||
*'''13 Medals:''' ''[[Thunderbird]]'' | *'''13 Medals:''' ''[[Thunderbird]]'' | ||
*'''18 Medals:''' ''[[Eyevory tusk-tusk]]'' | *'''18 Medals:''' ''[[Eyevory tusk-tusk]]'' | ||
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*'''Female Warrior''' - The same as the male warrior. | *'''Female Warrior''' - The same as the male warrior. | ||
*'''Mage''' - Will teleport the player to either the very last floor in the dungeon or 20 floors down, whichever comes first. | *'''Mage''' - Will teleport the player to either the very last floor in the dungeon or 20 floors down, whichever comes first. | ||
==Development== | |||
The concept of a monster-raising game had entered Yuji Horii's mind after the completion of ''Dragon Quest VI'', which featured an improved version of the monster arenas that had been a series staple since the third game. This iteration for the sixth game was called [[Slimopolis]], which allowed the player the enter his or her own monsters into the arena to win fantastic prizes instead of betting on randomly selected individuals. | |||
Concurrently, there was a tremendous boom in horse-racing popularity in Japan during the mid-90's<ref>犬塚太一(以下、犬塚): それと同じくらいの時期に、世の中が競馬ブーム(※1)だったんですよ。打ち合わせをしても、みんな競馬の話ばかりしていて。『ベスト競馬ダービースタリオン(※2)』なんかも流行っていて。ドラゴンクエストモンスターズ 20thアニバーサリー モンスターマスターメモリーズ ISBN-13 :978-4757559356</ref>. Horii himself had caught the gambling bug during this time and enjoyed quite a bit of luck early on, winning ¥700,000 on a ¥1,000 ticket for the Queen Elizabeth II cup. He would continue gambling and ended up quitting horse racing after spending more than the ¥700,000 on bum tickets, but the fascination of watching horse races remained <ref>堀井: わりとすぐでしたね。いろいろな組み合わせを買っていたんですけど、そのうちの1枚が当たって。1000円が70万円くらいになったのかな。味をしめて、ノートに記録をつけて、「これからどんどん当てていこう」なんて思ったんですけど、それっきり。けっきょく、万馬券で当たった70万円よりもっと使っちゃって、競馬もやめちゃった(笑)。ドラゴンクエストモンスターズ 20thアニバーサリー モンスターマスターメモリーズ ISBN-13 :978-4757559356</ref>. During this time, series producer [[Yukinobu Chida]] contacted [[Taichi Inuzuka]] and asked him to develop a prototype of a game that featured similar elements to horse breeding, inspired by the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derby_Stallion Derby Stallion game series] and his own experiences as a horse owner. The principal concepts were "making friends with monsters" and "alchemical synthesis" <ref>犬塚: 堀井さんも含めてそんな競馬ブームだったころに、千田さん(千田幸信/※4)から「配合の要素があるゲームを作れないだろうか」って話がありまして。「モンスターを仲間にする」というのと、「配合」。このふたつをセットにしてゲームにできないか、となったわけなんです。ドラゴンクエストモンスターズ 20thアニバーサリー モンスターマスターメモリーズ ISBN-13 :978-4757559356</ref>. When developing the story for the title, Horii felt that the precedent set by [[Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon]] made it acceptable to use characters from mainline games in spinoffs and selected Terry as the protagonist for his strong reception among fans and ''Dragon Quest VI'' being the most recent game. Horii also asserted that using a familiar character would help players adapt more quickly to a brand new type of ''Dragon Quest'' experience<ref>堀井: 当時は『DQVI』が出たばかりのころで、スピンオフ作品としては『トルネコの大冒険不思議のダンジョン(※5)』がすでに発売されていたんです。だからモンスターを仲間にするゲームのほうは「主人公をテリーにして、ミレーユとの幼少期の話にすればいいんじゃない?」という感じで、まずは大まかなストーリーを決めていって。 | |||
犬塚: 本当の初期の構想段階では、主人公をテリーにするつもりはなかったんです。でも、堀井さんが「テリーにしよう」と言ってくださって。 | |||
堀井: やっぱり、親しみのあるキャラクターが主人公のほうがいいかな、って。そのほうが、ゲームに入りやすいからね。ドラゴンクエストモンスターズ 20thアニバーサリー モンスターマスターメモリーズ ISBN-13 :978-4757559356</ref>. | |||
The reason for Terry and his sister Milly appearing as little children compared to their young adult selves from ''Dragon Quest VI'' was to emphasis that the game would exclusively feature monster-on-monster combat, with the player only serving as the guide in battle and not a direct participant<ref>堀井: テリーの幼少期の話にしようと思ったのは、モンスターだけを戦わせるようにしたかったからなんですよ。子どものテリーなら、戦闘に参加しなくてもおかしくないからね。ドラゴンクエストモンスターズ 20thアニバーサリー モンスターマスターメモリーズ ISBN-13 :978-4757559356</ref>. As the focus of the game was to raise monsters and make them stronger, Inuzuka proposed that the story should written to be more direct than a mainline title and guide the player through the functions of the game<ref>犬塚: 「いろいろなモンスターを強くしていこう」というのがテーマで、そのガイドとして物語があるような感じにしていきたかったんです。当初は「もっとハードな物語にしようか」なんて意見もあったりはしたんですけど。ドラゴンクエストモンスターズ 20thアニバーサリー モンスターマスターメモリーズ ISBN-13 :978-4757559356</ref>. Horii agreed with this notion and wrote the dialogue accordingly , best emphasized in the laid-back King of Lushland telling Terry that if he wins the Starry Night Tournament then he will find his missing sister with no further elaboration<ref>堀井: でも、最終的にはみんながわかりやすいほうがいいかな,って。だから物語もけっこうシンプルなんですよ。王様が自分の都合で「星降りの大会で優勝したらミレーユが見つかるかも」なんて言い出したりして。ドラゴンクエストモンスターズ 20thアニバーサリー モンスターマスターメモリーズ ISBN-13 :978-4757559356</ref>. | |||
While the scenario of the game was deliberately made to be simple, considerable effort was placed on making the monster breeding system as intricate and rich as possible. The first grouping of combinations were rather plain, focusing only on inter-family recipes without much excitement; Horii would deem this unsatisfactory and wrote several new recipes himself<ref>堀井: やっぱり配合する楽しさだと思いますよ。その配合も、当初はかなりシステマチックで。 最初は、系統の掛け合わせだけしかなかったので、「これじゃつまらないよ」って言って、特殊配合をけっこう足した記憶があります。 | |||
犬塚: かなり足されましたね。堀井さんに「グレイトドラゴンとキングスライムで ドラゴスライムになるのはだめでしょ」って言われて、「確かになぁ」と。ドラゴンクエストモンスターズ 20thアニバーサリー モンスターマスターメモリーズ ISBN-13 :978-4757559356</ref>. There was also a conscious effort to avoid the bottlenecking phenomenon common in monster taming games, where in balance is poor and players gravitate towards using only a handful of monsters instead of picking their favorites. The [[Plus Value]] system was implemented to counter this bad developer habit, insuring that any monster species can be turned into a powerhouse if given enough attention by the player<ref>堀井: そこは、配合をするたびにプラスの数値が増えていって、強くなった証になればいいな、って思っていました。 ドラゴンクエストモンスターズ 20thアニバーサリー モンスターマスターメモリーズ ISBN-13 :978-4757559356</ref>. This system had the added bonus of making the multiplayer scene more competitive with an astronomical number of party configurations being perfectly viable. As it turns out, multiplayer battles were actually an afterthought added in simply because Horii thought they would be fun <ref>堀井: 『DQ』の世界っていうのは、基本的に人間どうしが戦わない世界なんです。でも、モンスターどうしを戦わせるということであれば、ちょっと挑戦ではあるけど、おもしろそうなのでいいかなって。それで、対戦の要素を入れました。そういう意味では、バトエン(※7)なんかも対戦って言えば対戦だし(笑)。ドラゴンクエストモンスターズ 20thアニバーサリー モンスターマスターメモリーズ ISBN-13 :978-4757559356</ref>. | |||
The Nintendo [[GameBoy]] was decided to be the hardware the game would be released for, at Yukinobo Chida's insistence. He would reveal in the November 1997 issue of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famitsu Famitsu magazine] that the children who played the original ''Dragon Quest'' had already grown into young adults by the time ''Dragon Quest Monsters'' planning stage commenced and that the series would need to adapt to the changing audience of gamers. Simultaneously, the release of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Red,_Blue,_and_Yellow Pokemon] in 1996 had created an explosive resurgence in the GameBoy's popularity amongst elementary students, leading to Chida to insist on developing ''Dragon Quest'' titles for the portable in an effort to establish the series with the so-called "GameBoy Generation". This is likely the reason why the boss fights are based on events from previous mainline games, such as Terry encountering [[Lizzie]] in a simplified version of [[Wayfarer's Pass]], as a way to get inexperienced kids interested in the main series. | |||
The title's status as the very first GameBoy Color game was done at Nintendo's behest: as explained in an interview with Nintendo employee [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoru_Okada Satoru Okada] published in ''THE HISTORY OF NINTENDO (1989-1999): THE INCREDIBLE HISTORY OF THE GAME BOY'', Nintendo sent a representative to Enix to request that ''Dragon Quest Monsters'' be given a pallet that would take full advantage of the GameBoy Color's vibrant display capabilities<ref>''THE HISTORY OF NINTENDO (1989-1999): THE INCREDIBLE HISTORY OF THE GAME BOY'', published 2024 English ISBN number 9782379893490</ref>. The reason for Nintendo doing such was the steep competition that corporate president [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshi_Yamauchi Hiroshi Yamauchi] expected to face from the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WonderSwan Bandai WonderSwan], which was set to launch in March of 1999 and at a price point that was nearly half of the GameBoy Color. Nintendo's internal line up of launch titles for the GameBoy Color were simply colorized versions of older releases, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris_DX ''Tetris DX''] & [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wario_Land_II ''Wario Land II DX''], leaving the portable without a brand new game to serve as the killer app that would drive sales and establish a bulwark against the impending launch of the WonderSwan. Enix honored the request through the game's contracted developer TOSE, marking ''Dragon Quest Monsters'' as the debut title for the upgraded handheld despite being developed for the original black and white GameBoy and remaining fully compatible with it. In addition to ''Dragon Quest Monsters'', the [[SNES]] compilation of [[Dragon Quest I & II]] was ported to the device to introduce the new generation to the foundation of RPGs. | |||
==Remakes and re-releases== | ==Remakes and re-releases== | ||
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==Sequel== | ==Sequel== | ||
A manga follow-up titled ''[[Dragon Quest Monsters +]]'' continues the tale of | A manga follow-up titled ''[[Dragon Quest Monsters +]]'' continues the tale of Lushland roughly one year after the events of the game. While the protagonist, Kleo, is an original addition to the setting, several veteran characters and monsters return. | ||
==Trivia== | ==Trivia== | ||
*''Dragon Quest Monsters'' is the first Game Boy Color title ever developed, and was released approximately one month prior to the technicolor hardware itself. As with all black cartridge gbc games, ''DQM'' is fully compatible with the original Game Boy, the Super Game Boy, and the Game Boy Pocket. | *''Dragon Quest Monsters'' is the first Game Boy Color title ever developed, and was released approximately one month prior to the technicolor hardware itself. As with all black cartridge gbc games, ''DQM'' is fully compatible with the original Game Boy, the Super Game Boy, and the Game Boy Pocket. | ||
*This game is the first in the series history where the details of final bosses have been included in official guide books. This information was included because Horii believed that it would give the game a festival-like feel, and that bosses should be included to begin with as there would be no reason why they shouldn't be in a monster-centric game in the first place<ref>堀井: お祭りみたいなゲームだからいいかなって。それに、強いものどうしの配合で、もっと強いモンスターにするゲームなんだから、やっぱりボスも出すしかないでしょ(笑)。ドラゴンクエストモンスターズ 20thアニバーサリー モンスターマスターメモリーズ ISBN-13 :978-4757559356</ref>. | |||
==Gallery== | ==Gallery== | ||
<center><gallery> | <center><gallery> | ||
DQM japanese box.jpg|Japanese box. | DQM japanese box.jpg|Japanese box. | ||
File:DQM title card.png|Title card. | |||
DWM_Box (Front Side).png|American box. | DWM_Box (Front Side).png|American box. | ||
DWM_Box (Back Side).jpg| | DWM_Box (Back Side).jpg| | ||
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DQM 1 and 2 Pulio.png|Pulio. | DQM 1 and 2 Pulio.png|Pulio. | ||
DQM1 and 2 Mamon.png|Mamon the monster-hatcher. | DQM1 and 2 Mamon.png|Mamon the monster-hatcher. | ||
DQM GreatTree.png|The map of | DQM GreatTree.png|The map of Lushland. | ||
Dragon Quest Monsters super gameboy borders.png|The borders seen when played on the [https://www.mariowiki.com/Super_GameBoy Super Game Boy]. | Dragon Quest Monsters super gameboy borders.png|The borders seen when played on the [https://www.mariowiki.com/Super_GameBoy Super Game Boy]. | ||
DQM retro announcement flyer.jpg|Announcement for the Switch release. | DQM retro announcement flyer.jpg|Announcement for the Switch release. | ||
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DQM retro detailed stats flyer.jpg|Stats display. | DQM retro detailed stats flyer.jpg|Stats display. | ||
Dqm retro flyer 2.jpg|Screenshot collage. | Dqm retro flyer 2.jpg|Screenshot collage. | ||
DQMR App icon.png|Icon for the smartphone version. | |||
DQM | DQM Retro Smartphone 1.png|The Game Boy-styled controls and user interface for the smartphone version. | ||
DQM | DQM Retro Smartphone 2.jpg|Different interfaces for the smartphone version. | ||
</gallery></center> | </gallery></center> | ||
==External Link== | ==External Link== | ||
*[http://dqm3d.ffsky.cn/monsters.htm ''List of monsters'' in remake] (Japanese) | *[http://dqm3d.ffsky.cn/monsters.htm ''List of monsters'' in remake] (Japanese) | ||
==References== | |||
<references/> | |||
{{DQMI}} | {{DQMI}} | ||