Dragon Quest of the Stars

Spinoff games Dragon Quest of the Stars

Publisher(s) Square Enix Series Dragon Quest Platform(s) Cell phone Release date(s) ^JP October 15, 2015
^NA February 25, 2020
^EU February 25, 2020
Genre(s) Turn-based RPG

Dragon Quest of the Stars (星のドラゴンクエスト, , Hoshi no Doragon Kuesuto , commonly abbreviated as "星ドラ") is a free-to-play touch based RPG for smartphones that is part of the Dragon Quest series. The game was released on October 15, 2015 in Japan and globally on February 25th, 2020. The new mobile title features stickers from popular LINE emoji artist Kanahei. On September 30th, 2019, Square Enix announced that the game would be released internationally in 2020, with a closed beta for Android users that ran from October 30th to November 28th. On March 30, 2021 Square Enix announced that the global game servers will be shut down on June 30, 2021.

Gameplay

The game lets players explore planet Brulia and experience various classic Dragon Quest events.

In the Japanese version, players can explore other planets as well after finishing Chapter 7 of Season 1.

Customization and Vocations

Players can customize and develop their own character to fight against the star crisis that draws near. Character customization is similar to Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies, in that armor is split between various categories: headwear, torso, legs, shield and accessories. Equipment and appearance aren't actually linked, players can use any piece of equipment they have as a cosmetic piece, with only one limitation: the weapon type has to be the same that is currently equipped.

After reaching a point in the story, players can also customize their vocation. The basic vocations are:

• Apprentice Adventurer (Beginner vocation)
• Warrior
• Mage
• Priest
• Martial Artist
• Sailor
• Dancer
• Ranger

There's also the unlockable Gadabout vocation, which is a joke vocation but has great Luck and Evasion rate at lv99.

Players can later unlock specialist vocations which require two of the basic vocations at lv50 or higher and a vocational scroll. These specialist vocations are:

• Battlemaster (Warrior + Martial Artist)
• Paladin (Priest + Martial Artist)
• Sage (Mage + Priest)
• Armamentalist (Warrior + Mage)
• Pirate (Sailor + Dancer)
• Monster Master (Sailor + Ranger)
• Superstar (Dancer + Ranger)
• Gladiator (Martial Artist + Sailor)
• Astronomer (Priest + Ranger)

Specialist vocations have better vocational skills, better stats, and can equip teachings, which give two additional -usually passive- skills to the player. The advanced vocations can be revocated three times, which means they can reach up to level 3*99. Once revocated, a green flame icon with a number will appear next to the character's level. Unlike the base vocations, the specialist vocations are more oriented to filingl a certain role that can complement another vocation. For example, Paladins can guard Superstars with their Battle Buddy skill so the Superstar can use On Stage and reduce the party's charge times without worrying about getting hit and stopping the effects of On Stage.

In the Japanse version there are super vocations, each of which has a skill points panel similar to those from Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age. Players can get skill points by doing specific things, like leveling a vocation up to X level, win a fight at Footsteps of Erdrick in multiplayer, or finishing Y amount of combats using the vocation. As with specialist vocations, each requirement is per character:

• バトルキング Battle king (Battlemaster at lv99 or higher)
• ガーディアン Guardian (Paladin at lv99 or higher)
• 魔賢導士 Archsage (Sage at lv99 or higher)
• 星騎士 Star Knight (Armamentalist at lv99 or higher)
• 宇宙海賊 Space Pirate (Pirate at lv99 or higher)
• 天地雷鳴士 Druid (Monster Master at lv99 or higher)
• ウルトラスター Ultrastar (Superstar at lv99 or higher)
• ゴッドハンド Champion (Gladiator at lv99 or higher)
• 時空術士 Astrotemporalist (Astronomer at lv99 or higher)
• ブレイブナイト Brave Knight (Acquire 5 minimedals)
• アルカナロード Arcana Lord (Acquire 5 dark medals)
• 侍 Samurai (Battle King, Guardian, Star Knight, Space Pirate and Champion at lv99 or higher)
• 軍師 Tactician (Archsage, Druid, Ultrastar and Astrotemporalist at lv99 or higher)

The super vocations can be revocated once, allowing a max level of 1*99. Each of these vocations gives the player a sigil when the player reaches max level with it. When using a super vocation ,a red star will appear next to the character's level. If it's revocated, a 1 will appear on top of the star. The first nine supervocations are even more advanced versions of the specialist vocations; while the later four have unique perks and habilities. Brave Knight allows players to access the main skills of 6 additional weapons aside from the equipped one -the skills are used in the order the player places them in the equipment screen-, Arcana Lord shows the element of enemy's charged skills and can give elemental protection to the party, Samurai can't equip shields but can equip a secondary weapon which can be swapped with the main weapon in battle; and Tactician can equip 6 additional weapons like the Brave Knight but can choose which skill to use.

Vocations aren't the only important thing affecting progress, weapons are the other big thing. Each weapon has one or two main skills (usually something unique to that weapon), and a series of sub-skill slots that allow you to use other skills as long as they are the same type of skill (there are 4: physical attack, physical support, magic attack, magic support), are allowed for that weapon type and are of the same rank or lower than the slot. Some special weapons have slots that are hybrids, being able to hold 2 types of skill.

Weapons, armor and skills can be upgraded for a stats and in the case of skills for reduced charge times. Gear can also be evolved up to four times using a duplicate or a weapon or armour jewel. Doing so increases the upgrade limit, and gives weapons better sub-slots for secondary skills. Weapons can be broken in order to extract their main skill and have that skill available to fill other weapon's sub-skills, if those slots are the same type and rank as the extracted skill. Some equipment can be alchemized and awakened.

Combat

Most of the game will be spent doing combats. In this game's battles, the player has to wait for the skill's timers to fill up before being able to use them. Each character does a simple auto-attack on each turn. Almost every vocation has 2 skills players can use in battle, like Anger, Sea Shanty, On Stage, Midheal, etc. After the vocational skills, both main and sub-skills for the character's equipped weapon are listed, and finally the shield's defending skill. The core mechanic is knowing the monster's weaknesses and using the skills in a timely manner, specially during the co-op multiplayer matches.

Before each dungeon begins, players can choose which items they are bringing into the battle (up to 4), and if they want to use food with special properties such as raising a specific resistance or boosting some stats.

Fight difficulty is divided in the following categories: Beginner, Advanced, Hero, Legendary. There are higher difficulties that require special one-time-use items to unlock: Giga-legendary, Fiend, Daemon and Archfiend. However, only one monster falls under the Daemon difficulty, and while there are several Archfiends in the Japanese version of the game, only one was available in the Global version prior to the End of Service: Emperor Xeylon. For some special bosses, there is an additional tier, accessed via Revelation keys, which is harder than Legendary but generally easier than Giga-legendary.

Minigames

There is a casino in Dragon Quest of the Stars, the Squirrel Station. It offers these minigames:

• King Splash - Coin Pusher: A simple coin pusher. The gameplay is simple, players get chests, then befriend monsters, fight bosses from the trilogy of Erdrick, and try to get the jackpot. Each time you defeat Dragonlord (2nd form), Malroth or Zoma, the game softresets. After Zoma, the boss cycle starts again. This machine was eventually made in real life for some game centers in Japan.
• Cyril's One Two Hey!: It's Rock, Paper, Scissors against some DQotS characters like Gaius or Cyril, with an added All or Nothing component.
• Slime Darts: Players throw slimes at a board, trying to aim for the prizes.
• Line'Em Up! Flappy Slime: It's a matching game. Players don't have much control over it, but occasionally a reroll chance will trigger and they can select where they want the new panel picture to be placed.

All four casino minigames have normal and premium machines. The premium machines cost x3 the normal cost, but also have x3 higher prizes. These require a StarPass subscription* (*unavailable since March 31st, 2021 in the Global version), or waiting until it opens to everyone, which happens from time to time.

In the Japanese version, a Monster Arena exists too. It's a bit similar to the monster arena in Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, however the monster parties in Stars have 4 party members instead of just 3. Players can raise an ever expanding variety of monsters and fight against the AI to progress through tournaments, or fight against the teams of other players using qr and text codes.

Another Japanese-exclusive feature is the Hero Training, which allow players to send characters from the main series to expeditions and gain experience to level up. The main purpose of leveling them up is to get "blessings" from the heroes, which give a small bonus to the characters who equips them.

Global version

The global version of Dragon Quest of the Stars was developed and operated by Koei Tecmo Games, and Koei Tecmo Singapore.

Pre-launch

On September 30, 2019 Square Enix announced that the game would recieve a Global release and that it would have a closed beta test for the English version of the game on Android devices in Canada and Taiwan from October 30 to November 28, 2019. Game data from this beta test didn't transfer to the full game, but beta testers could get a commemorative in-game badge when the game actually launched.

On February 23, 2020 Square Enix announced Stars had reached 500,000 pre-registrations.

Service starts

The game finally launched globally on February 25, 2020, available for iOS and Android. It included five languages: English, Chinese, French, German and Spanish. Most stamps were translated in each language, except 4 which were kept in English, Chinese, French, German and Spanish regardless of which language you were playing in. These four stamps were the Hello, Thanks, See you later and Good game stamps.

The global version had some exclusive content: the Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia collaboration event & equipment, the Lunar New Year event & equipment, and the paid beginner sets equipment sets.

The Covid-19 epidemic hit the development team early during development, leading into the content being released at a slower pace. The game had miscommunication issues between the development team and players, which lead to frustration on both parts. After the summer of 2020, Square Enix assigned a community manager to help improve the relationship between fans and developers. Square Enix held a few livestreams to detail new content and banners, and upcoming roadmaps. The live-streams also served as Q&A sessions where players would send questions to the CM via Discord and Reddit and he would show players the answer the developers had. The first live-stream was held on November 25, 2020; the second on December 16, 2020. The final livestream for the game was the 1st Anniverary Live-stream, on February 25, 2021.

During its lifespan, the Global version saw story events for the first seven mainline Dragon Quest titles, two crossover events, two Giga-Battle events, and a big array of miscellaneous events including experience and upgrade events.

Closure

On March 30, 2021 Square Enix announced that the global game servers will be shut down on June 30, 2021.

Message to all fans of DRAGON QUEST OF THE STARS and the Dragon Quest Series

Thank you very much for playing DRAGON QUEST OF THE STARS.

We regret to inform you that on 2021/6/30 23:59 UTC, the DRAGON QUEST OF THE STARS service will come to a close.

The large amount of valuable feedback and support provided by everyone who's played the game has always been a source of encouragement for the development and administration team. Thanks to all for your amazing support.

Your DRAGON QUEST OF THE STARS Development and Administration Team

From July 1, 2021, players were met with this in-app message until the servers eventually were shut down:

Events

Crossovers (Global)

Final Fantasy

On October thirteenth, 2020 the game began a crossover with the Cell phone game Dissida Final Fantasy Opera Omnia. Features in the game include Mog and Manikins as bosses. Players could obtain a Mog suit and various accessories. There were also banners with equipment based on Cloud and Warrior of Light, and several other FF weapons such as Yuna's Magistral Rod.

Dissida Final Fantasy Opera Omnia players could get some DQotS stickers while the event lasted.

Crossovers (Japan)

Godzilla event

On August fourth, 2020 the game received a surprise crossover with the Godzilla series of films in a joint collaboration between Square Enix and Toho studios. The kaiju appearing in the game are the Hesei-era versions of Godzilla, Biollante, Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Rodan. In addition, cosplay equipment based on the monsters and the Japanese Special Defense Force have been made available as well.

Monster Hunter Riders

On Janurary fifteenth 2021, a crossover event with Japan-only mobile game Monster Hunter Riders began. It featured classic beasts from the Monster Hunter series like the Rathalos, and a special crafting mechanic that allowed players to craft weapons, armor, accessories and sigils based on MHR characters, Felynes and monsters. There were several Monster Hunter-themed banners, offering the weapons and outfits of various MHR characters such as Halcion or Shino.

On 'Monster Hunter Riders, they had story events featuring Cyril and various MHR characters dressed as Dragon Quest series characters -like Mary using Alena's outfit-. These characters could also be pulled for. Certain monsters like Slimes or Sabercats could be obtained as partners for the players.

Other Events (Global)

Halloween (2020)

From October 29th to November 7th, 2020, the game celebrated the year's Halloween with an event called Halloween Demon. The event involved 4 levels of difficulty with a boss also called Halloween Demon. The monster is a variation of Pruslas, Night clubber and Baalzack, only with a pumpkin on his head & a giant suckered as a weapon. During this event, a banner with cosmetic items was available.

Winter (2020)

From December 15th to December 25th, 2020, the game celebrated the coming of Winter with an event called Winter Holiday. The event involved farming points for Santa, which were obtained by fighting him and his minions. He would offer the players gifts in exchange for points. Santa is a variation of Numen, and his minions were variants of other monsters like Healslime, Dracky and Sabercub, only with Christmas hats, reindeer horns and other festive decorations. These monsters could also drop crafting materials for Winter-themed equipment. During this event, Squirrel Santa could be seen in the Atlas, and the game offered a cosmetic banner.

Gallery

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  English logo.

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  Japanese logo.

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  Default avatars and the mascot.

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  Stickers by Kanahei.

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  More stickers.

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  Screenshot of the opening movie showing cameos of heroes and high level equipment available.

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Vocations

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  Apprentice Adventurer

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  Warrior

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  Mage

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  Priest

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  Martial Artist

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  Sailor

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  Dancer

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  Ranger

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  Gadabout

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  Battlemaster

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  Paladin

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  Sage

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  Armamentalist

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  Pirate

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  Monster Master

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  Superstar

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  Gladiator

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  Astronomer

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  Battle king

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  Guardian

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  Archsage

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  Star Knight

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  Space Pirate

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  Druid

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  Ultrastar

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  Champion

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  Astrotemporalist

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  Brave Knight

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  Arcana Lord

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  Samurai

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  Tactician

Monsters

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  Gryphinx.

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  Giga golem.

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  Gyldenbritches with Gold slimes.

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  Halloween Demon.

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  Lapis dragon

Items

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  Water Crystal

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  Nwang.

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  Conch Shell.

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  Magic Iron.

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  Metal Egg.

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  Lava Drops.

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  Rainbow Mushroom.

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  Shroomburg.

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  Training Mushroom.

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  Spring Mirror.

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  Sleep Whistle.

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  Shell Jewel.

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  Jubilee Jay.

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  Light of Truth.

Main Story

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  Nebetta.

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  Lichard the Lionheart.

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  Albatrassin.

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  Cobrara

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  Genghis Ham

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  Divinatus.

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  Zenel the Anoinkted.

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  Jyro.

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  Dothradeth.

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  Monsters from the Brotherhood sacrifice themselves to revive Dothradeth.

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Events

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  Dragon Quest event.

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  Dragon Quest II event.

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  First part of the Dragon Quest III event.

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  Second part of the Dragon Quest III event.

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  First part of the Dragon Quest IV event.

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  Second part of the Dragon Quest IV event.

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  First part of the Dragon Quest V event.

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  Second part of the Dragon Quest V event.

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  First part of the Dragon Quest VI event.

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  Second part of the Dragon Quest VI event.

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  First part of the Dragon Quest VII event.

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  Second part of the Dragon Quest VI event.

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  Guided by Rubiss Light permament event.

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  Heavenly Golden Dragon permanent event.

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  Dragon Quest: Scan Battlers collaboration event.

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  Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia collaboration.

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  Warrior of Light and Cloud outfits.

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  Explanation of the first Giga-battle event: Portal Cravesse.

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  Explanation of the second Giga-battle event: The Guardian Beasts and the Accursed Star.

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  Digital poster for the Godzilla collaboration even.

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  Sabrecat and killing Machine themed JDSF costumes.

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  Costumes based on the Toho monsters.

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  Japanese collaboration event with Monster Hunter Riders.

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  DQotS collaboration in MHR.

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  Hilda from MHR wearing the Rubiss's Robe.

Stamps

Communication stamps in their ingame order.

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Videos

DFFOO event announcement trailer (Global)

Godzilla event announcement trailer (Japan)

Godzilla event demo trailer (Japan)

Music video for Hoshi no Fanfare (Japan)

Trivia

An Astrotemporalist ("Super Astronomer") helper.

• Biollante's inclusion in the Godzilla event is an homage to the fact that Kōichi Sugiyama wrote and performed the score for 1989's Godzilla vs Biollante.
• Rodan's event cinematic is an homage to the monster perching atop a building in New York City in 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars.
• Cobarara is the only original monster from this game to appear in other Dragon Quest games, as he appeared in Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3 Professional and the mobile releases of Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry's Wonderland 3D and Dragon Quest Monsters 2: Iru and Luca's Marvelous Mysterious Key.
• 新しい地図 join ミュージック (Atarashiichizu join MUSIC) released a special song, 星のファンファーレ (Hoshi no fanfare), to celebrate the milestone of 20 million downloads in Japan alone. The song was composed by Nakajin.
• Some of the super vocation names listed in this page use fantranslated names -like Star Knight, Arcana Lord or Tactician-, however some others are listed with the official name they have in other localized games -like Druid or Champion-. Some others -Battle King, Guardian, Ultrastar and Astrotemporalist-, use the names they had in the Global version. Despite never being available as vocations for the players of the game, high level players could get bot helpers with these vocations in the first few weeks of service until it was eventually patched out.

External link

• Official Japanese site
• Godzilla event subsite
• Official English site
• Version History of Dragon Quest of the Start (Japanese)
• Resistance Calculation of Dragon Quest of the Stars