Dragon Quest X

Main series games
Awakening of the Five Tribes (Version 1); The Sleeping Hero and the Guiding Ally (Version 2); Legend of the Ancient Dragon (Version 3); The 5,000-year Journey to a Faraway Home (Version 4); The Maiden of Thorns and the God of Destruction (Version 5); Heroes of the Heavenly Stars (Version 6); Door to the Future and the Slumbering Girl (Version 7)
Developer(s)	Square Enix
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Designer(s)	Yuji Horii
Artist(s)	Akira Toriyama
Composer(s)	Kōichi Sugiyama
Series	Dragon Quest
Platform(s)	Wii, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, Microsoft Windows, Android, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch
Release date(s)	Wii JP August 2, 2012 Wii U JP March 2013 Microsoft Windows JP September 26, 2013 CHN May 20, 2016 Android JP December 16, 2013
Genre(s)	Console role-playing game
Rating(s)	CERO: A

Note: This article and many related to it use fantranslated names for simplicity's sake. We aim to use officially translated names where possible.

Dragon Quest X: Mezameshi Itsutsu no Shuzoku Online (ドラゴンクエストX オンライン, Doragon Kuesuto Ten: Onrain) is the tenth game in the Dragon Quest series. It was announced at a press conference in January 2009. On September 5 2011, it was announced to be an online multiplayer game for the Nintendo Wii and released in Japan on August 2, 2012, and later ported to more platforms such as Wii U, PC or PS4. The starting portion of Dragon Quest X is also playable without the online feature, but to play the full game players need to be online at all times.

Several expansion packs were released for the game: The Sleeping Hero and the Guiding Ally in 2013; Legend of the Ancient Dragon in 2015; The 5,000-year Journey to a Faraway Home in 2017; The Maiden of Thorns and the God of Destruction in 2019; Heroes of the Heavenly Stars in 2021, and Door to the Future and the Slumbering Girl in 2024. A Nintendo Switch version was also announced during the January 12th, 2017 Nintendo Switch Presentation.

The Wii version was discontinued on November 15th, 2017. The Wii U and 3DS versions were discontinued on March 20th, 2024.

Up to this day, Dragon Quest X remains the only mainline Dragon Quest game to not be officially released in English-speaking territories. A Chinese localization was released in 2016, and eventually discontinued in May 2019.

A completely offline version of the game that features the first and second versions of the game, with the latter as paid DLC, was released in Japan on September 15, 2022 and in Eastern Asia on May 28, 2024 with Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese translations.

Gameplay

Dragon Quest X is in many ways an evolution of the systems seen in Dragon Quest IX.

DQX is the first game inside the numbered titles that breaks the Dragon Quest tradition of turn-based combat; the combat becomes more action-based by breaking the order of the attacks. The combat is still command-based like in the rest of the main series, but an invisible ATB-like system controls the actions, and player placement and character weight influence the combat. In battle, the actions are similar to in other titles: Attack, Spells, Skills, Items, Misc (Change weapon, Tactics), and Defend; with coups de grâce being selectable when randomly triggered. To flee, players must exit the semitransparent circle that borders the combat area. Outside of combat, players can rearrange their skills and spells for easier access to the actions they use the most.

Dragon Quest X also breaks two other series traditions: the Zoom spell is replaced by the Zoomstone system (similar to the ones that appear in Heroes 2), and the church's main function is linked to them. The inhabitants of Astoltia use Zoomstones to quickly fly to other locations. The number of Zoomstones is quite limited at the start of the adventure, so players need to wisely choose which places to bind their Zoomstones to. Certain cities like Lendor or Megistris have useful npcs who know the Bazoom spell and are able to send players flying to their desired destination, granted they have previously visited it. As Dragon Quest X's saving system allows players to save practically everywhere, priests and nuns now have a new primary function: bind zoomstones to certain locations. They can only link a Zoomstone to where they currently are, so players need to visit each location and talk to the clergy to bind their stones. Aside from their brand new function, the clergy continues to offer their usual revival and antidotal services.

The game includes a quest system like in 'Dragon Quest IX', but with some changes. Quests serve as side-stories helping non-player characters around the game's world. Multiple quests can be accepted simultaneously with some even interlocking and unlocking various stages in fellow quests. Quests can be simple sidestories to give more context or characterization to the inhabitants of the world, increase the level cap, unlock many useful functions and additions such as new hair dyes or new vocations, or give unique rewards such as cosmetics. Like the previous Dragon Quest installment, Dragon Quest X contains many open-ended mini-quests. Upon completion of the quests, a "Quest List log," serves as an in-game achievement list.

There is a vocation system that gives independent levels to each vocation the character can learn, similat to Dragon Quest IX's. Like in IX, there are quests to unlock more specialized vocations like Paladin, Sage or Armamentalist, among other vocations. Each vocation can equip different armor sets, and usually three or four different weapon types. All of them have unique skill trees, well worth investing in. One of the most notable differences with IX's vocation system is that each weapon skilltree must be learned by each vocation, there is not a shared weapon skilltree among vocations that share the same weapon, and there are no ways to bypass the vocation limitation to weapon types. For example, if a player learns the skill Dragon Slash by slotting points to the Warrior's Sword skilltree, when the same player unlocks Armamentalist -another vocation that can use swords-, they will need to invest points to its own Sword skilltree to unlock the skill. In contrast, in DQIX, a warrior in the same situation would already know Dragon Slash when they became Armamentalist.

Aside from vocations, players can choose a job for their character. Each job specializes in a different thing: weapon smithing, armor smithing, tailoring / sewing, toolsmithing, cooking food that gives stat and EXP bonuses for a limited time, and alchemy to add effects to equipment... There are also brand new "Job quests" that can only be received when you have the job that is requested. The Traveler's Bazaar is there to incentivize players to trade their crafted goods.

This game also includes two new features as a reference to other RPG games: the Fire Colosseum and the Magic Labyrinth. The Fire Colosseum allows the player to challenge again some storyline bosses that are modified to be stronger and the Magic Labyrinth acts like the Grotto of Dragon Quest IX. Although the first one is located at the top of a snowy mountain, several labyrinths can be encountered during the gameplay, and in the strangest possible places, like a mirror in the Royal Palace of Gran Zedoura in Rendaashia. Unlike grottos, magic labyrinths can be altered by player actions using certain items. This allows players to summon specific bosses to fight. In a way, the Magic Labyrinth coins and cards work like the Fiend keys from Dragon Quest of the Stars.

There is mailing system which allows the developers to communicate important things to players, as well as players to talk with and gift each other.

A mount system exists: the dolboard. This transportation method can be unlocked in the dwarf continent, though nowadays new players can get a free rental one at the start of their adventure if they want. The dolboard can be customized with prism items, which can usually be acquired through events or the cash shop.

Another feature unique to DQX is the housing feature. Players can purchase a lot and put a house in it. There are plenty of cosmetic and functional decorations for the house and garden.

Game features

3D graphics and a real-time overworld similar to those found in Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, using the Crystal Tools engine.
Highly customizable characters, with many different faces, skin colors, weapons and armours. This game also included different races such as Ogres, Wetlings, Poppets, Elves and Dwarves. At a certain point in the story, the player unlocks the ability to switch between their original human body and their chosen race's body with the help of priests.
Co-operative play with up to four players online. Some game modes allow more players at once: for example, the various "Alliance Battles" allow 8 players to cooperate to defeat a strong boss.
Rental companions that can be recruited for a limited time up to 168 hours. If the target companion is from the same team (guild), their cost is halved. If the target companion is listed as a friend, their costs is free.
Chat system to allow easy communication between players.
Guild system for groups of players. Leveling the team grants all members with special rewards, like special team outfits or mounts.
- At certain points of the story, important characters will temporarily join your party as guest party members. They usually only stick for a boss battle or two, however.
Time-limited events where you can receive cosmetic equipment, emotes and skins for the dolboard.
A fully customizable house for the player's character.
Crafting minigames where players can create weapons, armor pieces, clothes, tools, and food using various materials. The smithing minigame used for crafting weapons, armor and tools was later streamlined in Dragon Quest XI's Fun Sized Forge.
There are multiple quests that are fairly different than most of the substories in the series:
- A parallel storyline where you control a pair of treasure hunter humans exploring long-abandoned ruins filled with puzzles.
- A Japanese high school simulation mode, with character bonding and Visual Novel-style dialogues.
- A murder mystery in a faraway island.
A brand new fishing minigame, where players fish through simple but exciting turn-based combat.

Offline Storyline

Offline tutorial and Prologue

The story begins in the village of Tenton, the home of the Hero and their sibling, when the Hero is looking at the sky at the center of the village. Their sibling calls them, and is shown to be riding the Galapogod along with Tenda, the village's priestess and elder. When the Galapogod reaches the Hero’s location, their sibling offers them a ride, but is immediately interrupted by Tenda, denying the Hero the opportunity.

A strange noise awakens the Hero from the apparent dream, only to learn that their sibling accidentally destroyed the village's supply of Perky Beans, Tenda's favorite food, in an attempt to multiply them via alchemy. At Tenton's church the Hero meets Tenda's grandson, Singh, who instructs the Hero to gather various items from the local villagers, in order to fashion a pillow to serve as compensation for the loss of the Perky Beans. Upon receiving the pillow, Tenda asks the Hero to look for their sibling, and despite being upset at Singh for disturbing her, she still uses the pillow they made, falling into a deep sleep. After locating their sibling successfully synthesizing a hat, the Hero returns to the village, where Tenda announces that she has received an omen from the Galapogod: the village will soon be destroyed, with no survivors. However, hope remains in the form of a plant known as the Tensu Flower, which blooms in a cave to the north. The Hero, their sibling and Singh are chosen to retrieve it. Arriving at the cave, Singh mentions that Tenda had earlier mentioned that even if the Tensu Flower was successfully retrieved, only one person would survive the destruction of Tenton. The Hero’s sibling is shocked at this revelation, but Singh quickly points out the possibility that Tenda was only referring to a worst-case scenario, and the party continues further into the cave.

The party reaches a large chamber at the back of the cave, where several Tensu Flowers are in full bloom. Unfortunately, they are not alone, as the flowers are immediately attacked by a demonic mage named Bedorā. Singh tells him to stop, but Bedorā has no intention of giving even a single flower to anyone capable of crossing through time. Singh is confused by Bedorā’s words, causing him to cackle at how the people of Tenton allowed themselves to forget something so important. He attacks the trio, but loses. Despite his body at its limit, Bedorā swears to fulfill his master’s orders and unleashes one final attack on the Tensu Flowers, decimating them moments before dying. Singh inspects the ruined flowers, and as he does so, recalls an old text he had read, of how the people of Tenton had a spell to travel freely through time in an age long past. Unfortunately, the number of people able to use the spell dwindled, and the spell was lost entirely in the span of several hundred years. As Singh prepares to give up and return to the village, the Hero’s sibling notices a glowing light, obscured by smoke. In a stroke of immeasurable luck, one of the Tensu Flowers had survived.

However, by the time the party returns to the village, they find a horde of monsters burning everything to the ground. A stray fireball flies towards the Hero’s sibling, causing both the Hero and Singh to panic. The Hero reaches out to their sibling, who is then immediately surrounded by a bright light, with their surroundings frozen, as if time itself had stopped; the Hero had unknowingly cast the ancient spell to cross time. The Hero’s sibling immediately disappears, leaving no indication as to where or when they were sent. A monster witnessing the event quickly notifies his master, Nelgel the Netherlord, who was supervising the attack. Nelgel is far from surprised that there was still someone who could travel through time, as he suspected as such, to begin with. He immediately kills the Hero and every remaining villager in Tenton, although the Galapogod remains unharmed, due to its innate ability.

With his goal accomplished, Nelgel retreats to the skies above. Using his scythe, he opens a dark portal where an ominous cloud spills out, completely covering the central continent, Rendāshia. Five lights appear from the Galapogod’s body, flying over the deceased bodies of Tenton’s villagers, until one of them stops over the Hero’s body. With the Hero’s soul in tow, the light immediately departs for the Room of Revival off in the distance.

The Hero's soul awakens, and they are greeted by a voice, which explains that five gods, representing the five races of Astoltia, are willing to reincarnate them into a new body. Upon choosing a race and appearance, the Hero is given an Adventure Log to record their travels and is sent to the world of Astoltia to seek out their destiny.

Extended campaign

Warning: Spoilers!
Click expand to view content

A man pursues a woebergine with a knife in his hand, but suddenly stumbles and falls to the ground. Much to the man's ire, this allows the woebergine to flee. Turning around, the man discovers that he had tripped over the Hero's sibling, who was lying asleep on the ground. The sibling awakens, and quickly informs the man that Tenton is in danger, but the name is unfamiliar to him. He assumes the sibling had simply washed up from the ocean, and directs them to Narubia, the island's only known settlement.

The sibling attempts to inform the people of Narubia of Tenton's predicament, but much like with the man earlier, no one knows of any place called Tenton, save for a girl named Ririoru, who is afflicted with merazo fever. While visiting Ririoru's home, the sibling notices and examines an Alchemy Pot, but is immediately approached by the man who tripped over them earlier, revealed to be Ririoru's father, Isshou. Despite his skepticism, Isshou teaches the sibling the basics for performing alchemy. The sibling exhibits remarkable talent, and after hearing Isshou's plight regarding his daughter, synthesizes the medicine needed to save Ririoru's life.

Upon recovering, Ririoru explains that she learned the name Tenton from a letter in a bottle that she found washed up on the shore. Isshou remarks that such a detail leaves no indication as to Tenton's location, but Ririoru retorts that the bottle's pristine condition proves the village must be nearby. As thanks for saving her life, Ririoru offers free use of Isshou's alchemy pot to the sibling, leaving her father with little say in the matter.

Isshou explains to the sibling that there are 7 shrines located throughout the island, and that investigating them may provide a clue for returning to Tenton. He provides the sibling with the blue shrine key, which he had synthesized himself, and the sibling begins their journey throughout the island, gathering materials found within the various shrines and growing stronger from repeated encounters with monsters. The sibling eventually synthesizes the gold shrine key, and is able to enter the 7th and final shrine. Inside, the sibling is confronted by Baalzack, who reveals that the 7 shrines were his creations, designed to cultivate potential alchemists' abilities so that he can steal their power for himself. The sibling is triumphant over him, however, and proceeds beyond the shrine.

The sibling finds themselves in Tenton, at long last, but there are no signs of damage from the monsters' raid. The villagers recite a proclamation from the Galapogod of a saviour who would save Tenda's life during an important ceremony, and that the sibling must be this savior, considering Tenda's life is currently in jeopardy. The sibling is given a recipe, which they then use to synthesize a mysterious bean. The sibling delivers this bean to Tenda, and with it, she is able to complete her ceremony. As the ceremony reaches its conclusion, Tenton's villagers are called to welcome a juvenile Tenda as their new priestess. Tenda explains that the mysterious bean delivered by the sibling allowed her to regain her strength at a crucial moment during the ceremony. She compliments the taste of this bean, and christens it "Perky Bean," all while requesting that the villagers amend it to their harvests. Furthermore, as a show of gratitude for their role as a savior, Tenda welcomes the sibling as a proper citizen of Tenton. As the crowd disperses, Tenda reveals to the sibling that she is already aware of the sibling's arrival via time travel. Unfortunately, no one is able to cast the spell to cross through time in this particular era, which means the sibling is stranded in the past, with no means of returning to the present. As a consolation, Tenda offers to use her mystical power to send the sibling's feelings to the Hero in the form of a prayer. The sibling begins to pray as Tenda calls out to the Hero. Upon logging in to the online game after completing this story, the Hero will be greeted with a vision of their sibling, who delivers the hat they had synthesized during the prologue.

Version 1: Awakening of the Five Tribes

Plot

Warning: Spoilers!
Click expand to view content

In one of the five continents surrounding Rendāshia, the Hero's soul inhabits the body of the Protagonist, who had recently passed away. The reborn Hero soon finds themselves in a perilous situation with little chance of escape, though the exact events and circumstances vary depending on the race chosen. A bright light erupts from the clouds covering Rendāshia, bathing all of Astoltia in its glow and saving the Hero from imminent death. In the aftermath of this phenomena, a Mark of Adulthood is engraved onto the Hero's Adventure Log, allowing the Hero the potential to earn Key Emblems, which directly correlate to an adventurer’s level of strength and heroism.

During the Hero’s journey, they meet a sage who can immediately deduce that they had been revived at one point. The sage introduces himself as Horro, and after hearing the Hero’s story, is willing to provide assistance in defeating Nelgel, under the condition that the Hero can present him with no less than 6 Key Emblems. The Hero eventually fulfills this requirement, and Horro directs them to the entrance to Nelgel’s lair, the Heart of the Netherlord. Horro's attempt to create an opening in Nelgel's barrier fails, though he doesn't lose heart, as there exists an alternative method of entry known as the Haja Boat. Unfortunately, the spell to create the Haja Boat has been lost to time. Horro deduces that if the spell no longer exists in the present day, then the Hero, who had the ability to travel through time as a human, must recover their old body and travel to the past. Horro separates the Hero's soul from the Protagonist’s body, and the Hero departs for Tenton.

Upon arrival, the Hero’s soul is approached by Tenda's ghost, who had been waiting for the Hero to return, even after death. Tenda explains that when she was young, she nearly died during an important ceremony, but a young alchemist came and used their mysterious technique to save her life. That alchemist was the Hero's sibling, having been sent to the distant past so as to escape Tenton’s destruction. Because of this, Tenda knew that the Hero had the ability to travel through time. She motions for the Hero to follow her to the center of Tenton, where they find their body, protected by the Galapogod. The Hero immediately reunites with their body, but Nelgel begins attacking the village again. Tenda offers the Tensu Flower that the Hero, their sibling and Singh had retrieved to the Galapogod, and it transforms into a shining pegasus, immediately taking the Hero to the Room of Revival, beyond Nelgel's reach.

The Hero is instructed to use the intercontinental railway as a vessel with which to cross through time, and they travel back 500 years to an era when the world is being terrorized by a false sun named Reidametesu. The Haja Boat’s master, Bernhardt, attempted to infiltrate Reidametesu, but was unsuccessful, perishing as a result. The Hero helps Bernhardt’s son undergo the rituals needed to inherit the spell for creating the boat, and flies inside Reidametesu, where they defeat its guardian, thus causing the false sun to collapse. Bernhardt’s son promises to keep the Haja Boat’s spell alive within his family, and in the present day, the Hero finds the boy’s descendant, who is eager to create the boat for them.

Boarding the Haja Boat, the Hero enters the Heart of the Netherlord, and defeats Nelgel. He warns the Hero, however, that the source of darkness has not been cut off, and that someday, it will create a disaster far worse than anything he could’ve been. The Hero escapes, and is then greeted by Horro once again, who informs them that Nelgel’s seal over Rendāshia is still in place, but someday, access to the continent will be restored. He requests the Hero to provide aid to the princess of Grand Zetannia when that time comes, for she is an awakened Luminary.

Version 2: The Sleeping Hero and the Guiding Ally

Plot summary

The story of Version 2 picks up where Version 1 ended: now that Rendāshia is free from Nelgel's seal, it's time to visit it and find the Hero with the help of the mysterious Klaus and the inhabitants of Rendāshia.

After finding and awakening Hero Anlucia, the player quickly realizes his role as the Hero's Ally, a key supportive figure for the Hero. Anlucia and her ally will set out to defeat the Great Archfiend Maldragora, who made Nelgel seal Rendāshia.

Version 3: Legend of the Ancient Dragon

Plot summary

In the second expansion of Dragon Quest X, the player travels to the land of Nadragand, where the dragon people (nadravians) live. Some dear friends from all continents have been kidnapped by a mysterious nadravian. Not long after reaching the first of the five realms of Nadragand, the player is labeled a "liberator" by the priests of the Nadraga Order, the ruling class in the fire realm. The priests task the liberator with connecting the five realms together.

This expansion gives an insight on the creation of Astoltia and Nadragand and the conflict between the two, as well as the creation of the seven races: nadravian, dwarf, ogre, wetling, poppet, elf and human.

Version 4: The 5,000-year Journey to a Faraway Home

Plot summary

While playing with a tool obtained from a certain survivor of Tenton, the player is transported many years to the past, to a mysterious mansion that works with strange technology. Soon after, Mereade -the lady of the mansion- will warn the main character of the impending doom of the world in their present time and send him to the present, where he must warn his allies and find ways to stop the certain doom they face.

This expansion gives us a deeper look into the time-traveling powers of the main character and their origins.

Version 5: The Maiden of Thorns and the God of Destruction

Plot summary

After a hard battle at the gates of hell, the main character is gravely hurt. Seeing him, Shaka -a mysterious red-haired demon- takes him to the demon world and revives him by using a forbidden technique: sharing blood with him, which turns you into a demon whom Shaka considers his servant. Shaka's goal is to become the next Great Archfiend after the defeat of Maldragora by the hands of Anlucia and her Ally, and he will make you play along with his plans.

This arc centers on the conflict between the creator goddess of Astoltia -Lutiana- and the Great Source of Darkness -Jagonuba-.

Version 6: Heroes of the Heavenly Stars

Plot summary

An unknown floating city has appeared in the skies of Lendor. Doctor Palmio, a genious poppet, tells you this strange city appears each time the world has been saved from a disaster. When you and Palmio try to reach the city with a flying device invented by the poppet, the inhabitants of the flying city attack you. After the confrontation, an angel named Yuliza invites you, the new Champion, to enter the city. There, you can meet heroes from other times who saved their civilizations.

Dragon Quest X Offline

An offline version of Dragon Quest X was announced on May 26, 2021, as part of the Dragon Quest 35th Anniversary livestream. This version is a separate release from the original, with different gameplay and aesthetics.

Developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment studio B.B. Studio, using Unreal Engine 4, Dragon Quest X Offline features gameplay similar to Dragon Quest XI, including a turn-based battle system with a Finishing Move gauge to unleash special moves; a Character Builder system with skill trees; and the series's traditional Vocation system. After clearing the game, players will receive a special Spell of Restoration to be used in Dragon Quest X Online, which allows them to start the story with all levels at 70.^[1]

Dragon Quest X Offline was originally announced to be released in Japan on February 26, 2022, with a downloadable expansion based on The Sleeping Hero and the Guided Allies set for a Spring 2022 launch.^[2] However, it was delayed to Summer 2022 for quality improvements, with the expansion postponed to Fall 2022.^[3]

Manga

There are three manga series inspired by DQ10:

Dragon Quest: Souten no Soura, an adventure series set in the world of Astoltia, following Soura, a wetling boy.
Rooming with a Gamer Gal, a romance-comedy manga set in the real world, follows two DQ10 players who begin living together.
Dragon Quest X 4Koma, a short series of 4koma style humorous strips.