Dragon Quest

This article is about the original game, titled Dragon Quest. For series information, see Dragon Quest (series)

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Dragon Quest, (called Dragon Warrior in it's original localization) is the first game in the Dragon Quest series, developed by Enix (now Square Enix) and released in 1986 in Japan for the MSX and the Nintendo Family Computer ("Famicom"). The game was localized for North American release in 1989, but the title was changed to Dragon Warrior to avoid infringing on the trademark of the pen and paper game DragonQuest. The North American version of the game was greatly improved graphically over the Japanese original, and it added a battery backed-up save feature, whereas the Japanese version used passwords. Nintendo was impressed with the Japanese sales of the title and massively overproduced the cartridge; the end result was that Nintendo gave away copies of Dragon Warrior as an incentive for subscribing to Nintendo Power, the company's in-house promotions magazine. It was re-released along with Dragon Quest II in a compilation known as Dragon Quest I & II. Dragon Quest I has recently been released on cellular phones.

Dragon Quest takes place in a country called Alefgard. A villain by the name of Dragonlord has kidnapped the princess of Tantegel and an artifact called the Orb of Light (also known as Ball of Light). Eventually the hero who is a descendant of the legendary Erdrick has emerged and has vowed to rescue the princess and defeat the Dragonlord.

Dragon Quest was wildly popular in Japan and became the first in a series that now includes eight games, with several spin-offs, including Dragon Quest Monsters. Dragon Quest is regarded as the first console RPG or role playing game, a popular genre that also includes the Final Fantasy series. Seemingly primitive by today's standards, Dragon Quest features one-on-one combat, a limited array of items and spells, and only five towns and five dungeons. Nevertheless, it was successful financially and well received by many fans.

Plot

Long before the game begins, a man named Roto returned peace from the hands of evil. The peace came in the form of the sacred Ball of Light. Roto returned to the King with the Ball of Light and there were great festivals and celebrations. Eventually, Roto took his leave and was never seen again. Years passed and the people prospered, but one person was not happy with the way things were. He lived in the western mountain cave, far from Tantegel's walls. While exploring deep within the cave, he came across a sleeping dragon. Suddenly, the dragon awoke and the man was very frightened. As he closed his eyes to stop himself from seeing his demise, nothing happened. The man grew tired of waiting and threw a stick to distract it. To his surprise, the dragon picked it up in his mouth and brought it back to the man, like a dog. After that he discovered he could make the dragon do whatever he wanted. He then named himself the Dragonlord. Suddenly, a disaster occurred: Charlock Castle rose from its dirt grave, and everyone knew this was a bad omen. A few minutes later a swarm of Slimes, Ghosts, Dragons and other monsters attacked Tantegel and the villages across Alefgard. Though they fought bravely, the years of peace had made the people weak. The Ball of Light and were stolen by the Dragonlord himself.

After this terrible attack the people were terrified to walk outside again. Many men were killed traveling between places and people locked their doors at night. At night, they could hear the Slimes scratching and mumbling along the walls of Tantegel. The King fell into a deep depression over his kidnapped daughter, even though the legends told of a descendant of Roto coming to restore peace. The King believed it to be a myth until one day a scrawny-looking young man appeared at the King's feet and asked permission to retrieve the Ball of Light and Lady Lora. Since many other hapless warriors had volunteered and failed, the King had already given up hope. But he sees a light in this young man's eyes and knew he was the descendant of Roto. Giving him a few items and some gold, the King sends the warrior out.

After traveling the length and breadth of Alefgard and becoming more and more powerful, the Hero eventually discovers Lady Lora in the clutches of a Green Dragon, who is hiding her in a cave. After killing the dragon, the Hero lifts her onto his back and carries her all the way back to Tantegel, to the delirious joy of everyone there.

Finally, after strengthening himself through all the battles he has fought and the mystical items he has uncovered, including the immensely powerful Roto's sword, the Hero enters Charlock Castle, the Dragonlord's domain, and kills him, temporarily freeing Alefgard from the terror of evil.

Lora proposes to him and King Lorik offers him the throne; he accepts the former offer but declines the latter, opting instead to venture to lands unknown and found his own kingdom.

List of characters

• Hero: A descendant of the Legendary Hero Erdrick (or Loto). He arrives from an unknown location to help the land of Alefgard.
• Erdrick/Loto: He rescued Alefguard in ancient times, by defeating a great demon. He has left a message for his descendant, in the cave which bears his name.
• Lorik or Lars: The king of Tantegel Castle, and ruler of Alefgard.
• Gwaelin or Lora: Daughter of King Lorik. Imprisoned in the Swamp Cave south of Kol, by the servants of the Dragonlord.
• The Dragonlord: The final boss of the story, he has stolen the ball of light in order to lock Alefguard in perpetual darkness. He has two forms, a humanoid wizard (resembling a Taoist demon), and an enormous dragon which is his true form.

List of locations

1. Tantegel or Radatomu: The capital of Alefgard, and the starting point of the quest. The eastern side of the castle is sealed behind locked doors. There is an old man who recharges MP, and a hidden entrance to the basement.
2. Brecconary, Tantegel, or Radatomu: The castle town. Has an armory/weapon shop, an item shop, an inn, and a holy water shop.
3. Erdrick's Cave or Loto's Cave - After leveling up and equipping oneself in the nearby town of Brecconary, travel a short distance northwest of Tantegel Castle to the tomb of Erdrick. This two-level dungeon is devoid of enemies, and the Tablet can be found in the B2F. Although this will reveal a good deal of the story, it is not strictly necessary.
4. Garinham or Garai - Further northwest of the Tomb at the edge of the continent is the town of Garinham. The weapons and armor available are superior to those in Brecconary. The north half of town is a large, covered and locked building which cannot be accessed until later in the game.
5. Kol or Mylar - Returning east, past Tantegel Castle, cross two bridges (each bringing increasingly difficult monsters) and reach the mountain village Kol at the northeast edge of the world map. This town has even stronger equipment for purchase as well as the Fairy Flute buried just south of a spring. The spring will heal the PC in the remakes.
6. Swamp Cave - This underground passage south of Kol connects to the next continent. While there is a straightforward path through the cave, a green dragon resides deeper inside. He guards Princess Gwaelin, but cannot be killed at this stage yet.
7. Rimuldar - This lake town opens up a great deal of the game, since a merchant along the edge of town sells magic keys to open locked doors all over Alefgard. A wider selection of armor and weapons are also available. However, in the original versions there was no item shop. [A wandering item merchant was added in the remakes.]
8. Mountain Cave - Due west of Tantegel, a bridge provides access to the third continent. Just south of this crossing is a dungeon in the mountainside. It requires a magic key to reach the deepest area, but the reward is a Fighter's Ring, which permanently increases strength. Unusually, the layout changes between the original and remake versions.
9. Grave of Garinham - A magic key now provides access to this large dungeon. At the very bottom the silver harp can be found, which is an essential item.
10. Hauskness or Domdora - South of the Mountain Cave, this town has been taken over by monsters. An Axe Knight inside the weapon shop guards Erdrick's Armor, but is extremely powerful.
11. Cantlin or Mercado - North of the swamp, a modern city surrounded by massive walls. It is guarded by a Golem which must be defeated to gain entry. The Silver Shield is available in one of three equipment shops, although a magic key is needed.
12. Charlock Castle or Dragonlord's Castle - The Rainbow Drop will create a bridge northwest of Rimuldar to the island on which the Dragonlord's lair awaits. Ironically, it is only a short distance southeast of Tantegel. This final, eight-level dungeon contains the most powerful weapon -- Erdrick's Sword. The castle's layout is different in the remakes than in the originals. At the climax of the game, you are offered a chance to join the Dragonlord and rule half the world, which ends the game.

List of key items

1. Stones of Sunlight - With a magic key, the basement of Tantegel castle is now accessible; it can be found around the back of the castle. This is the first of three items required to reach the Dragonlord's Keep.
2. Staff of Rain - Northwest of Kol, another bridge leads to an isolated peninsula with a shrine. The old man there will trade the staff for the silver harp.
3. Gwaelin's Love, a tool which gives the PC's coordinates; it is used for finding Erdrick's Token later.
4. Erdrick's Token - South and east of Hauskness, across a bridge into a vast swamp, lies the token.
5. Rainbow Drop - Southeast of Rimuldar, another old man will create the Rainbow Drop out of the Staff of Rain and Stones of Sunlight upon seeing Erdrick's Token.

Soundtrack

As with every Dragon Quest, Koichi Sugiyama composed the music and directed all the associated spinoffs. Dragon Quest I's symphonic suite was bundled with Dragon Quest II's symphonic suite and a disc of original compositions as Dragon Quest in Concert. Here is the track listing for the Dragon Quest I portion of that release:

1. Overture March (3:59)
2. Château Ladutorm (3:25)
3. People (3:36)
4. Unknown World (2:07)
5. Fight (2:12)
6. Dungeons (3:40)
7. King Dragon (3:08)
8. Finale (2:40)

Remakes

In the Game Boy Color remake Dragonlord's name was changed to Draco Lord, and Erdrick is now known as Loto. Several conveniences were added, such as a vault for storing gold and items, and a streamlined menu system. Monsters yield more experience and gold after being defeated to reduce the amount of time needed to raise levels and save up for purchases.

The Super Famicom remake was marketed exclusively in Japan due to the absence of Enix America Corporation, but it was unofficially translated into English and Spanish through emulation by online fan translation group RPG-One in 2002. The Game Boy Color and mobile phone versions are based on the Super Famicom version.

Trivia

• The bonuses awarded for leveling up depend on the name chosen for the protagonist.
• There is no party, only a single protagonist. Although his sprite changes when the princess is rescued, to show him carrying her, the princess does not participate in any battles. Also, monsters attack the protagonist only singly; never in groups.
• There are no vehicles; one can only traverse the overworld map on foot, or use a wyvern wing or return spell to travel to Tantegel Castle. These spells cannot be used to go anywhere else, unlike in later games.
• Acquired weapons, armor and shields will automatically replace the previous item, which is then discarded or sold to the store. This is changed in the remakes.
• There is no helmet slot.
• Keys are consumed when used; new ones can be purchased at one of the "key houses" in Tantegel, Rimuldar, or Cantlin. [The first key in any quest must be purchased in Rimuldar, since the others are behind doors that require a key to open.] There are also separate shops for buying holy water, unlike later games where it is sold in item shops.
• The caves are dark, and must be lit up with torches or light spells. These have limited range, which diminishes as the spell or torch wears out. The range is effectively reduced in the remakes, since the scale of the caves is larger, but the range is not increased to compensate.
• 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.
• The original Japanese Famicom versions of this game (and Dragon Quest II) have a "Spell of Revival" (password system), in place of the "Rolls 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.
• In fact, the contents of chests aren't saved in the North American NES version either.
• In Japan, many characters, locations, and spells had different names. In Japan Erdrick was originally called Roto (or Loto), King Lorik was called King Lars, Princess Gwaelin was known as Laura, and the Dragonlord was known as King Dragon. Tantegel Castle was called Ladutorm Castle, Brecconary was called Ladutorm town, Garinham was called Galai, Kol was called Maira, and Cantlin was called Mercado. Charlock Castle was not named in the Japanese version. Spells generally had nonsense names, but the term for the heal spell, Hoimi, became the official term for heal in Japan. The Game Boy Color release of Dragon Warrior in the USA had a more accurate translation of many character and town names.
• Loto's Sword is used during an optional boss fight in Final Fantasy XII and is also the prize for winning that battle. This also marks the first time the mix of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest has happened in the light of both Square and Enix merging to be noticed in the Western world (though the crossover had happened a few time previously in Itadaki Street, a set of board game video games only available in Japan.)

See also

List of Monsters in Dragon Quest