Dragon Quest (series): Difference between revisions

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''Dragon Quest'' is often compared with the ''Final Fantasy'' series, created by SquareSoft. Although the ''Dragon Quest'' series started before ''[http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_(series) Final Fantasy]'', it continues to release titles at a slower paces within the main series (11 versus 15 total games). The two competed for more or less the same market until the companies' merger in 2003, at which point ''Dragon Quest'' became the main financial pillar of the company amidst wavering popularity and unreliable sales of the ''Final Fantasy'' series.
''Dragon Quest'' is often compared with the ''Final Fantasy'' series, created by SquareSoft. Although the ''Dragon Quest'' series started before ''[http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_(series) Final Fantasy]'', it continues to release titles at a slower paces within the main series (11 versus 15 total games). The two competed for more or less the same market until the companies' merger in 2003, at which point ''Dragon Quest'' became the main financial pillar of the company amidst wavering popularity and unreliable sales of the ''Final Fantasy'' series.


Installments of the series have appeared on MSX computers, Famicom/NES, Super Famicom/Super NES, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and Wii video game consoles, as well as on several models of mobile phone. As of April 2010, the ''Dragon Quest'' series has sold over [[Worldwide Dragon Quest Sales|53 million units worldwide]]. It is Square Enix's second most successful franchise after ''Final Fantasy'' and is one of the most popular video game franchises in Japan.[1][2]
Installments of the series have appeared on MSX computers, Famicom/NES, Super Famicom/Super NES, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and Wii video game consoles, as well as on several models of mobile phone. As of April 2010, the ''Dragon Quest'' series has sold over [[Worldwide Dragon Quest Sales|53 million units worldwide]]. It is Square Enix's second most successful franchise after ''Final Fantasy'' and is one of the most popular video game franchises in Japan.


==Common Themes==
==Common Themes==
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==Development==
==Development==
===History===
===History===
In 1982, Enix sponsored a national video game programming contest, which brought much of the ''Dragon Quest'' team together, including Yūji Horii.[4] The prize of the competition was a trip to the United States, and a visit to AppleFest '83 in San Francisco, where Horii discovered Wizardry.[5] Koichi Nakamura and Yukinobu Chida, two other winners of the contest, along with Horii, released The Portopia Serial Murder Case for the Famicom for Enix. Sugiyama, already famous for jingles and pop songs, impressed with the group's work, sent a postcard to Enix, commenting on the software.[6] In response, Enix asked him to write music for some of its games. The group then decided to make a console role-playing game, using a combination of ''Wizardry'' and ''Ultima''. ''Dragon Ball'' creator Akira Toriyama, who knew Horii through the manga magazine ''Shonen Jump'', was commissioned to illustrate the characters and monsters to separate the game from other RPGs of the time and the Dragon Quest "team" was born.[7][8]
In 1982, Enix sponsored a national video game programming contest, which brought much of the ''Dragon Quest'' team together, including Yūji Horii. The prize of the competition was a trip to the United States, and a visit to AppleFest '83 in San Francisco, where Horii discovered Wizardry. Koichi Nakamura and Yukinobu Chida, two other winners of the contest, along with Horii, released The Portopia Serial Murder Case for the Famicom for Enix. Sugiyama, already famous for jingles and pop songs, impressed with the group's work, sent a postcard to Enix, commenting on the software. In response, Enix asked him to write music for some of its games. The group then decided to make a console role-playing game, using a combination of ''Wizardry'' and ''Ultima''. ''Dragon Ball'' creator Akira Toriyama, who knew Horii through the manga magazine ''Shonen Jump'', was commissioned to illustrate the characters and monsters to separate the game from other RPGs of the time and the Dragon Quest "team" was born.


''Dragon Quest'' was created by Yūji Horii, who has been the scenario director since. The series monster and character designs, as well as box art, are done by famed ''Dragon Ball'' manga artist, Akira Toriyama.[9] All of the music for the ''Dragon Quest'' series has been composed by Koichi Sugiyama.[4] ''Dragon Quest'' games have been developed by [[Chunsoft]], [[Heartbeat]], [[ArtePiazza]], and, starting with ''Dragon Quest VIII'', [[Level-5]].[10] Horii's own company, [[Armor Project]], is in charge of the ''Dragon Quest'' games, which were published by Enix and, since [[Square Enix Merger|April 2003]] by Square Enix. While Toriyama is the series' character designer, the primary designs are first conceived by Horii, before being handed to Toriyama to re-draw under Horii's supervision.[11] When Horii first created ''Dragon Quest'', most people doubted that a fantasy series with swords and dungeons instead of science fiction would become popular in Japan; but the series has become a phenomenon there.[12]
''Dragon Quest'' was created by Yūji Horii, who has been the scenario director since. The series monster and character designs, as well as box art, are done by famed ''Dragon Ball'' manga artist, Akira Toriyama. All of the music for the ''Dragon Quest'' series has been composed by Koichi Sugiyama. ''Dragon Quest'' games have been developed by [[Chunsoft]], [[Heartbeat]], [[ArtePiazza]], and, starting with ''Dragon Quest VIII'', [[Level-5]]. Horii's own company, [[Armor Project]], is in charge of the ''Dragon Quest'' games, which were published by Enix and, since [[Square Enix Merger|April 2003]] by Square Enix. While Toriyama is the series' character designer, the primary designs are first conceived by Horii, before being handed to Toriyama to re-draw under Horii's supervision. When Horii first created ''Dragon Quest'', most people doubted that a fantasy series with swords and dungeons instead of science fiction would become popular in Japan; but the series has become a phenomenon there.


''Dragon Quest'' is not nearly as successful outside Japan, having been eclipsed primarily by ''Final Fantasy'' and possibly by other RPG series. Because of [[Enix America Corporation]]'s closure in the mid 1990's, the SNES versions of ''[[Dragon Quest V]]'' and ''[[Dragon Quest VI]]'' were never officially released in North America. In Europe, none of the games have seen release prior to the spin-off ''[[Dragon Quest Monsters (series)|Dragon Warrior Monsters]]'' and then ''[[Dragon Quest VIII|Dragon Quest: Journey of the Cursed King]]''. With the merger of Square and Enix in 2003, the number of places in which ''Dragon Quest'' games are released has greatly increased.[12] In May 2008, Square Enix announced localizations of the Nintendo DS remakes of ''Dragon Quest IV'', ''V'', and ''VI'', collectively called by Square Enix the [[List of Name Changes in the Zenithia Trilogy|Zenithia trilogy]], for North America and the PAL region.[13][14] With this announcement, all the main games in the ''Dragon Quest'' series will now have seen release outside Japan at least once.
''Dragon Quest'' is not nearly as successful outside Japan, having been eclipsed primarily by ''Final Fantasy'' and possibly by other RPG series. Because of [[Enix America Corporation]]'s closure in the mid 1990's, the SNES versions of ''[[Dragon Quest V]]'' and ''[[Dragon Quest VI]]'' were never officially released in North America. In Europe, none of the games have seen release prior to the spin-off ''[[Dragon Quest Monsters (series)|Dragon Warrior Monsters]]'' and then ''[[Dragon Quest VIII|Dragon Quest: Journey of the Cursed King]]''. With the merger of Square and Enix in 2003, the number of places in which ''Dragon Quest'' games are released has greatly increased. In May 2008, Square Enix announced localizations of the Nintendo DS remakes of ''Dragon Quest IV'', ''V'', and ''VI'', collectively called by Square Enix the [[List of Name Changes in the Zenithia Trilogy|Zenithia trilogy]], for North America and the PAL region. With this announcement, all the main games in the ''Dragon Quest'' series will now have seen release outside Japan at least once.


The ninth installment, ''Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies'', was released in Japan for Nintendo DS in July 11, 2009. In North American it was released a year later in July 11, 2010 and a few days later in Europe on July 23 while Australia and New Zealand got the game the following month on August 10.  
The ninth installment, ''Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies'', was released in Japan for Nintendo DS in July 11, 2009. In North American it was released a year later in July 11, 2010 and a few days later in Europe on July 23 while Australia and New Zealand got the game the following month on August 10.  
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===Creation and Design===
===Creation and Design===
"At the time I first made ''Dragon Quest'', role-playing games on the computer were still very much in the realm of hardcore fans and not very accessible to other players. So I decided to create a system that was easy to understand and emotionally involving, and then placed my story within that framework."  —Yūji Horii[7]
"At the time I first made ''Dragon Quest'', role-playing games on the computer were still very much in the realm of hardcore fans and not very accessible to other players. So I decided to create a system that was easy to understand and emotionally involving, and then placed my story within that framework."  —Yūji Horii


Yūji Horii originally used the full-screen map of ''Ultima'' and the battle and stats oriented ''Wizardry'' screen to create the gameplay of ''Dragon Quest''.[5] The first six ''Dragon Quest'' games' stories are divided into two trilogies. The first three games of the series tell the story of the legendary hero known as '''[[Erdrick|Roto]]''' (also known as '''Erdrick''' or '''Loto''' in the American NES and GBC versions, respectively). ''Dragon Quest IV'', ''V'', and ''VI'' are based around a castle in the sky called [[Zenithia]], and are referred to as ''The Tenku'' in Japan, meaning Heaven. The main series from ''Dragon Quest VII'' on are independent of each other and stand alone.[15]
Yūji Horii originally used the full-screen map of ''Ultima'' and the battle and stats oriented ''Wizardry'' screen to create the gameplay of ''Dragon Quest''. The first six ''Dragon Quest'' games' stories are divided into two trilogies. The first three games of the series tell the story of the legendary hero known as '''[[Erdrick|Roto]]''' (also known as '''Erdrick''' or '''Loto''' in the American NES and GBC versions, respectively). ''Dragon Quest IV'', ''V'', and ''VI'' are based around a castle in the sky called [[Zenithia]], and are referred to as ''The Tenku'' in Japan, meaning Heaven. The main series from ''Dragon Quest VII'' on are independent of each other and stand alone.


The typical ''Dragon Quest'' plot involves a certain villain to be defeated at the end of the game, usually one who threatens the world in some way. However, the plotline often consists of smaller stories involving different NPC's the player meets as the adventure goes on.[16] The games themselves feature a number of religious overtones—saving the game (in later games) and reviving characters who have died is performed by clergy in churches. Priests are often seen wandering around the overworld of ''[[Dragon Quest Monsters]]'' and have the ability to heal. The final enemy in some of the ''Dragon Quest'' games is known as the Demon Lord. For instance, in ''Dragon Quest VII'', the Demon Lord, known as [[Orgodemir]] in that particular game, is the final boss, and there is also a sidequest to battle [[God]] himself.[8] The first four ''Dragon Warrior'' titles suffered from substantial censorship in their North American localizations, largely in keeping with Nintendo of America's content guidelines at the time, which placed severe restrictions on religious iconography and mature content. When these games were remade for the Game Boy Color, many of these censorships were taken out.[17] Since ''Dragon Warrior VII'', the games have been kept similar to their original versions when going through localization.[18]
The typical ''Dragon Quest'' plot involves a certain villain to be defeated at the end of the game, usually one who threatens the world in some way. However, the plotline often consists of smaller stories involving different NPC's the player meets as the adventure goes on.[16] The games themselves feature a number of religious overtones—saving the game (in later games) and reviving characters who have died is performed by clergy in churches. Priests are often seen wandering around the overworld of ''[[Dragon Quest Monsters]]'' and have the ability to heal. The final enemy in some of the ''Dragon Quest'' games is known as the Demon Lord. For instance, in ''Dragon Quest VII'', the Demon Lord, known as [[Orgodemir]] in that particular game, is the final boss, and there is also a sidequest to battle [[God]] himself. The first four ''Dragon Warrior'' titles suffered from substantial censorship in their North American localizations, largely in keeping with Nintendo of America's content guidelines at the time, which placed severe restrictions on religious iconography and mature content. When these games were remade for the Game Boy Color, many of these censorships were taken out. Since ''Dragon Warrior VII'', the games have been kept similar to their original versions when going through localization.


===Name change===
===Name change===
''Dragon Quest'''s North American name was changed due to a trademark conflict with the role-playing game ''DragonQuest'', which was published by veteran wargame publisher SPI in the 1980s until the company's bankruptcy in 1982 and purchase by TSR, which then published it as an alternate line to ''Dungeons & Dragons'' until 1987.[3] In 2003, Square Enix registered the ''Dragon Quest'' trademark in the United States, and has since not marketed any product under the ''Dragon Warrior'' name since the North America 2005 release of ''[[Dragon Quest VIII]]''.
''Dragon Quest'''s North American name was changed due to a trademark conflict with the role-playing game ''DragonQuest'', which was published by veteran wargame publisher SPI in the 1980s until the company's bankruptcy in 1982 and purchase by TSR, which then published it as an alternate line to ''Dungeons & Dragons'' until 1987. In 2003, Square Enix registered the ''Dragon Quest'' trademark in the United States, and has since not marketed any product under the ''Dragon Warrior'' name since the North America 2005 release of ''[[Dragon Quest VIII]]''.


==Games==
==Games==
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Image:DQ30th Anniversary.png|30th Anniversary
Image:DQ30th Anniversary.png|30th Anniversary
Image:CharacterGroup.png|Heroes from ''Dragon Quest I-V''.
Image:CharacterGroup.png|Heroes from ''Dragon Quest I-V''.
Imagee:DQ Museum art.png|Heroes from ''Dragon Quest I-X''.
Image:DQ Museum art.png|Heroes from ''Dragon Quest I-X''.
Image:Slime group.png|Slime Group.
Image:Slime group.png|Slime Group.
Image:Metal Slime group.png|Metal Slime Group.
Image:Metal Slime group.png|Metal Slime Group.
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