An Epic RPG Franchise Limited By The Scope Of Its Changes

2010-07-09T23:10:00Z

Taken in the context of the series, Dragon Quest IX is a strange game. It’s the first in the franchise to debut on a handheld, and it changes the classic formula in some significant ways. In many cases, these changes push the genre in interesting directions, but they never go far enough. The end result is an enjoyable Japanese RPG with mere hints of greatness.

Dragon Quest has always had religious undertones -- you save the game by confessing at a church, after all -- but DQ IX embraces those themes. You play as this fantasy world’s equivalent of an angel, and your sole reason for existing is to do good acts for humans so that they’ll praise their maker, a being referred to as the Almighty. It’s a perfectly sensible and interesting setup to support the normal DQ structure: wandering from town to town solving other people’s problems. I like having a real explanation for why you’re doing everyone else’s dirty work, though the game doesn’t explore the spiritual side of its premise as much as I wanted.

Outside of the plot, Dragon Quest IX is full of unique and potentially groundbreaking features with lackluster implementation. A class system opens up around 10 hours in, allowing you to change jobs at any time; however, you’ll have to start over at level one with each job, leaving little incentive to switch. Luckily, the battle system is as fast and enjoyable as it’s ever been. Skill points allow you to specialize within your current class, but the small number of points offered per level limits the amount of customization available.

Random encounters have been stripped away -- you now run into monsters on the map to engage them in battle. This wise change helps eliminate the series’ infamous grinding from most of the short but well-designed dungeons. Save for a few end-game encounters, you won’t run into many opponents that require mindlessly gaining levels to succeed. The last few areas are a real challenge, though, so expect to die more often as the game progresses. Also, be prepared to fight some of the tougher battles multiple times as the game recycles certain bosses.

Though it’s still more accessible than the series has ever been, DQ IX clings to a few outdated conventions (Resurrect spells can fail? Really?). Questionable design choices are also apparent after a couple of story moments where you are separated from your party; the game does a poor job of communicating when you’re allowed to head back to an inn and re-recruit your allies. The fairly open structure of the game is a plus -- you’re often allowed to head off on your own and explore the world as much as you want -- but it’s disappointing that a few otherwise awesome set pieces become mildly frustrating due to the game being unclear about what it wants you to do.

Dragon Quest IX’s biggest thrills come from exploring its colorful world. Even when the core plot breaks down into JRPG clichés, I found myself eager to discover the next locale and see what vignette plays out. The high point of the world design comes with Swinedimples Academy, a take-off on Harry Potter that provides a clever change of pace and a self-contained story that had me smiling. Other areas fall a bit more in line with what you might expect from a JRPG, but they’re always basked in a light-hearted presentation that makes them more tongue-in-cheek and less of a chore.

Where DQ IX falls particularly short is in the failed promise of its multiplayer offerings. In addition to pulling in up to three other players at any time during the main story, you can wirelessly exchange treasure maps that spawn randomly generated dungeons full of powerful bosses and loot. These features would have extended the game’s life for me greatly if I could use them online, but they’re only available via local wireless. The 50-plus hour story and tons of sidequests are good; it’s just too bad about that icing on the cake.

Square Enix`s RPG Juggernaut Is A Changed Beast

2009-09-27T16:20:00Z

Major role-playing franchises have experimented with new ideas over the years, but Dragon Quest has remained faithfully predictable. When its peers veered away from random encounters and turn-based combat in the PS2 era, DQ stuck to its successful old-school style. While this may be endearing for longtime fans, re-using the same gameplay formula isn’t a great way to win over a new audience. Perhaps that’s what inspired Level-5 to give this RPG juggernaut an overhaul; the days of knowing exactly what to expect from Dragon Quest are over.

The series’ transformation is not immediately apparent. After spending a few hours with the recently released Japanese version of Dragon Quest IX, we noticed the colorful art style and combat system of previous iterations are largely unchanged. However, the move to the DS has opened the door for a new mechanic that shapes the landscape of the entire game: multiplayer.

In the past, multiplayer in an RPG usually consisted of letting a second player enter battle commands for select characters; Dragon Quest IX allows you to team up locally with up to three of your friends to explore the whole world. One player acts as the host, and the others enter the host’s world as guests. While adventuring as a guest, you won’t make any story progress for yourself, but you can help the host advance by completing quests together. For instance, a high-level character can jump in to assist a low-level friend with a tough dungeon. Since you get to keep any experience, items, and gold you find, providing this kind of help isn’t a total waste of time for the high-level player.

Just because teaming up is possible doesn’t mean it’s the only way to play. Players can split up and fight monsters individually, giving each other the option to jump in and help if things start looking bad. A status screen keeps you updated on your friends’ hit points, so you can track them down on the map (you’ll see their avatars fighting in the overworld) and join the fray. The structure reminds us a little bit of the co-op in Crackdown; players are free to do their own thing, but they can work together as the situation warrants.

In order to better accommodate the multiplayer features, some of the classic elements of Dragon Quest are missing. The story is much more episodic, focusing on smaller quests rather than a sweeping narrative. When you aren’t playing with your friends, you fill your party slots with generic characters, effectively eliminating the quirky supporting cast. Random encounters are also gone -- you can see and avoid enemies on the field, which makes dungeon crawling less perilous. For old-school purists, these sacrifices may seem like a high price to pay. For us, this was the most fun we’ve had playing a Dragon Quest game in years.

Dragon Quest IX - Nintendo DS

An Epic RPG Franchise Limited By The Scope Of Its Changes

Square Enix`s RPG Juggernaut Is A Changed Beast