Dragon Quest IX

[evil_ash_xero]

I've been waiting on this game since they first mentioned it(oh, about 3 years ago), and it's finally out! In Japan...gah!

Anyway, anyone have any idea when it may come out here? I haven't been up to date with the rumors lately.

s/m

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

No official release date AFAIK.

Probably around Christmas, though that's a mere 5 months away and there's no shortage of text in DQ games.

[MX7]

Lol, you won't be seeing it until at least half way through next year.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Might as well learn jp and play it now then!

[Momijitsuki]

Whatever you do, don't pirate it! ;D

[Cthulhu]

DQ games usually take a while, so yeah, mid to late 2010 at the earliest.

I'm waiting on my JP copy in the mail, should be here Tuesday or so.

[Limbrooke]

DQ games usually take a while, so yeah, mid to late 2010 at the earliest.

I'm waiting on my JP copy in the mail, should be here Tuesday or so.

That's nuts. By checking the release date of the last Dragon Quest to see localization (DQ5) it only took 8 months to see the light of day from Japan to North America. Granted, DQ4 took 10 and that was already in English once before, making it all the stranger. Meanwhile the horribly long DQ8 took a full year. If anything, the time has been improving ever so slightly. I'd expect it around Q1 2010 to Q2 at the latest, otherwise 'where's the beef?'

From what I've seen of the DQ9 rom, it certainly appears to have a much different starting setting from previous outings I've checked out.

[Elixir]

Maybe it also has partial English like that other DQ DS game did.

[evil_ash_xero]

Has there been any reviews from the Japanese press or western fansites yet?

[Cthulhu]

DQ games usually take a while, so yeah, mid to late 2010 at the earliest.

I'm waiting on my JP copy in the mail, should be here Tuesday or so.

That's nuts. By checking the release date of the last Dragon Quest to see localization (DQ5) it only took 8 months to see the light of day from Japan to North America. Granted, DQ4 took 10 and that was already in English once before, making it all the stranger. Meanwhile the horribly long DQ8 took a full year. If anything, the time has been improving ever so slightly. I'd expect it around Q1 2010 to Q2 at the latest, otherwise 'where's the beef?'

From what I've seen of the DQ9 rom, it certainly appears to have a much different starting setting from previous outings I've checked out.

Hmm, you're right, I guess it just seemed like longer. Maybe I'm somehow still thinking too much about the NES/Famicom ones which took 1.5 to 2 years each.

[Limbrooke]

Hmm, you're right, I guess it just seemed like longer. Maybe I'm somehow still thinking too much about the NES/Famicom ones which took 1.5 to 2 years each.

You're not way off but if it takes over a year to translate/localise the latest game when recent trends show otherwise, I'd be surprised. Dragon Warrior, from Dragon Quest... took slightly less than 3 years, 3 months to bring over, likely due to the fact a release elsewhere wasn't in the cards from the get-go. Hopefully for DQ9 fans it won't take 1/2 as long as it did for DW1.

Now DQ6 can get full attention on the path to completion.

[evil_ash_xero]

Well, if you guys were following along, the game was supposed to come out in February, I think..somewhere earlier in the year. But the game had a "bug", and was pushed all the way to July. I'm hoping that the game was actually done then, so maybe they have had a head start with the translation. Maybe we could get it by early 2110 or spring. That wouldn't be so bad. Still it's a long wait. Oh well.

[MX7]

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=166713

Here's a partial translation patch for tempted importers.
It's pretty hard to get excited about DQ9 when I know Infinite Space is coming out next year in English

[Cthulhu]

Maybe we could get it by early 2110 or spring. That wouldn't be so bad. Still it's a long wait. Oh well.

2110? Look, I understand if you think Squeenix is slow, but they're not that slow...

[evil_ash_xero]

Maybe we could get it by early 2110 or spring. That wouldn't be so bad. Still it's a long wait. Oh well.

2110? Look, I understand if you think Squeenix is slow, but they're not that slow...

Just noticed that.

[Cthulhu]

Just got the game in the mail. I'm tired as hell so I'll try it tomorrow.

The box art is nice. There's my commentary so far.

[CMoon]

The box art is nice. There's my commentary so far.

Anxious to hear more!

[dcharlie]

i threw together a quick launch video for those interested in seeing, um, japanese people.... in queues... :/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OuMvUEV1K0

[Cthulhu]

Okay, quickie impressions. Only played it for ~90 minutes. Here's what I've noticed in no particular order:

1) All the main direction staff from the previous games seems to be back. Horii Yuuji, Toriyama Akira, Sugiyama Koichi... Plus the Level 5 people who worked on 8. I wish I could remember the exec's name there but it's slipping my mind.

2) The game starts off with a longer storyline building portion than 8 did - I can't say if this means 9 will be more storyline-oriented than previous titles or not, however. My guess is no.

3) In the status screen you have sections listing your level in various jobs. I'm assuming this means it's like 7 in that you can level up in multiple jobs and change when you want. (I haven't read the manual.)

4) Visually the game looks a lot like the DS version of DQ 4 but with more onscreen at once and sharper poly models. You and other important characters are poly models, the generic villagers are sprites. When you zoom in this is noticeable, when the camera is zoomed out, not as much.

5) Combat is turn-based and seems to be 100% traditional. I haven't fought much yet, so things could change later.

6) Classic sound effects are still in. Yay. I'm guessing they'll change this for the English versions like they did with 8, but not positive.

7) The music is, as usual, fantastic. I dug out my good headphones to listen with and was very happy I did. Do yourself a favor and experience the sound through something other than the normal DS speakers.

The camera is the same 3D-isometric-rotatable-some-but-not-360-degrees as in the previous DQ DS games.

9) You can customize your main characters' appearance; I went with a pompadour haircut and named my guy Yasuo. (Major props to you if you get what game that's a reference to.)

Overall: Very vintage-style JRPG. Unquestionably a Dragon Quest game. Perfect for fans of the series (me!), probably won't change the minds of any JRPG nay-sayers.

Will post updates when I get farther.

[EOJ]

4) Visually the game looks a lot like the DS version of DQ 4 but with more onscreen at once and sharper poly models. You and other important characters are poly models, the generic villagers are sprites. When you zoom in this is noticeable, when the camera is zoomed out, not as much.

Huh? It looks nothing like DQIV DS. It looks like DQVIII on the PS2, but with the poly models all reduced to a new level of craptasticness. Reminds me of how they tried to shrink the Mortal Kombat games down to something like the Game Gear. I hate the graphics, they're horrible. DQIV and V's graphics on the DS were much better than this.

5) Combat is turn-based and seems to be 100% traditional. I haven't fought much yet, so things could change later.

No, it's not 100% traditional. At least not traditional to the DQ series. Don't forget the random encounters are gone too.

The camera is the same 3D-isometric-rotatable-some-but-not-360-degrees as in the previous DQ DS games.

Did you even play the previous DQ DS games? Their camera was rotatable 360 degrees. In DQIX you can only rotate it 45 degrees. This sucks big time. The perspective also sucks - the camera is too low.

Personally I find this game to be a huge letdown. I've played it a good deal (over 10 hours), but I don't see myself finishing this one.

[dcharlie]

Huh? It looks nothing like DQIV DS. It looks like DQVIII on the PS2, but with the poly models all reduced to a new level of craptasticness. Reminds me of how they tried to shrink the Mortal Kombat games down to something like the Game Gear. I hate the graphics, they're horrible. DQIV and V's graphics on the DS were much better than this.

this has to be down to Level-5 reusing the Joker engine to some extent. That said, DQ9 looks much more improved than Joker. From what little i've played, i'm fine with how it looks... at the moment

[evil_ash_xero]

I was a bit worried about this game, because i've been hearing "negative feedback". Which mainly is from people at Amazon Japan, who haven't even played the game or are pissed that it's on DS.

Well, Famitsu just gave it a perfect score. I hope that means something.

http://ds.kombo.com/article.php?artid=7308

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

They're the same ppl who gave Nintendogs a perfect score. LOL.

[evil_ash_xero]

Well, i'm sure everyone has goony scores here and there.

It should at least be good, I would hope.

[Elixir]

Well, Famitsu just gave it a perfect score. I hope that means something.

Don't worry. It doesn't.

[Cthulhu]

I've only gotten ~5 hours in, but here's a bit of updated feedback.

Actually, let me respond to a couple of EOJ's comments first:

1) You're right about the camera in DQ4 being fully rotatable most of the time - it does the locked-position thing in dungeons only. DQ 9 does it all the time. I can see why this would annoy people but it doesn't really bother me. I'm pretty forgiving about bad cameras when I like the rest of a game though - hell, I even put up with the cameras in multiple 3D Sonic games.

2) I disagree about the combat. I don't see how you could consider the battles or the character development non-traditional for a DQ game. The monsters wandering around the map Tales-style (yes, I know games other than Tales do this and did it first, but the DQ 9 version reminds me of Tales the most) is different though, I agree.

Now, am I enjoying the game? Yes, I definitely am. I don't know if it deserves a perfect score, but I'd give it a good score were I to... um, give it a score. I'll agree that I would rather have had the game on the regular consoles - it's pretty obvious the reason they put it on the DS is because the system is popular and development costs are lower there.

[BryanM]

I'm working on the assumption that Hikari no 4 Senshi: Final Fantasy Gaiden will gross a few million more for them than FF13 will. 13 has got to be a white elephant, just money poured down a hole. It's like some TTAC article: "Make what for who?" The eight people who own a 360 or PS3?

Eh. Here are most of the DQ9 cosplay items.

The most mind hurting thing I've seen of this game is the dude who made a team of all men, and put one of them in a dress. Something is wrong there.

..Maybe he's a DS2 fan?

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Nobody really knows how much money Square has invested into FF13, but they'll definitely make much more from it than any FF spin-off. Here's some things to consider:

- Major FF games sell a lot and continue to sell over a long period of time. They might cost more to make but Square also charges more for them.

- Major FF releases have insane merchandise potential. Just look at all the FF7 crap that comes out even now.

- Both FF7 and FF10 came out early in the PS and PS2 lifespans and have sold more than their successors in the same consoles. Higher install base does not necessarily lead to more sales.

Well, i'm sure everyone has goony scores here and there.

It should at least be good, I would hope.

They just lost my respect there.

[BryanM]

Nobody really knows how much money Square has invested into FF13, but they'll definitely make much more from it than any FF spin-off.

Uh, which one is the spin off? The one with emo leather-clad teenagers spitting out renzokukens, or the one with the four warriors of light on a fetch quest for the crystals after the obligatory THE PRINCESS IS MISSING - SAVE PRINCESS quest?

If the game is any good, and the little guy yelling "the only thing I need to be awesome is my fire sword" says it might be, it's better to compare it to SaGa instead of Chocobo Racing here. The SaGa series did pretty "decent", especially considering they're just now getting around to milking it with a non-wonderswan remake.

13 can sell a million more copies than it, and all it'd mean is they almost break even on the CGI budget. My crazy man ideas that we might get just a couple more "AAA" jrpgs that aren't listening to Emoboy act like he's not interested in girls and assorted drudgery to watch the pretty movies or a remake of a game I've already played the hell out of when it was on the NES, might not be completely unrealistic.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

The main FF games are of course the numbered games without any additions (FF1, FF2,FF7...FF13) regardless of your personal opinion about the direction the series is heading. Ask almost anybody what the sequel to FF1 is and they'll tell you FF2 and so on. You could say FF:G is a spin-off of FF1 just like FF7:AC is a spin-off of FF7.

Personal feelings aside, do you honestly think FF13 will sell like 1.5 million copies? FF7 and FF10 sold about ten million each and are still selling copies out there. Add the revenue from merchandise and spinoff and they'll be printing cash from FF13 even if they don't make a dime on the game.

I have no personal interest in FF13, btw. Just wanted to post some facts about why they would make insane amounts of cash.