By Dwaine Bullock For the past few months, the members of Slime Knights: The Official Dragon Quest VIII Community have been running a campaign to get SquareEnix's attention about the demand for Dragon Quest V Reprise. This was my contribution for the second of currently a three part series to help spread the word. If you're a member of Slime Knights, you can read Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and some additional information. If you aren't a member of Slime Knights, head on over and join! Now that Dragon Quest VIII has been released, there is one DQ title that's been on the fan's minds for a little over a decade. That game is Dragon Quest V. It started on the Super NES and the remake was released in 2004 on the Playstation 2. Given the factors currently against it, a detailed understanding of the customers, and a little effort, DQ V can still be a success in North America. First we have to look at what DQ V is to America. In Japan it was the newest installment in a series that was already a cultural phenomenon. It was the first on the 16-bit platform and spawned countless merchandise. In America, it was a niche series. At that time, your average gamer was focused on side-scrollers and shooters. Even though Squaresoft had success with Final Fantasy in the 16-bit era, RPGs weren't a mainstream hit until 1997's Final Fantasy VII. Dragon Warrior's sales had dropped even though the games were still quality products. After it left Nintendo's hands, Dragon Warrior received less and less promotion. The titles also saw delays, the longest being Dragon Warrior III. It finally hit shelves nine months after it's original scheduled date and well after Nintendo Power covered the entire game in its August 1991 issue. Dragon Warrior III and IV were also released after a big platform shift. Gamers weren't playing them because they'd moved on to 16-bit or couldn't locate and purchase the products. After all that, there was still an audience that eagerly awaited every release. They checked the magazines every month for the latest info on Dragon Warrior V. They sat by their mailboxes waiting for the latest "Warrior World" newsletter for updates on the game. Then suddenly, Dragon Warrior V was canceled. No official statement or reason was given. It just vanished from the listings and left everyone asking, "Where's our Dragon Warrior?" Enix continued to release games on the SNES and it made fans wonder if they were ever going to see another Dragon Warrior game. When Dragon Quest VI was released, Nintendo dedicated a good portion of its "Epic Center" RPG column to it for several issues. Nintendo stated they would undergo the localization task if Enix wasn't interested in the project. After several months, and a letter campaign proposed by Nintendo, North American gamers were denied Dragon Quest IV and Enix closed their office the next year. The denial of Dragon Quest V and VI was another misstep in Dragon Quest's success in North America. Without Dragon Warrior, Squaresoft was able to lay the foundation for successful RPGs in America. Thanks to games like Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy, and Chrono Trigger, Squaresoft dominated the market and became the company when came to RPGs. Instead of being part of the legacy that gamers still fondly look back on, Enix chose to keep Dragon Quest a success in Japan and turn Dragon Warrior into nostalgia. Nintendo was willing to take the series back because they knew VI could be a hit. Once again the fans were left begging for more and Enix missed yet another opportunity to establish the franchise's continued success. Out of all the games that didn't make it to America, Dragon Quest V and VI were always a part of any import article or discussion. Even today, they're still brought up almost on a daily basis. It may be just another game in the line up for Japan, but in America, it's so much more. It's a game we never got. It's a game we wanted but were denied. It's a game that's mentioned among the top ten best games America never received. So when fans want something and can't have it, it makes them want it even more. When Enix returned to America in 2000, with the exception of the Playstation Dragon Warrior IV, we got every Dragon Quest game between 1999 and 2002. During that time there was a dispute with Dragon Warrior VII's sales figures mostly due to a Yahoo! Japan article. The article was published less than three weeks after the street date and predicted a premature failure. Even if the title sold the rumored 150,000, you have to look at those numbers for the US alone. Given the eight year gap between games, sales from Dragon Warrior IV, and the platform shift (DW VII was released months after the PS2 and right when the GameCube and XBox hit shelves) 150,000 vs. 80,000 shows considerable growth. I'm not sure Enix fully understands Dragon Quest in America. In Japan it's always the top selling game with VII and VIII being the all time best selling Playstation and Playstation 2 titles. But in America you're dealing with a different market and customers. And just because something isn't an instant million seller, doesn't mean it's not successful. Why would Enix release a statement like that to the press? Do they really want to make this franchise a continued success in North America? Was there a power struggle between the two markets? Another misstep was how Dragon Warrior was handled post merger. After Enix America was given the pink slip, Dragon Warrior was never mentioned outside of the "greater US presence" spin. As a part of that "greater US presence" SquareEnix saw fit to ignore the Enix forums months before deleting them, buried the Enix sites deep within the official site, ignore every DQ e-mail sent to customer service, and not release a single new DQ title. Those actions turned away many loyal customers. "SquareEnix? Sounds more like Square to me!" was heard too often in 2003 and 2004. After the entire customer base was upset over Dragon Warrior IV's cancellation, SquareEnix needed to release a bridge title in order to make up for DW IV, plus generate continued interest in the series. That title should've been Dragon Quest V. SquareEnix may not realize the damage they did during that period. Already upset, the fans had assumed SquareEnix was going to continue Enix's plan, but with significantly more promotion. The fans were miffed in 2003 when Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart was overlooked. But when DQ V wasn't a part of the 2004 line up, they became downright angry. Instead, SquareEnix chose to put their efforts toward two franchises without established audiences. Fullmetal Alchemist and Musashi: Samurai Legend were not the games DQ fans wanted to buy. A press release where Mr. Wada stated that "other" (meaning DQ) games could be released if the two franchises were hits upset DQ fans even more. One of SquareEnix's "winning strategies", Fullmetal Alchemist was released in October '04, one month before its debut on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Having all the characteristics of a cash-in, licensed title, it received mostly below average and a few average reviews. The story was the same for its sequel, released six months later. Now the pair warms both new and used shelves across the country. Even though new episodes broke the top three in Adult Swim's ratings, it was around 250 to 350,000, far from the 500 and 400,000 numbers it used to pull in. Musashi: Samurai Legend wasn't as lucky. While praised for it's graphics, Musashi received below average reviews and collects dust on the used shelf. SquareEnix should've put their money and resources into DQ V. It already had a well-established customer base, something Fullmetal and Musashi didn't have. Fans were begging for it, even bombarding customer service with e-mails! Since SquareEnix reported a large drop in profits during that fiscal year, Fullmetal and Musashi would've benefited the company by remaining in Japan. Since 1989, not a single DQ game has received a truly bad review. DQ V would've generated positive press and most importantly, positive reaction from the customers. The response to DQ VIII is great, but DQ V is the key to the success of the franchise. SquareEnix needs DQ V more than they realize. What does DQ V offer? An epic story spanning three generations, colorful and creative characters, a huge world with tons of places to explore, classic DQ gameplay, live orchestrated music, a fun and robust monster catching system, and casino mini-games that top DQ VIII's. All that and you've got tons of people who were ready to buy it back in 1992! It can be a hit, but it's going to take a little extra work. Thanks to the mistakes made in the past, DQ V has many things against it. Most importantly, time. The window of opportunity is almost shut. DQ V should've been released in 2004. If this game is to be released, localization needed to begin in 2005 because it's going to run into the same platform shift issues III, IV, and VII dealt with. This can't be another Playstation Dragon Warrior IV where the console was too dead to justify the localization cost. SquareEnix may think, "How can we market something that looks nothing like DQ VIII?" If V had been released before VIII this wouldn't have been an issue, but actually it's easy. DQ VIII can be the "everyman" game while DQ V can be marketed as the "hardcore" DQ title. Having a "hardcore" DQ game also allows for a quicker and cheaper localization. Voice acting would be a nice addition but not required. The focus could be solely on the text. True, DQ games are text heavy, but if SquareEnix can translate three text heavy games in less than nine months, they could pull off DQ V. Since many fans didn't care for the new interface, recreating it with a different developer won't be necessary. Plus, keeping the old interface would eliminate the excessive load time, lag, and odd glitches VIII suffered from. Less testing and fewer code corrections and rewrites. Also, some work could go into changes to the spell names, not only to find a happy medium with the fans, but also to make them more user friendly. While some of the additions were a welcome change, too much corporate thinking went into VIII and upset the buyers. A part of DQ VIII's US success is because developer Level 5 was very proud of their work and really wanted to show it off. Given the problems with Dragon Warrior VII and Dragon Warrior IV, the same can't be said for developer Arté Piazza. SquareEnix will have to be more hands on with them to prevent numerous typos or the project dropped all together. Word of mouth will be a big part of this title's success. It would benefit SquareEnix to continue using Slime Knights to promote the game even more than VIII. It could have a smaller production run to start and more can be ordered when demand increases. Dragon Quest V has thousands of fans ready and willing to snatch it up. The current management does not believe in the franchise. They dangle the product over their heads and have the audacity to refer to their customers as "spoiled fanboys". How can the customers be spoiled if only one of the seven games released post merger has been released? How can a customer be spoiled when they're looked down upon and ignored? Too much time and money has been spent localizing games nobody wants. It's time to stop localizing bad games that should've stayed in Japan. It's time to stop releasing games that generate so much bad press it makes the company constantly rely on PR to improve its image. It's time to start paying attention and focus on products the customers want. Dragon Quest fans are honest and loyal. If they feel the American branch doesn't care, a small percentage will import, but most of them will stop buying your products. Given the current numbers and sharply falling profits in non DQ or FF years, this is starting to show. Dragon Quest needs to stop being a niche, nostalgia series and return to being an active, thriving franchise. America isn't Japan. A million copies won't be sold overnight. This franchise has been built and destroyed twice. If SquareEnix truly wants DQ to succeed in North America, they need to understand it will be a gradual climb and much work needs to be done to win the customers back. Dragon Quest V is a key to that success and the long term rewards will be worth the effort. Basic business rules tell you it costs significantly less to keep an existing customer than it does to actively seek new ones. Some Beatles albums did better than others but they still sold quite a few records. With so many new titles released every week, it's easier than ever to get lost in the shuffle. For a franchise to be successful, its name has to continually be in the marketplace. One game every five years is asking for failure! If you cut the corporate thinking, believe in your product, and listen to your customers, Dragon Quest V can, and will be a hit in America.