Wait, that's not all! I'm sure you all know by now that thanks to Square Enix's stellar marketing campaign, Dragon Quest V for the DS hasn't been able to stay on store shelves very long. In fact, I bet you've been having a pretty tough time even seeing it these days. The Wii never sold out this fast, I'm tellin' ya! I'm sure you've had to turn to sites like Amazon or eBay.
The always sexy Zenithian from Zenithia.com recently purchased DQ V on eBay and it turned out to be a fake. Luckily, the game was returned and his money was refunded. Since he's lookin' out for you fans, he's created a guide on how to spot the fakes. You can find it on eBay Guides, or you can have a look at his Flickr account. So for all you folks still needing DQ V, go have a look... NOW!
-The
Dwaine
That's right, folks! Dragon Quest VI for the Nintendo DS lives! We're going to be seeing it soon too! It hits the streets of Japan on January 28th. And when it happens, you know I'll have all sorts of original screen shots for your viewing pleasure. This is the first time DQ VI has been remade, so you're in for all the creamy goodness of IV and V with a few extra surprises. Here are the more recent scans from Jump. As always, credit goes to the original source, who unfortunately I wasn't able to uncover.
You can also drop by the official web site for some character profiles, monsters, the official trailer, and some nice wallpaper.
But it's not all perfect, since some controversy has risen. As we all know, in DQ V you could recruit monsters. You could do the same in DQ VI by mastering the Monster Master class. Instead, the Monster Master now changes the conditions for your upcoming battle by either putting monsters to sleep or making them run away. They can also still learn monster abilities, such as freezing and fire breath. It's been upsetting to many fans so far, since there were many powerful monsters unique to VI.
Perhaps this decision was made to have monster taming exclusive to DQ V. But all hope isn't lost, because you can still recruit slimes! Instead of battling slimes, there is a new story with the Slime Arena that has you scanning the globe to enlist a variety of bouncing buddies. Not only will you have all your favorites from the original, but slimes that were never recruitable before.
Seeing that it's a plot point, I'm sure you'll still be able to cram Terry's battle rex into your wagon too.
We're not done with Dragon Quest Wars just yet! It's been two months and the little downloadable game for your Nintendo DSi is still holding on to the charts. Here are a few links to some interviews with DQ Wars producer Taichi Inuzuka.
If you haven't heard about Mr. Inuzuka before, shame on you! He's had a long history with DQ. He joined Enix shortly after graduating college and has worked on V, VI, IIIr, VII, VIII, DQM 2, DQM: Joker, and DQ Swords. Before you check out the interviews, I suggest having a look at this article at IGN where they go inside Square Enix Japan.
Congratulations to all these sites! Getting their responses was nothing short of a miracle. They were also going into the interview blind, having no idea who they would be interviewing. That's quite unfortunate since someone with such a long history with the series deserves the recognition and respect.
Oh yeah, Dragon Quest IX. That's coming our way. Don't believe me? A new trademark has been registered for Dragon Quest IX: Sentinel of the Starry Skies. That's surprisingly close to IX's original subtitle, Protectors of the Starry Sky. If you speak a different language, that's OK, we've got you covered with Dragon Quest IX: Les Sentinelles du Firmament, Dragon Quest IX: Centinelas del Firmamento, Dragon Quest IX: Le Sentinelle del Cielo, and Dragon Quest IX: Hüter des Himmels.
In the past couple months, Nintendo has made some interesting public statements, basically saying they're investing in DQ outside of the Japanese market because they think it deserves to sell more. Nintendo taking over the marketing duties will be very beneficial to DQ. If nothing else, at least it will have a campaign. SEI has never backed DQ 100%. Sorry guys, when spend thousands to drape stock art over buildings and DQ V gets banner ads on GameFAQs, it's obvious where your priorities are.
Thought you couldn't get more excited than that? Think again!
Recently, DQ Translations had its grand opening! And what better way to celebrate it, than the release of Dragon Quest III SNES version 1.1! Be sure to join the forums and make this a regular visit. They're dedicated to translating not only DQ titles, but DQ flavored games like Glory of Heracles, Sansara Naga 2, and Shinseiki Odysselya 2. Don't forget Dragon Quest V for the PS2. It's closer than you think!
Is that it? Whew, I think so! The new DQ Shrine design is finally on its way! The thumbnail is finished and the framework's been started. It's been a long, long time, but I hope you folks will like it.
Before I go, I've got to give a shout out to GogDog from the WTF @ TFW Podcast! In episode 71, he mentioned slimes, and in its thread, he also shows them much love and adoration. It's also a darn fine podcast if you enjoy Transformerie things.
-The
Dwaine
Two
updates in one week?! That's right! Hope you enjoyed this voluptuously
vertical update. The new site won't have this much scrolling, I
promise! You'll be downloading DQ Wars in just a few days, so keep
an eye on those updates!
-The
Dwaine
If
the North American announcement of Dragon Quest Wars wasn't
enough, I've still got a couple goodies for you!
There's a brand new version
of Capo's Dragon
Quest VIII Save State Editor! What makes this version superior
to all the rest? Take it from Capo himself!
- Added a button
to the options screen which displays the current checksum
- Added the
option to display the item codes in the items list
- Added the
ability to modify which characters are in the party
- Included
a text file listing all items by category
- Included
a text file listing the experience required for all levels
- Updated some
of the item descriptions
- Updated some
of the item properties
- Fixed a bug
which sometimes prevented items from being equipped
I've
also got two new pieces of fan art for you. I'm sure you enjoyed
Mark
Patow's sculptures over the years and now he's decided to share
two new ones! An eye clown and a mad candle! Enjoy!
I know how much I close
with this, but my big DQ related project is nearing an end. Once
that's over, this site will be back and better than ever! More DQ
Wars and DQ IX content is on the way.
-The
Dwaine
Hey
folks, I just wanted to let you know that Dragon Quest III
for the Super Famicom has released their 1.0 patch. The previous
patch was a release candidate for people to play 'n spot any errors
or bugs. So this is it, the full release! Download 'n enjoy!
Dragon
Quest III v1.0 Patch
Dragon
Quest III v1.0 Pre-patched Rhomz
I'll have more DQ III
fanfare, new translation news, and tons more DQ IX content next
update. Pretty deep into another DQ project at the moment!
-The
Dwaine
So
how's that Dragon Quest IX? Took me by surprise, that's for
sure! The game's presentation is outstanding, especially for a handheld
title. No doubt you've seen the amazing animated trailers. I'm happy
to say that not only do you get to see them again at the title screen,
but you're also treated to a number of cinemas that look even better.
Avatar creation
is all the rage with the kids these days. The game begins by designing
your main character. You have just the right amount of options to
create someone to your liking starting with gender, height, hair,
hair color, eyes, skin tone, eye color. You'll end with entering
your name (which should be "Thrillho") and flying off.
Sadly, you'll never know what the bottom of your shoe looks like.
It really drags the game down since I've always wanted to know.
You begin the
game as a village's guardian angel. As you perform your duties such
as saving villagers and cleaning up shimmering poo, you earn special
auras created by the villager's gratitude. These auras are given
as offerings to Yggdrasil, which rests at the top of the angel's
massive heavenly temple. But something goes horribly wrong during
your last offering! Disaster falls on the angel's world as you are
cast from the heavens. You crash land in the very village you were
watching over… as a seemingly normal human.
Controlling
your character can be done the traditional way or with the stylus.
The touch screen controls are excellently executed. While the stylus
controls in the Legend of Zelda DS titles work very well,
it's flawed because you wind up having your hand over most of the
screen. In DQ IX, you just point and drag a line to move around.
If there is a person or object to interact with, an icon pops up
and the search is done with a quick tap. Tapping the icon in the
top right corner accesses the menu. The interface is a happy medium
between the classic look at the graphical elements Level 5 introduced
in the North American version of Dragon Quest VIII. While
it looks nice, it can be quicker to navigate it traditionally since
the menu commands require a double tap. While I'd never call DQ
a difficult game to get the hang of, the stylus controls make it
very easy to pick up and play.
It takes a little
while to get out on the world map, but once you do, you have just
as much massive exploration as VIII. You'll also get side quests
from villagers that have to looking behind every tree and around
each corner. Maybe it's the colors used or the perspective, but
it's got a very Secret of Mana feel to it.
With random
battles a thing of the past, you'll see a variety of monsters going
about their daily business. Their pace is nearly identical to VIII's
scout monsters and DQM: Joker's encounters. If you're in
a hurry to get back to the church or low on HP, they can be easily
avoided. That doesn't mean you can go through the game without a
battle. If a monster spots you, it will come after you at lightening
speed. And trust me, it will catch you! Monsters respawn after every
encounter. So if one comes up from behind and two were in front
of you, you won't be diving right back in.
For those who
got used to the quick battles of Dragon Quest IV and V for
the DS, might be miffed to learn the battles back to VIII's slightly
slower pace. New strategy elements have you arranging your party
members in a row and they position themselves on the field in relation
to the targets. If more than one character attacks the same monster,
you'll get a combo bonus for a little extra damage.
I only have
a few complaints. While I've always enjoyed Koichi Sugiyama's soundtrack,
this one hasn't grabbed me outside of the new overture. The other
is the limit of low end 3D. It's essentially the same complaint
I had with Joker. The world itself looks great. Unfortunately, a
basic 3D model can't deliver the detail and range traditional 2D
animation can. So Toriyama's designs are stripped down to their
bare, blocky basics. It doesn't come close to the creative and expressive
body language and attacks ArtéPiazza gave us in IV and V.
3D models also take up more memory. Your average battle only features
2-3 monsters. There are some exceptions for the smallest monsters
such as the Bubble Slimes. While it only effects the gameplay slightly
it's an artistic smudge on an otherwise beautiful game.
To be honest,
I wasn't that excited for Dragon Quest IX. It's not that
I hate my DS! I just thought that VIII was such a leap forward from
VII and IX seemed like a hop back. But I was pleasantly surprised.
Not only is it shaping up to be a great RPG, but a colorful, original,
and an excellently designed DS title. Shame on Square Enix for not
showing this off at E3! It's got so much potential as a brand builder
and would've been perfect for Nintendo's press conference. This
game has more going for it than some companies put out all year.
Hey,
how 'bout something else to read! The crazy people over at Kotaco
decided to experience
an authentic Japanese Dragon Quest line. Also, if you notice,
the girl in the second video is making the "dat ass" face.
What?
Not enough? OK, how about some new fan art then? I'll be-a front
pagein' it for now and will stick it in the gallery for the new
design.
First we've got SentouRyoku's
rendition of the DQ
V hero and Deborah!
And next up is Christina
Weston's portrait of DQ VI and DQM's Dark
Durim!
Thanks so much for the
submissions, folks!
That's it for now, but
keep checking back. I'll have lots more DQ IX info screen shots
very soon! Heck, I've got 50 more just itching to get up here. Original
material too, so don't think I'm just jackin' these off some blog!
Oh, and if you want to check out the older updates, including the
ones with media for IV and V, check out the temp page's temp updates
here 'n here.
-The
Dwaine
