The Dragon Quest Thread

[Abu Antar]

http://gematsu.com/2017/07/dragon-q...ce-acting-dragon-quest-iii-ps4-technical-test

Dragon Quest XI staff discuss lack of voice acting, Dragon Quest III PS4 technical test, more
Yosuke Saito, Yuji Horii, and Takeshi Uchikawa interviewed in Famitsu.

The latest issue of Weekly Famitsu has an interview with Dragon Quest XI: In Search of Departed Time producer Yosuke Saito, game designer Yuji Horii, and director Takeshi Uchikawa, who share various new details about the game.

Get the tidbits below.

• The plan from the beginning was to release Dragon Quest XI on PlayStation 4 and 3DS.

• Regarding the PlayStation 4 version, Horii said that he wants users to play together with family and friends on a big screen.

• Since the hardware specifications of PlayStation 4 and 3DS are completely different, it was easy to draw out the benefits of each hardware.

• Originally, all of the music was supposed to be completely new, but since there was a lot of homage material, they also used music from previous entries in the series.

• The concept of the game as a whole is a “return to origin” and “story of a hero.” However, they were not just aiming for a return to origin, as Horii had hoped to create something that would simultaneously become a new starting point.

• The theme of Dragon Quest XI is the “chased hero.” As for what kind of existence the hero is, those answers will be answered through the story.

• (Regarding the appearance of Loto / Erdrick) His appearance does not mean that those who have never played the Dragon Quest series will not be able to enjoy Dragon Quest XI. It can be enjoyed 100 percent without knowledge of previous games. On the other hand, they would like players who are interested in Dragon Quest XI to check out previous entries in the series. As for the meaning behind his appearance, that is a secret. They do not want to give any preconceptions.

• The design of the last boss is truly amazing. It is a final boss that could only have been designed by Akira Toriyama.

• They paid mind “not to create useless characters.” Since they are really delving properly into the characters, they hope that you take a liking to the entire party.

• Whether or not to include voice acting was a significant debate during development. They wanted to protect the traditional style of Dragon Quest. Voice-over recording would take considerable time, and would make it difficult to change the script later. Horii was also fixated on seeing the story through to the very end this time. Horii did tuning and changed details of the dialogue until the end of the end.

• There were adjustments as not to part with the fact that the player is the protagonist. For example, Horii said that they avoided expressions for the protagonist such as “getting angry” as much as possible. When he is angry, the protagonist shows it only by eye movement, not body language.

• In creating Dragon Quest XI in Unreal Engine 4, they first did a technical test. Dragon Quest III‘s continent of Aliahan (although not in its entirety) was chosen for that subject. In other words, they created a PlayStation 4 version of Dragon Quest III. They made models of the hero, his mother, the Warrior, Priest, and Mage, Aliahan castle and the castle town, as well a pointlessly high-quality king, and verified the size of the map. The test version took a significant amount of time and labor, but was exciting and produced fruitful results. Since it was only a technical test, they did not do any optimiziation. If the opportunity presents itself, they would like to show users the PlayStation 4 technical test of Dragon Quest III.

• Since the L2 button on PlayStation 4’s DualShock 4 controller is located near the decision button, you can play with only your left hand while doing something else.

• “Tactics” can also be set for the protagonist, which should also make it easier to earn experience points.

• The protagonist can be removed from the party.

• “Restricted Play” is interesting for those who use the Share feature. They recommend using the “Ashamed Curse” restriction.

• There are no plans for downloadable content.

• An Internet connection is not required, but if you connect online after clearing the game, there may be a little something nice. This does not mean that there is online play. But again, there may be a surprise if you connect to the Internet. They hope someone will discover it.

• They want everyone to play Dragon Quest XI until the end.

• Horii loves surprises, so there will often be surprises during the course of the story.

• Since the story will change again and again, and even when you think “so this is what it is basically about,” the truth is that there will be things behind the scenes that you will not understand until the very end.

• Even compared to the surprise of Dragon Quest titles thus far, the content of Dragon Quest XI is considerably surprising.

• Development started on PlayStation 4, but they decided that they could also start making the 3DS version in the middle of its production. (Horii)

• At the beginning of the 3DS version’s development, the field map was a little bigger. But once they dropped the map into 2D mode, the 2D mode map became too big.

• Since there are two modes in the 3DS version, there were inevitably inconsistencies due to differences in appearance and specification. But they pulled through with various ideas.

• In both the PlayStation 4 and 3DS versions, the number of items that can be picked up, such as through shiny spots or treasure chests, has been adjusted so that they are the same. However, there is a difference regarding elements that are only in one version of the game. It is easier to discover treasure chests in the 3DS version’s 2D mode.

• “Delcadar” (a city in Dragon Quest XI) has a similar ring to “Delcondar” from Dragon Quest II (known as “Osterfair” in the English localization), but the similarity was truly only by chance.

• They aimed to make Dragon Quest XI relatively easy to recognize as a homage. There are masquerade balls and merchant brothers who compete with each other for price cuts.

• “Puff-Puff” is a Dragon Quest element that has been passed down for some time, so they want to do it well.

• Mahjong was proposed as a casino game, but it ended up not happening. (Uchikawa)

• While there is a problem with the “Spell of Restoration” in that users can cheat, they wanted to include it. They want users to play around with the Spell of Restoration. There may even be interesting things that happen.

• If you play normally, there shouldn’t be many things that stop you to make you raise your level.

• They would rather players not rush through the game, but thoroughly enjoy it. Since there is little stopping, they want you to progress without looking up guides as much as possible.

• You can play quests even after clearing the game.

• They want you to talk to your party members if you get a little lost.

• Dragon Quest XI is not only a compilation of the series thus far, it is a fresh start.

 

[Hyperion]

No voice acting? Holy SHIT I'm impressed. While I loved Yangus' voice (dude sounded exactly like Bob Hoskins) in 8, the cheesy accents get annoying. Fast. Gonna leave a lot of room for a YUGE game, I hope.

 

[Vorark]

DQXI will be awesome.

 

[IPFreely]

:russiastronk: Cannot wait for a big budget turn based RPG that's not on a handheld.

 

[LESS T_T]

DQ 11 is coming to West in early 2018:



No platform specified yet and more details will revealed in this Fall.

DRAGON QUEST XI COMING TO THE WEST IN 2018
Series Creator Yuji Horii Discusses the Latest Addition to the Storied Franchise

LOS ANGELES (July 28, 2017) – Fans of great stories, captivating art and alluring music are certain to rejoice with today’s announcement from SQUARE ENIX® that DRAGON QUEST® XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age TMwill be coming to the West next year.

The highly anticipated latest entry to the beloved DRAGON QUEST video game franchise follows the adventure of a hero who must solve the mystery of his fate with the aid of a charming cast of supporting characters. DRAGON QUEST XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age will offer a world of adventure, exploration and instances of heroism— all brought to life by the character art of famed manga artist Akira Toriyama and the memorable music of composer Koichi Sugiyama.

In an accompanying video, DRAGON QUEST creator Yuji Horii introduces an overview of the game and offers an update on the game’s localization process.

To watch the special video message, visit: http://sqex.to/DQXI_Message.

More details about the Western version will be revealed in Fall 2017.

 

[Abu Antar]

I always thought it was 2018 and not 2019 like others believed. I did, however not think that it would be early 2018. Let's hope it doesn't get delayed.

 

[LESS T_T]

I always thought it was 2018 and not 2019 like others believed. I did, however not think that it would be early 2018. Let's hope it doesn't get delayed.

Oops, sorry I mixed it up. It's just "2018".

 

[Abu Antar]

The Dragon Quest thirst was real in Japan. Game has sold over 2 million copies in just 2 days. The 3DS version sold slightly more, but Square Enix will be happy with the number of both versions.

 

[Hyperion]

Wonder if it's a symptom of overall disappointment in FFXV. Or, the 3DS market just propelled it to yuge numbers.

 

[Abu Antar]

Wonder if it's a symptom of overall disappointment in FFXV. Or, the 3DS market just propelled it to yuge numbers.

DQ usually does numbers like this. This isn't even the best debut in the series, but releasing on two platforms certainly helped. Then, you have the fact that the last offline main entry was released many years ago. While DQX might have done well for SE, it didn't sell anywhere near the offline entries if I understand correctly.

 

[Abu Antar]

Media Create Sales: Week 30, 2017 (Jul 24 - Jul 30)

01./00. [3DS] Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age # <RPG> (Square Enix) {2017.07.29} (¥5.980) - 1.148.888 / NEW
02./00. [PS4] Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age # <RPG> (Square Enix) {2017.07.29} (¥8.980) - 950.315 / NEW

 

[Vorark]

Good numbers, I think.

DQVIII and IX initial + long term sales:

• Dragon Quest VIII – 2,167,072 [PS2] (LTD 3,738,123)
• Dragon Quest IX – 2,318,932 [NDS] (LTD 4,410,154)
• Dragon Quest XI – 2,099,203 [3DS/PS4] (LTD ???)

Source: http://www.siliconera.com/2017/08/02/week-sales-dragon-quest-xi-marches-triumphantly/

 

[Grampy_Bone]

It's strange, I've heard basically nothing about DQ11 other than the whole multi-platform 2d/3d thing. What is it about? What kind of battle system does it have? How do the leveling/character building mechanics work, compared to previous games?

 

[Jenkem]

It's strange, I've heard basically nothing about DQ11 other than the whole multi-platform 2d/3d thing. What is it about? What kind of battle system does it have? How do the leveling/character building mechanics work, compared to previous games?

battles are either like DQ8 if playing in 3d or like DQ1-7 if using 2d I believe.

what I want to know is what the switch version will be like

 

[Abu Antar]

http://gematsu.com/2017/08/dragon-quest-builders-2-announced-ps4-switch

Will have multiplayer.

 

[Jenkem]

is that builders game even good? I hate minecraft but I love DQ... if the first ever comes to PC I might check it out..

then again, I am also a fan of musou games and I love DQ, and DQ Heroes was pure trash... wish it was a full blown musou game and not some weird hybrid tower defense crap

 

[Abu Antar]

Never played Builders, lots of people liked it, though.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

I enjoyed DQ Builders quite a bit, although I wished it had more actual magic and class powers. Combat felt dull and repetitive.

 

[The Decline]

It was fun. But I do hope they add more from the DQ side of things. It looks like they are fixing a few WTF? design decisions from the first one.

 

[insukk]

DQ 1, 2 and 3 are coming to 3DS and Ps4 in Japan in August. I'm not posting any link because I'm on mobile.

With that every mainline DQ will be available on 3DS. Probably these ports will be based on SNES versions which were the base for mobile ports.

 

[aweigh]

BUILDERS is treash turds jesus christ it's picture perfect example of japs being japs.

it's a tie-in w/ DQ but i saw it, and i closed my eyes, and i sighed, and then i thought: why?

no DQ fan wants it. Minecraft fans won't want it as it is a massively neutered version.

why?

but then i remembered that DQ series actually almost NEVER does stupid shit like that that actually MATTERS, and instead they steadfastedly create one DQ masterpiece after another, without even RUMORS!!!

...without fucking RUMORS (!) EVER slipping out about how they're changing the gameplay from its Wiz/Ultima roots.

now THAT, my friends... THAT is something worth building.































































(i.,e. yes, i know that makes no sense and is also unfunny as an additive).

DQ 11 fuckbois. get ready.

 

[hogcranker]

is that builders game even good? I hate minecraft but I love DQ... if the first ever comes to PC I might check it out..

then again, I am also a fan of musou games and I love DQ, and DQ Heroes was pure trash... wish it was a full blown musou game and not some weird hybrid tower defense crap

I don't think it's actually much like Minecraft, it's way more quest-driven and "game-y" than that.

 

[Vorark]

Huh, seems DQXI is coming to the Nintendo Switch after all.

Dragon Quest XI for Switch is developed in Unreal Engine 4
http://gematsu.com/2017/10/dragon-quest-xi-switch-developed-unreal-engine-4

The Switch version of Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age is developed using Unreal Engine 4, series creator Yuji Horii said at Epic Games Japan’s Unreal Fest East 2017 at Pacifico Yokohama Conference Center today.

Several Twitter users who attended the event reported Horii as confirming the Switch version is developed in Unreal Engine 4, suggesting that it is a port of the PlayStation 4 version rather than the 3DS version. Horii questioned whether he could talk about the Switch version being developed in Unreal Engine 4, to which Square Enix programmer Mitsuru Kamiyama replied, “you already said it!” It should be noted that Unreal Engine 4 did not officially support Switch until version 4.15, while Dragon Quest XI was originally developed in version 4.13.

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age launched for PlayStation 4 and 3DS in Japan on July 29. A western release is planned for 2018, but platforms have yet to be announced.

Thanks, Hachima Kikou (via Twitter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).

 

[newtmonkey]

Lately I have been playing Dragon Quest V (SFC).

I've already finished DW 1&2 on NES back in the day (and also finished DW1 a second time a couple years ago; it was not great), and am saving DW3&4 for a rainy day, as I know they are great.

Dragon Quest V is alright. It has a slow start (much much slower than 2 or 3) and it's not very difficult, but it's still far and away better than your typical 16-bit console RPG. It's still got the "town-cave-town-cave" progression of many 16-bit console RPGs, but at least it's got a decent combat engine and dungeons that have actual layouts to them, instead of straight lines with side passages to treasure chests (FFIV-VI; though the FF series does improve each time, with some nice dungeons in FFVI).

In terms of graphics/music, it's a disaster compared with its contemporary competitor, Final Fantasy IV (which was released a year earlier). It almost looks like an NES/FC game with a special chip on the cart (slight exaggeration). This is especially damning, because FFIV was originally a FC game and then converted to SFC at some point during development (even many of the tiles and sprites are taken 1:1 from FFIII). Music composition is very nice, but the instrument quality is somewhat low; it's got that heavy reverb fake instrument feel that a lot of SNES/SFC games tend to have; again, compare it with FFIV, which sounds fantastic even today.

Putting the graphics/music aside, though, it's a fine game. It's easy so far (I'm still in the little kid portion of the game), but not as easy as FFIV for sure... and like I said above, the dungeons (as simple as they are) are a million times better than what we got with FFIV.

 

[glass blackbird]

If you ever want to replay it, the DS/mobile remake of 5 is really solid, and adds the party chat thing from 7+ to give the party members more chances to react to things and show off their personality without actually adding a bunch of new unskippable cutscene dialog to ruin the pacing like so many remakes do.

Plus it's based on the DQ7 engine so it looks like a 90s ps1 jrpg and that's pretty cool