Dragon Quest
Encyclopedia
, published as Dragon Warrior in North America
until 2005,Due to the inconsistent usage by sources since Square Enix obtained the naming rights to Dragon Quest in North America. Dragon Quest has been used by sources to refer to games released solely under the Dragon Warrior titles. For this article, the title Dragon Quest is used in preference to Dragon Warrior except when talking about those specific North American releases. is a series of internationally best-selling console role-playing video game
(RPG) titles created by Yuji Horii
and his studio, Armor Project. The series is published by Square Enix
(formerly Enix
), with localized versions of later installments for the Nintendo DS (NDS) being published by Nintendo
outside of Japan. The first title was published in 1986
and there are currently nine main-series titles, numerous spin-off games, and nearly every game in the main series has either an anime
or manga
adaptation, or both. The series has had a significant impact on the development of console RPGs, and introduced a number of features to the genre. Installments of the series have appeared on MSX
computers, Nintendo Entertainment System
, Super Nintendo Entertainment System
, Game Boy Color
, Game Boy Advance
, NDS, PlayStation
, PlayStation 2 and Wii
video game console
s, and several models of mobile phone
s. Each Dragon Quest video game soundtrack is arranged into an orchestral piece; the video game series was the first to have live-action ballet
adaptations.
Early in the series the Dragon Quest games were released under the title Dragon Warrior in North America to avoid trademark
conflict with the pen-and-paper role-playing game DragonQuest
. Square Enix did not register the Dragon Quest trademark for use in the United States until 2002.
The basic premise of most Dragon Quest titles is to play a hero who is out to save the land from peril at the hands of a powerful evil enemy, with the hero usually accompanied by a group of party members
. Common elements persist throughout the series and its spinoff titles: turn-based combat; recurring monsters, including the Slime
, which became the series' mascot until the English version of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King; a text-based menu system;The Japanese release of Dragon Quest VIII retains the text menus. However all versions of Dragon Quest IX uses graphic menus. and random encounter
s (in the main series), until Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies. The series is one of the few long-running video game series to have a stable key development team; Yuji Horii
(creator), Akira Toriyama
(artist) and Koichi Sugiyama
(composer). The original concepts, used since the first game, took elements from the western RPGs Wizardry
and Ultima. A great deal of care was taken to make the gameplay
intuitive so that players could easily start to play the game. The series features a number of religious overtones which were heavily censored in the NES versions.
or in a dungeon. In most of the games, battles occur through random monster attacks
and improving the characters' levels
requires players to grind. The series uses cursed items, difficult dungeons where players need to use their resources wisely to complete them, and difficult boss battles. When the party encounters monsters the view switches perspective and players are presented with several options on a menu
; these first-person menu-based battles have become a staple of the series. Players use the menus to select weapons, magic, and other items used to attack and defeat the monsters, or can attempt to flee the fight; though characters cannot flee during a boss battle. Once the party defeats the monsters by winning the battle, each party member gains experience point
s in order to reach new levels. When a character gains a new level, the statistics (stats)
of the character are upgraded. Winning battles rewards players with gold which can be used to purchase items.
In most Dragon Quest games, players must visit a church (known as a House of Healing in the NES translations) and talk to a priest or nun to save the games' progress; in Dragon Warrior, players had to talk to a king to save their progress, though the first two Dragon Quest titles for NES use a password save system
. If the party dies in battle the group loses half of its gold and warps to the nearest save location where the hero is revived; players must then pay a priest or nun to revive their party members. Dragon Quest features "puff puff
" – a Japanese onomatopoeia for a girl rubbing her breasts in someone's face, which can also be used for the general term of a girl juggling her own breasts – massage girls that the player can hire with text describing their actions in the early games; in later games gags were used since breasts could not be displayed. The text descriptions were removed from some North American translations.The original NES games and the DS remakes have this removed while the PS1 and PS2 games Dragon Quest IX and GBC remakes include this.
In Dragon Quest III, Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation, Dragon Quest VII, and Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies, several character classes
can be chosen for the party members. Each game has its particular set of classes with typical options including: the Cleric
, Fighter
, Jester, Thief
, Warrior
, and Mage
.Most of the basic classes have undergone name changes in their English translation. The Cleric class underwent several name changes. It was originally known as the Pilgrim in Dragon Warrior III and in Dragon Quest VI and Dragon Quest IX it changed to Priest; the Fighter class was changed in Dragon Quest VI and Dragon Quest IX to Martial Artist; the Jester class was originally known as Goof-off in Dragon Warrior III and was changed to Gadabout in Dragon Quest VI; the Warrior class was originally known as Soldier in Dragon Warrior III, and the translation for the Mage has alternated between Mage and Wizard, depending on the Dragon Quest title. All the aforementioned games also include advanced classes such as the Sage. In addition, Dragon Quest VI and VII include monster classes.
Starting with Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen a new collectible item known as mini medals were introduced, resembling small gold coins with a five-pointed star in the middle, that have nothing to do with winning the game. Players collect these medals throughout the game—primarily by opening chests, breaking pots and barrels, and searching in sacks and drawers—and at a certain point during the games the player meets a character with whom they can trade these medals for items. Horii introduced them as he wanted to have something players collected that were similar to the crests and orbs in the previous Dragon Quest games, but did not want to repeat the necessity for players having to collect a certain number of them before they could complete the game.
The Dragon Quest series features several recurring monsters, including Slime
s, Drackies, Shadows, Mummies, Trick Bags, and Dragons. Many monsters in the series were designed by Akira Toriyama
.
Several Dragon Quest games allow the player to recruit monsters to fight alongside them. In Dragon Quest IV, a Healie monster can be recruited for the first chapter. Dragon Quest V and VI monsters can be selected by the player to join the player's party and fight in battles. In Dragon Quest VIII players can defeat and recruit monsters to fight in an arena.
The Slime, designed by Toriyama for use in Dragon Quest, have become the official mascot
of the Dragon Quest series. Series designer Yuji Horii cited the monster as an example of Toriyama's skills, claiming it took "[artistic] power to take something like a pool of slime and use his imagination to make it a great character." A Slime is a small blue blob, shaped like a water droplet, with a face. It has appeared in every Dragon Quest game and it is usually one of the first monsters the players encounter.In every game except Dragon Quest VI the blue slime is encountered in the first overworld area with monsters—in Dragon Quest VII the first overland area has no monster encounters—the players explore. The Slime's popularity has netted it two spin-off
games: Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest and Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime
.
". He is known in the game as the hero who freed the Kingdom of Alefgard from darkness. The chronological order of the first three Dragon Quest games is: Dragon Quest III, Dragon Quest, and Dragon Quest II.
The chronological order of the Dragon Warrior series is the same as that of Dragon Quest. In the first Dragon Warrior game the hero, the player-character, is a descendant of Erdrick who follows in his footsteps to reach the Dragonlord's Castle and confront him. In Dragon Warrior II the heroes are also descendants of Erdrick, exploring the expanded world of Torland that includes the continent of Alefgard. Erdrick's legend in the Dragon Warrior series was completed in Dragon Warrior III when the King of Alefgard bestows the "Order of Erdrick", the country's highest honor, upon the hero at the end of the game. The player-character's armaments are named the "Erdrick Sword" and "Erdrick Armor" in Dragon Warrior and Dragon Warrior II. Playing Dragon Warrior III with the name "Erdrick" is impossible in the original release and "Loto" in the GBC remake, as the game prevents players from continuing if the name is used.
In Dragon Quest IV Zenithia can be accessed by climbing the tower above the entrance to the world of darkness. In Dragon Quest V Zenithia has fallen into a lake south of Elheaven, until the Golden Orb is returned leaving the castle able to move freely in the sky. In Dragon Quest VI Zenithia is sealed by Demon Lord Durran, and a large hole is left in its place in the "Dream World". When the Dream World returns to its natural state in Dragon Quest VI, Zenithia is the only part that remains, floating above the "real" world. In addition to the trilogy, a castle in the Dragon Quest III remakes is also called Zenith, although the layout differs from the castle in the Tenku series.
The first four Dragon Quest installments were released for the Nintendo Entertainment System
(NES) in Japan and North America. The first two instalments were released in Japan on the MSX
at the same time as their NES counterparts; all four games have been remade for newer systems. Dragon Quest was released in Japan in 1986 and in North America as Dragon Warrior
in 1989. Dragon Quest II Akuryo no Kamigami was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1990 as Dragon Warrior II. Dragon Quest III Soshite Densetsu e... was released in Japan in 1989 and North America as Dragon Warrior III in 1992. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen was released in Japan in 1990 and in North America in 1992 as Dragon Warrior IV. A scheduled PlayStation (PS1) remake of Dragon Warrior IV for the North American market was never released. The NDS remake of Dragon Quest IV was released in North America, Europe, and Australia under its original translated title; though the European release removed the number from the title.
Two games were released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System
(SNES): Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride in 1992 and Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation in 1995; both have been re-released on newer systems. Dragon Quest V was originally scheduled for release in North America but was canceled amid rumors that Enix had given up on the American market. No official reason was ever given. The NDS remakes were released in North America with Dragon Quest V also being released in Europe and Australia, the latter without the numbering. One game was released for the PS1: Dragon Quest VII: Eden no Senshi-tachi in 2000 in Japan and 2001 in North America under the title Dragon Warrior VII. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King was released for the PlayStation 2
(PS2): in 2004 in Japan; 2005 in North America; and 2006 in Europe and Australia, again without the number in the title for Europe. Dragon Quest VIII was the first Dragon Quest title to be released in North America under the Dragon Quest title, and the first European release of a main-series Dragon Quest game. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies, the only game in the series initially released on the NDS, was originally released in 2009 in Japan, and in 2010 in North America, Europe, and Australia. Dragon Quest X: Mezame Shi Itsutsu no Shuzoku Online was announced for the Wii
in December 2008. In September 2011, Square Enix announced that Dragon Quest X would also be released on the Wii U, with Nintendo 3DS connectivity.
RPG. The series has also inspired arcade game
s such as the Japanese Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road
, where players compete for real-life cards with monster data that the arcade game issues to the players through a slot on its front. The latter is the only spin-off series to have none of its titles released outside Japan. The Mystery Dungeon and Itadaki Street
series use characters and other elements from Dragon Quest games, and the Mystery Dungeon series has gone on to spawn its own franchise.
In 1993 Chunsoft developed a SNES game that included Torneko (a.k.a Torneko Taloon), a character that first appeared in Dragon Quest IV. The roguelike
game Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon
continues Torneko's story from Dragon Quest IV as he attempts to make his store famous, venturing into mysterious dungeons to retrieve items to stock his store with. The game was successful in Japan. In 2000 the direct sequel Torneko: The Last Hope
was released in Japan and the United States. The gameplay is similar to the first game, though Torneko: The Last Hope is considered easier to play. The game sold enough copies in Japan to allow development of the second direct sequel on the PS2 titled . The second and third Torneko games have had remakes for the Gameboy Advance (GBA). A later game featured Yangus, a character who first appeared in Dragon Quest VIII; Dragon Quest: Shōnen Yangus to Fushigi no Dungeon follows Yangus on his adventures before he meets up with Hero in afore mentioned game. The success of Torneko no Daibōken spawned the Mystery Dungeon series that has grown to include franchises beyond Dragon Quest, as well as other clones.
When Enix took over the Monopoly
video-game clone Itadaki Street, the Dragon Quest franchise became an integral part of the game in its second version, . The first Itadaki Street, released by ASCII
, did not contain elements from the Dragon Quest franchise. The fourth game in the series, , included characters from the Final Fantasy
franchise, and later versions would include characters from Mario
.
Like the main series, Dragon Quest Monsters was originally released under the Dragon Warrior name. The next game, Dragon Warrior Monsters 2, is the only game to be split into two versions, Cobi's Journey (Ruka's Journey in Japan) andTara's Adventure (Iru's Adventure in Japan), named after the main player character
s. Each version has slight differences, such as the monster that appear in them. Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart
is a prequel to Dragon Warrior VII, following Keifer who is pulled into Torland and must find the six Orbs of Loto in order to return. The release of Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker
is the first spin-off title to be released in English using the Dragon Quest name; its sequel Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 has only been released in Japan with a US release date of September 19, 2011.
Dragon Quest has also produced a number of smaller spin-off titles. In two of them players use their special controllers as a sword, swinging it to slash enemies and objects. Kenshin Dragon Quest: Yomigaerishi Densetsu no Ken is a stand-alone game in which the controller is shaped like a sword, and a toy shield contains the game's hardware. Dragon Quest Swords for the Wii uses the motion sensing Wii Remote
as a sword. Another spin-off title, Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest
, uses the game's popular slime monster as the protagonist, and its sequel, Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime
, has been translated into English. There is also a downloadable DSiWare turn-based strategy
game, Dragon Quest Wars
and other titles have been released in Japan for cellphones.
, who also composed the music for the video games. After enhancements to the NES, Dragon Quest was among the first video games to offer more sophisticated music with three extra synthesizer channels. The first album was released in 1986 and was based on music from the first game, followed by a Symphonic Suite album for each game in the main series. The original soundtrack's "eight melodies" approach set the template for most RPG soundtracks released since then, hundreds of which have been organized in a similar manner. The original game's classical
score was considered revolutionary for console game
music.
Other compilations of Dragon Quest music have been released, including Dragon Quest Game Music Super Collection Vol. 1. The London Philharmonic performed many of the soundtracks, including a compilation entitled Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest Complete CD-Box. Some of the soundtracks include a second disc with the original game music, as with the Dragon Quest VI soundtrack. In 2003 SME Visual Works released Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest Complete CD-Box, featuring music from the first seven Dragon Quest games.
and book adaptations, including manga
, based on the Dragon Quest games.
On December 23, 1989, the first light novel
series began publication, starting with a two volume set for Dragon Quest III. After the success of these titles, Enix expanded the books into a series and began publishing volumes starting from the first game in sequential order. Enix published titles from every main series game previously released and the Torenko's Mystery Dungeon series until March 23, 1995. The titles are written from a second-person perspective; the reader determines the next course of action and the stories have multiple endings.
Other printed titles released in 1989 include: ; ; the Dragon Quest Perfect Collection series starting with ; and the first two Dragon Quest novels by Takayashiki Hideo. All of these works have had additional titles published for different games by different authors: Hideo published the first four volumes spanning the first three games; Kumi Saori published ten volumes comprising the next three games; and Hiroyuki Domon published three volumes for Dragon Quest VII. Starting with in 2000, a new series by all three authors began publication. The authors wrote new stories for their respective series, three stories for Hideo, nine for Saori, and three for Domon; with the latter's works featuring illustrations by Daisuke Torii. Several standalone titles and audiobook titles have also been released.
Dragon Quest manga began publication in Weekly Shōnen Jump
in 1989. Based on the world of Dragon Quest, Riku Sanjo's Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibōken was created as a two-chapter short-story entitled . means to cause something to be contained within magic cylinders. is the sound a puff of smoke makes. Its success led to the three-chapter sequel, , which set the framework for a later serialization spanning 37 volumes. The series was released as Fly in its translations into Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Arabic. Dai no Daibōkens success allowed it to make the transition into an anime by Toei Animation
, produced from October 17, 1991, to September 24, 1992. Another anime supervised by Horii, with a story loosely based on Dragon Quest III—some characters are similar, but the world is smaller and landmasses are shaped differently—began airing in 1990. Due to funding issues production was halted, although the series came back under a new related title. The first 13 episodes of the series were translated into English by Saban Entertainment under the title Dragon Warrior: Legend of the Hero Abel. Due to its early time slot, and a lawsuit filed by Toriyama for not being credited for his work on character designs, it was never renewed.
Other manga based on the games have been published. The longest-running of these, Emblem of Roto
, Warriors of Eden, and Maboroshi no Daichi, were published in Monthly Shōnen Gangan. Emblem of Roto, by Chiaki Kawamata
and Junji Koyanagi, with art by Kamui Fujiwara
, consists of twenty-one volumes published between 1991 and 1997. In 2004 Young Gangan ran a mini-series called Emblem of Roto Returns. It takes place between the timeframe of Dragon Quest III and Dragon Quest I. Warriors of Eden consists of eleven volumes, with art by Fujiwara. The series is a retelling of Dragon Quest VII with some minor changes. Maboroshi no Daichi consists of ten volumes. The series is a retelling of Dragon Quest VI with some minor changes. Other shorter manga series have been released including several based on other games, some official 4koma
strips, and a manga about the making of the original Dragon Quest game.
is a manga about the creators of Dragon Quest, published by Enix. The single-volume manga was released in 1990 and produced by Ishimori Productions
. It focuses on the creation of the series and stars Yujii Hori, Koichi Nakamura
(the main programmer), Koichi Sugiyama, Akira Toriyama, and Yukinobu Chida (producer).
. In the past, Dragon Quest games have been developed by Chunsoft
, Heartbeat, ArtePiazza
and, starting with Dragon Quest VIII, Level-5
. Horii's company, Armor Project, is in charge of the Dragon Quest games that were published by Enix and Square Enix.
video game series. The contest winners Koichi Nakamura and Yukinobu Chida, together with Horii, released the Enix NES game The Portopia Serial Murder Case. Music composer Sugiyama, known for composing jingles and pop songs, was impressed with the group's work and sent a postcard to Enix praising the software. Enix asked him to compose music for some of its games. The group then decided to make an role-playing video game
that combined elements from the western RPGs Wizardry and Ultima.While Wizardry and Ultima are under the broad category of role-playing video games, they are personal computer game
s, not video game console
games. Horii wanted to introduce the concept of RPGs to the wider Japanese video game audience. He chose the Famicom because, unlike arcade games, players would not have to worry about spending more money if they got a "game over
", and could continue playing from a save point. Horii used the full-screen map of Ultima and the battle and statistics-oriented Wizardry screens to create the gameplay of Dragon Quest. Dragon Ball
creator and manga artist Akira Toriyama, who knew of Horii through the manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump
, was commissioned to illustrate the characters and monsters to separate the game from other role-playing games of the time. The primary game designs were conceived by Horii before being handed to Toriyama to re-draw under Horii's supervision. When Horii first created Dragon Quest many people doubted that a fantasy series with swords and dungeons, instead of science fiction elements, would become popular in Japan; however, the series has become very popular there. Since then Horii has been the games' scenario director. Dragon Quest was Sugiyama's second video game he had composed for, Wingman 2 being his first. He says it took him five minutes to compose the original opening theme. His musical motif
s from the first game have remained relatively intact.
The first six Dragon Quest stories are divided into two trilogies. The first three games of the series tell the story of the legendary hero known as Roto (Erdrick or Loto in some versions). Dragon Quest IV-VI are based around a castle in the sky called Zenithia, referred to as the Tenku in Japan, meaning "heaven". Games in the main series from Dragon Quest VII onwards are stand-alone games.
The early Dragon Quest games were released under the title Dragon Warrior in North America to avoid trademark conflict with the pen-and-paper role-playing game Dragon Quest, which was published by Simulations Publications
in the 1980s until the company's 1982 bankruptcy and acquisition by TSR, Inc.
. TSR continued publishing the line as an alternative to Dungeons & Dragons
(D&D) until 1987. On July 23, 2002, Square Enix registered the Dragon Quest trademark in the United States for use with manuals, video cassette tapes, and other video game software. On October 8, 2003, Square Enix filed for a more comprehensive Dragon Quest trademark. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King became the first Dragon Quest game released outside Japan, all previous games having used the Dragon Warrior title.
Dragon Quest was not as successful outside Japan, as it was eclipsed by another RPG series, Final Fantasy
. Because of Enix's closure in the mid-1990s, Dragon Quest V and Dragon Quest VI were not officially released in North America. No games were released in Europe prior to the spin-off Dragon Warrior Monsters. With the merger of Square and Enix in 2003, Dragon Quest games were released in numerous markets. In May 2008 Square Enix announced localizations of the NDS remakes of Dragon Quest IV, V, and VI for North America and the PAL region
, commonly referred to as the "Zenithia" or "Tenku trilogy". With this announcement, all the main Dragon Quest games have been released outside of Japan. The ninth instalment was released in Japan for NDS on July 11, 2009. The North American version was released on July 11, 2010, while the European version came out on July 23, 2010. The tenth instalment of the main series is currently in development for the Wii. Nintendo has been a major publisher outside Japan for the main Dragon Quest games, publishing the first Dragon Quest game in North America, and recently publishing Dragon Quest IX worldwide outside Japan; the NDS version of Dragon Quest VI is published by Nintendo in North America.
Dragon Quest games have an overall upbeat feeling. The typical Dragon Quest plot involves the player controlling a party of heroes to defeat an ultimate evil villain, who usually threatens the world in some way. The plot-line often consists of smaller stories that involve encounters with other characters. This linear plot-line is intentional, to help ease the generally high learning curve RPGs have for those unaccustomed to them. The gameplay is designed to allow players to decide when, and whether, to pursue certain storyline paths. To ensure players continue to enjoy playing the game, no storyline path is made without some kind of reward and, to help ease players who may be apprehensive about whether they are on the right path, the distance the character has to travel to get rewarded is reduced at the beginning of the game. While the player never starts the game in a wholly non-linear way, they usually allow players to explore an open world
in a non-linear manner following an early linear section of the game. Early character levels start players off with more hit points and a substantially increasing growth at later levels, although the effective bonuses of every additional level decreases.
While Toriyama would later become more widely known with the success of Dragon Ball Z in North America, when Dragon Quest was released he was an unknown outside Japan. While the Dragon Quests hero was drawn in a super deformed
manga style, the Dragon Warrior localization had him drawn in the "West's template of a medieval hero". The trend continued through the first four games, although the artwork for weapons and armor began using more of Toriyama's original artwork for Dragon Warrior III and IV. However, while the bookets' artwork was altered, the setting and poses remained virtually identical.
The games always feature a number of religious overtones; after the first Dragon Warrior game saving, and reviving characters who have died, is performed by clergy in churches. Bishops wander around the over-world of Dragon Quest Monsters and can heal wounded characters. The final enemy in some of the Dragon Quest games is called the Demon Lord; for instance in Dragon Quest VII, the Demon Lord (known as Orgodemir in that particular game) is the final boss, and there is a sidequest to battle against God. The first four Dragon Quest titles were subjected to censorship in their North American localizations, largely in keeping with Nintendo of America
's content guidelines at the time that placed severe restrictions on religious iconography and mature content. When these games were remade for the Game Boy Color, most censorship was removed. The translated versions of the games have largely followed the originals since Dragon Quest VII.
in Tokyo after Dragon Quest IXs release. The venue provides a meeting location where players can exchange treasure maps and maps where characters who only appear once during normal gameplay can be found. Players often make Akihabara a destination when visiting Tokyo just to get a valuable map.
Dragon Quest has become a cultural phenomena in Japan. According to Ryutaro Ichimura and Yuji Horii, Dragon Quest has become popular enough that it is used as a common topic for conversation in Japan, and is considered by the Japanese gaming industry as Japan's national game. William Cassidy of GameSpy
claims that "the common wisdom is that if you ask someone from Japan to draw 'Slime,' he'll draw the onion-like shape of the weak enemies from the game." There is an urban myth that the release of Dragon Quest III caused a law to be passed in Japan banning the sale of Dragon Quest games or video games in general except on certain days such as weekends or national holidays. When III was released in Japan, over 300 schoolchildren were arrested for truancy
while waiting in stores for the game to be released. The rumor claims there was a measurable dip in productivity when a Dragon Quest game was released and although muggings of Dragon Quest titles became so widespread there were hearings in the Japanese Diet, no law was ever passed. However, the Japanese release of every Dragon Quest title continues to be on a Saturday and each new launch is widely anticipated.
Dragon Quests music has been influential on various sectors of the performing arts. It is the first video game series to receive live-action ballet adaptations, and musical concerts and audio CDs were produced based on the Dragon Quest universe. Since 1987 the series' music is performed annually in concert halls throughout Japan. Early Dragon Quest concerts inspired Nobuo Uematsu
's Final Fantasy compositions.
voted on the hundred best video games of all time. Dragon Quest III was third, Dragon Quest VIII fourth, Dragon Quest VII ninth, Dragon Quest V eleventh, Dragon Quest IV fourteenth, Dragon Quest II seventeenth, Dragon Quest thirtieth, and Dragon Quest VI thirty-fourth. In 2009 Horii received a special award at the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association Developers Conference
for his work on the Dragon Quest franchise.
According to Satoru Iwata
, president of Nintendo, Dragon Quests widespread appeal is that it is "made so that anyone can play it...and anyone can enjoy it depending on their different levels and interests." According to him, Dragon Quest is designed for anyone to pick up without needing to read the manual in order to understand it. Ryutaro Ichimura, producer at Square Enix, who has played the game since he was a child, says the Dragon Quest storylines allow players to experience a moving sense of achievement where they take the role of a hero saving the world. Horii believes the ability to appeal to larger audiences of casual game
rs, while not alienating the more hardcore gamers, is due to being able to lower the initial hurdle without making it too easy. Iwata and Ichimura believe it is because the games are created in a way that allows both groups to pursue their own goals; casual gamers can enjoy the storyline and battles, but for those who want more there is still content for them to pursue.
Although the series is extremely popular in Japan, by 2002 the success in Japan had not transferred to North America. Although the first four games to be released in America generally received good reviews, Nintendo had to give away copies of Dragon Warrior. However, those four games have been among the most sought-after titles for the NES, especially Dragon Warrior III and IV. It was not until Dragon Warrior VII was released that Dragon Quest became critically acclaimed in North America, although reception was still mixed. The series gained more universal praise with Dragon Quest VIII, and began to sell better outside Japan and Dragon Quest IX sold over 1 million copies outside Japan.
The original Dragon Quest game is often cited as the first console RPG, although many Western critics often consider Final Fantasy
"more important". GameSpot
called the original Dragon Quest one of the fifteen most influential games of all time and the "most influential role-playing games of all time", stating that nearly all Japanese RPGs since then have drawn from its gameplay "in some shape or form." In response to a survey, Gamasutra
cites Quinton Klabon of Dartmouth College
as stating Dragon Warrior translated the D&D experience to video games and set the genre standards. Several games such as Mother
, Breath of Fire
and Lufia and the Fortress of Doom were inspired by various Dragon Quest titles. Dragon Quest IIIs class-changing system would shape other RPGs, especially the Final Fantasy series. Early games in the series are also credited with affecting D&Ds leveling system to even out its randomness by giving more bonuses early on and giving starting characters maximum hit points at their initial level. Dragon Quest V is cited as having monster recruiting and training mechanics that inspired monster-collecting RPGs such as Pokémon
, Digimon
, and Dokapon
, and in turn the modern trend of collecting achievements
. Dragon Quest V also introduced the concept of a playable pregnancy
. The real world and dream world setting of Dragon Quest VI is considered an influence on the later Square RPGs Chrono Cross
and Final Fantasy X. The Dragon Quest series was recognized by Guinness World Records
, with six world records in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition
. These records include "Best Selling Role Playing Game on the Super Famicom", "Fastest Selling Game in Japan", and "First Video Game Series to Inspire a Ballet".
One of the main aspects of the series that critics point out, either positively or negatively, is that the series "never strays from its classic roots." Unlike other modern, complex RPGs, Dragon Quest on the DS retains the simple gameplay from the first game that many critics find refreshing and nostalgic. Points of contention are its battle system, comparatively simplistic storylines, lack of character development, simplistic primitive-looking graphics (in earlier titles), and the overall difficulty of the game. These arguments are countered by noting its strength in episodic storytelling with the various non-player character
s the party meets. The stories avoid melodrama and feature more simplistic characters than Final Fantasys Squall Leonhart
or Tidus
, who is a source of contention; battles are simple and finish quickly. As for difficulty, Yuji Horii is noted as a gambler. The lack of save points and the general difficulty of the battles were included with the intention of adding a sense of tension. Because of this added difficulty, the punishment for the party's death was toned down compared to other games by simply going back to where you had last saved, with half of your gold on hand. When asked about criticism of Dragon Quest games, Horii says he does not mind, it means the critics played the game and he would rather know their concerns than remain ignorant.
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
until 2005,Due to the inconsistent usage by sources since Square Enix obtained the naming rights to Dragon Quest in North America. Dragon Quest has been used by sources to refer to games released solely under the Dragon Warrior titles. For this article, the title Dragon Quest is used in preference to Dragon Warrior except when talking about those specific North American releases. is a series of internationally best-selling console role-playing video game
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
(RPG) titles created by Yuji Horii
Yuji Horii
is a Japanese video game designer and scenario writer best known as the creator of the Dragon Quest series of console role-playing games, as well as the visual novel adventure game Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken.-History:Dragon Quest is recognized as the first role-playing game to posit the idea...
and his studio, Armor Project. The series is published by Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
(formerly Enix
Enix
The was a Japanese company that produced video games, anime and manga. The company was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima on September 22, 1975 as and renamed Enix in 1982...
), with localized versions of later installments for the Nintendo DS (NDS) being published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
outside of Japan. The first title was published in 1986
1986 in video gaming
-Events:-Notable releases:*Namco releases Sky Kid Deluxe, Hopping Mappy, Toy Pop, The Return of Ishtar, which is the sequel to Tower of Druaga, Genpei Tōma Den, and Rolling Thunder....
and there are currently nine main-series titles, numerous spin-off games, and nearly every game in the main series has either an anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
or manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
adaptation, or both. The series has had a significant impact on the development of console RPGs, and introduced a number of features to the genre. Installments of the series have appeared on MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
computers, Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
, Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
, Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
, Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
, NDS, PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
, PlayStation 2 and Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
s, and several models of mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s. Each Dragon Quest video game soundtrack is arranged into an orchestral piece; the video game series was the first to have live-action ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
adaptations.
Early in the series the Dragon Quest games were released under the title Dragon Warrior in North America to avoid trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
conflict with the pen-and-paper role-playing game DragonQuest
DragonQuest
DragonQuest is a fantasy role-playing game originally published by Simulations Publications in 1980. Where first generation fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons restricted players to particular character classes, DragonQuest was one of the first games to utilize a system that...
. Square Enix did not register the Dragon Quest trademark for use in the United States until 2002.
The basic premise of most Dragon Quest titles is to play a hero who is out to save the land from peril at the hands of a powerful evil enemy, with the hero usually accompanied by a group of party members
Party (role playing games)
A party is a group of characters adventuring together in a role-playing game. In tabletop role-playing, a party is composed of a group of players, occasionally with the addition of non-player character allies controlled by those players or by the gamemaster. In computer games, the relationship...
. Common elements persist throughout the series and its spinoff titles: turn-based combat; recurring monsters, including the Slime
Slime (Dragon Quest)
The Slime is the mascot of the Dragon Quest console role-playing game franchise. Designed by Akira Toriyama of Dragon Ball fame, the basic slime resembles a water drop with two large eyes and a big smile...
, which became the series' mascot until the English version of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King; a text-based menu system;The Japanese release of Dragon Quest VIII retains the text menus. However all versions of Dragon Quest IX uses graphic menus. and random encounter
Random encounter
A random encounter is a feature commonly used in various role-playing games whereby encounters with non-player character enemies or other dangers occur sporadically and at random...
s (in the main series), until Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies. The series is one of the few long-running video game series to have a stable key development team; Yuji Horii
Yuji Horii
is a Japanese video game designer and scenario writer best known as the creator of the Dragon Quest series of console role-playing games, as well as the visual novel adventure game Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken.-History:Dragon Quest is recognized as the first role-playing game to posit the idea...
(creator), Akira Toriyama
Akira Toriyama
is a Japanese manga artist and game artist known mostly for his creation of Dragon Ball in 1984. Toriyama admires Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy and was impressed by Walt Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians, which he remembers for the great art...
(artist) and Koichi Sugiyama
Koichi Sugiyama
is a Japanese music composer, council member of JASRAC , and honorary chairman of the Japanese Backgammon Society...
(composer). The original concepts, used since the first game, took elements from the western RPGs Wizardry
Wizardry
Wizardry is a series of computer role-playing games, developed by Sir-Tech, which were highly influential in the development of modern console and computer role playing games. The original Wizardry was a significant influence to early console RPGs, such as Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy. ...
and Ultima. A great deal of care was taken to make the gameplay
Gameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it...
intuitive so that players could easily start to play the game. The series features a number of religious overtones which were heavily censored in the NES versions.
Gameplay
In most Dragon Quest games, players control a party of characters that can walk into towns and buy weapons, armor, and items to defeat monsters outside of the towns; on the world mapOverworld
An overworld is, in a broad sense, an area within a video game that interconnects all its levels or locations. They are mostly common in role-playing games, though this does not exclude other video game genres....
or in a dungeon. In most of the games, battles occur through random monster attacks
Random encounter
A random encounter is a feature commonly used in various role-playing games whereby encounters with non-player character enemies or other dangers occur sporadically and at random...
and improving the characters' levels
Level (video gaming)
A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...
requires players to grind. The series uses cursed items, difficult dungeons where players need to use their resources wisely to complete them, and difficult boss battles. When the party encounters monsters the view switches perspective and players are presented with several options on a menu
Menu (computing)
In computing and telecommunications, a menu is a list of commands presented to an operator by a computer or communications system. A menu is used in contrast to a command-line interface, where instructions to the computer are given in the form of commands .Choices given from a menu may be selected...
; these first-person menu-based battles have become a staple of the series. Players use the menus to select weapons, magic, and other items used to attack and defeat the monsters, or can attempt to flee the fight; though characters cannot flee during a boss battle. Once the party defeats the monsters by winning the battle, each party member gains experience point
Experience point
An experience point is a unit of measurement used in many role-playing games and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's progression through the game...
s in order to reach new levels. When a character gains a new level, the statistics (stats)
Statistic (role-playing games)
A statistic in role-playing games is a piece of data which represents a particular aspect of a fictional character. That piece of data is usually a integer or, in some cases, a set of dice....
of the character are upgraded. Winning battles rewards players with gold which can be used to purchase items.
In most Dragon Quest games, players must visit a church (known as a House of Healing in the NES translations) and talk to a priest or nun to save the games' progress; in Dragon Warrior, players had to talk to a king to save their progress, though the first two Dragon Quest titles for NES use a password save system
Password (video games)
In many video games of the 8-bit and, to a lesser extent, 16-bit eras , after a level was beaten and/or when all continues were used, the game would display a password, that when entered in the game would allow the player to return to this part in the game...
. If the party dies in battle the group loses half of its gold and warps to the nearest save location where the hero is revived; players must then pay a priest or nun to revive their party members. Dragon Quest features "puff puff
Puff Puff (sexual term)
Puff-puff is a predominantly Japanese term for the placing of a person's face between a woman's breasts, often for sexual pleasure. comes from the Japanese onomatopoeia for a girl rubbing her breasts in someone's face; the term can also be used for a girl juggling her own breasts. "Puff-puff" is...
" – a Japanese onomatopoeia for a girl rubbing her breasts in someone's face, which can also be used for the general term of a girl juggling her own breasts – massage girls that the player can hire with text describing their actions in the early games; in later games gags were used since breasts could not be displayed. The text descriptions were removed from some North American translations.The original NES games and the DS remakes have this removed while the PS1 and PS2 games Dragon Quest IX and GBC remakes include this.
In Dragon Quest III, Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation, Dragon Quest VII, and Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies, several character classes
Dragon Quest character classes
In installments of the Dragon Quest series of console role-playing games, published by Square Enix, character classes are specific roles for playable characters that determine a character's proficiencies and weaknesses...
can be chosen for the party members. Each game has its particular set of classes with typical options including: the Cleric
Cleric (character class)
The Cleric, Priest, or Bishop is a character class in Dungeons & Dragons and other fantasy role-playing games. The cleric is a healer, usually a priest and a holy warrior, originally modeled on or inspired by the Military Orders...
, Fighter
Monk (character class)
The monk is a character class in a number of table-top role-playing and computer games. In those games which follow the Dungeons & Dragons traditions, monks are characters with martial arts skills and have very powerful strategies....
, Jester, Thief
Thief (character class)
The Thief or Rogue is a character class in many role-playing games, including Dungeons & Dragons, Final Fantasy, World of Warcraft and many MMORPGs. Thieves are usually stealthy and dextrous characters able to disarm traps, pick locks, and perform backstabs from hiding...
, Warrior
Warrior (character class)
Warrior is a character class found in many role-playing games. This class may also be referred to as Fighter, as in Dungeons & Dragons. The class is sometimes also referred to as a Knight, although in some games this is a separate class with a more chivalric aspect...
, and Mage
Wizard (character class)
The Wizard is a type of magical character class in certain role-playing games and computer role-playing games. Wizards are considered to be spellcasters who wield powerful spells, but are often physically weak as a trade-off. Wizards are commonly confused with similar offensive spellcasting...
.Most of the basic classes have undergone name changes in their English translation. The Cleric class underwent several name changes. It was originally known as the Pilgrim in Dragon Warrior III and in Dragon Quest VI and Dragon Quest IX it changed to Priest; the Fighter class was changed in Dragon Quest VI and Dragon Quest IX to Martial Artist; the Jester class was originally known as Goof-off in Dragon Warrior III and was changed to Gadabout in Dragon Quest VI; the Warrior class was originally known as Soldier in Dragon Warrior III, and the translation for the Mage has alternated between Mage and Wizard, depending on the Dragon Quest title. All the aforementioned games also include advanced classes such as the Sage. In addition, Dragon Quest VI and VII include monster classes.
Starting with Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen a new collectible item known as mini medals were introduced, resembling small gold coins with a five-pointed star in the middle, that have nothing to do with winning the game. Players collect these medals throughout the game—primarily by opening chests, breaking pots and barrels, and searching in sacks and drawers—and at a certain point during the games the player meets a character with whom they can trade these medals for items. Horii introduced them as he wanted to have something players collected that were similar to the crests and orbs in the previous Dragon Quest games, but did not want to repeat the necessity for players having to collect a certain number of them before they could complete the game.
Monsters
The Dragon Quest series features several recurring monsters, including Slime
Slime (Dragon Quest)
The Slime is the mascot of the Dragon Quest console role-playing game franchise. Designed by Akira Toriyama of Dragon Ball fame, the basic slime resembles a water drop with two large eyes and a big smile...
s, Drackies, Shadows, Mummies, Trick Bags, and Dragons. Many monsters in the series were designed by Akira Toriyama
Akira Toriyama
is a Japanese manga artist and game artist known mostly for his creation of Dragon Ball in 1984. Toriyama admires Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy and was impressed by Walt Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians, which he remembers for the great art...
.
Several Dragon Quest games allow the player to recruit monsters to fight alongside them. In Dragon Quest IV, a Healie monster can be recruited for the first chapter. Dragon Quest V and VI monsters can be selected by the player to join the player's party and fight in battles. In Dragon Quest VIII players can defeat and recruit monsters to fight in an arena.
The Slime, designed by Toriyama for use in Dragon Quest, have become the official mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
of the Dragon Quest series. Series designer Yuji Horii cited the monster as an example of Toriyama's skills, claiming it took "[artistic] power to take something like a pool of slime and use his imagination to make it a great character." A Slime is a small blue blob, shaped like a water droplet, with a face. It has appeared in every Dragon Quest game and it is usually one of the first monsters the players encounter.In every game except Dragon Quest VI the blue slime is encountered in the first overworld area with monsters—in Dragon Quest VII the first overland area has no monster encounters—the players explore. The Slime's popularity has netted it two spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
games: Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest and Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime
Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime
is an action-adventure video game developed by TOSE and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. It is the sequel to Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest: Shōgeki no Shippo Dan for the Game Boy Advance. It was first released in Japan, and later in North America...
.
Erdrick (aka Loto)
Erdrick is the legendary hero from the Dragon Quest series. The first three Dragon Quest games, all connected to the legend of Erdrick, comprise the "Erdrick trilogyTrilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
". He is known in the game as the hero who freed the Kingdom of Alefgard from darkness. The chronological order of the first three Dragon Quest games is: Dragon Quest III, Dragon Quest, and Dragon Quest II.
The chronological order of the Dragon Warrior series is the same as that of Dragon Quest. In the first Dragon Warrior game the hero, the player-character, is a descendant of Erdrick who follows in his footsteps to reach the Dragonlord's Castle and confront him. In Dragon Warrior II the heroes are also descendants of Erdrick, exploring the expanded world of Torland that includes the continent of Alefgard. Erdrick's legend in the Dragon Warrior series was completed in Dragon Warrior III when the King of Alefgard bestows the "Order of Erdrick", the country's highest honor, upon the hero at the end of the game. The player-character's armaments are named the "Erdrick Sword" and "Erdrick Armor" in Dragon Warrior and Dragon Warrior II. Playing Dragon Warrior III with the name "Erdrick" is impossible in the original release and "Loto" in the GBC remake, as the game prevents players from continuing if the name is used.
Zenithia
Zenithia, also called Zenith Castle or Zenith, is a floating castle that first appears in Dragon Quest IV; it is used as a descriptor for several elements in Dragon Quest IV, V and VI. Its appearance in all three games has to the games being described as the Zenithia or Tenku ("Heaven") trilogy. Horii explained that a trilogy was never the intention, "Each Dragon Quest title represents a fresh start and a new story, so I don't see too much of a connection between the games in the series. I guess it could be said that the imagination of players has brought the titles together in a certain fashion."In Dragon Quest IV Zenithia can be accessed by climbing the tower above the entrance to the world of darkness. In Dragon Quest V Zenithia has fallen into a lake south of Elheaven, until the Golden Orb is returned leaving the castle able to move freely in the sky. In Dragon Quest VI Zenithia is sealed by Demon Lord Durran, and a large hole is left in its place in the "Dream World". When the Dream World returns to its natural state in Dragon Quest VI, Zenithia is the only part that remains, floating above the "real" world. In addition to the trilogy, a castle in the Dragon Quest III remakes is also called Zenith, although the layout differs from the castle in the Tenku series.
Main series
| 1986 – | – Dragon Quest Dragon Warrior Dragon Warrior, known as in Japan, is the first role-playing video game in the Dragon Quest media franchise. It was developed by Chunsoft for the Nintendo Entertainment System and published by Enix in Japan in 1986... |
|
| 1987 – | – Dragon Quest II | |
| 1988 – | – Dragon Quest III | |
| 1989 – | ||
| 1990 – | – Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen | |
| 1991 – | ||
| 1992 – | – Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride | |
| 1993 – | ||
| 1994 – | ||
| 1995 – | – Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation | |
| 1996 – | ||
| 1997 – | ||
| 1998 – | ||
| 1999 – | ||
| 2000 – | – Dragon Quest VII | |
| 2001 – | ||
| 2002 – | ||
| 2003 – | ||
| 2004 – | – Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King | |
| 2005 – | ||
| 2006 – | ||
| 2007 – | ||
| 2008 – | ||
| 2009 – | – Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies | |
| 2010 – | ||
| 2011 – |
The first four Dragon Quest installments were released for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
(NES) in Japan and North America. The first two instalments were released in Japan on the MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
at the same time as their NES counterparts; all four games have been remade for newer systems. Dragon Quest was released in Japan in 1986 and in North America as Dragon Warrior
Dragon Warrior
Dragon Warrior, known as in Japan, is the first role-playing video game in the Dragon Quest media franchise. It was developed by Chunsoft for the Nintendo Entertainment System and published by Enix in Japan in 1986...
in 1989. Dragon Quest II Akuryo no Kamigami was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1990 as Dragon Warrior II. Dragon Quest III Soshite Densetsu e... was released in Japan in 1989 and North America as Dragon Warrior III in 1992. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen was released in Japan in 1990 and in North America in 1992 as Dragon Warrior IV. A scheduled PlayStation (PS1) remake of Dragon Warrior IV for the North American market was never released. The NDS remake of Dragon Quest IV was released in North America, Europe, and Australia under its original translated title; though the European release removed the number from the title.
Two games were released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
(SNES): Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride in 1992 and Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation in 1995; both have been re-released on newer systems. Dragon Quest V was originally scheduled for release in North America but was canceled amid rumors that Enix had given up on the American market. No official reason was ever given. The NDS remakes were released in North America with Dragon Quest V also being released in Europe and Australia, the latter without the numbering. One game was released for the PS1: Dragon Quest VII: Eden no Senshi-tachi in 2000 in Japan and 2001 in North America under the title Dragon Warrior VII. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King was released for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
(PS2): in 2004 in Japan; 2005 in North America; and 2006 in Europe and Australia, again without the number in the title for Europe. Dragon Quest VIII was the first Dragon Quest title to be released in North America under the Dragon Quest title, and the first European release of a main-series Dragon Quest game. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies, the only game in the series initially released on the NDS, was originally released in 2009 in Japan, and in 2010 in North America, Europe, and Australia. Dragon Quest X: Mezame Shi Itsutsu no Shuzoku Online was announced for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
in December 2008. In September 2011, Square Enix announced that Dragon Quest X would also be released on the Wii U, with Nintendo 3DS connectivity.
Spinoffs
The franchise includes several spin-off games, including the Dragon Quest MonstersDragon Quest Monsters
or Dragon Warrior Monsters, as it was known in North America, is a spin off series of the Dragon Quest games. Published by Enix Corporation , it sets the player in a medieval/fantasy world filled with magic, monsters and knights...
RPG. The series has also inspired arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
s such as the Japanese Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road
Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road
is a series of Japanese arcade games based on Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King. Players battle monsters and can win real-life cards with monster data imprinted on them. The first game, also titled Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road, was released in 2007 only in Japan, using the Taito...
, where players compete for real-life cards with monster data that the arcade game issues to the players through a slot on its front. The latter is the only spin-off series to have none of its titles released outside Japan. The Mystery Dungeon and Itadaki Street
Itadaki Street
is a computer board game series originally created by Dragon Quest designer Yuji Horii. The first game was released in Japan on Nintendo's Famicom in 1991. Since then, sequels have been released for the Super Famicom and Sony's PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Playstation Portable and Nintendo DS...
series use characters and other elements from Dragon Quest games, and the Mystery Dungeon series has gone on to spawn its own franchise.
In 1993 Chunsoft developed a SNES game that included Torneko (a.k.a Torneko Taloon), a character that first appeared in Dragon Quest IV. The roguelike
Roguelike
The roguelike is a sub-genre of role-playing video games, characterized by randomization for replayability, permanent death, and turn-based movement. Most roguelikes feature ASCII graphics, with newer ones increasingly offering tile-based graphics. Games are typically dungeon crawls, with many...
game Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon
Torneko no Daiboken: Fushigi no Dungeon
is the first game in the Mysterious Dungeon series. This installment features Torneko , the merchant from Dragon Warrior IV...
continues Torneko's story from Dragon Quest IV as he attempts to make his store famous, venturing into mysterious dungeons to retrieve items to stock his store with. The game was successful in Japan. In 2000 the direct sequel Torneko: The Last Hope
Torneko: The Last Hope
Torneko: The Last Hope, known as in Japan, is a console role-playing game for the Sony PlayStation.The game was co-developed by Chunsoft and Matrix Software and published by Enix in both Japan and North America in 1999 and 2000 respectively....
was released in Japan and the United States. The gameplay is similar to the first game, though Torneko: The Last Hope is considered easier to play. The game sold enough copies in Japan to allow development of the second direct sequel on the PS2 titled . The second and third Torneko games have had remakes for the Gameboy Advance (GBA). A later game featured Yangus, a character who first appeared in Dragon Quest VIII; Dragon Quest: Shōnen Yangus to Fushigi no Dungeon follows Yangus on his adventures before he meets up with Hero in afore mentioned game. The success of Torneko no Daibōken spawned the Mystery Dungeon series that has grown to include franchises beyond Dragon Quest, as well as other clones.
When Enix took over the Monopoly
Monopoly (game)
Marvin Gardens, the leading yellow property on the board shown, is actually a misspelling of the original location name, Marven Gardens. The misspelling was said to be introduced by Charles Todd and passed on when his home-made Monopoly board was copied by Charles Darrow and thence to Parker...
video-game clone Itadaki Street, the Dragon Quest franchise became an integral part of the game in its second version, . The first Itadaki Street, released by ASCII
ASCII (company)
was a publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. It became a subsidiary of Kadokawa Group Holdings in 2004, and merged with another Kadokawa subsidiary MediaWorks on April 1, 2008, and became ASCII Media Works. The company published Monthly ASCII as the main publication...
, did not contain elements from the Dragon Quest franchise. The fourth game in the series, , included characters from the Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
franchise, and later versions would include characters from Mario
Mario (series)
The video game series, alternatively called the series or simply the series, is a series of highly popular and critically acclaimed video games by Nintendo, featuring Nintendo's mascot Mario and, in many games, his brother Luigi. Gameplay in the series often centers around jumping on and...
.
Like the main series, Dragon Quest Monsters was originally released under the Dragon Warrior name. The next game, Dragon Warrior Monsters 2, is the only game to be split into two versions, Cobi's Journey (Ruka's Journey in Japan) andTara's Adventure (Iru's Adventure in Japan), named after the main player character
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
s. Each version has slight differences, such as the monster that appear in them. Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart
Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart
is the third game in the Dragon Quest Monsters series, released only in Japan by Enix for the Game Boy Advance. The game was simultaneously announced with Dragon Quest VIII in Famitsu in 2002...
is a prequel to Dragon Warrior VII, following Keifer who is pulled into Torland and must find the six Orbs of Loto in order to return. The release of Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker
is a Nintendo DS role-playing game published by Square Enix, and the fourth installment of the Dragon Quest Monsters series. Square Enix released the game on December 28, 2006 in Japan and in North America on November 6, 2007....
is the first spin-off title to be released in English using the Dragon Quest name; its sequel Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 has only been released in Japan with a US release date of September 19, 2011.
Dragon Quest has also produced a number of smaller spin-off titles. In two of them players use their special controllers as a sword, swinging it to slash enemies and objects. Kenshin Dragon Quest: Yomigaerishi Densetsu no Ken is a stand-alone game in which the controller is shaped like a sword, and a toy shield contains the game's hardware. Dragon Quest Swords for the Wii uses the motion sensing Wii Remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...
as a sword. Another spin-off title, Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest
Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest
is a Japanese action-adventure video game published by Square Enix in 2003 for Game Boy Advance. It is part of Square Enix's Ultimate Hits. The game is based on the fictional Dragon Quest universe with players controlling a slime...
, uses the game's popular slime monster as the protagonist, and its sequel, Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime
Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime
is an action-adventure video game developed by TOSE and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. It is the sequel to Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest: Shōgeki no Shippo Dan for the Game Boy Advance. It was first released in Japan, and later in North America...
, has been translated into English. There is also a downloadable DSiWare turn-based strategy
Turn-based strategy
A turn-based strategy game is a strategy game where players take turns when playing...
game, Dragon Quest Wars
Dragon Quest Wars
is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS's DSiWare download service. It is part of the Dragon Quest series and features monsters from the series. It supports up to four player multiplayer, both local and...
and other titles have been released in Japan for cellphones.
Music
The Dragon Quest soundtracks were composed and arranged by Koichi SugiyamaKoichi Sugiyama
is a Japanese music composer, council member of JASRAC , and honorary chairman of the Japanese Backgammon Society...
, who also composed the music for the video games. After enhancements to the NES, Dragon Quest was among the first video games to offer more sophisticated music with three extra synthesizer channels. The first album was released in 1986 and was based on music from the first game, followed by a Symphonic Suite album for each game in the main series. The original soundtrack's "eight melodies" approach set the template for most RPG soundtracks released since then, hundreds of which have been organized in a similar manner. The original game's classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
score was considered revolutionary for console game
Console game
A console game is a form of interactive multimedia used for entertainment. The game consists of manipulable images generated by a video game console, and displayed on a television or similar audio-video system. The game itself is usually controlled and manipulated using a handheld device connected...
music.
Other compilations of Dragon Quest music have been released, including Dragon Quest Game Music Super Collection Vol. 1. The London Philharmonic performed many of the soundtracks, including a compilation entitled Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest Complete CD-Box. Some of the soundtracks include a second disc with the original game music, as with the Dragon Quest VI soundtrack. In 2003 SME Visual Works released Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest Complete CD-Box, featuring music from the first seven Dragon Quest games.
Books and anime
Beginning in 1989 with three series, the media franchise expanded into other media. There are now a number of animeAnime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
and book adaptations, including manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
, based on the Dragon Quest games.
On December 23, 1989, the first light novel
Light novel
A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...
series began publication, starting with a two volume set for Dragon Quest III. After the success of these titles, Enix expanded the books into a series and began publishing volumes starting from the first game in sequential order. Enix published titles from every main series game previously released and the Torenko's Mystery Dungeon series until March 23, 1995. The titles are written from a second-person perspective; the reader determines the next course of action and the stories have multiple endings.
Other printed titles released in 1989 include: ; ; the Dragon Quest Perfect Collection series starting with ; and the first two Dragon Quest novels by Takayashiki Hideo. All of these works have had additional titles published for different games by different authors: Hideo published the first four volumes spanning the first three games; Kumi Saori published ten volumes comprising the next three games; and Hiroyuki Domon published three volumes for Dragon Quest VII. Starting with in 2000, a new series by all three authors began publication. The authors wrote new stories for their respective series, three stories for Hideo, nine for Saori, and three for Domon; with the latter's works featuring illustrations by Daisuke Torii. Several standalone titles and audiobook titles have also been released.
Dragon Quest manga began publication in Weekly Shōnen Jump
Weekly Shonen Jump
is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.8 million copies...
in 1989. Based on the world of Dragon Quest, Riku Sanjo's Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibōken was created as a two-chapter short-story entitled . means to cause something to be contained within magic cylinders. is the sound a puff of smoke makes. Its success led to the three-chapter sequel, , which set the framework for a later serialization spanning 37 volumes. The series was released as Fly in its translations into Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Arabic. Dai no Daibōkens success allowed it to make the transition into an anime by Toei Animation
Toei Animation
Toei Animation Co., Ltd. is a Japanese animation studio owned by Toei Co., Ltd. The studio was founded in 1948 as Japan Animated Films . In 1956, Toei purchased the studio and it was reincorporated under its current name...
, produced from October 17, 1991, to September 24, 1992. Another anime supervised by Horii, with a story loosely based on Dragon Quest III—some characters are similar, but the world is smaller and landmasses are shaped differently—began airing in 1990. Due to funding issues production was halted, although the series came back under a new related title. The first 13 episodes of the series were translated into English by Saban Entertainment under the title Dragon Warrior: Legend of the Hero Abel. Due to its early time slot, and a lawsuit filed by Toriyama for not being credited for his work on character designs, it was never renewed.
Other manga based on the games have been published. The longest-running of these, Emblem of Roto
Dragon Quest Retsuden: Roto no Monshō
is a manga series by Chiaki Kawamata , Junji Koyanagi and Kamui Fujiwara that was adapted into a comic CD in 1994. An anime movie based on the manga was released in Japan in . Its story is meant to take place between Dragon Warrior III and Dragon Warrior...
, Warriors of Eden, and Maboroshi no Daichi, were published in Monthly Shōnen Gangan. Emblem of Roto, by Chiaki Kawamata
Chiaki Kawamata
is a Japanese science fiction writer and critic. Chiaki Kawamata has won both the Seiun Award and the Nihon SF Taisho Award. Chaki Kawamata is also noted for the manga Emblem of Roto.-References:...
and Junji Koyanagi, with art by Kamui Fujiwara
Kamui Fujiwara
is a Japanese character designer and manga artist. Fujiwara's father was a soldier in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. He excelled in mathematics and computer science when in grade school. He graduated from the Kuwasawa Design School, which is attached to Tokyo Zokei University...
, consists of twenty-one volumes published between 1991 and 1997. In 2004 Young Gangan ran a mini-series called Emblem of Roto Returns. It takes place between the timeframe of Dragon Quest III and Dragon Quest I. Warriors of Eden consists of eleven volumes, with art by Fujiwara. The series is a retelling of Dragon Quest VII with some minor changes. Maboroshi no Daichi consists of ten volumes. The series is a retelling of Dragon Quest VI with some minor changes. Other shorter manga series have been released including several based on other games, some official 4koma
Yonkoma
thumb|right|150px|Traditional Yonkoma layout, a comic-strip format, generally consists of gag comic strips within four panels of equal size ordered from top to bottom...
strips, and a manga about the making of the original Dragon Quest game.
is a manga about the creators of Dragon Quest, published by Enix. The single-volume manga was released in 1990 and produced by Ishimori Productions
Ishimori Productions
or is a Japanese production company that develops works created by the late manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori. Such works include Cyborg 009, Kikaider, Inazuman, Skull Man, Ganbare!! Robocon, Voicelugger, the Toei Fushigi Comedy Series, and the Kamen Rider Series....
. It focuses on the creation of the series and stars Yujii Hori, Koichi Nakamura
Koichi Nakamura
is a Japanese video game designer. A programming prodigy, Nakamura gained fame while still in high school; in 1982 he entered Enix's national programming contest and claimed first place with his entry, Door Door...
(the main programmer), Koichi Sugiyama, Akira Toriyama, and Yukinobu Chida (producer).
Development
The series' monsters, characters, and box art were designed by Toriyama. The music for the Dragon Quest series was composed by Koichi SugiyamaKoichi Sugiyama
is a Japanese music composer, council member of JASRAC , and honorary chairman of the Japanese Backgammon Society...
. In the past, Dragon Quest games have been developed by Chunsoft
Chunsoft
is a Japanese video game developer specializing in console RPGs and visual novels. It was founded by Koichi Nakamura, a video game designer from Enix...
, Heartbeat, ArtePiazza
Artepiazza
ArtePiazza is a video game development and computer graphics studio based in Japan. Their name derives from the Italian words for "art" and "a public square".-History:...
and, starting with Dragon Quest VIII, Level-5
Level-5
is an independent video game developer and publisher based in Fukuoka, Japan. The company, which currently employs about 200 individuals, was founded in October 1998 by Akihiro Hino after he departed from the now defunct Japanese developer Riverhillsoft...
. Horii's company, Armor Project, is in charge of the Dragon Quest games that were published by Enix and Square Enix.
History
In 1982 Enix sponsored a video game programming contest in Japan which brought much of the Dragon Quest team together, including creator Yuji Horii. The prize was a trip to the United States and a visit to AppleFest '83 in San Francisco, where Horii discovered the WizardryWizardry
Wizardry is a series of computer role-playing games, developed by Sir-Tech, which were highly influential in the development of modern console and computer role playing games. The original Wizardry was a significant influence to early console RPGs, such as Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy. ...
video game series. The contest winners Koichi Nakamura and Yukinobu Chida, together with Horii, released the Enix NES game The Portopia Serial Murder Case. Music composer Sugiyama, known for composing jingles and pop songs, was impressed with the group's work and sent a postcard to Enix praising the software. Enix asked him to compose music for some of its games. The group then decided to make an role-playing video game
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
that combined elements from the western RPGs Wizardry and Ultima.While Wizardry and Ultima are under the broad category of role-playing video games, they are personal computer game
Personal computer game
A PC game, also known as a computer game, is a video game played on a personal computer, rather than on a video game console or arcade machine...
s, not video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
games. Horii wanted to introduce the concept of RPGs to the wider Japanese video game audience. He chose the Famicom because, unlike arcade games, players would not have to worry about spending more money if they got a "game over
Game over
Game Over is a message in video games which signals that the game has ended, often due to a negative outcome - although the phrase sometimes follows the end credits after successful completion of a game...
", and could continue playing from a save point. Horii used the full-screen map of Ultima and the battle and statistics-oriented Wizardry screens to create the gameplay of Dragon Quest. Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995; later the 519 individual chapters were published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. Dragon Ball was inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the...
creator and manga artist Akira Toriyama, who knew of Horii through the manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump
Weekly Shonen Jump
is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.8 million copies...
, was commissioned to illustrate the characters and monsters to separate the game from other role-playing games of the time. The primary game designs were conceived by Horii before being handed to Toriyama to re-draw under Horii's supervision. When Horii first created Dragon Quest many people doubted that a fantasy series with swords and dungeons, instead of science fiction elements, would become popular in Japan; however, the series has become very popular there. Since then Horii has been the games' scenario director. Dragon Quest was Sugiyama's second video game he had composed for, Wingman 2 being his first. He says it took him five minutes to compose the original opening theme. His musical motif
Motif (music)
In music, a motif or motive is a short musical idea, a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition....
s from the first game have remained relatively intact.
The first six Dragon Quest stories are divided into two trilogies. The first three games of the series tell the story of the legendary hero known as Roto (Erdrick or Loto in some versions). Dragon Quest IV-VI are based around a castle in the sky called Zenithia, referred to as the Tenku in Japan, meaning "heaven". Games in the main series from Dragon Quest VII onwards are stand-alone games.
The early Dragon Quest games were released under the title Dragon Warrior in North America to avoid trademark conflict with the pen-and-paper role-playing game Dragon Quest, which was published by Simulations Publications
Simulations Publications
Simulations Publications, Inc. was an influential American publisher of board wargames and related magazines, particularly its flagship Strategy & Tactics, in the 1970s and early 1980s...
in the 1980s until the company's 1982 bankruptcy and acquisition by TSR, Inc.
TSR, Inc.
Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
. TSR continued publishing the line as an alternative to Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
(D&D) until 1987. On July 23, 2002, Square Enix registered the Dragon Quest trademark in the United States for use with manuals, video cassette tapes, and other video game software. On October 8, 2003, Square Enix filed for a more comprehensive Dragon Quest trademark. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King became the first Dragon Quest game released outside Japan, all previous games having used the Dragon Warrior title.
Dragon Quest was not as successful outside Japan, as it was eclipsed by another RPG series, Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
. Because of Enix's closure in the mid-1990s, Dragon Quest V and Dragon Quest VI were not officially released in North America. No games were released in Europe prior to the spin-off Dragon Warrior Monsters. With the merger of Square and Enix in 2003, Dragon Quest games were released in numerous markets. In May 2008 Square Enix announced localizations of the NDS remakes of Dragon Quest IV, V, and VI for North America and the PAL region
PAL region
The PAL region is a television publication territory which covers most of Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Western Europe...
, commonly referred to as the "Zenithia" or "Tenku trilogy". With this announcement, all the main Dragon Quest games have been released outside of Japan. The ninth instalment was released in Japan for NDS on July 11, 2009. The North American version was released on July 11, 2010, while the European version came out on July 23, 2010. The tenth instalment of the main series is currently in development for the Wii. Nintendo has been a major publisher outside Japan for the main Dragon Quest games, publishing the first Dragon Quest game in North America, and recently publishing Dragon Quest IX worldwide outside Japan; the NDS version of Dragon Quest VI is published by Nintendo in North America.
Creation and design
When designing Dragon Quest, Horii play-tests the games to make certain the controls feel right. This includes going into meticulous details such as how fast a page opens or the way a door opens. According to Horii, "... little things like here and there the controls not feeling right and such can really grate the players' nerves if the tempo isn't right." He believes players should be able to control the game unconsciously, which is not easy to accomplish. Horii tries to design the games in such a way that players never need to read a manual nor play through a tutorial in order to figure out how to play the game, and tries to create good storylines with short dialogues. Ryutaro Ichimura, who has worked on Dragon Quest titles with Horii since Dragon Quest VIII, has implemented Horii's suggestions even when it is not obvious why his ideas will work. "[A] lot of the time when he [Horii] points these things out, we cannot see them at first, but eventually you get it."Dragon Quest games have an overall upbeat feeling. The typical Dragon Quest plot involves the player controlling a party of heroes to defeat an ultimate evil villain, who usually threatens the world in some way. The plot-line often consists of smaller stories that involve encounters with other characters. This linear plot-line is intentional, to help ease the generally high learning curve RPGs have for those unaccustomed to them. The gameplay is designed to allow players to decide when, and whether, to pursue certain storyline paths. To ensure players continue to enjoy playing the game, no storyline path is made without some kind of reward and, to help ease players who may be apprehensive about whether they are on the right path, the distance the character has to travel to get rewarded is reduced at the beginning of the game. While the player never starts the game in a wholly non-linear way, they usually allow players to explore an open world
Open world
An open world is a type of video game level design where a player can roam freely through a virtual world and is given considerable freedom in choosing how to approach objectives...
in a non-linear manner following an early linear section of the game. Early character levels start players off with more hit points and a substantially increasing growth at later levels, although the effective bonuses of every additional level decreases.
While Toriyama would later become more widely known with the success of Dragon Ball Z in North America, when Dragon Quest was released he was an unknown outside Japan. While the Dragon Quests hero was drawn in a super deformed
Super deformed
Super deformed or SD is a specific style of Japanese caricature where characters are drawn in an exaggerated way, typically small and chubby, with stubby limbs and oversized heads, to make them resemble small children...
manga style, the Dragon Warrior localization had him drawn in the "West's template of a medieval hero". The trend continued through the first four games, although the artwork for weapons and armor began using more of Toriyama's original artwork for Dragon Warrior III and IV. However, while the bookets' artwork was altered, the setting and poses remained virtually identical.
The games always feature a number of religious overtones; after the first Dragon Warrior game saving, and reviving characters who have died, is performed by clergy in churches. Bishops wander around the over-world of Dragon Quest Monsters and can heal wounded characters. The final enemy in some of the Dragon Quest games is called the Demon Lord; for instance in Dragon Quest VII, the Demon Lord (known as Orgodemir in that particular game) is the final boss, and there is a sidequest to battle against God. The first four Dragon Quest titles were subjected to censorship in their North American localizations, largely in keeping with Nintendo of America
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
's content guidelines at the time that placed severe restrictions on religious iconography and mature content. When these games were remade for the Game Boy Color, most censorship was removed. The translated versions of the games have largely followed the originals since Dragon Quest VII.
Cultural impact
Starting in Dragon Quest III, Patty's Pub began to appear in Dragon Quest games. With the release of Dragon Quest IX, this fictional inn became a real-world location: Patty's Pub opened as a tourist destination in AkihabaraAkihabara
, also known as , is an area of Tokyo, Japan. It is located less than five minutes by rail from Tokyo Station. Its name is frequently shortened to in Japan...
in Tokyo after Dragon Quest IXs release. The venue provides a meeting location where players can exchange treasure maps and maps where characters who only appear once during normal gameplay can be found. Players often make Akihabara a destination when visiting Tokyo just to get a valuable map.
Dragon Quest has become a cultural phenomena in Japan. According to Ryutaro Ichimura and Yuji Horii, Dragon Quest has become popular enough that it is used as a common topic for conversation in Japan, and is considered by the Japanese gaming industry as Japan's national game. William Cassidy of GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
claims that "the common wisdom is that if you ask someone from Japan to draw 'Slime,' he'll draw the onion-like shape of the weak enemies from the game." There is an urban myth that the release of Dragon Quest III caused a law to be passed in Japan banning the sale of Dragon Quest games or video games in general except on certain days such as weekends or national holidays. When III was released in Japan, over 300 schoolchildren were arrested for truancy
Truancy
Truancy is any intentional unauthorized absence from compulsory schooling. The term typically describes absences caused by students of their own free will, and usually does not refer to legitimate "excused" absences, such as ones related to medical conditions...
while waiting in stores for the game to be released. The rumor claims there was a measurable dip in productivity when a Dragon Quest game was released and although muggings of Dragon Quest titles became so widespread there were hearings in the Japanese Diet, no law was ever passed. However, the Japanese release of every Dragon Quest title continues to be on a Saturday and each new launch is widely anticipated.
Dragon Quests music has been influential on various sectors of the performing arts. It is the first video game series to receive live-action ballet adaptations, and musical concerts and audio CDs were produced based on the Dragon Quest universe. Since 1987 the series' music is performed annually in concert halls throughout Japan. Early Dragon Quest concerts inspired Nobuo Uematsu
Nobuo Uematsu
is a Japanese video game composer, best known for scoring the majority of titles in the Final Fantasy series. He is considered as one of the most famous and respected composers in the video game community...
's Final Fantasy compositions.
Legacy and reception
The Dragon Quest series has shipped over 57 million units worldwide and is one of the most popular video game series in Japan. All games in the main series, and its many spin-offs, have sold over a million copies in Japan and some games have sold over four million copies. The remake of Dragon Quest VI sold 1.28 million copies in Japan in the first four days after its release, an exceptional sales figure for a remake. In 2006 readers of the Japanese gaming magazine FamitsuFamitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
voted on the hundred best video games of all time. Dragon Quest III was third, Dragon Quest VIII fourth, Dragon Quest VII ninth, Dragon Quest V eleventh, Dragon Quest IV fourteenth, Dragon Quest II seventeenth, Dragon Quest thirtieth, and Dragon Quest VI thirty-fourth. In 2009 Horii received a special award at the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association Developers Conference
Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association
Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association is a Japanese organization that was established in 1996 to "promote the computer entertainment industry [...] with the aim of contributing to the strengthening of Japanese industry as well as to the further enrichment of people's lifestyles." It...
for his work on the Dragon Quest franchise.
According to Satoru Iwata
Satoru Iwata
is the fourth president of Nintendo, succeeding the long-standing previous president of the company, Hiroshi Yamauchi in 2002. He was responsible in great part for defining Nintendo's strategy both before and during the release of its Nintendo GameCube video game console in 2001, a vision which...
, president of Nintendo, Dragon Quests widespread appeal is that it is "made so that anyone can play it...and anyone can enjoy it depending on their different levels and interests." According to him, Dragon Quest is designed for anyone to pick up without needing to read the manual in order to understand it. Ryutaro Ichimura, producer at Square Enix, who has played the game since he was a child, says the Dragon Quest storylines allow players to experience a moving sense of achievement where they take the role of a hero saving the world. Horii believes the ability to appeal to larger audiences of casual game
Casual game
A casual game is a video game targeted at or used by a mass audience of casual gamers. Casual games can have any type of gameplay, and fit in any genre. They are typically distinguished by their simple rules and lack of commitment required in contrast to more complex hardcore games...
rs, while not alienating the more hardcore gamers, is due to being able to lower the initial hurdle without making it too easy. Iwata and Ichimura believe it is because the games are created in a way that allows both groups to pursue their own goals; casual gamers can enjoy the storyline and battles, but for those who want more there is still content for them to pursue.
Although the series is extremely popular in Japan, by 2002 the success in Japan had not transferred to North America. Although the first four games to be released in America generally received good reviews, Nintendo had to give away copies of Dragon Warrior. However, those four games have been among the most sought-after titles for the NES, especially Dragon Warrior III and IV. It was not until Dragon Warrior VII was released that Dragon Quest became critically acclaimed in North America, although reception was still mixed. The series gained more universal praise with Dragon Quest VIII, and began to sell better outside Japan and Dragon Quest IX sold over 1 million copies outside Japan.
The original Dragon Quest game is often cited as the first console RPG, although many Western critics often consider Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
"more important". GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
called the original Dragon Quest one of the fifteen most influential games of all time and the "most influential role-playing games of all time", stating that nearly all Japanese RPGs since then have drawn from its gameplay "in some shape or form." In response to a survey, Gamasutra
Gamasutra
Gamasutra is a website founded in 1997 for video game developers. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb , a division of United Business Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine Game Developer...
cites Quinton Klabon of Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
as stating Dragon Warrior translated the D&D experience to video games and set the genre standards. Several games such as Mother
Mother (video game)
, planned to be released in English as Earth Bound , is a role-playing video game developed by Nintendo Tokyo Research and Development Products in...
, Breath of Fire
Breath of Fire (video game)
Breath of Fire, originally released in Japan as , is a role-playing video game developed by Capcom originally for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Initially released in Japan in April 1993, the game was later made available in North America in August 1994 by Square Soft, who handled the...
and Lufia and the Fortress of Doom were inspired by various Dragon Quest titles. Dragon Quest IIIs class-changing system would shape other RPGs, especially the Final Fantasy series. Early games in the series are also credited with affecting D&Ds leveling system to even out its randomness by giving more bonuses early on and giving starting characters maximum hit points at their initial level. Dragon Quest V is cited as having monster recruiting and training mechanics that inspired monster-collecting RPGs such as Pokémon
Pokémon
is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...
, Digimon
Digimon
, short for , is a Japanese media franchise encompassing digital toys, anime, manga and video games. The franchise's eponymous creatures are monsters of various forms living in a "Digital World", a parallel universe that originated from Earth's various communication networks.-Conception and...
, and Dokapon
Dokapon
Dokapon: Monster Hunter, known in Japan as and known in Europe as is a role-playing video game developed and published by Asmik Ace Entertainment for the Game Boy Advance in Japan on August 3, 2001...
, and in turn the modern trend of collecting achievements
Achievement (video gaming)
In video gaming parlance, an achievement, also sometimes known as a trophy or challenge, is a meta-goal defined outside of a game's parameters...
. Dragon Quest V also introduced the concept of a playable pregnancy
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
. The real world and dream world setting of Dragon Quest VI is considered an influence on the later Square RPGs Chrono Cross
Chrono Cross
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. It is the sequel to Chrono Trigger, which was released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System...
and Final Fantasy X. The Dragon Quest series was recognized by Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
, with six world records in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition
Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition
Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition is a Guinness World Records book dedicated to video games. The first edition was released in February 2008 in association with the video games world records' tracking organization Twin Galaxies. The second edition was released in 2009...
. These records include "Best Selling Role Playing Game on the Super Famicom", "Fastest Selling Game in Japan", and "First Video Game Series to Inspire a Ballet".
One of the main aspects of the series that critics point out, either positively or negatively, is that the series "never strays from its classic roots." Unlike other modern, complex RPGs, Dragon Quest on the DS retains the simple gameplay from the first game that many critics find refreshing and nostalgic. Points of contention are its battle system, comparatively simplistic storylines, lack of character development, simplistic primitive-looking graphics (in earlier titles), and the overall difficulty of the game. These arguments are countered by noting its strength in episodic storytelling with the various non-player character
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s the party meets. The stories avoid melodrama and feature more simplistic characters than Final Fantasys Squall Leonhart
Squall Leonhart
is the main protagonist of Final Fantasy VIII, a role-playing game by Square . He was designed by Tetsuya Nomura, with heavy influences coming from game director Yoshinori Kitase. Squall has appeared in several other games, such as the Kingdom Hearts series, where he appears under the name ;...
or Tidus
Tidus
is a fictional character from the Final Fantasy series by Square Enix. He was first introduced as the protagonist from the console role-playing game Final Fantasy X in 2001. As the lead character, the player controls Tidus through the game, manipulating his actions through the unfolding storyline...
, who is a source of contention; battles are simple and finish quickly. As for difficulty, Yuji Horii is noted as a gambler. The lack of save points and the general difficulty of the battles were included with the intention of adding a sense of tension. Because of this added difficulty, the punishment for the party's death was toned down compared to other games by simply going back to where you had last saved, with half of your gold on hand. When asked about criticism of Dragon Quest games, Horii says he does not mind, it means the critics played the game and he would rather know their concerns than remain ignorant.