DQIX, One Year Later: Trial of the Dragon
[Today marks the first anniversary of Dragon Quest IX’s release in North America, and in honor of the RPG, we’re reprinting this fantastic essay from Infinity Counter’s Francesco Dagostino on the struggles of JRPGs in recent years, their migration to handhelds, and DQIX’s emergence as the paragon of Nintendo DS RPGs.]
RPGs are facing a hard time.
We all know why and how, so let’s not focus on the usual stuff for now. Let’s imagine them as a cute little princess in distress. I know it’s stupid, but please just do it, OK?
Thank you.
Now imagine game developers as the classic fantasy hero, zooming to the rescue, casting Frizzle and Kazap while slashing dragons, goblins and zombies with their +10 sword of PK Love.
Except he wants to save her not because of amorous feelings or for the well-being of the people in the country. This hero wants to save the princess because of her riches; rescuing her would net him a fuckload of money. Such is life, and what matters is the result, not the way it is achieved: in this specific case, giving aficionados something to happily play with and piling up Zenny.
In the recent past, starting from halfway into the PS2 generation, many developers have tried to bring a breath of fire fresh air to the ever-stalling RPG genre in order to counter the increasing indifference spreading amongst players.
Home consoles hosted some relevant experimental titles, but all of them failed to reach their goal in one manner or another. Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter and Final Fantasy XII are good examples of this unfortunate trend: the first was compromised by its niche appeal, the second ruined by a tormented gestation and a lack of courage that, sadly, is modern Square’s trademark.
Handhelds, instead, were used as guinea pigs.
Something vital changed with the DS’ advent, and eventually spread even to the dying days of the PSP library, consolidating a standard that will hopefully live on to the next — current? — handheld invasion.
Until the GBA, portable consoles were always considered just smaller versions of previous-generation systems. But, especially on DS — following a silent trail of blood and sweat started by the GBA, and noticed by hardly more than a handful of people — developers started treating smaller devices with more respect, allured by less exaggerated developing costs (potentially bigger but more risky revenue) and an insanely growing popularity.
And then, all of a sudden, it happened: as the market grew and opponents crowded the battlefield, Tales of mothership titles, Final Fantasy spin-offs, new IPs and Dragon Quest sequels turned into handheld exclusives.
The technical limitations of the DS stopped being a weakness and mutated into potential to bring the player back to the comfortable, faraway era when Squaresoft, Enix, and all the other good software companies were able to release one masterpiece after the other on a quasi-monthly basis. As much as Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and especially PSP users are loath to admit it, DS has been home to several decent-to-awesome Japanese roleplaying games.
Despite a good average quality, it’s also true that most of these games didn’t bother to innovate at all. Only a small number of titles rose from year-to-year to fight the plague of ports, indifference, and plagiarism, bringing unusual characters, plot twists, settings and gameplay elements. This includes games like Contact, Avalon Code, Radiant Historia, or the Mario & Luigi series; some met with excellent results, others were just proud of being different. None of them were strong enough to become a new staple in the genre.
Perhaps what was required was a revolution in humility, started by rediscovering the roots of RPGs, their most ancient and fundamental traits.
Atlus was the first to hint at this necessity, publishing a game that, luckily, managed to achieve a certain popularity amongst purists; a game that could easily be considered what set the trend of retro-RPGs: Etrian Odyssey.
The neo-classicism of this title slowly started to incorporate mild new elements over the course of the years, in the two amazing sequels that followed. The possibility that Atlus might have found the right way to the genre’s resurrection was soon noticed by other software houses, and similar titles started to pop up more and more frequently like random encounters on a dungeon map — Sega’s 7th Dragon, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, and Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies.
And who else but Dragon Quest could become the protagonist who finally completed the hard task of delivering an experience that’s perfectly classic yet so new, a paradox that could redefine what a RPG must offer in this day and age to avoid the genre’s death and embracing generations of players.
What is it that makes the game triumph with vigorous new strength over the crowd of games who attempted to achieve the same result?
First of all, for once, it doesn’t bother the player with any half-assed, nonsensical plots starring pretentious ephebic teens or bishie heroes, one-winged angels, and crystals. Following the creative flair that’s always been one of the series’ trademarks, Dragon Quest IX tells a simple tale filled with charming characters, mysterious legends, and unexpected plot twists. What makes it special and original is the vibrant world it takes place in and the way it’s told.
Sentinels of the Starry Skies is composed of a number of apparently independent chapters — often so good they could be a game of their own — that rarely surpass two or three hours, making it perfect for a portable console. It also gives the players the privilege of exploring quite a number of different dungeons and villages, thus ensuring variety and continuous sense of discovery.
Once again, what ties everything together, along the lines of Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie, are the grand designs of the ultimate evil foe, one that the party will need to defeat to complete the game’s robust main quest.
Despite the classic designs, specifically in the earlier locations, certain spots of Dragon Quest IX’s map prove impressive. Not every day do you get to explore a stone replica-city created by a heartbroken hermit sculptor, or a port town secretly ruled by the doll of her deceased owner.
Even when things go excessively clichè, depicting undead knights’ crumbling castles or magical schools, there’s always something tickling the player’s wanderlust in an uncommon way.
Progressing the plot is a non-linear task, meaning that often quests will be put on hold depending on the player’s preferences and priorities. A journal will keep track of most of the optional missions undertaken, while a very accessible synopsis will make sure that even after taking long breaks from the main storyline, it’s impossible to forget where to go next.
Considering how vast the game is, it’s hard not to compare Dragon Quest IX to western RPGs. But then again, Dragon Quest has often been about exploring a world without the ties of a particularly constricting plot. What’s so western about it is the way it’s organized and its pace.
Screenplay is not the only perfectly oiled gear in Dragon Quest IX’s clockwork. One could say that this episode easily represents the series’ peak in terms of gameplay. Even if it’s not so apparent, a lot has changed since the Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cused King: exploration, battles and character development evolved, thanks to the delicate introduction of multiplayer.
Not only can players trade dungeon maps and profiles: the whole adventure can be experienced with up to three friends using the DS local wireless. Although it’s unfortunate that no internet support is available (except for various updates such as additional downloadable quests and items) the multiplayer is a great and important addition, not just because it provides great amounts of fun, but also because the game balance is unaltered whether playing solo or with others — certainly not an insignificant feat.
Heroes can be customized and edited according to the player’s creative whims, stats-wise and also in appearance - again, shades of western taste. The game re-introduces the vocation system, fused with the skill point system found in Dragon Quest VIII and Monsters Joker.
What’s interesting and new is that each job progresses individually, altering the very character level. At first this might appear to slow down the game pace, forcing players to grind for Metal Slimes, but the actual speed at which XP is gained, and the way permanent stats boost unlockable spending skill points in the right way, simply grant a more rigid, strategic growth system that feels like classic RPGs, but is actually new. Not to mention that being able to change characters’ levels at will makes it easier to pick up the game and play with friends regardless of their progresses.
Things are handled differently even as far as exploration goes. There’s the usual world map, divided into different sections and filled with dungeons and towns. More often than not, especially to attend matters outside of the main plot, players will be encouraged to enter randomly generated dungeons that appear upon obtaining secret maps — traded with other players via DS tag mode.
Looking in every nook and cranny of IX’s world will obviously provide a number of rewards beyond just the usual equipment and items. This is a Level-5 game, and just like many other RPGs from this software house — including Journey of the Cursed King — Sentinels of the Starry Skies features a comprehensive item-creation section. Having fun with it will require the right ingredients, that will be obtained by beating monsters or simply looking for daily item gathering spots in various places, just like in the Monster Hunter games.
Without a doubt Dragon Quest IX’s biggest revolution has nothing to do with subquests and collateral activities or its beautiful world and story, nor its the continuously expanding content through downloads and street pass trades.
What makes Sentinels of the Starry Skies so great, unique, and essential is how it takes the classic RPG player out of its solitary shell and gives him the chance to finally share a great journey with friends. The way the gameplay bends with agility to make this possible without sacrificing anything of the classic RPG formula just goes to show how incredible the work of Level-5 and Square-Enix is.
Eastern soul, Western flesh, global masterpiece.
[You can read more fine articles from Francesco Dagostino at his very awesome Infinity Counter blog.]
Buy: Dragon Quest IX
See also: More than a year’s worth of DQIX posts
tags / level-5 / dragon quest ix / dragon quest / square enix / infinity counter / gaming / francesco dagostino
