Posted by Bob Mackey
The Dragon Quest games have never been known for their timeliness; Dragon Quest VII in particular had a development time so troubled that when it eventually came out, the game had a sorry first-gen aesthetic in a world where both Vagrant Story and Chrono Cross existed. But according to Kotaku, the upcoming Dragon Quest IX finally has a release date--nearly two years after the shocking announcement that the game would be exclusive to the DS. In this case, the DQ team's lack of promptness won't affect them much--as if it ever did before. The passing of time has only seen millions more DS systems sold, which means that Square-Enix is well on their way towards taking over the world.
The reveal of DQ on the DS two years ago was a bit of a surprise, but it actually made sense when you stopped to think about it. Dragon Quest was never a series that prided itself--or relied--on visuals; despite what a show-stopping blockbuster VIII ended up being. When it comes to the franchise in general, VIII was a definite deviation; all of the standard DQ trappings still existed, but they were dressed up in the trappings of a lavish late-gen PS2 game--and even more so in the renovated US version. As much as I'd love to see another game in the same vein as DQVIII--which felt like the only authentic RPG of that generation--the format of IX doesn't really matter. Even with a game as relatively ugly as the DS remake of DQIV, that same addictive DQ formula is present regardless of the graphics.
With a March release date in Japan, I'm guessing that we won't actually see DQIX in the States until next fall at the earliest--unless Square-Enix is going for a simultaneous launch in multiple regions (very doubtful). But we are going to see it; Square-Enix is definitely making a concerted effort towards making Americans aware of the series. The upcoming remakes of DQV and DQVI are both coming out here, so--unless those games see some catastrophic sales--there's no reason to believe that they'd hold back on IX.
Related Links:
The 61FPS Review: Dragon Quest IV – Chapters of the Chosen
Anticipation Time: Dragon Quest IV
Square-Enix: Reeling in the Devotees For More, Playing the Console Market With Aplomb
+ DIGG
+ DEL.ICIO.US
+ REDDIT
About Bob Mackey
For a brief period of time I was Bull from TV's
Night Court, but some of you may know me from the humor column I wrote for Youngstown State University's The Jambar, Kent State University's The Stater, and Youngstown's alternative newspaper, The Walruss. I'm perhaps most well-known for my bi-weekly pieces on Something Awful. I've also blogged for Valley24.com and have written articles for EGM, 1UP, GameSpite and Cracked. For all of my writing over the years, I have made a total of twenty American dollars. It's also said that I draw cartoons, which people have described with words such as "legible." I kidnapped the Lindbergh Baby and am looking to do so again in the future.
If unsatisfied, please return unused portion for partial refund.