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Dragon Quest series creator Yuji Horii teases various announcements for 35th anniversary in 2021

Dragon-Quest-Tease_11-01-20.jpg


2021 will mark the 35th anniversary of the Dragon Quest series in Japan, and creator Yuji Horii has said to expect various announcements in celebration.

During his closing remarks at Dragon Quest X Fall Festival 2020 on October 30, Horii said, “Thank you very much for today. Next year, Dragon Quest will celebrate its 35th anniversary. I believe we will be able to make all sorts of announcements in regards to that. And there is still a whole lot of fun to look forward to in Astoltia [the world of Dragon Quest X]. Please continue to support Dragon Quest in the future. Thank you very much!”

There are a number of Dragon Quest projects known to be in development that Square Enix can share updates about in 2021, including:
  • Infinity Strash – Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai – Announced in May 2020, Infinity Strash – Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai is an action RPG based on the manga and anime series Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai. Platforms other than “console(s)” were not announced, but it will launch in 2021 in Japan.
  • Dragon Quest XII – Preparations for Dragon Quest XII were first confirmed to be underway in June 2019. And in January 2020, Yuji Horii commented again stating that the sequel is “still a little while ahead.” That could rule out a 2021 release, but not a 2021 reveal.
    • Dragon Quest New HD Title – In June 2019, Square Enix posted job listings for work on a “new HD title” in the Dragon Quest series, with a goal to “deliver a new appeal of Dragon Quest to fans worldwide.” Given the timing of the job posting and the fact that it is from the Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age development team, it is possible this project is Dragon Quest XII.
  • Dragon Quest Monsters New Title – A new Dragon Quest Monsters game for console(s) starring younger versions of Erik and Mia from Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age was first announced in November 2018. But in January 2020, series producer Taichi Inuzuka suggested the game was facing a troubled development.
There is also the possibility of a Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies remake, which was heavily discussed during the game’s 10th anniversary live stream back in July 2019.



Looking forward to the new announcements. Dragon Quest has always been a great RPG series.

I actually forgot they announced a new Dragon Quest Monsters so that will be interesting to see as well.
 
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jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
It's a shame the US never got Theatrhythm Dragon Quest, legit one of my favorite 3DS games and one of the best nostalgia games I own.

Looking forward to whatever they announce though!
 

Bolivar687

Banned
I couldn't push forward with DQXI. It was really effeminate and kiddy without the novel charm that made the whimsical feel work better in older games. Also, the combat is not traditional DQ turn based where everyone enters their commands at the same time and that took away a lot of the strategy.

I really wish SE would start releasing back catalogue games on HD consoles with crisp high resolution presentation and remastered audio.
 

Desudzer10

Member
Dragon Quest 9 remake would be very welcomed. Always great to hear news about DQXII, hoping for 2022 but wouldn't be surprised if its a year later.

Plus this should be a PSA for every xbox user, a dragon quest game is coming to xbox for the first time ever, DQ11 is arriving Dec.4th and is coming to gamepass. If you have never played a Dragon Quest game try it out if you own gamepass. The more people that play this game the better.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Also, the combat is not traditional DQ turn based where everyone enters their commands at the same time and that took away a lot of the strategy.
There are various options that make this possible though. You can turn off "Free Movement Battles" in the settings, and set your character AIs to "Follow Orders". With this setup, the game is 100% turn based and you get to choose each character's attacks at the beginning of each round (just like the older DQ games).
 

Evangelion Unit-01

Master Chief
I wish we had definitive ports of the older games. I don’t like the mobile version aesthetic on the trilogy.

Super Famicom + DS versions of all on modern consoles would be excellent.
 
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Larxia

Member
I enjoyed some parts of Dragon Quest 11.... The characters were nice and the different locations too, but there were also so many issues.

The gameplay is abyssmal, and I know it's dragon quest, it's "classic" JRPG and everything, but I still find it horrible. With the exception of a few rare boss fights, most combats are totally useless and boring, if you could skip them you wouldn't be missing anything, you can even let the game play automatically and it's all good, which shows there's a problem...

People always say turn based is "strategic", but I really disagree, it can be on some boss fights when there is enough time to establish a strategy (though most of the time you can't even because the boss will wipe all the buff and debuff every 2 or 3 turns so), but for all the rest, all the trash mob, it's just spamming auto attack or letting the game play itself, there's really nothing strategic about this.
At least here there weren't random encounters... which was an improvement.

The amount of invisible walls, lack of freedom etc was also quite disappointing, I feel like Dragon Quest 8 was actually more open (but the exploration in that one was awful because of the random encounters).

I know people won't like what I say and will probably react with the "lol" reaction, but it's just what I think about it, it's not because it used to be like that and that it's "classic" that it can't be improved, because I really don't see the benefits of having such a limited gameplay, honestly. I'm not asking for it to become a beat'em up full action, but it could definitely be improved, it feels super dated in the wrong way, and I'm not sure what's the point of this outside of nostalgia.

But like I said I still enjoyed some stuff about it, the adventure in itself was nice, but I had to force myself to go through this gameplay, instead of enjoying it, so I would defnitely not call this "jrpg of the generation".
 
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FStubbs

Member
hoping for next gen game vs working with switch limitations. Wherever it ends up i'll still play it though

This is the series that went from PS2 to DS. Good luck lol.

Speaking of that shift, if it's any mainline game news it'll be DQ9 remake using 11's engine. Otherwise it'll be the rumored Dragon Quest Monsters game starring Mia.
 

borborygmus

Member
After DQXI I can’t wait to see what he will do.

Best JRPG this generation.

It was excellent until the postgame undid all the events of the game and then made you redo them all in quick and dirty, much lower quality scenarios. Really soured me on the entire game. Baffling decision.
 
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Dq11 was for me one of the best games this gen and in general one of the best jrpgs i've ever played. I liked it way more than persona 5. Can't wait for next installment.
 

Hudo

Member
I just hope they stop with this temporary exclusive shit. Just release the versions for all the platforms you consider at the same time. And for god's sake. Please no more synthesized tracks of Sugiyama's music. Go symphonic or choose another composer.
 

sublimit

Banned
After the amazing experience that was DQXI (one of the best RPGs ever) i can only dream what they will do with DQXII!

I want to see them go crazy with an even bigger world, with more and better sidequests and a bigger variety of new monsters.

Also please have an orchestral soundtrack on realease day.
 

Life

Member
I enjoyed some parts of Dragon Quest 11.... The characters were nice and the different locations too, but there were also so many issues.

The gameplay is abyssmal, and I know it's dragon quest, it's "classic" JRPG and everything, but I still find it horrible. With the exception of a few rare boss fights, most combats are totally useless and boring, if you could skip them you wouldn't be missing anything, you can even let the game play automatically and it's all good, which shows there's a problem...

People always say turn based is "strategic", but I really disagree, it can be on some boss fights when there is enough time to establish a strategy (though most of the time you can't even because the boss will wipe all the buff and debuff every 2 or 3 turns so), but for all the rest, all the trash mob, it's just spamming auto attack or letting the game play itself, there's really nothing strategic about this.
At least here there weren't random encounters... which was an improvement.

The amount of invisible walls, lack of freedom etc was also quite disappointing, I feel like Dragon Quest 8 was actually more open (but the exploration in that one was awful because of the random encounters).

I know people won't like what I say and will probably react with the "lol" reaction, but it's just what I think about it, it's not because it used to be like that and that it's "classic" that it can't be improved, because I really don't see the benefits of having such a limited gameplay, honestly. I'm not asking for it to become a beat'em up full action, but it could definitely be improved, it feels super dated in the wrong way, and I'm not sure what's the point of this outside of nostalgia.

But like I said I still enjoyed some stuff about it, the adventure in itself was nice, but I had to force myself to go through this gameplay, instead of enjoying it, so I would defnitely not call this "jrpg of the generation".

You sir, are waking up to the reality of what many modern JRPGs are i.e nothing different from 30+ years ago. Many other genres have improved and are more challenging/innovative - but not JRPGs. Same repetitive formula, rarely require real strategy and planning, probably even LESS exploration than what we had decades back - and they are still scored 9/10 etc.
 

Lady Bird

Matsuno's Goebbels
I enjoyed some parts of Dragon Quest 11.... The characters were nice and the different locations too, but there were also so many issues.

The gameplay is abyssmal, and I know it's dragon quest, it's "classic" JRPG and everything, but I still find it horrible. With the exception of a few rare boss fights, most combats are totally useless and boring, if you could skip them you wouldn't be missing anything, you can even let the game play automatically and it's all good, which shows there's a problem...

People always say turn based is "strategic", but I really disagree, it can be on some boss fights when there is enough time to establish a strategy (though most of the time you can't even because the boss will wipe all the buff and debuff every 2 or 3 turns so), but for all the rest, all the trash mob, it's just spamming auto attack or letting the game play itself, there's really nothing strategic about this.
At least here there weren't random encounters... which was an improvement.
The draconian quests make the game a bit more challenging. Try the one that makes monsters harder, and maybe the one that restricts how much you can level too. These contribute to make you feel like your decisions matter a bit more.

One thing I like to do, as a perfectionist player, is to grind bunny tails once you have Erik in your team (using boomerangs to kill bunnies fast, and his combo skill, Itemnized Kill, whenever possible), or later on when you have 4 party members. Bunny tails boost your loot drop rate, and the more you have equipped, the easier it is to get more of them. At 8 tails, you'll gain 8+% chance to get rare items from enemies, and that number can be further boosted with other equips you get later on. Rare items stop becoming insanely rare to become quite common. After that, I just try to explore every single area, including optional ones, and fight every monster a few times to get cool rare equipment earlier than normal.
 

Larxia

Member
You sir, are waking up to the reality of what many modern JRPGs are i.e nothing different from 30+ years ago. Many other genres have improved and are more challenging/innovative - but not JRPGs. Same repetitive formula, rarely require real strategy and planning, probably even LESS exploration than what we had decades back - and they are still scored 9/10 etc.
Oh trust me I'm not "waking up", I've been avoiding most jrpgs because of this for a long time. But this one was more attractive because of its visuals and all, so I gave it a chance, but it has all the issues I often complain about in a lot of jrpgs, which is why I was giving my thoughts about it.
 

Rran

Member
I emphatically recommend playing DQXI with the "Stronger Monsters" Draconian quest on. Spamming attack in battle is not an option then, and the boss fights are some of the most intense turn-based dances I've ever played through! If that's not enough, there are 5 or 6 other challenges you can apply that make things completely brutal.

Man, I just loved DQXI. I thought it was the best of an already superb series. The character development, storyline (which had several major tearjerker moments), gameplay balance, and sheer amount of content were off the charts. The entire game includes a demake of itself, for crying out loud! And the quality of the writing/localization might actually be the best in the business. It's not only one of my favorite RPGs, but one of my top 20 games.

That said, I'm fine with a looong break until DQXII. One new DQ per gen is good for me. What I really want to see is a localized version of DQX already! But one of the spinoffs would be nice too (Builders 3? Monsters?).
 
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Hudo

Member
I emphatically recommend playing DQXI with the "Stronger Monsters" Draconian quest on. Spamming attack in battle is not an option then, and the boss fights are some of the most intense turn-based dances I've ever played through! If that's not enough, there are 5 or 6 other challenges you can apply that make things completely brutal.

Man, I just loved DQXI. I thought it was the best of an already superb series. The character development, storyline (which had several major tearjerker moments), gameplay balance, and sheer amount of content were off the charts. The entire game includes a demake of itself, for crying out loud! And the quality of the writing/localization might actually be the best in the business. It's not only one of my favorite RPGs, but one of my top 20 games.

That said, I'm fine with a looong break until DQXII. One new DQ per gen is good for me. What I really want to see is a localized version of DQX already! But one of the spinoffs would be nice too (Builders 3? Monsters?).
Agreed. I think Monsters 3 is in development hell. They briefly mentioned it some time ago, even showing that the protagonist will be a young Erik (male) or his young sister (female). But we've heard nothing since. And with regards to Builders 3...the director of the Builders game left SquareEnix, so I dunno what's going on there.
 

Javthusiast

Banned
Dragon Quest 8 remaster/remake, simply because it was my first DQ game and I played it as a teen so nostalgia is heavy, and DQ XII please.
 
I got into the series with the Game Boy Color re-release of Dragon Warrior I & II but Dragon Warrior III was amazing. Dragon Quest series executive producer Yu Miyake said before that they might consider remaking Dragon Quest III.

Dragon Quest IX would be a good contender for a remake though. I played it on the Nintendo DS and it was the first entry to do away with random encounters by just walking into or attacking enemies to start battles. You could also customize the appearance of the Hero and the rest of your party. I never tried the multiplayer but the single-player was pretty enjoyable.
 
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SantaC

Member
I've been playing through DQ11 recently and it's so good.
After playing it nearly daily for the last 3 weeks I can't help but think "why the fuck can't they just do this with Final Fantasy?" every single time I play it.
I mean DQ11 is good, but it is repetitive and the silent MC is dogshit.
 
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