Fight Uni

When I was a little kid, Nintendo Power subscriptions in my neighborhood skyrocketed due to a promotion Nintendo was holding. They would give you a free copy of the first Dragon Quest (Called ‘Dragon Warrior’ in the States) for anyone who bought a new subscription. I wasn’t lucky enough to have parents that would buy me a magazine filled with nothing but advertisements, but I had several friends who were. The game was cool because it was unlike anything else that existed and it came with a map. It wasn’t until years later that I actually got a chance to play the first Dragon Quest.

By the time I did play it, I was already very familiar with RPGs like Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, and Lufia, so Dragon Quest seemed like a tedious monster hunt wrapped in a cliché storyline. If I had put the game in the context of the times, I would have appreciated the game for the genre it would help create. The Dragon Quest series is the king of classic RPGs, and since I haven’t played a Dragon Quest game in about 8 years, I decided it was time to see what’s changed during that time.

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies seems to be the most sophisticated game in the series yet. It has a huge story, an array of classes, side-quests, online content, wireless multiplayer, customizable characters, and even Blue Slimes. At first, I was worried that the game might be bloated with needless content, but as I progressed through the game I found that I was still able to concentrate on the story and not get too distracted with all the cool new features. Typically, I like to rush through an RPG just to absorb the story, and I doubt I’ll even finish the game if I take the time to do all of the side stuff they offer. So my goal is to beat the game in a short amount of time, and then if I still feel like playing, I’ll know that there’s still plenty left to do. So much, in fact, that I’d probably have to quit my job and lock myself indoors to do everything this game allows.

I’m writing this review after only ten hours into the game, so I can only comment on everything I’ve experienced so far, which is more than enough to describe exactly what kind of RPG this game is. If you’re familiar with Dragon Quest 7, 8, or the 4 & 5 remakes, you’re already familiar with the visual style of the game. By today’s standards, the game looks like a relic from the 32-bit era, but since this game is on a hand-held system, the graphics are top notch for a portable RPG. Akira Toriyama’s signature style is rampant throughout the game, so everyone can now take a big sigh of relief. Also, thanks to the character customization system, you can finally create that Vegeta/Gokuu dream-team you’ve always fantasized about.

So the game starts off with you as an angelic Guardian of common mortals, and then some stuff happens. If I say anymore, I’ll be giving away spoilers. So instead, rest assured that the story is good. So good, that it makes me want to keep playing. This is a key to success for any RPG. If the story isn’t good enough to make you want to hack and slash your way through thousands of monsters, then there’s really no point to keep playing. I’ve given up on RPGs that failed to captivate me in the first hour or two. Since I’m several hours into DQ9, then this means the story is good and I want to know what happens next.

The next most important aspect to an RPG is the battle system. You’re going to be killing thousand of monsters after all, so the way you do that needs to be fun as well. The Dragon Quest series keeps battles simple. They’re fast and the animations are cool. Even with low level characters, you have a good array of skills and spells to choose from, and this helps keep things interesting. You also have the option of putting your party members on auto-pilot if you want to be super lazy. For instance, if you assign a warrior the role of “Show No Mercy,” he kills without thinking, just like a good warrior should. My mage’s tactic is set to “Mix It Up” and for the most part, it has worked well. I’ve noticed that as long as my mage has plenty of mana, she uses a lot of spells, but as her mana decreases, she begins to use weapon attacks. This has worked out fine since the weapon she has steals MP from the attacked monsters. Once she’s saved up more mana, she begins to use spells again. All in all, I like the “Tactics” feature and will probably continue to use it. I might turn it off for boss fights though, don’t want to leave too much up to chance.

One aspect of the game I wasn’t expecting is that the main party (you + 3 others) do not interact with each other. In most RPGs, every person in the party has a character and back story, but in DQ9, only you (The Hero) has any character whatsoever. The other 3 people in your party are some random guys you pick up at an Inn. You get to customize their name, looks, and class, but other than that, there’s nothing to them. Luckily, the story is designed so that it really doesn’t need any of the extra party members and it opens the door for you to be able to truly and fully customize your team. To an RPG enthusiast, this is a major plus. If you want your full party of mages, then dagnabbit, you’ll have nothing but mages! Muahahaha!

Everything else in the game is great. There are more ways to customize your characters by use of skill points, and even more content for the game can be downloaded from Wi-Fi. There’s even other features, like multi-player and alchemy, but I haven’t tried those out yet. Even though I haven’t done everything, I still give this game a 9/10. It stays true to what a quintessential RPG should be, and still manages to feel modern. Some RPG series have strayed from what an RPG should be *cough* Final Fantasy *cough* but Dragon Quest stays true to their roots. It’s exactly what I look for in an RPG, and I’m looking forward to playing it more.