When was the first 3D Dragon Quest?
Dragon Quest VIII
"Dragon Quest VIII" was released in PAL regions in April 2006 under the title "Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King", dropping the Roman numeral. This marked the first time a main game in the series had been released in the PAL region. In an interview with Horii in London, he mentioned that the 2003 merger between Squaresoft and Enix (creating Square Enix) allowed the company to release more games in more localities, with producer Ryutaro Ichimura adding that "European tastes have changed because of the influence of anime and cartoons, so Europeans are more willing to receive this type of artwork."
Dragon Quest (video game)
When Eidansha Boshu Service Center was founded in 1975 it published tabloid magazines that advertised real estate. In 1982, after failing to establish a chain of stores, the company's founder Yasuhiro Fukushima transformed it into a software company devoted to gaming and renamed it Enix. To find talent for the company, Fukushima held the "Enix Game Hobby Program Contest". The competition was styled after manga competitions, was advertised in computer and manga magazines, and had a  million prize for the winners. The winners were , Koichi Nakamura, and manga magazine "Shōnen Jump" editor Yuji Horii, who was the top winner. Horii designed a tennis game, "Love Match Tennis", which became Enix's first release. While he did not believe he would win, he was motivated by his editor, who enjoyed the games and published Horii's articles on them. Later, when Enix began creating games for the NES, Fukushima held another contest. This time, Nakamura won with his "cartoonish and creative contest entry" Door Door, which became Enix's first release for the NES.
Dragon Quest
"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. "" is a stand-alone game in which the controller is shaped like a sword, and a toy shield contains the game's hardware. "" 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, "", 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. "", a PlayStation 3 and 4 game featuring the gameplay of the "Dynasty Warriors" series by Koei Tecmo, was released in Japan on February 26, 2015, and was released in North America and Europe in October 2015 as a PlayStation 4 exclusive. Dragon Quest Builders for the PS4 was released in 2016. "Theatrhythm Dragon Quest" is a rhythm game developed for the Nintendo 3DS. Like the "Theatrhythm Final Fantasy" games before it, the game allows players to play alongside various songs from the "Dragon Quest" franchise.
Tabletop role-playing games in Japan
It was not until the late 1980s, when role-playing video games such as "Dragon Quest" and "Final Fantasy", modeled after the western computer RPG's "Wizardry" and "Ultima", helped popularize the traditional role-playing games. The first "Dragon Quest" was published by Enix in 1986 for the NES and MSX/MSX2 platform. 
Around the same time Group SNE pioneered a new book genre called "replays" consisting of session logs arranged for publication. The first replay, "Record of Lodoss War", was a replay of "Dungeons & Dragons" that was published in Comptiq magazine beginning in 1986. It became a popular series, and led to an increase in interest in the fantasy genre. 
"Sword World RPG" was published in 1989 and became popular very quickly. A notable feature found in "Sword World" was the Forcelia setting which included Lodoss island from the "Record of Lodoss War". Analysis of the game’s success suggests that the designers took ideas from many famous American games including "D&D", "AD&D", "Middle-earth Role Playing", and "RuneQuest" and modified the settings to suit Japanese tastes. Compared to "(A)D&D" and other contemporary games, "Sword World RPG" had a flexible, less restricted, multi-class system. It used only ordinary 6-sided dice. Other polyhedral dice are uncommon, especially in rural Japan. It was tied up with light novels and replays. The paperback (bunkobon) rulebooks are inexpensive and portable.
Quest of Dungeons
Quest of Dungeons is a roguelike indie game released on March 25, 2014 by Upfall Studios. The game features 16-bit graphics to resemble games from the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis era. It was initially released for Windows, Mac and iOS and was later ported to Xbox One via ID@Xbox on September 7, 2015. In February 2016, it was announced that the game was being developed on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS and was released on September 29, 2016. It was later released for PlayStation 4 on January 17, 2017. On August 2, 2017, it was announced that it would be coming to the Nintendo Switch.
Dragon Quest
When Enix took over the "Monopoly"-inspired video game "Itadaki Street", the "Dragon Quest" franchise became an integral part of the game in its second version, "Itadaki Street 2: Neon Sain wa Bara Iro ni". The first "Itadaki Street", released by ASCII, did not contain elements from the "Dragon Quest" franchise. The fourth game in the series, "Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special", included characters from the "Final Fantasy" franchise, and later versions would include characters from "Mario".
Dragon Quest Builders
Protagonists were designed by Akira Toriyama, with "Etrian Odyssey" creator Kazuya Niinou serving as the game's director. The game's soundtrack consists primarily of arrangements from the first "Dragon Quest" game, released in 1986. The game was initially announced in July 2015 to be under development for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. It was released in Japan on January 28, 2016, and in North America, Europe, and Australia in October 2016. An "Ultimate Hit" version was released in Japan on December 1, 2016.
Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below
Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below is a hack-and-slash game developed by Omega Force and published by Square Enix for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. It was released in Japan and Asia in February 2015, and in North America, Australia and Europe only for PlayStation 4 in October 2015. It was later released via Steam for Microsoft Windows in December 2015 for North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. The game received generally positive reviews, with a sequel "Dragon Quest Heroes II" being released in Japan during May 2016. "Dragon Quest Heroes" would later be released with the sequel in a compilation for Nintendo Switch in Japan.
Dragon Quest
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 "Wizardry" 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 a role-playing video game that combined elements from the western RPGs "Wizardry" and "Ultima". 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 motifs from the first game have remained relatively intact.
Dragon Quest (video game)
Dragon Quest is the first role-playing video game (RPG) in the "Dragon Quest" media franchise. It was developed by Chunsoft for the Family Computer (or Famicom for short) and published by Enix in Japan in 1986 as "Dragon Quest" and by Nintendo in 1989 in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System (or NES) as Dragon Warrior. "Dragon Quest" has been ported and remade for several video game platforms, including the MSX, PC-9801, Super Famicom, Game Boy Color, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 4 and mobile phones. In play, players control a hero character who is charged with saving the Kingdom of Alefgard and rescuing its princess from the evil Dragonlord. "Dragon Warrior"s story became the second part in a trilogy. Several more anime and manga series, which revolved around this overarching plot were created.
Dragon Warrior Monsters
Dragon Warrior Monsters is the first video game in the "Dragon Quest Monsters" series. It was released in Japan by Enix on September 25, 1998, and co-published by Eidos Interactive in Europe and North America in 2000. It was the first "Dragon Quest" game to be released in Europe. It was released for the Game Boy Color before the console itself was released; however, the cartridge is backward compatible with the older Game Boy console in black-and-white color. The game was remade for the PlayStation in a compilation Dragon Quest Monsters 1+2 Hoshi Furi no Yūsha to Bokujō no Nakamatachi. A mobile phone incarnation titled "Dragon Quest Monsters i" was released in Japan on January 28, 2002.
Dragon Quest IV
"Dragon Quest IV" was remade for the PlayStation on November 22, 2001 in Japan. It was developed by Heartbeat and published by Enix. The remake was developed using "Dragon Quest VII's" 3D graphics engine. The characters, towns, world maps, sound, battles and enemies all received updates. The character sprites were updated to match the original artwork for the characters in the original "Dragon Quest IV" Manual and artwork.
With this remake came several new features. Among these features were a new chapter in which Psaro is available as a party member (as well as a prologue chapter), an intra-party talk command similar to "Dragon Quest VII", and the ability to turn off the artificial intelligence for party members to allow for direct control of their attacks (except UC Party Members). The game sold over one million copies in Japan by the end of 2001.
Dragon Quest V
On April 23, 2008, it was reported that Square Enix had applied for the trademark "Hand of the Heavenly Bride" at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It was confirmed to be a reference to "Dragon Quest V" by a listing from Nintendo of third-party titles for Nintendo platforms. On May 20, 2008, Square Enix opened up the North American site featuring the three Dragon Quest DS remakes, acknowledging the game would see a release in North America. On the following day, Square Enix sent out a press release saying that the game would be released in Europe under the name "Dragon Quest: The Hand of the Heavenly Bride". It was released on July 17, 2008 in Japan., February 17, 2009 in North America, and February 20, 2009 in Europe.
Slime (Dragon Quest)
The Slime made its first appearance in "Dragon Quest" as the first and weakest enemy in the game, and has made a similar appearance in all subsequent "Dragon Quest" titles. In "", the monster is an easy recruit that learns a variety of magic spells. The Slime is also the protagonist of its own spinoff series, beginning with "Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest", a Japanese Game Boy Advance title. It was followed by "", which was released worldwide for the Nintendo DS, and the Japanese-exclusive title, "Slime Mori Mori Dragon Quest 3" for the Nintendo 3DS. These games follow a nation of slimes who are intelligent and civilized, but also cute and somewhat comical. In the North American localization of the "Dragon Quest" games for the Nintendo DS, joking references and puns are made about slimes. Slime also appeared in three crossover games along with characters from Nintendo's "Mario" franchise: "Itadaki Street DS", "Mario Sports Mix", and "Fortune Street".
Dragon Quest
As of 2018, the "Dragon Quest" series had sold over 76 million copies combined worldwide. As of 2007, all games in the main series, and its three spin-offs, had sold over a million copies in Japan and one had sold over four million copies. The remake of "Dragon Quest VI" sold 0.91 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 "Famitsu" 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.
Dungeon Master (video game)
Originally, Dungeon Master was started with the name "Crystal Dragon" coded in Pascal, and targeted the Apple II platform. Doug Bell and Andy Jaros (Artwork) began development in their development studio "PVC Dragon", before they joined in 1983 "FTL Games". It was finished there in C programming language and published in 1987 for the Atari ST first. A slightly updated Amiga version was released the following year, which was the first video game to use 3D sound effects.
Dragon Quest (video game)
The original idea for "Dragon Quest" came during the development of the NES port of "Portopia". Horii and Nakamura came across the RPG "Wizardry" at a Macworld Conference & Expo. While it had some influence on the NES "Portopia"s dungeon crawl segments, Horii liked the game's depth and visuals. He wanted to create a game similar to "Wizardry", to expose the mainly Western-exclusive RPG genre to Japan and to expand the genre past computer enthusiasts. Horii also cited "Ultima" as an inspiration for "Dragon Quest"s gameplay, specifically the first-person random battles in "Wizardry" and the overhead perspective of "Ultima". While the RPG genre was predominantly Western and limited to PCs, Japanese gamers enjoyed home-grown games such as "The Black Onyx" and the "Dragon Slayer" series alongside Western RPG ports. However, while Horii and Nakamura enjoyed the dungeon crawling and statistical nature of "Wizardry", they realized most people would not. This had not originally been a concern, but the success of "Super Mario Bros." greatly increased the potential audience of any new Famicom/NES game. To create "Dragon Quest", the gameplay needed to be simplified. According to Horii: "There was no keyboard, and the system was much simpler, using just a [game] controller. But I still thought that it would be really exciting for the player to play as their alter ego in the game. I personally was playing "Wizardry" and "Ultima" at the time, and I really enjoyed seeing my own self in the game."
Dragon Quest X
The Wii U version released on March 30, 2013. The beta test began on March 5. A port for Microsoft Windows was released on September 26. Ports to both the PlayStation 4 (PS4) and Nintendo Switch were announced as being in development in August 2016. These ports will both be released in 2017; the PS4 version will release on August 17, and the Switch version on September 21, 2017. With the announcement of the Switch version, Square Enix offered players the option of switching their characters and progress to the Switch version. In addition to the standard home console releases, versions for portable and mobile platforms have been released that rely on cloud streaming, needing an internet connection to function. A version for Android and iOS was co-developed by Square Enix with NTT DoCoMo and Ubitus: NTT DoCoMo's dGame service was used as the release platform, while Ubitus' cloud technology was used for the streaming. It released on December 16, 2013. A second version was developed for the 3DS, using a similar streaming function to the mobile versions. This version released on September 4, 2014. On release, the 3DS version suffered from multiple technical problems, including issues with logging in, frequent maintenance periods, disconnection issues, poor sound quality, and the game's native text font being too small for the 3DS screen. The negative feedback caused Square Enix to temporarily stop shipments so they could fix the issues.
Gameplay of Dragon Quest
Beginning with "Dragon Quest III", the series has featured different forms of character customization. Players were given the option to create a party of four characters consisting of the main Hero and three characters made by the player. Classes such as Warrior, Mage, Cleric, or Merchant could be set upon the character and that character's statistics and skills would correlate with the given class. "Dragon Quest VI", "Dragon Quest VII", and "Dragon Quest IX" all featured similar class systems, building off of the original system from "Dragon Quest III".
Dragon Quest (video game)
In 2016, spin-off title Dragon Quest Builders was released as an alternate sequel to the first game. The story is set over 100 years after the consequences of Erdrick, who instead accepts Dragonlord's offer to rule half the world.
Dragon Quest Characters: Torneko no Daibōken 3
Dragon Quest Characters: Torneko no Daibōken 3 – Fushigi no Dungeon is the third game in the "Torneko" series. It is part of the "Mystery Dungeon" series and contains randomly generated dungeons and uses turn-based action combat. It is the third "Dragon Quest" spin-off game in the "Mystery Dungeon" series. The game was also made for the Game Boy Advance, called Dragon Quest Characters: Torneko no Daibouken 3 Advance, in 2004.
Gameplay of Dragon Quest
"Dragon Quest" was created by Yūji Horii, who became the series' main scenario director. Yūji Horii originally used the full-screen map of "Ultima" and the first-person menu battle and stats oriented "Wizardry" screen to create the gameplay of "Dragon Quest". "Dragon Quest" is often cited as the birth of the JRPGs. Each game in the main series builds upon its predecessor, but the gameplay never strays from the series' origins.
List of Dragon Quest media
The original game in the series, renamed "Dragon Warrior" outside Japan, was released in 1986 in Japan and 1989 in North America. "Dragon Quest" games are released in Japan and, until 2004's "", were later localized for the North American market under the "Dragon Warrior" title. That game was also the first main series game to be released outside Japan and North America. In addition to the 11 games released as part of the main (numbered) series and their many spin-offs and related titles, the "Dragon Quest" series has spawned many works in other media including anime, movies, novels and manga, and radio dramas. Many games, particularly the main series, have soundtrack album releases featuring their music in different arrangements. Square Enix has also consistently released companion books for its games, which provide additional backstory and plot information, as well as detailed walkthroughs. The majority of the games and media related to the series have only been released in Japan.
Dragon Quest V
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride is a role-playing video game and the fifth installment in the "Dragon Quest" video game series. Originally developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix Corporation, "Dragon Quest V" was the first title in the series to be released for the Nintendo Super Famicom (SFC aka SNES) video game console in Japan in September 1992. "Dragon Quest V" was the first game in the series to not be released outside Japan, as Enix did not want to pay for the cost of the larger cartridge ROMs needed to fit English-language dialog. Poor sales of "Dragon Quest II", "Dragon Quest III", and "Dragon Quest IV" in North America were also a factor.
Dragon Quest II
Planning for "Dragon Quest II" began in April 1986, a month before the release of the original "Dragon Quest". With the system and memory map decided, they started development in early July. At the beginning of development, producer Yukinobu Chida asked director and programmer Koichi Nakamura for a definite release date, and he offhandedly set one. Then the development team was divided into two groups, with one designing the story, as well as the monsters, and one doing the programming. The initial deadline was set for early November, but the game ultimately suffered a small delay. The development team had finished programming almost everything by the time of the initial release and believed the game could be released by the end of that year. In the Japanese magazine "Weekly Shōnen Jump", published on November 11, 1986, it was announced that the game would be released in late December. However, the developers found that the game was too difficult, so it was delayed for a month to adjust the balance. They had to finish the final version in mid-December, which they did, and then rushed to deliver to Nintendo to make the physical game cartridges. The game was released on January 26, 1987.
Dragon Ball
The "Dragon Ball" franchise has spawned multiple video games across various genres and platforms. Earlier games of the series included a system of card battling and were released for the Famicom following the storyline of the series. Starting with the Super Famicom and Mega Drive, most of the games were from the fighting genre or RPG (Role Playing Game), such as the "Super Butoden" series. The first "Dragon Ball" game to be released in the United States was "" for the PlayStation in 1997. For the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable games the characters were redone in 3D cel-shaded graphics. These games included the "" series and the "" series. "" was the first game of the franchise developed for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. "Dragon Ball Xenoverse" was the first game of the franchise developed for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. A massively multiplayer online role-playing game called "Dragon Ball Online" was available in Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan until the servers were shut down in 2013. A few years later fans started recreating the game. Today, "Dragon Ball Online Global" is a new, European version of "Dragon Ball Online" and it is being developed, while open beta server is running.
Dragon Warrior Monsters
In May 2012, a remake of the game for the Nintendo 3DS, titled Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry no Wonderland 3D, was released. Later in November 2018, the remake was released for smartphones
Dragon Quest X
"Dragon Quest X" was teased in 2008, with its full reveal as an MMORPG in 2011. Critical reception to the game have been generally positive, with praise going to its integrating of "Dragon Quest" features into an MMORPG structure. The game has since received several expansion packs and other updates. By 2014, the game had sold over one million copies across all versions.
Dragon Quest VIII
"Dragon Quest VIII" uses cel shading for the characters and scenery and is the first game in the series to have fully 3D environments and character models. The game retains most of the series' role-playing game elements, such as turn-based combat and the experience level system. "Dragon Quest VIII" follows the silent Hero, the main character, and his party of allies as they journey towards the goal of defeating the wicked Dhoulmagus. The kingdom of Trodain has been cursed by Dhoulmagus, with the King, Trode, and his daughter, Medea, transformed into a troll and a horse respectively, and it is up to the Hero to return them to their original form and save the kingdom. "Dragon Quest VIII" was both a critical and financial success, becoming a Sony Greatest Hits game.
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is a rhythm video game, developed by indieszero and published by Square Enix for Nintendo 3DS and iOS. Based on the "Final Fantasy" video game franchise, the game involves using the touch screen in time to various pieces of music from the series. The game was released in Japan in February 2012, and in North America, Australia and Europe in July 2012. An iOS version was released in December 2012. A sequel, "", was released in 2014. A third game based on the "Dragon Quest" series, "Theatrhythm Dragon Quest", was released in 2015. An arcade game, "Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: All-Star Carnival", was released in 2016.
Dragon Quest Builders
Dragon Quest Builders is a sandbox action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and Nintendo Switch. The game is set in Alefgard, the world of the original "Dragon Quest" video game, with players controlling the builder who is tasked with rebuilding the world after it was destroyed. The game features a blocky aesthetic style, with gathering and building elements similar to games such as "ActRaiser", "Dark Cloud", "Minecraft" and "Terraria". The game was released in Japan in January 2016, and worldwide in October 2016. A sequel, "Dragon Quest Builders 2", was released in December 2018.
Cube Quest
Cube Quest is an arcade game by Simutrek Inc released in 1983. It combines 3-D polygonal graphics with laserdisc-streamed, animated backgrounds (a technique later employed by Namco's "Galaxian 3").
Dragon Quest Monsters
"" is the third game in the series, released in Japan in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance. Developed by TOSE, the game was the last "Dragon Quest" game Enix published before merging with Square. It features Keifer, a prince from "Dragon Warrior VII".
King's Quest I
"King's Quest" is the first adventure game to integrate graphical animation into the player's view of game world. Because of this, "King's Quest" shifts the focus away from the static scenery, to the player's character, which is animated on-screen. There are animation sequences for most player-world interactions reachable through the normal course of exploration. For example, there are animation sequences showing Graham picking up objects from the ground, opening doors, and wading through water. Depth perspective is simulated as well; Graham can walk behind objects, causing his character to be hidden from view, or walk in front of them, obscuring the object. This attention to graphical animation, while commonplace in action games, earned "King's Quest" the distinction as the first "3D-animated" adventure game.
Enix
Over the next few years, Enix published several video games for various Japanese home computer systems. Rather than developing games within its own company, Enix would continue to outsource the production of its games to other developers through the use of royalties. Enix is perhaps most famous for publishing the "Dragon Quest" series of console games (released as "Dragon Warrior" in North America until 2005) developed by Chunsoft. Key members of the developer's staff consisted of director Koichi Nakamura, writer Yuuji Horii, artist Akira Toriyama, and composer Koichi Sugiyama, among others. The first game in the Famicom-based RPG series was released in 1986, and would eventually sell 1.5 million copies in Japan, establishing "Dragon Quest" as the company's most profitable franchise.
Disney's Magical Quest
The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse, the first game in the series, was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System during 1992 and 1993 and later re-released for the Game Boy Advance in 2002. In six different levels and with four different special power outfits it features Mickey Mouse on his journey to find his dog Pluto. The game, and especially its outfit system and graphics, received mostly positive reviews. It was criticized, however, for being relatively short. A port for Sega Mega Drive was originally planned, but was abandoned.
Dragon Quest
There are two major television series that were adapted from the games. "Dragon Quest" began airing in December 1989, and ran for 43 episodes. It was supervised by Horii, with a story loosely based on "Dragon Quest III". The first 13 episodes of the series were translated into English by Saban Entertainment under the title "Dragon Warrior". Due to its early time slot, and a lawsuit filed by Toriyama for not being credited for his work on character designs, it was not renewed. A second anime series, "", based on the manga of the same name, was produced by Toei Animation. It ran for 46 episodes from October 17, 1991 to September 24, 1992. On April 20, 1996, a film titled "Dragon Quest Saga – The Crest of Roto" was released.
Dragon Quest II
Both the Famicom and Super Famicom versions of this game, along with "Dragon Quest" and "Dragon Quest III", were re-released under the "Dragon Quest 25th Anniversary Collection" compilation for the Wii in Japan on September 15, 2011. The Wii compilation featured interruptive save functions for each games. The compilation also included original copies of the strategy guides for the games, along with original artwork and material on the games' development.
Mystery Dungeon
Koichi Nakamura, founder of Chunsoft and co-creator of the "Dragon Quest" series, conceived the series as Chunsoft's first original work. After the launch of the Super Famicom, they ceased working on the "Dragon Quest" series and began working on the "Mystery Dungeon" series. The series was based on the game "Rogue". For a week Nakamura played "Rogue" at the recommendation of a staff member, trying to understand the game's appeal, and concluded the high degree of challenge made the game very rewarding.
Dragon Quest (video game)
Both the Famicom and Super Famicom versions of the game, together with "Dragon Quest II" and "Dragon Quest III", were re-released on the "Dragon Quest 25th Anniversary Collection" compilation for the Wii in Japan on September 15, 2011. The compilation includes original copies of the games' strategy guides, original artwork and material on the games' development. In October 2013, Square Enix announced that they were re-releasing "Dragon Quest I–VIII" for both Android and iOS. In November 2013, the game was released for the iOS & Android mobile platforms in Japan. This release is based on the 2004 mobile remake of the game. The United States and Europe mobile versions were released on September 11, 2014.
Dragon Quest VI
The initial release was delayed over a year because of Enix wanting to further develop their game. The game was eventually shown at Shoshinkai in November 1995. "Dragon Quest VI" was released a few weeks later on December 9, with the very steep price of 11,400 yen (roughly over 100 U.S. dollars). The game went on to sell over 3.2 million copies. In Japan, the game made the news in 2005, when a Japanese student threatened another student over an argument about which "Dragon Quest" is the best, the student doing the threatening favoring "Dragon Quest VI".
Dragon Quest
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".
Dragon Quest IV
Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen, originally published as Dragon Warrior IV in North America, is a role-playing video game and the fourth installment of the "Dragon Quest" video game series developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix. It was originally released for the Famicom on 11 February 1990 in Japan. A North American NES version followed in October 1992, and would be the last "Dragon Quest" game localized and published by Enix's Enix America Corporation subsidiary prior to its closure in November 1995, as well as the last "Dragon Quest" game to be localized into English prior to the localization of "Dragon Warrior Monsters" in December 1999. The game was remade by Heartbeat for the PlayStation, which eventually was available as an Ultimate Hits title. This was followed with a second remake developed by ArtePiazza for the Nintendo DS, released in Japan on 22 November 2007. This remake was released in Australia on 11 September 2008, in Europe on 12 September 2008 and in North America on September 16, 2008. A version based on the Nintendo DS remake for Android and iOS was released in 2014.
Dragon Quest
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.
Dragon Quest X
When speaking about why an online game was chosen as the next step in the series, Fujisawa cited the intuitive character AI in "Dragon Quest IV" and party member communication in "Dragon Quest VII". Solid ideas for an online game set within the "Dragon Quest" series were first suggested in 2005, when development was wrapping up on "Dragon Quest VIII". It was initially worked on by a very small team, who worked together on the groundwork for some time. A core part of the initial plan was that the game would have a pre-planned ten-year lifespan with continual content updates. Once work had finished on "Dragon Quest IX", "Dragon Quest X" took full priority. During these earlier phases, it was still undecided whether to make the game a mainline title, and there was even doubt as to whether it could be an MMORPG rather than just an online multiplayer game. These doubts, held by Saito, were assuaged by Fujisawa's confidence in the project. Despite this, Fujisawa was a novice at both developing and playing MMORPGs, putting him in stark contrast with other staff members such as Saito, Yoshida and second chief planner Takashi Anzai.
Dragon Quest (video game)
Initial sales of the game were so low that Enix was going to lose money, but several "Shonen Jump" articles by Horii helped increase its sales substantially. People liked Toriyama's artwork and Sugiyama's music, which the book "" said "was richer and more exciting than any game music had ever sounded". The game was extremely popular in Japan and became the first in a series that in 2016 includes eleven games with several spin-off series and stand-alone titles. More than 2 million copies were sold of the Japanese version. The "Dragon Quest I & II" remake for the SNES yielded 1.2 million copies sold in Japan. The 1989 "All Soft Catalog" issue of "Famicom Tsūshin" (now "Famitsu") included "Dragon Quest" in its list of the best games of all time, receiving the Best RPG and Best Character Design awards, but losing to "Dragon Quest III" for the overall Grand Prize for best game of all time.
Dragon Quest IV
"Dragon Quest IV" is the first game in the series to spawn spin-offs. The merchant Torneko (also known as Taloon in the NES version) was popular enough to star his own series, in which he finds himself in quests in order to expand his store. These games are the "Torneko no Daibouken" sub-series (translated as "Torneko's Great Adventure"), roguelike and random dungeon games produced by Enix (and Square Enix) and developed by Chunsoft. The success of the games later inspired the creation of the "Mystery Dungeon" series.
Dragon Quest V
Like the first Dragon Quest trilogy, where Alefgard appeared in games I, II, and III with roughly similar geography in each game, the worlds of IV, V, and VI are connected in that the sky castle Zenithia appears in each game, although the base geography is largely different between the three games. Like all other Dragon Quest games, this one takes place in a medieval world, with no real modern technology, such as cars or electricity. Characters fight with swords, clubs, and magic instead of guns or other modern weapons.
Dragon Quest XI
The game sold two million copies on its first two days of sale in Japan; the Nintendo 3DS version sold 1.13 million, while the PlayStation 4 version sold 0.95 million. By November 2017, the game had sold over three million copies across the PlayStation 4 and 3DS. In North America, the game had the best launch month in series history, doubling the dollar sales of the previous best, "Dragon Quest IX". By November 2018, it had shipped over four million copies worldwide.
Dragon Quest
Like the main series, "Dragon Quest Monsters" was originally released under the "Dragon Warrior" name in the US. 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) and "Tara's Adventure" ("Iru's Adventure in Japan"), named after the main player characters. Each version has slight differences, such as the monster that appear in them. "" 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 "" is the first spin-off title to be released in English using the "Dragon Quest" name; its sequel "" was released in North America in September 19, 2011. There is also an Android title, "Dragon Quest Monsters: Wanted!".
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3
In July 2015, series creator Yuji Hori discussed the third title in the "Dragon Quest Monsters", featuring a new logo designed by Akira Toriyama. A game trailer was shown at Jump Festa 2016 featuring the titles new art style and large variety of monsters. Demos of the game were released for Japanese Nintendo 3DS game consoles in early March 2016. Those that completed the demo were given a code for a free present in the full game. A special wallpaper designed by Toriyama was released on the games website to commemorate the games launch.
History of Eastern role-playing video games
The gameplay of "Dragon Quest" itself was non-linear, with most of the game not blocked in any way other than by being infested with monsters that can easily kill an unprepared player. This was balanced by the use of bridges to signify a change in difficulty and a new level progression that departed from "D&D", where in the 1st and 2nd editions, players are given random initial stats and a constant growth rate. "Dragon Quest" instead gave the player some extra hit points at the start and a level progression where the effective rate of character growth decelerates over time, similar to how the more recent editions of "D&D" have balanced the gameplay. "Dragon Quest" also gave players a clear objective from the start of the game and a series of smaller scenarios to build up the player's strength in order to achieve that objective. The ending could also be altered depending on the moral dialogue choice of whether or not the protagonist should join the antagonist on his evil conquest towards the end of the game. The game also had a limited inventory requiring item management, while the caves were dark, requiring the use of a torch to display a field of vision around the character. With "Dragon Quest" becoming widely popular in Japan, such that local municipalities were forced to place restrictions on where and when the game could be sold, the "Dragon Quest" series is still considered a bellwether for the Japanese video game market. "Dragon Quest" did not reach North America until 1989, when it was released as "Dragon Warrior", the first NES RPG to be released in North America. The release of "Dragon Quest" was followed by NES remakes of the early "Wizardry" and "Ultima" titles over the next several years by Pony Canyon.
Dragon Quest VIII
The US release of "Dragon Quest VIII" received mostly positive reviews, receiving a score of 89 out of 100 on Metacritic. Critics were quick to praise the 3D cel shaded visuals, noting that it was the first game in the series to be fully three-dimensional. A staple of the "Dragon Quest" series is the simplicity of its gameplay, a factor which has been criticized in the past. However, several critics pointed out that the simple gameplay works for "Dragon Quest VIII". Bethany Massimilla of GameSpot wrote that the lack of "dozens of characters of all types" allows the game to remain simple, letting the player become very familiar with the main characters. "Edge" magazine, however, commented that the game's substance seemed out of place for 2005.
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker
"Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker" is the first game in the "Dragon Quest Monsters" series to be in 3D. It uses cel-shaded animation, and the battles are of the same type in other Dragon Quest games: commands are issued in a turn based style, then are executed in full 3D.
Dragon Quest
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.
Dragon Quest (video game)
"Dragon Warrior", its sequel, "Dragon Quest II", and its prequel, "Dragon Quest III", comprise a trilogy with a shared timeline. The story's background begins when the kingdom of Alefgard was shrouded in permanent darkness. The brave warrior Erdrick (known as "Loto" in the Game Boy Color (GBC) remake of the game) defeated an evil creature and restored light to the land. In Erdrick's possession was the Ball of Light, which he used to drive away enemies who threatened the kingdom. Erdrick handed the Ball of Light to King Lorik, and Alefgard remained peaceful for a long time. The Ball of Light kept winters short in Alefgard and helped maintain peace and prosperity for the region.
Dragon Quest X
"Dragon Quest X" was first hinted at during a Square Enix press conference in December 2008 when Horii revealed that the game was being developed for the Wii. The game's year of release, status as an MMORPG, and its eventual release on Wii U were announced in September 2011. Applications for the beta test opened in November 2011, with the beta beginning on February 23 the following year. Beta testers received a beta disk, USB memory stick and gameplay manual. The beta environment gave players access to multiple bosses and a limited amount of the early story. The original version released on August 2, 2012 for Wii. In addition to the standard release, a Wii bundle was released. A supplementary app for the Nintendo 3DS, with functions connected to both the 3DS functions in in-game messaging, released for free on August 22. Following the initial release, Square Enix doubled the amount of active servers to cope with crowding issues, while they worked on creating a larger permanent server increase. Support for the Wii version ended in 2017.
Gameplay of Dragon Quest
"Dragon Warrior" was listed on GameSpot's list of the 15 most influential games of all time, calling it the "most influential role-playing game of all time" and stated that nearly all Japanese RPGs today have roots in its gameplay. GameSpot also noted that the game's 2D graphics were imitated by most Japanese RPGs until video games began using 3D graphics. In another Gamasutra article, Kalata claimed that "Dragon Quest" was the first of its genre and that it "went on to inspire dozens of clones. Most of these are best left forgotten, but it did inspire two more notable franchises: Square's "Final Fantasy" and Sega's "Phantasy Star"". He also noted that when first localized for North America, it was not immediately popular due to "subpar" graphics and "stodgy interface".
Dragon Quest (TV series)
Shuki Levy is the composer for the Saban English-dubbed edition. In addition to adapting music from Dragon Quest and Dragon Quest III, Shuki Levy also reused several music cues from the 80's DIC Entertainment Cartoon in addition to recycling some of the music from Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors which those tracks would later be reused for the Saban/Fox Kids English Dub of Digimon Adventure Season 1
The first thirty-two episodes were aired on Fuji TV from December 2, 1989, to September 22, 1990. Eleven more episodes aired from January 11, 1991, to April 5, 1991.
Dragon Quest Monsters
Dragon Quest Monsters is a spin-off series of the "Dragon Quest" games. Published by Square Enix (formerly Enix), it sets the player in a medieval/fantasy world filled with magic, monsters and knights. Unlike the original "Dragon Quest" games, the player's character does not do any of the fighting in battles; instead the player has to rely on capturing, breeding and raising monsters to do the fighting for them. The concept originated from "" (1992). The character and monster designs are by "Dragon Ball" creator, Akira Toriyama. The series spans several handheld gaming systems, and each game has received positive reviews from critics. Upon the series' debut in the US, it was quickly labeled as a ""Pokémon" clone" by critics.
Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime
"Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime" was created by Yuji Horii, creator of the "Dragon Quest" franchise, and Yoshiki Watabe, who also worked on "" and "", as well as its predecessor, "Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest: Shōgeki no Shippo Dan". Early in the title's life, the developers had a version of it that uses the touch screen to use Rocket's Elasto Blast technique, but scrapped the idea, due to it being too hard to control. Because Watabe believed the dual screen function was the focus of the Nintendo DS, he wanted to make use of the dual screen. The developers also chose to keep humans out of the game, due to that if they did appear, they would probably just run around killing all the Slimes. Watabe said that if "Dragon Quest Heroes" sold well, that the developer would look into a sequel, and they may also include Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection support.
Dragon Quest
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.
Dragon Quest VI
Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation is a role-playing video game developed by Heartbeat and published by Enix for the Super Famicom as a part of the "Dragon Quest" series and as the last "Dragon Quest" game in the Zenithia trilogy. It was released in Japan in December 1995, developed by Heartbeat; whereas the previous "Dragon Quest" games were developed by Chunsoft. In 2011, a remake of the game, along with "Dragon Quest IV" and "Dragon Quest V", was released worldwide for the Nintendo DS, making this the first time the game was released in English. Another version of the game for Android and iOS devices was released in Japan in June 2015.
Dragon Quest X
During its debut week, "Dragon Quest X" topped Japanese gaming charts, selling 367,000 units. While this was seen as an impressive debut for an MMORPG in Japan, it was the worst sales debut of a mainline "Dragon Quest" game in recent years. Despite sales being low when compared to other entries, it succeeded in tripling sales for its console to 41,000 after a significant decline. By the end of August 2012, "Dragon Quest X" had sold 557,000 units, with Square Enix taking a 26% share of total game sales for the month after Nintendo. By November, Square Enix had shipped 700,000 units. It was ranked as the 10th best-selling titles of 2012, with 609,783 units. In its first week on sale, the Wii U version of the game sold 33,302 units, coming in at #6 on Japanese charts. The 3DS version also sold well, selling through over 95% of its shipment with 52,375 units. At release, the game's first expansion sold 117,000 units on Wii, reaching #2 in the charts. The Wii U version reached #6 with sales of 71,000 units. The third expansion's Wii U version debuted at #2 with 99,000, coming ahead of "Xenoblade Chronicles X". As of 2014, the game has sold over one million copies across all platforms, and has a steady active base of 300,000 players per day.
Nintendo 3DS
In June 2010, video gaming website IGN reported that according to "several developers who have experienced 3DS in its current form," the system possesses processing power that "far exceed[s] the Nintendo Wii" and with 3D shaders, they could make games that "look close to current generation visuals on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3". IGN also cited "several developer sources" as saying that the system does not use the Nvidia Tegra mobile chipset.
The system was officially revealed at Nintendo's conference at E3 2010 on June 15, 2010. The first game revealed was "", with several other titles from third parties also announced, including Square Enix with "Kingdom Hearts" and "Final Fantasy", Konami with "", Warner Bros. Interactive with , Ubisoft with "", Capcom with "Resident Evil Revelations" and "", and Activision with DJ Hero. Other Nintendo titles were later revealed after the conference, such as "Mario Kart 7", "", and remakes of "Star Fox 64" and "". Nintendo also demoed 3D trailers for DreamWorks' "How to Train Your Dragon", Warner Bros' "", and Disney's film "Tangled" on the 3DS. The 3DS design shown at E3 was almost final, but subject to minor changes.
Dragon Quest Monsters
"Dragon Warrior Monsters", the first game in the series, was released in 1998 in Japan and in North America and the PAL region the next year for the Game Boy Color. The Japanese version was called "Dragon Quest Monsters". It was released for the Game Boy Color before the console itself was released, however the cartridge was backward-compatible with the older Game Boy in black-and-white. Its sequel, "Dragon Warrior Monsters 2", also for the Game Boy Color, was released in 2001 in both Japan and North America. There are two versions of the game, similar to "Pokémon Gold" and "Silver", called "Cobi's Journey" ("Ruka's Journey" in Japan) and "Tara's Adventure" ("Iru's Adventure in Japan"), named after the main characters the player controls. Each version features slight differences, such as monster appearances. Both games were developed by TOSE and published by Enix. "Dragon Quest Monsters 1+2", a remake of these two games with updated graphics and an interface, was released in 2002 in Japan, for the PlayStation. The game is compatible with the i-Mode adapter for the PlayStation, allowing players to upload monsters to the i-Mode cellular phone version, "Dragon Quest Monsters i". The two games were remade on the Japanese Nintendo 3DS on 2012 and 2014, respectively.
Slime Mori Mori Dragon Quest 3
The title was first announced on March 16, 2011, as the first Nintendo 3DS title of the series. It was released in Japan on November 2, 2011. It was later re-released as an Ultimate Hits title on December 6, 2012. In February 2012, McDonald's released its own downloadable content for the game, featuring four exclusive items that needed to be collected to form a set. The fast food chain also offered a free download to anyone with a Nintendo DS a minigame called "McDonald’s Slime Ship Battle DX", which if completed would entitle the player to a one-day coupon for food and drink from the chains locations.
Dragon Quest Monsters
For the first two US releases, the titles used "Warrior" instead of the original Japanese "Quest". This was due to "Dragon Quest"s North American name being changed due to a trademark conflict with the role-playing game "DragonQuest", which was published by Simulation Publications in the 1980s until the company's bankruptcy in 1982 and purchase by TSR, Inc., which then published it as an alternate line to "Dungeons & Dragons" until 1987. In 2003, Square Enix registered the "Dragon Quest" trademark in the US, making the "Dragon Warrior" name obsolete.
Dragon Quest
"The Road to Dragon Quest" 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 features series creator Yujii Hori, programmer Koichi Nakamura, composer Koichi Sugiyama, artist Akira Toriyama, and producer Yukinobu Chida.
Dragon Quest
"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 Quest 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 Nintendo DS 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 Japan. The ninth installment was released in Japan for Nintendo DS 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 installment of the main series was released 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 published "Dragon Quest IX" worldwide outside Japan; the NDS version of "Dragon Quest VI" is published by Nintendo in North America.
Dragon Quest V
Square Enix released a PlayStation 2 enhanced remake of "Dragon Quest V" on March 25, 2004, with first day sales of 722,000. As of April 2004, the game has sold over 1.5 million copies making it the top selling "Dragon Quest" remake game of all-time, and is available in Japan as an Ultimate Hits title. The remake was developed by former "Dragon Quest VII" art directors, Artepiazza. It features 3D graphics that are similar to "Dragon Quest VII", but it utilizes the extra PlayStation 2 graphical capabilities. The Hero and his companions have to fight more monsters in the PlayStation 2 remake than they did in the Super Famicom original, but the character limit on the party has been increased from three to four. Also, there were only 40 monsters available to the player's party in the Super Famicom version of "Dragon Quest V" due to ROM limitations. The PlayStation 2 remake, however, does not suffer from this restriction. The music is performed by the NHK Symphony.
Dragon Quest
"Dragon Quest" has had the same general lead development team since its inception in the 1980s, as scenario writer and game designer Yuji Horii, character designer Akira Toriyama, and music composer Koichi Sugiyama have handled their respective roles on every major game in the series. The original concepts, used since the first game, took elements from the Western role-playing games "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.
DragonQuest
"DragonQuest" appeared in three editions: a first edition published in 1980, a second edition published by SPI in conjunction with Bantam Books in 1982, and a third edition published by TSR in 1989 after they acquired SPI. As of 2016, the game belongs to Wizards of the Coast, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hasbro, through acquisition of TSR.
Dragon Quest III
"Dragon Quest III" sold over one million copies on the first day with almost 300 arrests for truancy among students absent from school to purchase the game, and 3.8 million copies total in Japan. In Japan, the Super Famicom remake sold 1.4 million units, with nearly 720,000 units sold in 1996 alone. The Game Boy Color version sold a lower 604,000 copies in Japan by the end of 2001, and eventually became the fifth best selling Game Boy Color game in Japan, with 638,551 copies sold. Together with the sales of the remakes, "Dragon Quest III" is the most successful title in the series and one of the best-selling role-playing games in Japan. As of November 2010, Japan mobile phone version was downloaded more than 1,000,000 times. Wii "Dragon Quest Collection" sold 403,953 copies in 2011.
Dragons 3D
Dragons 3D (also known as "Dragons: Real Myths and Unreal Creatures - 2D/3D") is a 2013 short 3D film for IMAX and Giant Screen Theaters. The movie was directed and written by Marc Fafard, and stars Max von Sydow as a dream therapist trying to help a young woman who has frequent nightmares about dragons. "Dragons 3D" is filmed in a docu-fictional approach and utilizes computer-generated imagery to explore the legends and science surrounding dragons from countries such as China, Japan, Mesopotamia, and the United Kingdom.
Dragon Quest V
It later had an enhanced remake only in Japan for the PlayStation 2 in 2004; which was developed by ArtePiazza and Matrix Software. Another remake was made for the Nintendo DS, which released in Japan in July 2008 and worldwide in February 2009, marking the first time the game had officially released in English. In addition, ports for Android and iOS were released in Japan in December 2014, and worldwide the following month.
Theatrhythm Dragon Quest
"Theatrhythm Dragon Quest" was first announced at Jump Festa 2015 on December 10, 2014, with a playable demo. A trial version was released on March 11, and a smartphone app called "Intro Quiz Battle" was released on March 20, 2015. The app has players listen to songs from "Dragon Quest" titles and answer questions about the games. The app was shut down on April 30, 2015.
Dragon Quest
"Dragon Quest" manga began publication in "Weekly Shōnen Jump" in 1989. Based on the world of "Dragon Quest", Riku Sanjo's "" was created as a two-chapter short-story entitled "Derupa! Iruiru!". Its success led to the three-chapter sequel, "Dai Bakuhatsu!!!", which set the framework for a later serialization spanning 37 volumes.
Dragon Quest XI
"Dragon Quest XI" continues the gameplay of previous games in the series, in which players explore worlds and fight against various monsters, including the ability to explore high areas. The Nintendo 3DS version features a different style to the other versions, showcasing 3D graphics on the top screen and 16-bit styled sprites on the bottom screen. Before entering battle, players can also toggle between the 3D and 2D graphical styles at any time. Like with "Dragon Quest IX", on land the game's battle system features no random encounters and shows all enemies on the overworld. The battle system also adds a free-form camera option inspired by the MMORPG "Dragon Quest X" that allows players to move around the enclosed battlefield, although it is purely visual and provides no other benefits to gameplay.
Dragon Quest (video game)
Enix remade "Dragon Quest" and "Dragon Quest II" for a one-cartridge compilation known as "Dragon Quest I + II" for the Super Famicom on December 18, 1993. The remake sold over 1.2 million copies in Japan. In 1998, Enix released "BS Dragon Quest" for the Super Famicom Satellaview extension exclusively in Japan. The latter consisted of four one-hour scenarios which players would download on a weekly schedule. Players were tasked with leveling their character, collecting medals and completing scenario-specific conditions with special events designed to occur under specific conditions in real-time.
Dragon Quest VI
This "Dragon Quest", similar to "Dragon Quest III" and "Dragon Quest VII", has a class system. Once the party gets to Alltrades Abbey, they have the option of becoming one of several starter classes. Each class has eight levels, which are gained by winning a specific number of battles (unlike character levels, which are gained by earning experience points), and advancing in level teaches a character new spells and / or skills, which are retained across class changes. Once a character has mastered a specific set of two or three starter classes, they can change into a hybrid class that builds on their themes; for example, mastering Warrior and Martial Artist unlocks the Gladiator Class, which learns powerful physical attacks, and mastering certain hybrid classes unlocks the Hero class. Some of the classes give special bonuses beyond their stats and abilities such as the Merchant who gives a small bonus to the party's income after every battle, or the Sage who receives a discount to MP costs. To master a class, the character must fight a set number of battles as that class. Once certain hybrid classes are mastered, a stat relating to that class will permanently go up. There are two secret classes as well, Dragon (Hackasaurus) and Liquid Metal Slime, which are unlockable through consumable books. Dragon Quest VI was the first game in the series to include (special attacks and other techniques that are not spells and usually do not cost MP) for human party members. These special techniques were added to the remakes of III, IV and V later on.
Dragon Quest X
"Dragon Quest X" is one of the few "Dragon Quest" games that has not received a release in the West, despite fan demand. When asked in 2014 whether they would like to localize the game, the lead staff said they would "love to". In multiple interviews, staff have outlined the problems with localizing the title: the two main issues are the amount of text, and technical issues related to the servers and other elements involved in operating an MMORPG over multiple regions. A later interview at the 2016 Electronic Entertainment Expo revealed that Square Enix was testing the waters for the possible localization of "Dragon Quest X" and "Dragon Quest XI" with the recent Western 3DS releases of "Dragon Quest VII" and "Dragon Quest VIII", in addition to new releases such as "" and "Dragon Quest Builders". In 2016, Square Enix stated that if enough fans demanded it, they would make efforts to bring "Dragon Quest X" overseas. That same year, a Chinese language version for Windows was localized for China.
Dragon Quest III
The manga series, , was written by Chiaki Kawamata and Junji Koyanagi with artwork by Kamui Fujiwara and was published in "Monthly Shōnen Gangan" from 1991 through 1997. The series was later compiled into for 21 volumes published by Enix; in 1994 it was released on CD and was released for the PlayStation Portable on December 11, 2009 as part of manga distribution library. In 1996 an anime movie based on the manga was released on video cassette.
History of Eastern role-playing video games
In 2004, "Dragon Quest VIII" was released and became the first game in the "Dragon Quest" series to have 3D graphics and voice acting. In 2005, "Kingdom Hearts II" was released, which solidified the "Kingdom Hearts" series as the new JRPG series. In 2006, "Final Fantasy XII" was released. It was the first "Final Fantasy" game to have enemies on the field, seamless battle transitions, an open world, a controllable camera and customizable AI. When it was released it became the first "Final Fantasy" game to get a perfect score from "Famitsu Weekly" magazine.
Mystery Dungeon
Mystery Dungeon is a series of roguelike video games, most of which were developed by Chunsoft (later Spike Chunsoft), with select titles in the series developed by other companies with Chunsoft's permission. The series began when co–creator of "Dragon Quest", Koichi Nakamura, was inspired by a fellow developer's experience with the video game "Rogue" and a desire to create an original series. The franchise has had games across different platforms, starting on the Super Famicom, and later on, among others, the Game Boy, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Wii, and the Nintendo 3DS.
Digital 3D
In July 1995, Nintendo released the Virtual Boy, built around a 3D viewer held closely to users' eyes, acting like a pair of goggles. Both left and right eye images were red, and put strain on players' eyes; the system was a failure and was discontinued the following year. In December 2008, several third party developers for the PlayStation 3 announced they would work toward bringing Stereoscopic 3D gaming to major gaming consoles using their own technology. In the coming months, both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 will be capable of 3D imaging via 3D TV and system/hardware updates. On June 15, 2010 at the E3 Expo, Nintendo unveiled the Nintendo 3DS, the successor to the Nintendo DS series of handheld consoles. It is the first gaming console to allow 3D viewing without the need for 3D glasses or an equivalent.
Role-playing video game
The earliest RPG on a console was "Dragonstomper" on the Atari 2600 in 1982. Another early RPG on a console was "Bokosuka Wars", originally released for the Sharp X1 computer in 1983 and later ported to the MSX in 1984, the NES in 1985 and the Sharp X68000 as "New Bokosuka Wars". The game laid the foundations for the tactical role-playing game genre, or "simulation RPG" genre as it is known in Japan. It was also an early example of a real-time, action role-playing game. In 1986, Chunsoft created the NES title "Dragon Quest" (called "Dragon Warrior" in North America until the ), which drew inspiration from computer RPG's "Ultima" and "Wizardry" and is regarded as the template for future Japanese role-playing video games released since then.
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker
Developed by behind the scenes game developer TOSE, "Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker" is the first "Dragon Quest" game to feature Wi-Fi capabilities. Yuji Horii, famous for leading the development for all of the "Dragon Quest" games, added new gameplay elements to this installment, such as "scouting" for monsters. Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball, also returned for "Joker", creating the visuals for the game in his unique style. Completing the "Dragon Quest" team, Koichi Sugiyama composed the soundtrack for "Joker".
Dragon Quest
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 Quest"s 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 booklets' artwork was altered, the setting and poses remained virtually identical.
Dragon Quest
The first four "Dragon Quest" installments were released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan and North America. The first two installments were released in Japan on NES and ported that same year to the MSX; all four games have been remade for newer systems. "Dragon Quest" was first released in Japan on May 27, 1986, and in North America as "Dragon Warrior" in August 1989. "Dragon Quest II Akuryō no Kamigami" was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1990 as "". "Dragon Quest III Soshite Densetsu e..." was released in Japan in 1989 and North America as "Dragon Warrior III" in 1992. "" was released in Japan in 1990 and in North America in 1992 as "Dragon Warrior IV". A 2001 Japanese PlayStation remake of "Dragon Warrior IV" scheduled for the North American market was never released. The Nintendo DS remake of "Dragon Quest IV" was released in North America, Europe, and Australia under its original translated title; the European release removed the number from the title.
Dragon Quest Wars
A trademark for "Dragon Quest Wars" was filed by Square Enix on April 28, 2009. The game was developed by Intelligent Systems as part of a collaboration between Nintendo and Square Enix for Intelligent Systems to design six video games for Square Enix on the DSiWare service. As with most other games in the "Dragon Quest" franchise, development on "Dragon Wars" was supervised by Yūji Horii, while Akira Toriyama and Koichi Sugiyama fulfilled their respective duties as character designer and composer. Producer Taichi Inuzuka states that has long been his hope to create simulation game(strategy game) with "Dragon Quest". The developers wanted to design a game to "convey the fun of simulation games and to provide a gateway to users who’ve never played simulation games." Intelligent Systems previously developed popular simulation titles for Nintendo including the "Wars" and "Fire Emblem" series.
Oakhurst, California
The pioneering computer game developer Sierra On-Line was based in Oakhurst from 1981 to 1999. The company achieved many industry firsts, including the development of the first 3D adventure game ("King's Quest", 1984) and one of the first online gaming networks ("The Sierra Network", 1989).
Dragon Quest
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 "" 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 "" 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 PlayStation 2, titled Fushigi no Dungeon 3 Torneko no Daibouken. The second and third Torneko games have had remakes for the Game Boy Advance (GBA). A later game featured Yangus, a character who first appeared in "Dragon Quest VIII"; "" 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.
Dragon Quest VIII
"Dragon Quest VIII" was the first game in the series to bear the "Dragon Quest" name (rather than "Dragon Warrior") in North America. "Dragon Quest"'s North American name had been changed due to a trademark conflict with the pen-and-paper role-playing game "DragonQuest", published by wargame publisher Simulation Publications in the 1980s, until the company's bankruptcy in 1982 and purchase by TSR, Inc., which then published it as an alternate line to "Dungeons & Dragons" until 1987. In 2003, Square Enix registered the "Dragon Quest" trademark in the US, making the "Dragon Warrior" name obsolete. As this installment of the series was the first after 2003 to be released outside Japan, it was the first to receive the "Quest" in its title.
Dragon Quest III
As with the other main games in the "Dragon Quest" series, "Dragon Quest III"s scenario was designed by Yuji Horii, whereas the artwork was done by Akira Toriyama, of "Dragon Ball" fame. Koichi Sugiyama composed all the music for "Dragon Quest III". Chunsoft president Koichi Nakamura, co-creator of "Dragon Quest", stated he contributed about "10%" of the games programming. The game was released a year after the original, a longer period of development than its predecessor, and reflected the ever-lengthening game development process of the series. Yuji Horii, in a 1989 interview, said that developers had perfected the series' game structure in "Dragon Quest III", and this was reflected by the transition from one character's quest to a party of heroes. The password system used on the first two "Dragon Quest" titles was dropped in favor of a save slot due in part to Horii's dislike of the long codes that players needed to memorize or record . Horii had a policy of removing any features from his games that had been used elsewhere, which turned out to be unworkable during "Dragon Quest III"s development when the game's world map concept was used first by another game maker in "Mirai Shinwa Jarvas", but Horii's team was too far into development to change anything. Horii also preferred a silent protagonist to make the player feel like they have become the main character, but at one point in the story, Horii was forced to make the hero shout, "Leave him to us! Run! Quick!"
Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon
"Torneko" was developed by Chunsoft, the developers for the first five "Dragon Quest" games. It was the first game in the "Mystery Dungeon" series of roguelike games, of which over 25 have been produced, including 5 "Dragon Quest" spinoffs. A PAL prototype originating in Germany was unearthed, proving that it was far in development.
Dragon Quest X
"Dragon Quest X" is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), where a customized player character travels the world of Astoltia completing quests and fighting monsters. While starting out as a human character, the player character is later transferred into the body of one of five available tribes: the powerful Ogre, the inquisitive Puklipo, the aquatic Weddie, the forest-dwelling Elves, and the mining Dwarfs. Humans populate multiple settlements across Astoltia. Later versions added an additional Dragon race. The game utilizes cloud storage for save files and other game data. As with most MMORPGs, "Dragon Quest X" requires a subscription fee to access, however there is a daily two-hour window dubbed "Kid's Time" where players can access and play the game free of charge.
Dragon Quest III
The first three "Dragon Quest" games are part of the same story, and "Dragon Warrior III" is the first game chronologically, as well as the third game that features the hero Erdrick (Loto in the Japanese releases and Game Boy Color localization). The story follows "the Hero" who is tasked with saving the world from the archfiend Baramos. Gathering a group of companions into a party, the Hero must travel the world, stopping at various towns and locations, and find his way to the Demon Lord Baramos's lair.
Theatrhythm Dragon Quest
"Theatrhythm Dragon Quest" features 65 songs selected from "Dragon Quest I" to "X", all composed by Koichi Sugiyama. Additional songs were released via the Nintendo eShop on the Nintendo 3DS as downloadable content.
Dragon Quest III
"Dragon Quest III" is noted for greatly expanding upon the gameplay of the original "Dragon Quest" and "Dragon Quest II". The game uses basic role-playing video game conventions such as leveling up by gaining experience points and equipping items. The battle system is turn-based like the other games in the series, though the remakes incorporate various interface changes from later titles. These include simpler door opening, a bag to store items instead of keeping them at a bank, quick item sorting with "Tidy Item" and "Tidy Bag" command, and a "Full HP" command to automate the process of casting healing and status restoring spells. And while earlier "Dragon Quest" games were non-linear in structure, "Dragon Quest III" featured an even more open-world experience. It also allowed the player to freely swap characters in and out of their party and introduced the day/night cycle in which certain items, characters, and quests are only accessible at specific times of the day.
Dragon's Crown
"Dragon's Crown" was first announced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles by representatives of Ignition Entertainment, who revealed that they would also be localizing the English-language version of the title. The game, developed for the PlayStation 3, represents the first HD video game developed by Vanillaware, previously known for their work on standard-definitiontitles such as "Odin Sphere" for the PlayStation 2 and "" for the Wii. It was also produced simultaneously for the PlayStation Vita handheld system, which Ignition claimed would not be a "scaled-down version" and would contain the "same fluid hand-drawn animation, blazing special effects, and haunting soundtrack" as the PlayStation 3 release.