Dragon Quest Xi Key

0 views

Skip to first unread message

Rene Seiler

unread,

Aug 3, 2024, 3:34:19 PM8/3/24

to adtomeduff

Dragon Quest,[a] previously published as Dragon Warrior in North America until 2005,[b] is a series of role-playing games created by Japanese game designer Yuji Horii (Armor Project), character designer Akira Toriyama (Bird Studio), and composer Koichi Sugiyama (Sugiyama Kobo) and published by Square Enix (formerly Enix). Since its inception, development of games in the series have been outsourced to a plethora of external companies until the tenth installment, with localized remakes and ports of later installments for the Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo Switch being published by Nintendo outside of Japan. With its first game published in 1986, there are eleven main-series games, along with numerous spin-off games. In addition, there have been numerous manga, anime and novels published under the franchise, with nearly every game in the main series having a related adaptation.

The series introduced a number of features to the genre and has had a significant impact on the development of other role-playing games. Installments of the series have appeared on various computers, consoles, handheld devices, and mobile phones. Early in the series, the Dragon Quest games were released under the title Dragon Warrior in North America to avoid trademark conflict with the unrelated tabletop role-playing game DragonQuest. Square Enix did not register the Dragon Quest trademark for use in the United States until 2002.

The basic premise of most Dragon Quest games is to play a hero (actually named "Hero" in spinoff fiction, but in some games, the player is able to name their hero) who is out to save the land from peril at the hands of a powerful evil enemy, with the hero usually accompanied by a group of party members. Common elements persist throughout the series and its spinoff games: turn-based combat; recurring monsters, including the Slime, which became the series' mascot; a text-based menu system; and random encounters in most of the main series.

All games in the series as of 2024 involve scenario writer and game designer Yuji Horii, and prior to their deaths, character designer Akira Toriyama and music composer Koichi Sugiyama have handled their respective roles on most games in the series. The original concepts, used since the first game, took elements from the Western role-playing games Wizardry and Ultima. A core philosophy of the series is to make the gameplay intuitive so that players can easily start playing the games. The series features a number of religious overtones which were heavily censored in the NES versions outside of Japan.

The first installment of the franchise was released in Japan on May 27, 1986, titled with the name "Dragon Quest" followed by a Roman numeral. Since 1986, the franchise has featured eleven games within the main series, as well as several spin-off games, and also two animated productions.

The first four Dragon Quest installments were released for the Famicom and Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan and North America, respectively. The first two installments were released in Japan on the Famicom 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.[1][2] Dragon Quest II Akuryō no Kamigami was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1990 as Dragon Warrior II. Dragon Quest III Soshite Densetsu e... was released in Japan in 1989 and North America as Dragon Warrior III in 1992. Dragon Quest IV 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.[1][3] 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.[1]

Two games were released for the Super Famicom: Dragon Quest V in 1992 and Dragon Quest VI in 1995; both have been re-released on newer systems.[1] Dragon Quest V was originally scheduled for release in North America but was canceled amid rumors that Enix had given up on the American market. No official reason was ever given.[1][4] The Nintendo DS remakes were released in North America with Dragon Quest V also being released in Europe and Australia, the latter without the numbering.[5][6] One game was released for the PS1: Dragon Quest VII: Eden no Senshi-tachi in 2000 in Japan and 2001 in North America under the title Dragon Warrior VII.[1] Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King was released for the PlayStation 2 in 2004 in Japan,[1] 2005 in North America, and 2006 in Europe and Australia,[7] again without the number in the title for Europe. Dragon Quest VIII was the first game in the series to be released in North America under the title of Dragon Quest, and the first European release of a main series game.[8][9] Dragon Quest IX, the only game in the series initially released on the Nintendo DS, was originally released in 2009 in Japan, and in 2010 in North America, Europe, and Australia.[10] Dragon Quest X was announced for the Wii in December 2008.[11] In September 2011, Square Enix announced that Dragon Quest X would also be released on the Wii U, with Nintendo 3DS connectivity.[12] It is the first MMORPG in the series, and the only numbered Dragon Quest game not released outside Japan.[13] Dragon Quest XI was released in Japan on July 29, 2017, and worldwide on September 4, 2018.[14]

Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate was announced in 2021.[15] According to Horii, the game will have a darker tone, feature more meaningful choices, and overhaul the traditional Dragon Quest turn-based combat.[16] The game will also be the first mainline game released after Koichi Sugiyama's and Akira Toriyama's deaths.

The franchise includes several spin-off games, including the Dragon Quest Monsters RPG. The series has also inspired arcade games such as the Japanese Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road, where players compete for real-life cards with monster data that the arcade game issues to the players through a slot on its front. The latter is the only spin-off series to have none of its titles released outside Japan.[17][18][19][20][21][22] The Mystery Dungeon and Itadaki Street series use characters and other elements from Dragon Quest games, and the Mystery Dungeon series has gone on to spawn its own franchise.[23]

In 1993 Chunsoft developed a SNES game that included Torneko (a.k.a. Torneko Taloon), a character that first appeared in Dragon Quest IV.[24] The roguelike game Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon 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.[25] In 2000 the direct sequel Torneko: The Last Hope 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.[26] The game sold enough copies in Japan to allow development of the second direct sequel on the PlayStation 2, Fushigi no Dungeon 3 Torneko no Daibouken.[27] The second and third Torneko games have had remakes for the Game Boy Advance (GBA).[28] A later game featured Yangus, a character who first appeared in Dragon Quest VIII; Dragon Quest: Young Yangus and the Mystery Dungeon follows Yangus on his adventures before he meets up with Hero in the aforementioned game.[29] The success of Torneko no Daibōken spawned the Mystery Dungeon series that has grown to include franchises beyond Dragon Quest.[30][31]

When Enix took over the Monopoly-inspired video game series 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.[32][33] The first Itadaki Street, released by ASCII, did not contain elements from the Dragon Quest franchise.[34] 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.[35][36]

Like the main series, Dragon Quest Monsters was originally released under the Dragon Warrior name in the US.[37] 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.[38] Each version has slight differences, such as the monster that appear in them.[39] Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart 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.[40] The release of Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker is the first spin-off title to be released in English using the Dragon Quest name;[41] its sequel Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 was released in North America on September 19, 2011.[42][43] There is also an Android title, Dragon Quest Monsters: Wanted!.[44]

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. Kenshin Dragon Quest: Yomigaerishi Densetsu no Ken is a stand-alone game in which the controller is shaped like a sword, and a toy shield contains the game's hardware.[45] Dragon Quest Swords for the Wii uses the motion sensing Wii Remote as a sword.[46][47] Another spin-off title, Slime Mori Mori Dragon Quest, uses the game's popular slime monster as the protagonist,[48] and its sequel, Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime, has been translated into English.[49] There is also a downloadable DSiWare turn-based strategy game, Dragon Quest Wars[50] and other titles have been released in Japan for cellphones.[51][52] Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below, 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 in North America and Europe in October 2015 as a PlayStation 4 exclusive. It later had a sequel that released on May 17, 2016, in Japan, and later came out in North America and Europe in April 2017 to the PlayStation 4 as well as PC.[53][54] Dragon Quest Builders for the PS4 was released in 2016. It later had a sequel release on July 12, 2019, for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. 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.[55] In September 2019, Dragon Quest Walk, an augmented reality game, was released for Android and iOS mobile phones.[56]