Tag Archives: Dragon Quest IX

Finishing up Dragon Quest IX

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So, I’ve beaten the main story in Dragon Quest IX, and I’ll probably be putting up the game for a while.  Some final thoughts.

How were the story and characters?  The story was … just there.  Characters?  What characters?

Dragon Quest games have never really struck me as having strong stories.  DQ9 has yet another silent, not-very-well-developed protagonist – with the additional problem of having a party that’s also silent and not-at-all-developed.  (Heck -your party just disappears and reappears by magic at some points in the game!)

Most of the plot involves doing odd jobs for NPCs in villages and towns – and collecting fruit, after which you beat up on the final bosses.  It’s underwhelming to say the least – and by the time you get to the ending, you’ve all but forgotten the NPCs you see as the credits roll.

Then why play the game at all?

Despite the story and characters being all-but-nonexistent, the game’s still quite a bit of fun.  There’s exploration of a decent-sized world, tons of sidequests (100+), the lure of literally designing your own party, item creation, and plenty of optional bosses.  If the gameplay didn’t work, this one would be on the scrap heap along with failures like Lunar: Dragon Song.

Disturbing …

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Without spoiling too much of the plot of Dragon Quest IX, there’s a par of the game where you (without your party) are transported halfway across the world via a magic flying train, You then are unceremoniously dropped from the sky and are taken in to a village that’s rather hostile to outsiders.  The moment you wake up and can stand … YOUR PARTY IS THERE.

How the heck did they do that?

Currently playing: Dragon Quest IX (Nintendo DS)

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Started a new game on my vacation week – Dragon Quest IX for the Nintendo DS

Good points

  • Paper-doll avatar: Essentially, every piece of gear changes the appearance of your characters.  You can also customize your character’s appearance and gender at the beginning of the game.  These are nice, modern touches in an otherwise very traditional RPG.
  • Lots to do:  DQ IX certainly gives you a ton of things to do, what with alchemy, character classes,  and tons of sidequests.  There might be more, but I haven’t finished the game yet.
  • Serviceable touch controls:  Most stuff is easy to do with the stylus, if that’s what you have handy.  Normal buttons work fine, too…
  • Nice graphics:  This game looks great on the DS XL.  Not PSP-quality graphics, but they are vibrant, good-looking, and get the job done.

Bad points

  • Characters:  You don’t just create your main character  -you create your other party members out of this air as well.  So, while your party members dutifully follow you around towns/dungeons/etc., they are not characters at all – they’re accessories for the main character.  And speaking of the main character, there isn’t much development there, eithe:  silent protagonist, flimsy backstory,  Suffice it to say that DQ IX is not a character-driven RPG.  Even given the “create your own” nature of the characters, the designers could have created – say – small backstories / dialogue for each class.
  • Story:  You could say that DQ IX isn’t really a story-driven RPG, either. I haven’t finished the game, so I can’t pass judgement on the whole story.  However, what has been on offer so far is fairly slow-paced and generic.  There’s just enough story to give you a reason to give the game a reason to exist, but  it’s really the gameplay itself that makes the game entertaining.

Overall (so far)

I’m going to keep playing it.  May not put as many hours into this as I did into Dragon Quest VIII on the PS2, but despite its weaknesses of character and plot – it’s still fun to play.