It will have been exactly one year since DragonQuest IX would have been released in Japan that there will be an official English translated one here in the States. People will rejoice and there will be dancing in the streets. There will be the sounding of drums, but will it really be called for? What will the dreaded changes be for this long awaited title?
Well, the cover for one. Now I shouldn't be too surprised about his change as it is customary to change box art when it is regoinalized, but the box art looks so very serious. The characters look super cheesed at something happening just at the area where you open the DS case. Is this because he knows something that we don't? Or is it just because the companies releasing the game thought that this game wouldn't appeal to people if it had a youthful look and of people making merry? I love how companies underestimate their customers.
In Japan, there is a popular feature that allows map trading with others online called 'Tag' mode. It appears that it will have this feature reduced and only work when in local-wireless mode and not just when the DS lid is closed as is the case in Japan. This Reducing the 'Tag' feature to local wireless only isn't much of a setback as that feature is more popular in the densely packed Japan streets, but taking away anything so popular from a game almost feels like neutering it. Otherwise, it seems that the game will be a fairly accurate representation of its rising-sun counterpart.
With more and more people gaming on the go I suppose that it is not a surprise that we are seeing this title being a must-import. Let's just hope that people haven't been too soured by Final Fantasy XIII and want to give an RPG another try. So far, DragonQuest has been a fairly successful series and warrants a following. It found its way into the Guinness Book Of World Records for the most people meeting in the 'Chance Encounter' mode, so let's see if that just builds interest. Being touted as the most difficult of the series won't hurt a bit either.
