Dragon Quest X: Rise of the Five Tribes (Wii/Wii U Online RPG)

[Sméagol]

I never was a fan of the artstyle, but this sounds too good too pass up. Consider me interested.

[Burny]

I'm so glad I repurchased a Wii yesterday.

 

As I said above: I wouldn't be surprised if we never saw the Wii-version released in the West, simply because the WiiU might have been out for a while by the time a translation would be done.

 

On another note: GET XENOBLADE!

[Sheikah]

The slight worry I have is that because it also has a confirmed Wii version that the game might graphically look as good as the worst (Wii) version, even on the Wii U version. Except maybe in HD. And while graphics aren't everything, it's hard not to notice that Xenoblade (while incredibly awesome) is lagging about 10 years behind graphically after playing games on the PS3.

 

The reason I think this is due to one of the crystal chronicles games on Wii and DS. I played the DS version, but as I recall from some gameplay videos the Wii version practically looked the same. They could make the two versions graphically very different but that seems like a lot of effort? I don't know, but that screenshot looked quite poor.

 

I realise this post sounds like a huge downer on the graphics but I firmly believe that games shouldn't be limited by hardware; ie. they should be able to excel in all aspects, be it story, graphics, music, gameplay, to form the perfect package.

[killer kirby]

I don't know, but that screenshot looked quite poor.

 

Funny you say that, since DQ first pic always look shit

 

 

 

ie. they should be able to excel in all aspects, be it story, graphics, music, gameplay, to form the perfect package.

 

Pfft, then it shouldn't even go onto the 360 or the PS3 then, should be on the PC...as a matter of fact all games should be on the PC now.

[Grazza]

From Hero of Time's info:

 

- Massive world and story that builds on the foundations of DQ9's ideas

- Visible equipment

 

Good stuff. I'd say IX was just about the best, gameplay-wise. I'm still playing it and haven't found a game I like as much since.

 

- For those who play alone there will be NPCs who can be recruited into the party and driven by AI

- There are battle transitions, and the combat commands at menu based, but the player only controls his/her character

 

This actually sounds far less tactical. It sounds real-time, like Xenoblade or Final Fantasy XII, neither of which I like very much. When you are controlling a whole party, turn-based for everyone is the only way to go. There's no way you can control everyone in real-time (or the computer do it, like this) without losing strategy.

 

Still, as long as there is not a time limit for my actions, I'm not too bothered.

 

- There could be a feature where characters can be transferred onto the 3DS and shared with other players using Streetpass

 

Hope they go through with this.

 

I wonder why that's the only official (?) screenshot so far. It's definitely unflattering in a typical MMO-town-groupshot sort of way.

 

I agree. Not as good as VIII, so let's hope it gets a real boost on the Wii U:

 

 

Wonder where Grazza and Ike are? Died from a heart attack or something?

 

Wasn't expecting this until tonight.

 

Anyway, this is great news, it's made my day. Just the thought that I can play this in HD with traditional controls has really set my mind at ease. HD is the main thing for me, because anything with menus looks very blurry to me on my SD TV.

 

I do agree with Sheikah, but this has been in development for so long on Wii, I have resigned myself to a Wii-level design. Dragon Quest VIII looks vastly better than Xenoblade to me, so if they can get DQX looking as good as that, but in HD, I'll be very happy indeed.

 

If this is released in Europe on Wii, I'll get it, but I'd be happy if it's only released on Wii U. I guarantee I'll have the Wii U and HDTV ready just for this!

[Ganepark32]

The reason I think this is due to one of the crystal chronicles games on Wii and DS. I played the DS version, but as I recall from some gameplay videos the Wii version practically looked the same. They could make the two versions graphically very different but that seems like a lot of effort? I don't know, but that screenshot looked quite poor.

 

With regards to the Crystal Chronicles games, the Wii and DS games were exactly the same games with cross platform connectivity between the two which is why the Wii version looked like a higer resolution version of the DS game. That's probably what'll happen with the Wii and WiiU versions of DQX.

 

------------------------------------

 

With this coming out next year in Japan and there being a beta for it, I wouldn't put it passed Square-Enix not to get it to market until Summer at the earliest (although it'll probably be later than that). Beta around December/January and potential release around June/July is feasible in Japan. But that potential timetable for the game just in Japan does ask questions on whether or not both the Wii and WiiU versions will come to the US and Europe.

 

Given Nintendo's presence at the conference, it's safe to assume that they'll be taking up publishing efforts in the West and unless they're working on the translation alongside the Japanese version, it could be very late 2012/early 2013 until the Wii version comes out in the West. By then, the WiiU will be out (could have been out for 6 months or so) and it won't make sense to release it on the Wii. So yeah, I'm a bit skeptical about the Wii version getting released here. Think in the end, it'll only be the WiiU version.

 

Have seen people questioning the cross platform play, with people moaning that it means friend codes are still in place. Nonsense. It'll probably use a setup similar to that used in Monster Hunter Tri and you'll simply have to connect to a server/create a server for you and your friends to play on. Makes the most sense and wouldn't require a friend code but rather a unique online tag for each player in a gamer list or something.

[Dcubed]

Oh dear. Just read a translation on GAF from the Japanese Dragon Quest website that states that there is no offline single player mode. You HAVE to play online!

 

Not happy, not happy at all

[Sheikah]

Funny you say that, since DQ first pic always look shit

 

Pfft, then it shouldn't even go onto the 360 or the PS3 then, should be on the PC...as a matter of fact all games should be on the PC now.

 

Disagree, I think DQVIII looked great for its time; it really gave that sense of immersion in the world. That and the graphical style suited it really well.

 

Regarding PC, PS3 games like Uncharted 2 show that you can still achieve great results on home consoles. The gap between PC and PS360 isn't so great that it particularly bothers me (both play games in HD, both push out games of similar quality graphically). But I can't say the same for Wii, unfortunately.

I just would prefer it to be on a console that doesn't limit its potential.

Edited September 5, 2011 by Sheikah

[darksnowman]

Well isn't this interesting. I just watched the ten minutes of footage while having my dinner there and it looks graphically very smooth and colourful. Mechanics wise, I'm none the wiser to how they are expecting to pull this off but I'm fully intrigued. Its risky but we all knew in the back of our minds that this would happen after the style of DQ IX.

 

For the Wii U version I want them to stream the whole game to the controller.

 

The slight worry I have is that because it also has a confirmed Wii version that the game might graphically look as good as the worst (Wii) version, even on the Wii U version. Except maybe in HD. And while graphics aren't everything, it's hard not to notice that Xenoblade (while incredibly awesome) is lagging about 10 years behind graphically after playing games on the PS3.

 

This is where you've been going wrong.

[Hero-of-Time]

With many a fan kicking off Masahiro Sakurai, president of Sora and chief creative force behind Smash Bros has responded to the protests.

 

"After hearing that it's online, the number of people who say the classic style Dragon Quest would be better is probably not low. However, in a game industry where evolution and sudden changes are tolerated, even considered expected, just treading the same path would be be troubling. It's being made by people who've made sound titles in the past, so I'm greatly looking forward to it."

[Nolan]

Disagree, I think DQVIII looked great for its time; it really gave that sense of immersion in the world. That and the graphical style suited it really well.

 

I think what he was trying to say is the the first in game image always looks worse than the final product, not that VIII looked bad.

[Debug Mode]

As I said above: I wouldn't be surprised if we never saw the Wii-version released in the West, simply because the WiiU might have been out for a while by the time a translation would be done.

 

On another note: GET XENOBLADE!

 

Funny you should say that, it's the reason I bought one haha. Got the last limited edition in my town.

 

But yeah, you have a point about that though. Nintendo themselves like to publish DQ games in Europe so it would be a killer app to get the RPG crowd to make the transition.

 

Oh well, there's always Last Story and Pandora's Tower to look forward to!

[LostOverThere]

Welp, I was wrong. It is on Wii after all. Awkward.

[Sheikah]

I think what he was trying to say is the the first in game image always looks worse than the final product, not that VIII looked bad.

Even so, there's a limit to how great you can make a Wii game look. And the Wii U version will probably be roughly the same as that.

[Burny]

Even so, there's a limit to how great you can make a Wii game look. And the Wii U version will probably be roughly the same as that.

 

Looking at DQ 8/10's style, I don't see the problem. Highly stylized, cel-shaded or otherwise comic-like graphics don't require tons of geometry to look good. All you have to do is look at Wind Waker or the more stylized Wii games played via dolphin. Not to mention that even the supposedly "high-def" JRPGs this gen look like shit when you happen to inspect the environment too closely:

FXIII-2, FXIII-2, Tales of Xillia.

It's certainly not the console's fault with those games.

 

There is a limit to how great a dev can make a game look. And with DQ10's style, it isn't set by the Wii. If anything with this style, all they have to do to make the WiiU version look great is render it at a high resolution, possibly use higher res textures and have it run at a good framerate.

Edited September 6, 2011 by Burny

[Hero-of-Time]

I can see both sides to this graphics discussion. As stated, the way the art direction is for DQ games ( cartoony ) means that the handheld/console doesn't have to worry about trying to pull off a realistic look. However, if it was on a PS3/360 then I imagine it would look something like this.

 

 

Pretty, ain't it?

 

After the announcement of the game S-E stock plummeted 11%. Not surprising really given S-E's mess with FFXIV, it doesn't promote confidence when announcing their other big franchise is going online.

Edited September 6, 2011 by Hero-of-Time

[Sheikah]

Looking at DQ 8/10's style, I don't see the problem. Highly stylized, cel-shaded or otherwise comic-like graphics don't require tons of geometry to look good. All you have to do is look at Wind Waker or the more stylized Wii games played via dolphin. Not to mention that even the supposedly "high-def" JRPGs this gen look like shit when you happen to inspect the environment too closely:

FXIII-2, FXIII-2, Tales of Xillia.

It's certainly not the console's fault with those games.

 

There is a limit to how great a dev can make a game look. And with DQ10's style, it isn't set by the Wii. If anything with this style, all they have to do to make the WiiU version look great is render it at a high resolution, possibly use higher res textures and have it run at a good framerate.

The counter to this argument is to look at games that use the cell shade style (ie. the same style) but on the HD consoles. For instance, Eternal Sonata, which looks beautiful. I am in agreement that certain styles such as cell shading lend better to lower spec consoles, but the fact is they will always look better on a HD console. I think DQX is being limited in that sense, which is a shame.

[Burny]

I can see both sides to this graphics discussion. As stated, the way the art direction is for DQ games ( cartoony ) means that the handheld/console doesn't have to worry about trying to pull off a realistic look. However, if it was on a PS3/360 then I imagine it would look something like this.

 

 

Pretty, ain't it? .

 

As for that Ni no kuni PS3 game: I'd expect a dedicated dev to be able to pull this off on the Wii with accordingly reduced geometry / textures / lightning /possibly less dynamic animation - without losing the visuals essence, except for the image quality.

 

The only thing there that could really be troubling are wide open landscapes, e.g. when they travel by ship or dragon. However it seems that this is not achieved by seamless transition between a location (town etc.), but rather by switching to a separate "overworld level". In that case, it's also entirely possible on the Wii.

[Sheikah]

Yes it's possible to do, but why not have the game itself without having to limit anything? Why hope something is made worse to appear on a console that's at the end of its life? Seems a bit silly to me.

[Burny]

Yes it's possible to do, but why not have the game itself without having to limit anything? Why hope something is made worse to appear on a console that's at the end of its life? Seems a bit silly to me.

 

Because it's been developed for some years for that very console now - which has probably still the largest install base of current gen home consoles in Japan. Most likely there are agreements between S-E and Nintendo, too.

[Sheikah]

As an investor you are absolutely right. You'd want it to make the maximum amount of money that it can. But as you, a non-investor, why would you wish for someone to make a gimped version? (this applies to both DQ and Ni no kuni)

[Debug Mode]

I'm not sure if it's been noted already, but they are also developing a NES version of DQX

 

Dragon Quest X will be available for Wii and Wii U, and to a lesser extent 3DS. But these aren't the only platforms Square Enix is supporting. According to the Kyoko Shimbun (no relation to the Kyoto Shimbun), the game is also for release on the Famicom. This is the Japanese equivalent of the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System.

 

The site provided first images of the Famicom version.

 

 

The image to the left show a battle party consisting of characters named Enix, Aerith, Cloud and Tifa. The image to the right shows players being prompted to connect to the internet and search for party members.

 

Kyoko's article did not address how Square Enix plans on making a Famicom hook up with the internet. Perhaps this has something to do with the "USB Memory" device that is included with the Wii version?

 

Source here. I am VERY intrigued as this is most likely being released whilst I am hopefully in Japan. I just wonder what the hell they're going to do with this, VC title?

[Ike]

I'm not sure if it's been noted already, but they are also developing a NES version of DQX

 

Source here. I am VERY intrigued as this is most likely being released whilst I am hopefully in Japan. I just wonder what the hell they're going to do with this, VC title?

 

Someone was bored today.

 

Dragon Quest III screenshots...

 

Edited September 6, 2011 by Ike

[Grazza]

OK, I've watched the trailer and all the gameplay footage. Yesterday it was a lot to take in and I was excited. Today, however, I'm much more sceptical. I'm not angry, just disappointed really about what has become of the games industry.

 

Now there are reports that Dragon Quest X will need an internet connection for most of the game. If this is the case, I simply will not play it. This isn't a threat, I just simply will not buy the game, which is a shame considering Dragon Quest had become my favourite series.

 

When I finished Dragon Quest VIII, I was blown away by how much it touched my soul. All I wanted for a sequel was for it to be as good, and in HD. It was very unlikely they could better it, but they could have at least tried. With Level 5 at the time, you had probably the most talented RPG team that had ever existed. To not give them the PS3 to work on, and try to create a Dragon Quest with an ounce as much spirit as VIII was a missed opportunity on a huge scale.

 

I was against the series being put onto the DS. However, IX turned out very well. I'd rather consider it Dragon Quest Portable (a series which I'd like more of) than IX, but it was still a great game. The consolation was that the real series was continuing on consoles. The Wii wasn't my first choice of console, but it at least had a chance of being as good as VIII, even if there wasn't any real chance of it being better.

 

So, we were promised a game more like VIII. It seems, though, that Dragon Quest X is way too online-focused. There is very little chance the characters, story or combat will be as good as VIII. Even so, I would still have bought it if it didn't need an internet connection.

 

Instead, I will buy a PS3 + Ni No Kuni and and just dream about what DQX could have been, hoping that Square Enix see sense and get Level 5 to make Dragon Quest XI for the PS4. One day, I may finally play a game that enchants me as much as DQ VIII, but I fear that will be decades away.

[Burny]

As an investor you are absolutely right. You'd want it to make the maximum amount of money that it can. But as you, a non-investor, why would you wish for someone to make a gimped version? (this applies to both DQ and Ni no kuni)

 

As an investor, I'd probably want S-E to announce that henceforth Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy main series entries are to be iPhone exclusives. Because I wouldn't have the slightest idea about video games.

 

As me, I don't care in the slightest. I see nothing where JRPGs on so called "high-def" systems have evolved beyond anything that was doable last generation. In fact, as it's S-E, not being able to realize their "vision" properly due to lacking processing power is most likely the least of their problems. Not making the game shit seems to be a far more pressing problem for them and going by their track record on "HD"-systems, that's rather unrelated to the platform their games are on. No, I don't care about the resolution, lack of AA, advanced shaders and the likes.

 

If it helps them to get away from horribly overused cliches, hair-raisingly over-engineered stories, random battles and androgynous characters in their early teens with eyes like ponds, they can make it into a text adventure for all I care.

 

I should also add that - after playing through IV - I don't care much for Dragon Quest to begin with. I liked the style, how the story is rather down to earth for JRPGs and the simple battle system. I strongly disliked the amount of grinding I had to do and the random battles could drive me up a wall. On the other hand, I'm loving Xenoblade and while I might consider an HD-remake of that for the WiiU I wouldn't enjoy the game any more or less for it.

 

Now there are reports that Dragon Quest X will need an internet connection for most of the game. If this is the case, I simply will not play it. This isn't a threat, I just simply will not buy the game, which is a shame considering Dragon Quest had become my favourite series.

So you haven't heard about the monthly fee, yet?

Edited September 6, 2011 by Burny