Dragon Quest IX screens come to town

by JC Fletcher { Nov 20th 2008 at 6:00PM }

Square Enix has released new screens of Dragon Quest IX for the first time in what seems like forever. And it looks really great, of course, like a handheld continuation of what Level-5 did with Dragon Quest VIII.

The day-night cycle from previous Dragon Quests returns, as does the more accurately-scaled world map from the last game. You can see the monsters roaming around and avoid them rather than getting stuck in random battles. This is, of course, great for getting yourself back to an inn, and terrible for forcing yourself to level-grind.

But it's the town environments that really impress us. The town screenshots, both external and inside shops, have a very warm, inviting look about them. We can only hope this game actually comes out in March so we can get an English version sooner!

Gallery: Dragon Quest IX

Tags: dragon-quest, dragon-quest-ix, level-5, rpg, square-enix

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

atastysammich @ Nov 20th 2008 6:36PM

Having had some intimate time with the Dragon Quest IV remake, I'll be checking these screens out much more optimistically than I would have when I first heard the news that SquareEnix caved to peer pressure and made IX the standard turn-based dealy!

darksage @ Nov 20th 2008 7:34PM

The open world map was one of the things I really liked about Dragon Quest VIII. Kind of like an MMO world. Great to see DQIX looks to be similar.

Gewurz Man got equipped with... Guitar Hero! @ Nov 20th 2008 9:28PM

With DQVIII being my first in the series, I'm still disappointed that IX won't be back on PS2 or even the Wii (an SE RPG on the Wii? crazy talk, I know).

However, I just got DQIV in the mail from that Amazon sale so I'll soon find out how a DS DQ fares. I'm sure that's all it'll take to convince me otherwise.

Matt @ Nov 20th 2008 10:43PM

Getting into random battles is all about leveling up! What would an RPG be without the battles and leveling up?

chispito @ Nov 20th 2008 11:00PM

Hey series fans, I've never played any of the entries, and only have limited exposure to FF games. Tell me why I should be excited about this one, besides the stellar graphics (even if I'm not a fan of the DBZ guy's style).

Gewurz Man got equipped with... Guitar Hero! @ Nov 21st 2008 5:59AM

All I know is VIII was really good. So I would actually say to try that one (if you have a PS2) and then decide if you want more. It's only $20 or half that if you're ok with used GameStop games.

Your limited exposure to FF games may be to your benefit as there are subtle differences in the battle mechanics and it took me some time to adjust after years of playing FF.