Dragon Quest IX Not a JRPG, Says Producer

[Logan Westbrook]

Dragon Quest IX Not a JRPG, Says Producer

Dragon Quest IX's producer says the game took inspiration from some very Western titles.

Don't let the anime art style fool you, Dragon Quest IX [http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Quest-IX-Sentinels-Nintendo-DS/dp/B002I0EH6I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1278669159&sr=8-1 ] isn't a JRPG, at least not according to producer Ryutaro Ichimura. Instead, he said, it had much more in common with Western RPGs.

"We have no recognition that Dragon Quest IX is a part of the so-called JRPG genre, unless you mean all the RPGs created in Japan are JRPGs," Ichimura said.

Ichimura said that the game was different from previous Dragon Quest titles, as it had a focus on multiplayer, and a quest system that will feel very familiar to a lot of people: "The quest system was inspired by The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which I played many times. And I would like to reference Diablo as the title which inspired our thinking about how we can maintain player's motivations."

Dragon Quest IX was released in Japan in July 2009 and sold over two million copies in its first weekend. The game is due to be released in the US on July 11th, and in Europe on July 23rd.


Source: Game Informer [http://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2010/07/08/dragon-quest-ix-inspired-by-oblivion-and-diablo.aspx]

Permalink

 

[Eric the Orange]

Er, well, I can't pass judgment until I play the game. But that does bring up the topic of what the difference is between a JRPGs and WRPGs. When I think think WRPG I think more free form, as in choices in dialog, player creation, the idea being to try and emulate PnP RPGs. Where as JRPGs are more like reading a book or watching a movie in that you have no control over the characters actions or decisions outside of combat.

That being said most people identify the difference by the art style, which DQ9 is decidedly in the Japanese realm of things. Whether they would be correct in assuming this is not for me to say, but my definition is more of the one above.

 

[GloatingSwine]

DQ9 does look very interesting. And whilst the producer might not think it's a JRPG, where Dragon Quest goes, JRPGs tend to follow...

 

[kingcom]

So the whole freedom of choice thing that western rpgs are about? Yea, thats not here...

 

[JediMB]

I'd think it'd be more honest to say that they've tried to reinvent JRPGs, in part by importing popular elements from WRPGs.

 

[GloatingSwine]

So the whole freedom of choice thing that western rpgs are about? Yea, thats not here...

To be accurate though, it's not in most western RPGs either. There might be more plot irrelevant side content, and you might get the occasional choice between rescuiong a kitten from a tree or setting fire to the tree because you like your kitten barbecued, but there aren't really a lot of games that deliver on the whole meaningful choice thing, and the last one that did, Alpha Protocol, everyone hated.

 

[Dorian Cornelius Jasper]

So the whole freedom of choice thing that western rpgs are about? Yea, thats not here...

The best Western RPGs are about that, but even then only to a point. More often than not, the choices you're given tend to be little better than window-dressing or superfluous in modern games.

Of course, it's your choice whether or not you want to consider Oblivion or Diablo true RPGs.

 

[Ponchponcho]

I think this is just a growing trend by many in game development that "JRPG" is becoming a dirty word, to a lot of people it just means, bizarre character design, bland story and frustrating combat. Of course that's not always the case but publishers want to avoid looking it at all cost.

 

[GeneticallyModifiedDucks]

It's most certainly interesting. I guess I know with what I'll be killing time with before Starcraft II launches

 

[More Fun To Compute]

I guess that game creators do not like their games to be pigeon holed in a way that lets people look down their noses at them without understanding them. Dragon Quest is so popular in Japan that I expect that fans look at it's niche status in the west in the same "are they racist or wot" way that xbox fanatics look at games like Halo in Japan.

 

[unacomn]

Does it have: a non linear story or that at least makes sense, characters that don't look like 10 year old kids, non turn-based 3 character party combat and a game world that makes sense?

If it has any two of those, it's an RPG, if not, it's a JRPG.

 

[For.I.Am.Mad]

They always say this.

 

[Aurgelmir]

So the whole freedom of choice thing that western rpgs are about? Yea, thats not here...

The best Western RPGs are about that, but even then only to a point. More often than not, the choices you're given tend to be little better than window-dressing or superfluous in modern games.

Of course, it's your choice whether or not you want to consider Oblivion or Diablo true RPGs.

Oblivion yes, Diablo no.

Diablo is more of a hack and slasher with RPGelements... and seriously stat building is but a part of an RPG, which almost every game borrows from these days

 

[LeonLethality]

They always say this.

When did they say this before?

 

[Jandau]

"The quest system was inspired by The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion..."

Sooo... poorly written, shallow and pointless?

If you're going to model your RPG after some western influences, at least pick some good ones...

 

[kingcom]

So the whole freedom of choice thing that western rpgs are about? Yea, thats not here...

The best Western RPGs are about that, but even then only to a point. More often than not, the choices you're given tend to be little better than window-dressing or superfluous in modern games.

Of course, it's your choice whether or not you want to consider Oblivion or Diablo true RPGs.

Diablo no, its a hack and slash. Oblivion is a sandbox rpg, even then emphasising the freedom to go where you want aspect.

 

[Pipotchi]

"The quest system was inspired by The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion..."

Sooo... poorly written, shallow and pointless?

If you're going to model your RPG after some western influences, at least pick some good ones...

Zing! Oh no he didnt!

Good point though I can remember bugger all about the quests and characters in Oblivion and I put 100 hours into that game

 

[Googenstien]

The game is getting a huge marketing push too.. best buy and gamespot had special booklets and flyers about the game all over the place.

I do think it looks interesting, even tho I hate the DS but I might steal my daughters and pick the game up