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Dragon Quest V Remake Hits Big In Japan
Thanks to GamerFeed for its article noting that Square Enix's PlayStation 2 remake of Dragon Quest V has debuted big in Japan, since this previously mentioned SNES remake has already "sold over a million units in just 2 days", additionally helped by "the inclusion of a preview disc of Dragon Quest VIII." The series, known as Dragon Warrior in the States, has never really taken off outside Japan, however: "Dragon Quest VII went on to sell more copies than any other PSOne game in Japan ever. By contrast, Dragon Warrior VII, and the Dragon Warrior series, has never attained more than a small but loyal cult following in the US."
I've been a fan of the DQ/DW series since the first game... it was actually the first RPG I played on the NES. I think the problem with sales in the US is that RPGs never were *incredibly* popular at first anyway. Once FF2 and 3 (4/6) came out on the SNES, even among the niche, the party system of FF had lodged itself in everyone's minds, as well as the variety of travel in its world.
Then came FFVII, and the way it somehow attracted a fairly large crowd of what previously weren't RPG players. By the time we got DQVII, Final Fantasy was far superior, at least if you were looking purely at polycount. The people attracted to eyecandy, and action (the kind of people FF7/8 seem to have appealed to) found the mostly sprite-based (yes, they *were* 3D to an extent) graphics, and slower gameplay of DQVII not to their liking.
Since the series stayed mostly under the radar, I know most of the people I've asked didn't realize there were more than one until VII came out, the fact that the only two games they've tried were both "behind the line" from their perspective is surely not going to help the game stateside.
Regardless, I personally can't wait to play any future releases. This series has been one of my favorites. I quite like the gameplay (and for some reason, Drakees are my favorite critter of all time.)
Dragon Quest VII went on to sell more copies than any other PSOne game in Japan ever. By contrast, Dragon Warrior VII, and the Dragon Warrior series, has never attained more than a small but loyal cult following in the US.
That's probably because the DQ/DW series is about a decade behind the times. I'm not just talking about graphics, either. Fighting the hordes of palette-swapped enemies that DQ subjects you to with the limited amount of innovation that the DQ series has just isn't all that fun anymore.
Rob
Square's 2 strikes:
- Final Fantasy X-2, a DIRECT sequel to an FF game
- Final Fantasy XI being an MMO Bazaar[0]
- Dragon Warrior 8 is their last chance for redemption
Skewing even further off-topic, does anyone know why Square gave up the rights to Xenogears to Namco? Xenosaga is a disappointment. =\[0]I refuse to call it an RPG since no one frickin' roleplays on it! "BUY MY CHEAP ORE!!!" I've decided NOT to pay $13/mo for just another level-grinder... have to destroy the HD now so I have an excuse to return it.
Though, even on the PS2, La Pucelle is comming out in...3 days actually; and that's a quite significant release (sequel to Disgaea).
La Pucelle isn't a sequel to Disgaea, it was created and released before Disgaea in Japan and they're unconnected (though Pucelle is supposed to make a cameo in Disgaea, I haven't seen her).
I liked FFTA as much as my commentary is worth. It wasn't as grand as FFT, but I did like the graphics and battle system. It had its bad points, but I loved it and played it all the way through.
As for the GBA, I am playing Tactics Ogre now, and FE and Mario and Luigi are slated next on my list.
As for Square screwing up FF, yes kinda. FFX-2 is a directy sequely and it's not that great a game, but FFX was a reasonable successor to the FF series. My only major compliant was FF8, which blew hard, but my favorite has been FF6. I was like you, not caring much about a new FF title, but since FF12 is being made by the the team from FFTA and being set in more or less the same world, I'm letting my self get excited about it.
"There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter," Jeeves, (Jeeves and the Impending Doom)
Actually the first set of people who played FFX called it trash, and the rest avoided it for a while; when they finally did play it they were mostly impressed; FFX's sphere grid is something that hasn't been done before, the characters have strong personalities, and the music is quite good. Overall the remaining group of haters still pulls it down a few notches but it has strong redeeming qualities.
What kind of "innovations" do these people want? Pretty eye candy?
Not according to this list because Brigandine and Koudelka are two of the highest-rated here, and Xenogears isn't far off. Tell me those games have good graphics.
Mind-numbing teen-drama storylines?
The games that get praised for their storylines (at least in this group) are more along the lines of Xenogears, Koudelka, FFT, Suikoden 2....
Vapid characters?
You should see how badly people bash Justin (Grandia) and Rinoa (FF8).
Oh, I know... hours and hours of inane mini-games that have nothing to do with the game in general, but they tend to distract the current crop of ADD-infected gamers.
FFT has none (removed when ported from Japan, thank goodness). I didn't see any in the parts of Brigandine I played. None in FF6 from what I've played so far.
Not to mention other GOOD rpgs, like Lunar, Vay, Beyond the Beyond, Xenogears... etc..
I personally regard Lunar as an uninnovative rehash and not really worthwhie, but that's just me. Can't really comment on BtB or Vay having not played them, though.
People love to comment about the "Lack of innovation" in the DQ line, especially compared to FF. I always found that amusing since FF was a knockoff.
Your point? Should we only buy fighting games from Capcom? (Was Capcom even the first?) Should we only buy platform games from...was Activision's Pitfall the first one? *three* Dragon Warriors and even Phantasy Star came out in North America before a single Final Fantasy; you can't claim FF was the first series to be ported giving it some sort of "unfair advantage".
Back in the days of the NES, the only good RPGs were Final Fantasy and the Dragon Warrior series.
Final Fantasy was cool and all, but... compared to games like Dragon Warrior 3 and 4, it didn't stand a change. Those games were HUGE, chock-full of dungeons, monsters, stories with twists and turns, hidden quests, and more.
Not only that, but the Final Fantasy games were pretty short (the early sequels, anyway). Aside from the first, the DW games were LONG. I think DW7 was the longest clocking in at at least 100 hours.
It might not've had the fancy backdrops/cutscenes like FF7/8/9 had, but that was probably the BEST RPG I ever played for PSX.. just because it was so true to its roots.
Why the series never caught on is beyond me.
What's even more strange is the amount of people who are hardcore RPG fans who have NEVER played a single Dragon Warrior game. That is just insane. That's like being a Quake/Unreal fanatic without ever having played Wolfenstein 3D.
What also irritates me is that these companies think there's no market for it when there is. If you already made the game for Japan, how much harder is it to translate the text and ship it to the US for those who want it?
We've been jacked out of tons of great games because of this.. like the Mother series. Earthbound was the only release the USA ever had of it. Final Fantasy V never saw the light of day till the Anthology was released. FFII didn't have a US release until not even a year ago! (April 9, 2003). What about FF3?
Square definitely found a nice niche in the market for porting the unreleased games. I was disappointed to find out that Enix never considered it, but after Squaresoft bought Enix, it looks like it's becoming a reality.
While remakes are good, I'd be happier than hell to even play the ORIGINAL games ported to PSone/2. It kinda sucks to play the translated versions through an emulator.
We have secretly replaced these Slashdot mods' sense of humor with a rusty nail. Let's see if they notice!!