Back when it was first announced for the DS, Dragon Quest IX looked like it would be completely different from its predecessors. Not only would the game be on a portable system, it looked like it would be multiplayer and in a real-time, if not an action-RPG, system. After Dragon Quest VIII’s revelations (huge graphical upgrades and a rename in the US to follow the Japanese series name), it looked like the ninth entry would bring even more changes to a series that is notorious for having old school gameplay and feel. Was Square Enix finally going to change the main system of the grandfather of RPGs?
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The cover for the original Dragon Quest.
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More recently, the news has trickled in that, yes, the game would be multiplayer, but it would have the same turn-based battle system. So the battles will remain unchanged, but it looks like there will still be the four-player multiplayer. I’m curious to see how well this works out, as the last time I played a multiplayer cooperative turn-based RPG was Final Fantasy 3 SNES (really 6, of course), which had a two-player mode. → Hey, hey, hey, it’s time to make some crazy reading!