New Dragon Quest IX Scans: New monsters, new class, multiplayer info and more!

In today’s Shonen Jump Weekly Jump magazine they had a feature article on Dragon Quest IX. Here are the scans:

On to the juicy bits:

Package Art

The first page is the official package art. Some of our old favorite monsters are there, as well as a couple of new ones.

Here are the monster types I spot:

1. Slime
2. Drakee
3. Healer
4. King Slime
5. Lilypa
6. Troll
7. Big Hammer Guy
8. Ozwarg
9. Zucchinya (new)
10. Moomon (new)

New Class: Traveling Performer

The Traveling Performer class had already been spotted before at the recent press conference, but this is the first time that we have any official information on it. It says their offense and defense are “balanced”, and it looks like they takeover the role of the Goof-off from previous Dragon Quest games.

One of their skills is Acrobatics. Increasing this skill will allow you to learn special Techniques (see DQIX Skills System article). The example Technique is making the enemy laugh, causing them to be unable to move (from laughing too hard). The screenshot on page 2 shows this technique.

The sample Traveling Performer character is equipped with the following equipment:

1. Serpent Whip
2. Feathered Cap
3. Dancer’s Shirt
4. Gaudy Pants
5. Acrobat Shoes

Another new class?

On page 4, if you look closely at the orange-yellow screen, one of the characters is listed as a Bodybuilder. Sweet!

New Monsters

At the bottom of pages 3 and 4, we are introduced to some new monsters. Some of them we have seen in previous screenshots, but now we have some info about them:

1. Zucchinya. A vegetable monster from the pumpkin/squash family. He is good with a spear.
2. Tiger Lance. Not only does this atrocious beast have a huge lance, he also casts spells! In the screenshot he is casting Rukani, which is the Sap spell (the one that drains your defense).
3. Moomon. In Japanese it’s Mo-mon, but it’s meant to be the sound of a cow, so I made it Moomon in English. This baby monster has skin like a cow. It looks really cute at first, but when it attacks you it’s quite scary.
4. Ponpoko Tanuki. Ponpoko is the Japanese onomatopoeia that a Tanuki makes when it beats its fists on its belly. A Tanuki is something like a raccoon. You probably know it from Super Mario Bros. 3. This monster is known as a “dance hero” throughout the monster world. Watch out for their beautiful dance steps. In the screenshot, the Ponpoko Tanuki is doing a Tempting Dance
5. Argon Devil. Not too sure if I should translate this “Argon” or not. Making use of its slender body, this sucker is fast! I has long arms and sharp claws and it will use these to scratch you to shreds.

New Angel-winged NPC

At the press conference, there was a model dressed up as an angel named Laviel. Now we have information about her!

She works in Luida’s Bar. She’s your gateway to multiplayer stuff. Talking to her will allow you to “connect to an outside world.” Which brings us to the bulk of the article….

Multiplayer

You can play Dragon Quest IX with your friends via wireless connection. How it works is this:

1. One person will talk to Laviel and Host a new world.
2. Other people will talk to Laviel and join that new world as your Guest.

Once you have four characters in the new world (only one character per person), they can explore freely. You can go out and adventure together or everyone can split up and go on their own.

It appears that there are some treasure boxes that Guests can’t open. If something is important to the Host, Guests can’t get it. I doubt this means all treasure boxes. More likely it’s quest-related treasures that would cause you to get stuck if someone joined your game, grabbed it and left. That’s my guess.

Also, we catch the name of one of the towns. There is a castle town called “Sentstein“. Sounds German.

Multiplayer Battle

Naturally you can fight monsters together with your friends. But what happens if you are separated?

If your party is separated, and the host gets into a tough battle, the Host (and only the Host) can call for help. If you are a Guest, separated from the Host, and he calls you for help, you will be instantly teleported to the battle. In the game, it looks like the traditional Dragon Quest “X calls for help. Y arrives” scheme that some monsters (damn you Goopis) use to do. The Guest called has the option to decline of course.

Also, if some characters are in a battle, and you happen to run up to them, you can join the battle too. Just charge right in.

It also looks like we see the return of the Rammore monsters from Dragon Quest 3. And is that a Demon Anteater I see? Hard to tell, but I sure hope so!

Other Multiplayer Stuff

The game keeps records of the stuff you do together with your friends.

You can check their record sheet and see things like:

1. Class (Bodybuilder here!), Name
2. How long they’ve played.
3. ??? Something I can’t read. What the hell is renkin? Alchemy?? Smithing??
4. Number of battles won.
5. Number of titles received.
6. Number of quests cleared
7. Percentage of monsters faced and defeated.
8. Percentage of items gotten.
9. Percentage of renkin (alchemy? smithing?) recipes

Wow, titles! And some kind of recipe book!

Gestures

Hidden throughout the world are Gestures that you can learn. Find them and learn them and then show them off to your friends. Some example poses are raising your fist in the air, waving goodbye, bowing and jumping (one screenshot shows three characters jumping at the same time).

Conclusion

Whew! That’s it for this update. Lots of new information. I can’t wait to get my hands on this game. If anything strikes you as cool, please leave a comment! And if you haven’t already, subscribe to my RSS feed to get Japanese game news updates as they happen.

Dragon Quest IX will be released in Japan on March 28th, 2009. It will cost 5980 yen.

Dragon Quest IX Links:
Official Site