New Dragon Quest IX Info: Battlefield, Hissatsu Special Moves and new monsters

Back from the holidays! And lo and behold there is new Dragon Quest IX information in this week’s Shonen Jump. Here is the one-page scan:

Battle

The article goes through a sample round of combat. If you want to follow along, start at the top center of the scan page and follow the arrows.

1. You choose from various commands that should be familiar to players of the DQ series. Once you’ve selected all commands, the battle will start.
2. The Mage advances towards an enemy (a Wyvern) and casts a spell (Mera, ie Blaze). Looks like the Mage got the first attack!
3. Next the Fighter charges in and gets in the enemy’s (a Puchi-Zucchinya) face.
4. The screen moves to the monsters perspective as the Wyvern attacks the Fighter.
5. The screen rotates. The Puchi-Zucchinya attacks the Fighter from behind.
6. The camera zooms out to the Priest who casts a spell (Sukara - raises one ally’s defense rating).
7. Finally it’s the Soldier’s turn. He uses a Technique and finishes off the Puchi-Zucchinya.

The article mentioned that a monster attacked a character from behind. It doesn’t state whether back-attacks are stronger than front-attacks or not. I wouldn’t read too much into this yet. The tone of the article seems to be hyping the camera movement on the battlefield, so more than likely they are just pointing out “Ooh, look. It’s not just a line of stationary enemies anymore.”

Hissatsu, aka Special Oh-Shit Moves

DQIX also has Hissatsu moves. I don’t know how this will be translated, but they become available to you when you are in deep trouble (like low hit points). They are special attacks that presumably do lots of damage. Different classes have different Hissatsu moves.

1. When you are in a pinch, Special Hissatsu moves become available.
2. Hissatsu moves differ by class. Soldiers, for example, can invoke an Excellent Hit.
3. When Hissatsu moves are available, your Hissatsu command will light up to let you know you can use it.
4. What happens if all of your party members join together and do a Hissatsu move at the same time? Super Hissatsu Move! Likely to be badass. Note the big sword falling from heaven.

Pretty cool to see these in there. Note that Hissatsu moves are different from Techniques that each class learns through Skill Point distribution.

New Monsters

Finally we have some new monsters. These monsters are unique to DQIX.

From right to left.
1. Nubon - This monster appears sluggish and lazy, but watch out because he might suddenly grab a boulder and throw it at you.
2. Desert Runner - Nicknamed “Desert Meteor”, this sucker is fast. In the screenshot he is casting Biorimu (SpeedUp or Accelerate), which is a spell that raises all allies’ agility.
3. Upa Soldier - This guy is good at dodging attacks. In the screenshot it says “Upa Soldier is getting ready to dodge an attack.”
4. Snail Frog - In Japanese Denden-gaeru, a cross between the words for snail and frog. This guy licks you in the face and makes it so you can’t move, much like other DQ monsters with big tongues.

Conclusion

That’s it! Can’t wait for DQIX! To keep up-to-date on the latest Dragon Quest IX news, subscribe to my RSS feed.

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

Links:
Official Site

New Dragon Quest IX Info: Quests, a Thieves’ Guild and more!

Today a new issue of VJump magazine was released and they had an article about Dragon Quest IX for the Nintendo DS. Here are the scans:

Introduction

Before I get to the NEW STUFF, I’ll talk very briefly about the old stuff.

A lot of the information in this article is just repeats of stuff from the Shonen Jump article that I posted about earlier. I won’t go into detail again, but I’ll make a brief list.

1. Laviel and multiplayer
2. Six monsters (Zucchinya, Argon Devil, etc)
3. Ability to split up in multiplayer games
4. Calling your allies to battles in multiplayer mode
5. Travelling performer class
6. Viewing multiplayer friend info
7. Gestures

Nevertheless, there are a few new tidbits thrown in there:

1. Traveling Performer class has a Technique called “Breathe Fire“
2. Gestures are done by pressing the B button + directional pad. There does seem to be space for more than four Gestures, so they may get more complicated.
3. You can view city maps in the top screen like DQV. Probably with the Y button

Now onto the new stuff.

Quests

Dragon Quest IX will have a Quest system. You will talk to various people in towns and sometimes they will ask for help, hence the Quest.

You get to choose whether you want to accept Quests or not. Quests are generally not connected with the main story, but they can be fun. There are many different types of Quests. Some common ones include:

1. Go on an errand for me.
2. Get an item
3. Eliminate a monster or group of monsters

They include some sample quests. Check the 5th scan.

Thieves’ Guild?

One such quest has a guy named Dulio asking you to steal an item from a Metal Hunter. If you steal it and bring it back to him, he will let you join “Dulio’s Thieves’ Guild”. The Quest log tells you that you can find the Metal Hunter in a cave to the north. Then it shows a picture of a Thief character using the Steal Technique in a battle with a Metal Hunter.

Simple Quests

Not all quests are complicated. Some Quests are more simple.

The first quest (they are numbered) has a girl named Maron asking you to retrieve a (Spotted) Spider’s web.

Another Quest has an old man named Irohon asking you to get some “Magic Fairy Water”. If you bring him some, he gives you a new quest, asking you to bring him a history book from the castle.

Strange Quests

Some quests are funny. In one town there is a man named Tatsu. Somebody told him that he looks like a Tensk (a monster from DQVI). This hurt his feelings and now he wants you to go outside and kill 10 Tensks to make him feel better (literally “heal his heart”).

Town Names

I’ve caught some town names by reading textboxes. We already knew about Sentstein, but we also have Beksaria Village, Wolro Village, Katekota (bridge? cooper?) and Sanmaro.

Conclusion

That’s it for this article. Most of it was stuff we already knew, but there were a couple new things. To keep up-to-date on the latest Dragon Quest IX news, subscribe to my RSS feed.

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

Links:
Official Site

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

Dragon Quest IX Skill System Info

4Gamer.net just posted an article about Dragon Quest IX’s Attributes and Skills.

So far, five classes have been revealed for Dragon Quest IX: Soldier, Mage, Priest, Fighter and Thief.

Attributes

Each character has the following Attributes, which go up when you fight monsters and gain levels or when you equip certain equipment:

1. Strength
2. Agility
3. Stamina
4. Charm
5. Restoration Magic Power
6. Offensive Magic Power
7. Max HP
8. Max MP
9. Attack Power
10. Defense Power
11. Style

Skills

Dragon Quest IX will also have a skill system. When you gain levels, you will receive Skill Points, which you can deposit in certain Skills. Each class has five skills: 4 weapon/equipment related and 1 unique to the class. By putting Skill Points into your various Skills, you can learn special Techniques to use in battle. Here’s the rundown of the skill information released so far:

Soldier

Skills:

1. Sword
2. Spear
3. Dagger
4. Shield
5. Courage

Techniques:

1. Dragon Cut (learned by raising Sword Skill)
2. Charge - Charge straight at an enemy and do lots of damage. (learned by raising Courage Skill)
3. Miracle Sword

Mage

Skills:

1. ??
2. ??
3. ??
4. ??
5. Magic

Techniques:

1. Magic Barrier - reduce damage done to you by surrounding yourself with this barrier. (learned by putting points in the Magic skill)

Priest

Skills:

1. Spear
2. Staff
3. Cane?? (not sure how this is different from Staff. Maybe wands? Or mace-like weapons?)
4. Shield
5. Piety

Techniques:

1. Goddess’s Protection - commune with the Goddess and wipe out the fear of death with this technique. Gained by putting points into the Piety skill.

Fighter

Skills:

1. ??
2. ??
3. ??
4. ??
5. Fighting Spirit

Techniques:

1. Build Strength - Save your strength and increase your Tension, then unleash your tension in a devastating attack. If you save Tension long enough, you will enter Super High Tension mode, and God only knows what you can happen then!
2. Ripping Steel Fist

Thief

Skills:

1. ??
2. ??
3. ??
4. ??
5. ??

Techniques:

1. Steal - steal from enemies in combat.

Conclusion

That’s all with this update! Check the source for more screenshots.

Source: 4Gamer.net

Dragon Quest IX Homepage Updated

Square-Enix have launched their official website for Dragon Quest IX.  There was a temp site up before with a promo video, but this one actually has game info.  Check it out here: Dragon Quest IX homepage, and keep your eyes peeled for updates.

Dragon Quest IX will be released in Japan on March 28th, 2009 for the Nintendo DS.

Dragon Quest IX Release Date: March 28th, 2009

Today Square-Enix announced the release date of Dragon Quest IX.  Dragon Quest IX will be available in Japan on Saturday March 28th.  It will cost 5,980 yen.  I’m buying it.