Dragon Quest X: Awakening of the Five Walkers Online is the tenth mainline game in the Dragon Quest series.
Unlike all other numbered titles, X is a massively-multiplayer online game with a subscription model. As of current, it has never been released in the West for unknown reasons. There was a Chinese Windows version, but it was discontinued.
Gameplay[]
Dragon Quest X features user-created characters with the series' traditional job system, with Warrior, Priest, Mage, Martial Artist, Thief, and Minstrel as starter jobs. Unlike previous games, jobs can be changed in any of the game's towns.[1]
Dragon Quest X is the first numbered title that breaks the Dragon Quest tradition of turn-based combat; the combat becomes more action-based by breaking the order of the attacks.
The game includes a quest system similar to that of Dragon Quest IX. Quests serve as side-stories helping non-player characters around the game's world. Multiple quests can be performed simultaneously with some even interlocking and unlocking various stages in fellow quests. Early quests include gathering magical spring water, slaying monsters and stealing for a fellow thief. Like the previous Dragon Quest installment, Dragon Quest X contains many open ended mini-quests. Upon completion of the quests, a "Quest List log," serving as an in-game achievement list. There are also brand new "Job quests" that can only be received when the player is practicing specific jobs.
This game also includes two new features as a reference to other RPG games: the Fire Colosseum and the Magic Labyrinth. The Fire Colosseum allows the player challenge again some storyline bosses that are modified to be stronger and the Magic Labyrinth acts like the grottos of Dragon Quest IX. Although the first one is located at the top of a snowy mountain, several labyrinths can be encountered during the gameplay, and in the most strange possible places, like a mirror in the Royal Palace of Grand Zetannia in Rendacia.
Like the rest of the Dragon Quest games, except for Dragon Quest IX, the game allows the player to save their progress in 3 different save slots.
Game features[]
- Highly customisable characters, with many different faces, skin colours, weapons and armours. This game also includes different races like the human, ogre, wetlings, poppets, elf, and dwarf.
- Rental partners that can be recruited for a limited time up to 168 hours.
- Co-operative play with up to four players online.
- 3D graphics similar to those found in Dragon Quest VIII.
- Real-time map.
- Time-limited events that yield powerful equipment.
- A fully customisable house for the player character.
- A beach resort were you can relax with your friends, similar to The Sims.
- Blacksmith and dressmaker minigames where you can improve your weapons, armour pieces and clothes without alchemy.
- A parallel storyline where you control a pair of treasure hunter humans.
- A Japanese high school simulation mode.
- A brand new fishing minigame, similar to Animal Crossing's fishing mode for example.
- A minigame in which the player investigates crimes committed in an old mansion, similar to Clue.
Races[]
The world of Astoltia is home of many different sentient humanoid races, and for the first time in the Dragon Quest series, the player is able to choose between 7 of the total 9 races with the first 6 (including Human) having been available since the original version, and the 7th playable race, the Demons having technically been introduced in the expansion Thorn Lady and the God of Destruction.
Once one of the base five races has been chosen, it cannot be changed to another one except for the option to revert to Human, requiring to create a completely new character from scratch in order to experience the different initial stories of each Original Owners. These races include:
- Humans: The race of origin of the Hero, and the only playable race in the offline mode. They are native to the continent of Rendacia. Following a disastrous event in Tenton village, the Hero's soul is forced to inhabit the recently deceased corpse of a member of one of the other five races, but after reaching a certain point in the main storyline, the Hero will be given the option to switch between Human and whichever race they chose at any church.
- Ogres: Native to Orgreede, the Ogres are hulking humanoids with mostly red skin tones with stripe-like markings, conical horns, two large on their shoulders and two smaller ones on the forehead, pointy ears, and a thick leonine tail. If the player chooses to play as an Ogre, unlike for the other races, it is never explained in detail how the Original Owner died or who they were. However, Village Chief Kurifugen later theorizes that they died upon coming into contact with Demon Zongaron.
- Wetlings: The Wetlings are an aquatic race of people with blue skin and fins on their ears and backs. They are native to the Wenna Islands. If the player chooses to play as a Weddie, the Original Owner was killed accidentally in a sword fight against their friend Hussar that was supposed to be a friendly spar.
- Elves: Elves are native to Eltona. Differently to common depictions, the elves in this title are generally smaller in stature to Humans, and have pinkish skin tones, pointy ears, and two small insect-like wings on their backs. The Original Owner was a brilliant youth that accidentally summoned an evil force that killed them.
- Dwarves: Dwarves are short beings with plump features, green skin, red hair and large round ears native to Dwachakka. The Original Owner was a Dwarf miner who was killed during a cave in.
- Poppets: Poppets are the shortest of the races, and are often considered the cutest. They have diminutive proportions, with cream-colored skin, noseless faces, a bunny-like tail and cat-like ears, and are native to Pukland. The Original Owner was a brilliant comedian who was killed while trying to slay a monster on behalf of a child.
- Dragons: A new race that debuted in Legend of the Ancient Dragon. They have usually teal scaled skin, reptilian golden eyes and two rather large backwards pointing conical black horns on the backside of their heads. Native to Nagaland, a land that was originally a floating continent before being sealed away in a pocket dimension due to the crimes done by the Dragons against the other races, effectively the Dragon race had been banished almost completely from the world of Astoltia. Due to these story reasons, unlike the previous six races, the Dragon race can never be selected as playable.
- Demons: Introduced from the beginning as the antagonistic force threatening the world, the Demons are effectively an 8th race, which became greatly expanded upon with the release of the Thorn Lady and the God of Destruction expansion. Native to the pocket dimension known as the Netherworld, due of their race dark origins, many powerful demons, such as Nelgel or Maldragora, had indeed turned to the side of evil and tried conquering the world of Astoltia; many others, however, while fiery with their emotions, have noble and even kind souls, as the Hero personally discovers during their journey across their land. Usually the appearance of a standard demon is that of a member of one of the other races (minus the Dragons) but with segmented horns in the frontal or lateral part of their heads and an altered, usually purplish, skin tone, but sometimes extra characteristics are present, such as multiple eyes or arms, or have features and shapes completely of their own. Due to story reasons, at the beginning of the expansion the Hero initially assumes Demon-like features, but they can later decide to remove said characteristics.
- Angels: Formally introduced in Heroes of the Heavenly Stars, although they previously had appeared in some sidequests, the Angels are the 9th race of humanoid beings; they are similar to humans but with white plumed wings and light powers. Followers of the Goddess Luciana and native of Tenseikyo, in the wake of the final defeat of Jagonuba, they make their presence known, but unfortunately they and the other races of Astoltia soon find themselves entangled in a massive conflict to defend the world from the evil Jia Kut Clan, an invading force from outer space, from which Jagonuba originated from. While initially wary of the Hero due to their past exploits, their current status, and some strange bad rumors, the Angels eventually warm up to the Hero, as they work to discover the origin of the dark happenings in Tenseikyo and aid the spirits of past heroes of the other races. Players cannot completely assume the visage of an Angel, but the Hero can temporarily gain similar wings thanks to the use of an important item.
Each of the seven main mortal races had a personal guardian deity, direct progeny of the original creator Goddess Luciana, protecting them. However the Dragon race's guardian deity, Nadraga, betrayed his siblings and allied himself with his mother's sworn enemy, the primordial source of all evil Jagonuba, which eventually lead to the former being destroyed.
Vocations[]
A system of Vocations, based on the one from Dragon Quest IX, returns in this title as a core gameplay feature, greatly expanded, further increasing the variety of characters that are possible to be created.
Versions and Expansions[]
# | Version | Producer | Director | Designer | Scenario | Programmer | Release date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Version 1 | Awakening of the Five Tribes 目覚めし五つの種族 Mezameshi itsutsu no shuzoku |
Yosuke Saito | Jin Fujisawa | Yuji Horii | Jin Fujisawa | Nobutaka Nishioka | 1.0 (2012/08/02) 1.1 (2012/10/09) 1.2 (2012/12/26) 1.3 (2013/03/05) 1.4 (2013/05/16) 1.5 (2013/07/25) |
Version 2 | The Sleeping Hero and the Guided Allies 眠れる勇者と導きの盟友 Nemureru yūsha to michibiki no meiyū |
Yosuke Saito | Chikara Saito | Yuji Horii | Atsushi Narita | Nobutaka Nishioka | 2.0 (2013/12/05) 2.1 (2014/02/27) 2.2 (2014/06/05) 2.3 (2014/11/11) 2.4 (2014/12/25) |
Version 3 | Lore of the Ancient Dragon いにしえの竜の伝承 Inishie no ryū no denshō |
Yosuke Saito | Chikara Saito | Yuji Horii | Atsushi Narita | Nobutaka Nishioka | 3.0 (2015/04/30) 3.1 (2015/08/24) 3.2 (2015/12/24) 3.3 (2016/05/25) 3.4 (2016/10/06) 3.5 (2017/03/01) |
Version 4 | The 5000 Year Voyage to a Faraway Hometown 5000年の旅路 遥かなる故郷へ 5000-Nen no tabiji harukanaru furusato e |
Yosuke Saito (4.0 - 4.2) Koji Aoyama (4.3 - 4.5) |
Takashi Anzai | Yuji Horii | Atsushi Narita | Nobutaka Nishioka | 4.0 (2017/11/16) 4.1 (2018/02/21) 4.2 (2018/05/30) 4.3 (2018/09/06) 4.4 (2018/12/05) 4.5 (2019/03/20) |
Version 5 | Thorn Lady and the God of Destruction いばらの巫女と滅びの神 Ibara no miko to horobi no kami |
Koji Aoyama | Takashi Anzai | Yuji Horii | Atsushi Narita | Nobutaka Nishioka | 5.0 (2019/10/24) 5.1 (2020/01/29) 5.2 (2020/06/03) 5.3 (2020/09/16) 5.4 (2020/12/23) 5.5 (2021/03/31) |
Version 6 | Heroes of the Heavenly Stars 天星の英雄たち Tenhoshi no eiyū-tachi |
Koji Aoyama | Takashi Anzai | Yuji Horii | Atsushi Narita | Nobutaka Nishioka | 6.0 (2021/11/11) 6.1 (2022/03/17) 6.2 (2022/07/06) 6.3 (2022/10/04) 6.4 (2023/01/18) 6.5A (2023/05/23) 6.5B (2023/10/05) |
Version 7 | Dragon Quest X Online: Door to the Future and the Slumbering Girl | 7.0
(2024/03/21) |
Offline mode[]
The original release of Version 1, included an extended playable prologue section done while offline from the internet. In it, the story followed the Hero's sibling after they were sent back in time during Tenton's destruction, up to the point where they return to a earlier version of their village and meet a younger Tenda. From Version 4 onward, this mode is no longer accessible to any of the currently supported versions of Dragon Quest X, and can only be played via emulation of the original Wii release. Upon completion of offline mode, the silly hat, the only thing that the Sibling were originally been able to produce while living in Tenton, will be received by the Hero in the online version.
However, the events of Offline Mode were not being scrapped: instead, in order to tie-in with the main story in the online versions, when Version 4 was added, the most important plot points of Offline mode were summarized in a series of 3 books scattered around Tenton isle and Made isle. Also, now it is after all of these books have been readed that the silly hat will be given to the Hero.
Development[]
Dragon Quest X was first announced in a December 10, 2008 Square Enix press event, in which Yuji Horii revealed the game was being developed for the Wii.[2] Following updates were sparse; Horii had announced that Dragon Quest X was "almost done" by April 2011, and that it would release "by the end of [2011]" without specifying a release date or a worldwide release.[3]
Dragon Quest X was officially revealed on a September 5, 2011 conference aired on Ustream, which announced the game would be a MMORPG for the Wii. The Square Enix website confirmed that there would be monthly subscription fees.[4]
Release[]
The game has already been released in Japan and it has subscription fees. A 30-day subscription costs roughly $12, while a 60-day subscription scales up to $24. Paying the maximum for 90 days tops out at $35.50. [5]
On December 5th, 2013, Square Enix released the game's first expansion set, Dragon Quest X: The Sleeping Hero and the Guided Allies.
The second expansion set, Dragon Quest X: Legend of the Ancient Dragon, was released in Japan on April 30th, 2015.
The third expansion, Dragon Quest X: The 500 Year Voyage to a Faraway Hometown, was released in Japan on November 16th, 2017.
The fourth expansion, Dragon Quest X: Thorn Lady and the God of Destruction, was released in Japan on October 24th, 2019.
The fifth expansion, Dragon Quest X: Heroes of the Heavenly Stars, was released in Japan on November 11th, 2021.
Offline version (ドラクエ10オフライン)[]
An offline version is currently being developed by Square Enix. The purpose of this version is to allow different types of players to enjoy the game experience without having a network connection or a paid service, while providing a different aesthetic that provides an original experience, along with voice acting, turn-based combat, and the ability to have Mjoll, Hussar, Dasuton, Prince Ragus, and Fura as party members. The Offline version was expected to be released in Japan on February 26th, 2022, while Version 2 of the game is set to be released as downloadable content in Japan on Spring of the same year, with Anlucia reprising her role as a party member. However, it was delayed to September 15th, 2022 for polishing and refining, most likely in anticipation of whatever rarefied monster would appear in 6.1's release on March 17th, 2022 in an area that the Version 1 story already covered during the base game's release.
Features[]
- New characters in the Hero's sibling's story featuring Galmy, the daughter of Gamilgo who follows her father's teachings and hates humans, Himea, an Elf and Feefi, a self-proclaimed genius girl said to be a candidate for the future of the Purification Shipwright.
- Spell of Restoration, which allows the player to start the Online version of the game at level 70 after the game is beaten.
- Character Builders from XI
- Voice Acting
- Turn-Based Combat
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Offline version[]
Trivia[]
- During the first cutscene of Dragon Quest Heroes, its possible to briefly see the prizes of the shooting gallery; these prizes include stuffed doll versions of the 5 non-Human races of Dragon Quest X: the Poppets, the Ogres, the Wetlings, and the Dragon Quest X versions of the Dwarf and Elf races, both of which do appear in Heroes under a different guise.
References[]
- ↑ Get a Job in Dragon Quest X on rpgamer.com
- ↑ Yuji Horii Slips Up, Makes a Wii Error on RPGamer
- ↑ Dragon Quest X almost done, announcement 'by the end of this year' on joystiq.com
- ↑ FAQ question (Japanese) (English via Google Translate) (1UP.com)
- ↑ Dragon Quest X Has Subscription Fees, But Offers 2 Free Hours Per Day (EGMNow)
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