Dragon Quest X

Dragon Quest X
Information
Developer(s)	Square Enix
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Director(s)	Jin Fujisawa (2005-2013) Chikara Saito (2013-)
Designer(s)	Yuji Horii
Writer(s)	Jin Fujisawa Atsushi Narita
Artist(s)	Akira Toriyama
Composer(s)	Koichi Sugiyama
Platform	Wii Wii U Windows 3DS PS4 Switch
Released in Japan	Wii: August 2, 2012 Wii U: March 30, 2013 Windows: September 26, 2013 3DS: September 4, 2014
Genre(s)	MMORPG

Dragon Quest X: Awakening of the Five Tribes Online is the tenth game in the Dragon Quest game series.

Gameplay

The first massively-multiplayer online (MMO) game in the series, Dragon Quest X features user-created characters and has a job system akin to previous series titles, with initial job choices being Warrior, Priest, Mage, Martial Artist, Thief, and Minstrel. Additionally, unlike previous games, it is possible to change jobs in any of the game's towns.

Dragon Quest X is the first game inside the numbered titles 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 like in Dragon Quest IX, but with some changes. 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 practising 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 Gran Zedoura in Rendaashia.

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, weddie, puklipo, elf, and dwarf.
• Rental partners that can be recruited for a limited time up to 72 hours.
• Co-operative play with up to four players online.
• 3D graphics similar to those found in Dragon Quest VIII.
• Real time map like Dragon Quest VIII.
• Time-limited events where you can receive very powerful armor pieces, weapons, etc
• A fully customisable house for your 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 that make you investigate a series of crimes committed in an old mansion, similar to Clue.

Races

Five out of the six races of the tenth installment of the main series.

For the first time in the Dragon Quest series, the player can choose between 6 different types of races, with a 7th race to be included in Legend of the Ancient Dragon. The choices include:

• Human: The only playable race in the offline mode. They are native to Rendashia. After reaching a certain point in the main storyline, the player will be given the option to switch between Human and whichever race he/she chose at any church.
• Ogre: Native to Ogreed, the Ogre's are hulking humanoids with red skin, horns on their shoulders and forehead, and a tail. If the player chooses to play as an Ogre, it is never explained in detail how the Original Owner died. However, Village Chief Kurifugen later theorizes that he/she died upon coming into contact with Demon Zongaron.
• Wetling: The Wetlings are an aquatic race with blue skin and fins on their ears and backs. They are native to the Wena Islands. If the player chooses to play as a Weddie, the Original Owner was killed in a swordfight that was supposed to be a friendly spar.
• Elf: Elves are native to Eltona. They are generally smaller in stature to Humans, and have pink skin, pointy ears, and two small wings on their backs.
• Dwarf: Dwarves are short beings with green skin and large ears native to Dwachakka.
• Popper: Poppers are the shortest of the races, and are considered the cutest among fans. They have cream-colored skin and cat-like ears, and are native to Puku Land.
• Dragon: A new race that debuts in Legend of the Ancient Dragon. They have teal skin and two black horns on their heads, and are native to Nadlangd.

Plot

Offline Story

Offline Tutorial and Prologue

The story begins on the village of Tenton, the home of the hero and his/her sibling, when the hero is looking at the sky at the centre of the village, the sibling calls him, and he/she is showed to be riding the turtle Galapagod along with Tenda, the eldest woman of Tenton. When Galapagod reaches the point where the hero is, his sibling offers him to ride with them, however Lady Tenda refuses and starts talking with the Hero.

A strange noise awakens the hero from this dream, only to learn that his/her sibling accidentally destroyed the village's supply of Perky Beans, Lady Tenda's favorite food, in an attempt to multiply them via alchemy. At Tenton's church the hero meets Lady Tenda's grandson, Singh, who instructs the hero to gather various items from the local villagers, so that he can fashion a pillow to serve as a compensation for the lost of the perky beans. Lady Abba then asks the hero to look for his/her sibling, and despite being upset at Singh for disturbing her, she still uses the pillow he made, falling into a deep sleep. After locating his/her sibling in a cul-de-sac trying to do more alchemy at the Tenton region, the hero returns to the village, where Lady Tenda announces that village will surely be destroyed, with no survivors. However, hope remains in the form of a plant known as the flower of Tensu, which blooms in a cave to the north. The hero, his/her sibling, and Singh are chosen to retrieve it. Arriving at the cave, the party interrupts a demon called Begoda, who attempts to destroy the Flowers of Tensu to prevent their use. Begoda fights the trio, but when he lost, and in a last attempt to fulfil his mission attacks one last time the flowers destroying them; however, one of them survives his rampage.

The party is seemingly too late however, as the village is under attack by the time they return. In an attempt to protect his/her sibling from an oncoming fireball, the hero unknowingly casts a spell long thought to have been lost to history; the ability to surpass time. The hero's sibling is safe, though is transported elsewhere; a Archdemon witnessed the event and quickly notifies his master, Dread Lord Nelgel, who was supervising the attack. Nelgel uses a fire spell apparently kills both the Hero and Singh and to assure that the hero won't rise again he places a dark seal covering the central continent of Astortia, Rendaashia; trapping all its inhabitants in the deepest darkness.

Galapagod, who survived the siege of Tenton thanks to its magic powers, uses a spell that splits the soul of the hero of his corpse and transports it to the Heavenly Shrine where he is given the option of been born again but as a member of one of the citizens of the Five Tribes.

Extended campaign

In an unknown grassland, a man is chasing a woebergine with a knife in hand, however when he is about to catch the monster, he trips with something and falls to the ground, causing the monstrous aubergine to flee. By looking back where he tripped he found a human body, the Hero's sibling. While Isshou was scolding them the sibling gained consciousness again, however since now the player is controlling them he didn't show any trace of his cheerful and carefree personality. Isshou left running again, still searching for the woebergine and left the sibling alone in the grassland.

The sibling, then, headed to the north, to the coast town of Narubia. During the exploration a particular house caught their attention, it has an icon with a silver pot decorated with jewels on it, inside there was the pot of the sign (which is actually the alchemy pot and a sleepy girl in one of the beds nearby. Isshou entered the house when the sibling tried to touch the alchemy pot, while talking to them Isshou realized that the interest of the Hero's sibling in alchemy and gave him a recipe book and the recipe of the strong medicine. After alchemizing one strong medicine, Isshou revealed his true intentions about letting the sibling use the alchemy pot: to synthesize one merazo medicine so he can finally treat his daughter's illness, the girl that was at that moment lying in the bed.

After obtaining the ingredients in the grassland and brewing the medicine, the sibling gave it to Isshou who would then utilize it with the girl. As soon as this was done, Ririoru showed immediate signs of improvement and Isshou invited the sibling to sleep in his house. At the next morning Ririoru was showed to have recovered from her illness and thank the sibling for saving her and Isshou asks if he needs something in exchange, when hearing this the sibling ask them if they've known about a village called Tenton. Ririoru reacted to the name of the village and ran to another point of the room where a scarlet box was kept, she came back with the box, opened it and took in her hands a bottle and a letter. She then gave the bottle to her father and read the letter to the Hero's sibling, in the letter it was written about a mythical town called Tenton where magic rituals were made, something Isshou found ridiculous and said that all of that was nonsense, this triggered Ririoru and they started arguing, although Ririoru won and her father had to change his opinion. After the discussion Isshou gives the blue shrine key to the sibling and tells them that somewhere in the grasslands there are seven mythical shrines hidden and that the key that he had given them opens the door of the first of them, the Blue shrine. By opening all the shrines and passing the trails inside of them, the path to Tenton would be opened. Once one shrine has been completed by the player, they can obtain a material needed to forge the key of the next one by alchemy. After completing the last shrine, the golden shrine, the Hero's sibling unlocks a door at the back of it and it, surprisingly, leads to the north of the Tenton region, the Unnamed field of flowers.

The Hero's sibling arrived again to Tenton and the village wasn't destroyed anymore, however he didn't know the identity of the inhabitants of the village and their house was now an Inn. Confused he goes to the church to talk to lady Abba, however a guard interrupted them and told them that they had to offer a perky bean to enter to the church. Once the bean is received by the guard she enters to the church and, a turmoil later, she exits the church worried and a flash of light throws her to the ground. This flash of light also awakens Galapagod, who was sleeping in its stall. Another woman exits the church, it's Lady Tenda; or at least it looks like her, but she really is Lady Elba. She congregates all the villagers in front of the church and they start to cheer when she presents another person, a little white-haired girl who exits the church escorted by another kid. This girl introduced herself as Tenda and showed to the village the bean she had received. Lady Elba scolded her for making the villagers waste their time, so Tenda presents the Hero's sibling as the person who had introduced perky beans to the agriculture of Tenton and then she told the crowd that the reunion is over. After a little chat with Tenda, the sibling understood that when they were saved by the Hero during the destruction of Tenton, they were actually sent 100 years to the past and sadly they sent a prayer to they brother/sister knowing that they would be never reunited again.

Version 1: Awakening of the Five Tribes

The Online Mode begins with the hero's soul being transported to a shrine where you ultimately decide which of the 5 tribes (Ogre, Wetling, Dwarf, Popper, and Elf) you would like to play as. As soon as your character design is finished, the hero's soul enters the body of the character you designed, which was originally just a corpse. After collecting 6 out of 10 Key Emblems, a sage attempts to create a bridge leading to Nelgel's lair. When it fails, he decides to separate the hero's soul from the body he/she was inhabiting in a desperate attempt to try another method. This proves to be successful, as the protagonist then meets the body's original owner. The hero's mission is made clear when he/she realizes that a sacred vessel called the Ark of the Heavens is the only thing that can penetrate Nelgel's defenses. The hero then travels 500 years into the past, where the Ark of the Heavens was last used in recorded history. After fighting Razuban, a demon bent on bringing Nelgel to life, the hero forges a friendship bond with a young boy who knew the secret to using the Ark of the Heavens. Returning to the present, the hero entered Nelgel's lair, and after a long battle, emerged successful. After the ending credits roll by, the hero is greeted by the sage from before, who informs him/her that despite Nelgel's defeat, the seal he had on Rendashia was still active.

Version 2: The Sleeping Hero and the Guided Allies

Since Nelgel's seal is still active, the Hero travels to Rendashia by ship and succeeds after a fight with two monsters. However, things are not what they seem, with a mysterious amnesiac girl, a man who can see the future, and an almost too perfect Rendashia created by Nelgel's master...

Version 3: Lore of the Ancient Dragon

After Madesagoura's defeat, the royalty of Astolia is celebrating until the Hero's sibling snatches Anlucia away. The Dragon Quest X Monster Army returns with a new white hooded figure seemingly leading their ranks, but the Hero learns there is more than meets the eye, especially with a neighboring region of Dragon people...

Version 4: The 5000 Year Voyage to a Faraway Hometown

With relations between Astolia and Nagaland restored, peace was finally returning...however, the Hero is taken through time by a small blue and green creature who warns him about a Bad Future where an unspeakable evil has won. He shows the Hero that Future where a cocoon is hanging in the sky, and they travel in time to stop that evil from gaining its full power. Unfortunately, a new commander of the Dragon Quest X monster army and some Hemographic beasts try to make it a reality...

Version 5: Thorn Lady and the God of Destruction

The Hero's origins revealed and Kuronos defeated, the Hero can finally relax with Anlucia. However, the Shock Seed is stolen by Pujyu, with the Hero giving chase to an island with a door resembling an Escudogre. Despite the jester's defeat, he opens the door to the Demon Realm which is in the process of three realms about to enter a civil war since Madesagora's death...

Development

Dragon Quest X was announced at a press conference in January 2009. It was stated in an interview that production would not take as long as it did on Dragon Quest IX. Yuji Horii also hinted that the game was half-way through development.

As of April 2011, Yuji Horii had announced that Dragon Quest X was "almost done", and that it would release "By the end of [2011]." That did not mean a definite release date had been announced nor a worldwide release at that.

A conference was aired live on Ustream on September 5th, 2011, revealing Dragon Quest X: Awakening of the Five Tribes Online. It became an MMORPG for the Wii. It was confirmed by the Square Enix website that there would be monthly subscription fees, at least for the Japanese version.

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. 

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.

Gallery

The world, Astoltia, before the release of The Sleeping Hero and the Guided Allies.

Japanese artwork of the Dragon Quest X PC disc.

Japanese artwork of the first Dragon Quest X Wii disc.

Japanese artwork of the second Dragon Quest X Wii disc.