Dragon Quest IX Gameplay Details
December 12, 2006 - You might think yourself the Dragon Quest master if you played through Dragon Quest VIII. But your past encounters with the series will mean nothing for part IX, which is on its way to the DS. Dragon Quest IX takes the series away from traditional menu-based battles to real time action RPG gameplay.
At today's press conference, held in Tokyo to make the surprise announcement of DQIX's platform, producer Akihiro Hino played the game along with series father Yuji Horii, music composer Kouichi Sugiyama and a member of Japanese music group, and resident Dragon Quest spokespersons, SMAP. Famitsu has provided specifics on what went down during the gameplay session.
The four players had a unique character. Horii played as a hero, Sugiyama as a knight, Hino as a priest and the SMAP dude as a magician (these are just Famitsu's guesses based on the demo). Each player began in a different location of town. Everyone gathered around Horii, then the group went out into a field for battle.
Dragon Quest typically has random battles. Not this time. In DQIX, monsters (including classic creatures like "Slime") move about freely over the fields of play. When you approach these creatures, they take notice of you and come in for attack. You fight directly on the field using direct attacks rather than selecting options from a menu, making this more on an action RPG than an RPG.
You're not stuck in the vicinity of your party. While Horii told everyone to gather in front of a dungeon, Sugiyama was busying himself fighting monsters while Hino, citing his desire to show everyone more of the environments that his development staff had worked so hard to create, decided to head back into town.
One example of stylus use was indirectly revealed during the demonstration. The demo version displayed a message asking players to directly touch a character they wanted to heal. Aside from that, details on the game's control scheme, and all the magic spells and monsters, will have to wait.
Those who are worrying about Dragon Quest losing its charm as a single player game needn't. You won't have to play the game with others. "We'd like to make an epic title that can be fully enjoyed when playing alone," said Horii. "I can't discuss the game content yet, but the fact that we attached IX to it means that we'll be making a game of the appropriate level."
Dragon Quest IX has been in development for about a year now. There's still a lot to be done before the game's release, though, with character designer Akira Toriyama claiming, via a hand written letter displayed at the press conference, to be in the middle of his work in creating new monsters. A Japanese release is set for 2007, so expect solid gameplay and story details to begin surfacing over the next few months.
http://ds.ign.com/articles/750/750611p1.html
Hört sich ziemlich geil an :suprised:
*drüber informieren will* 
ich schüttel den kopf..ich könnte heulen 