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Dragon Quest is one of those series to which change does not come easily. The first seven entries in the series, while providing distinct stories and plot mechanics, did little to alter the core battle system that has been in place since the decades-old progenitor of the series. DQ VIII brought it all into three dimensions, and made combat a more animated affair, but it wasn’t until the ninth entry in the series that Square Enix went off the beaten path. Originally, the combat was going to be a seamless affair, taking place on the overworld with some action-like mechanics (a la Final Fantasy XII). This was aborted for a more traditional, turn-based, menu-driven combat engine, but Dragon Quest IX introduced multiplayer. You could link up with other players in your immediate vicinity and adventure together. This worked pretty well when the players were all in a room together, able to communicate and plan out their battle strategy while the game waited. 
It would appear that Square Enix is keeping the menus. While combat occurs in real-time, it is menu-driven, the major change being that characters can move freely around the field during battle. Their attacks will move them into pre-determined positions influenced by where they are relative to their target, but they can otherwise traipse about, using their freedom of movement to avoid area of effect attacks. Does this remind anyone else of Final Fantasy XI, Square’s last, and thus far only, successful MMO? That might have flown with players a decade ago, but Final Fantasy XI is regarded today as a plodding, bloated beast with slow and uninviting gameplay. Maybe, in motion, the DQ X combat will be more compelling, but the descriptions alone are already sending up red flags. By Shelby Reiches |