Dragon Quest Creator Speaks on the Game's Design Choices - News
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 10 July 2010 / 2,531 Views
This past week a few sites had interviews with a number of developers and artists responsible for the Dragon Quest franchise and some fun little tidbits were brought out. In an interview with MTV Multiplayer, Yuji Horii (DQ Producer) talked about his dealings with Akira Toriyama (The man behind Dragonball Z, Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger art designs) and more specifically about creation of the series’ trademark mascot, the slime:
"I was really hooked on Wizardry the PC game, and that's kind of where I got the inspiration for the Slime, […] There's ... slime-looking characters [in Wizardry], so I got the inspiration from it. I was doodling the slime-looking character and I took it to Mr. Toriyama, who did the character design, and he made it the Slime we see today."
In another interview with Satoru Iwata, in his popular “Iwata Asks” segments, we find out why Dragon Quest is usually a turn based game (snippets were from Siliconera):
“With role-playing games, back then, most of them were turn-based games,” said Iwata, possibly referring to the days of the Famicom and Super Famicom. “But that’s not really the case these days. Not that I agree, but there are some people out there who think that turn-based RPGs are outdated.”
He then talks about his preferences:
“I think that playtime is something that belongs to the player. I didn’t want there to be waiting time for them or to have them feel rushed,” Horii explained. “Until you yourself push that button, the world is on hold. For that reason, the turn-based system, based on entering commands, was a good choice in the sense of operability and also fundamentally. All you have to do is push the A button.”
“That’s why you can play even when you’re watching TV,” pitched in producer, Ryutaro Ichimura. “That’s why you can play even when you’re watching TV. And even during battles, if you need to take a bathroom break, there’s nothing to worry about. The pace really does belong to the user.”
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In before "turn-based is archaic" and "...need to get with the times". The traditional RPG(turn-based) is actually newer than most combat systems. Yes, that's right. Newer that FPS, schmup, and many other systems that people like to sell as "modern". Love that DQ has stayed true to the RPG battle system for all this time. Since it sounds as if X is going to the same, looks to be a day one purchase for me. Thank you Iwata!
