Make some noise if you want to see this in the west!

If you're an English-speaking fan of the Dragon Quest series then you're probably not in the best of moods right now. After some good localisations for the Nintendo DS, Square Enix seems to have lost interest in bringing the franchise to the west, and while the announcement of the Dragon Quest VII remake for the 3DS is cause for celebration, it has been assumed that the game's massive script will prevent it from being released outside of its native Japan.

However, producer Noriyoshi Fujimoto has spoken to Siliconera about the chances of a western launch, and although the news isn't entirely positive, it at least shows that Square Enix is prepared to listen — should the demand be there:

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In terms of DQVII, it has a lot of text to go through and translate, and we’ve received so many requests and so much positive feedback about the game, but unfortunately, we have to consider the cost and the manpower needed to handle the sheer load of text. In terms of scenario and script, the game is probably one of the largest in the DQ franchise. If a lot of people can buy it and support it… well, we can’t promise anything.

From Dragon Quest VIII and beyond, we’ve revamped the translation. For example, we’ve added regional twangs like those from Baltic regions sounding Russian and things like that. We’ve also updated the spells and monster names, so any classic titles we revisit, we want to say consistent. That being said, when we go back and update the classic titles, we make these changes. That’s another step in the process.

Going back to people who want DQVII to come out… we’ve gotten a lot of requests, we really want to do it, but right now, we need to hammer out what kind of resources we’d need to do it. We say this a lot, but, we can’t seem to get to the point where it’s justifiable.

These are understandable concerns — localising a game as massive as this will take a lot of effort, and that means Square Enix would need to be confident that a western release would set cash registers ringing.

Are you one of those people who would gladly sell a kidney to own this title, or are you not all that bothered? Cast your vote in the poll below and perhaps someone from Square Enix will see the results.

Would you buy Dragon Quest VII if it came to the west? (254 votes)

  1. Yes! I'd be willing to sell my own family members to get my hands on this game!75%
  2. Maybe, I'm not totally sure yet.18%
  3. Nope, I'd give this a miss.5%
  4. What's a Dragon's Quest?2%

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[source siliconera.com]