Dragon Quest Creator Wants To Bring Back Passwords For Dragon Quest XI

The only reason I can see for bringing passwords back is to transfer progress between the 3DS version, and the console version. Or to use a timed release of certain things. I can't imagine how huge the passwords would get for today's games.

If you've never seen a bad idea: This is one.
There is a reason passwords have died for good.
No thanks.

You don't have to write them down! Just take a photo of your screen. It's actually much easier to use passwords in old games nowadays than it was in the past.

I think this makes sense - a password allows your game to instantly become any state of progress - even if your current save file hasn't got far enough. It's useful for going back to previous states, and skipping ahead to later parts if you don't feel like playing through early game stuff.
It's definitely more versatile than a normal save file system.

If they have both then fine, you wouldn't have to worry about a corrupted save and could share progress with friends without having to mess file types inbetween consoles. It actually serves a few purposes. It also has to have a regular save option though.

Passwords are very cool for unlocking bonus items, but I wouldn't want to see it being the only way to save the game.

Honestly I hated passwords especially in Games like Metriod and legend of Zelda.... The were unnecessarily long...

My friend and I would effectively co-op games by kicking passwords back and forth, each playing a bit further then passing the password back at school the next day.
Not sure if that would be much good for an RPG though, you'd miss out on story etc.

@Einherjar no kidding. They were awful back in the day.

Sure, I mean, why the heck not.

I mean, when I think of Nintendo 3DS, the first thing that comes to mind is pen and paper.

Passwords alone used to be a gamers nightmare and I'm still thankful that they were already dying in the nineties.
However I could see the appeal of them as an extra option, especially on 3DS where save slots are always limited.
Being able to keep a save for any moment in the game you want to replay, or be able to restart the game as many times you like without having to worry about which file delete, for not talking of the possibility to have a "back-up" not connected to the console, cartdrige or some weird-limited datatranser system; such extra features honestly sounds cool to me, even if I'll have to go old-style and write down a code for get them XP

At last, the 'Game Notes' application will have a tiny amount of use!

I grew up on passwords and its the one thing I'm glad has gone extinct in gaming. Dumb.

Well he is also that one that refused to release the Dragon Quest games on Virtual Console because he felt he could not release them without changing them somehow. Hence the horrible touch control versions on iOS/Android.

I get the feeling that the inclusion of passwords in DQXI will be for novelty reasons, and will only be used minimally. I don't think they would want to fully replace in game saves for the sake of nostalgia. :x

That said, it would be interesting to see how they would use passwords once again, perhaps even make it fun.

@DiscoGentleman Yeah, they only existed because SRAM was too expensive, it wasn't really a design choice otherwise. And with the complexity of games nowadays, just how long of a password are we talking? lol

This is one thing retro wise that needs to stay in the past. Never liked passcodes.

Hahaha, that's a good one, Mr. Horii.

You are joking, right?

Nothing worse than playing a game for a long time, writing down a complex password and when you want to play again and input that password you get the "invalid password" message. This happened a few times growing up. The game Faxanadu comes to mind because the letters sometimes looked like other letters. That's what growing up was like in the 80's kids. It was a very bleak time.

I'm all for bringing back certain aspects of old game design, but I never want to see another password again. I'll deal with them in very old games because they didn't have any other recourse at the time, but implementing a password system is a dealbreaker for me on any new game.

To be honest I'd prefer a localization announcement.

If it's optional and not meant to replace a modern save system, then no one should care if it happens. It will make a few niche fans happy that it's there, the rest will ignore it.

I played the original Dragon Quest (when it was called Dragon Warrior) as part of the Nintendo Power promotion and remember the days when passwords were in many games. I do not want this when a game is perfectly capable of saving my progress.

One could argue that you could use the system to skip ahead, but then why are you playing video games in the first place?

I want battery saves. Passwords should remain in the past when it comes to save data.

Mega Man and Zombies Ate My Neighbors were two games that I grew up on back in the 90s that were notorious for passwords.

@Mr_Zurkon Not only that. Games are getting more complex. Do we really want to input stuff like Golden Suns "Gold Completion" Password every time we turn the game on ?

And there really is no reason why it should ever come back.
Some old concepts and formats certainly still have benefits, like the cartridges / optical discs debate.
But passwords are simply obsolete.

Noooooooo, not passwords! They're the bane of my existance!!

Remember when every manual had a couple blank pages so you could enter all your passwords? Bleh!!

We could use QR passwords you just can simply print or whatever
but that's the only thing I can think of no one has the time an patience to write down complex codes, specially not with games with a lot of inventory and worldstate data.

They'd probably need to make the password like 4000 characters long (don't get any one of them wrong!)

Nonononono passwords sucked, any game that brings them back I will never buy, I hated them so much. There literally is no reason for them now, that's like intentionally sending mail via carrier pigeons or using a customer loyalty system consisting of filling out postcards to send in. There's better tech, I mean why don't we just all go back to horse drawn carriages instead of cars? You know, for nostalgia sake?

Ew no. Passwords for saving are a thing of the past and should definitely stay there.

Why not use cloud servers to save data!?

Well if you're going to add them then it just needs to be an option and nothing more, stick with the usual save system and let passwords be an optional extra.

People will share their passwords over the internet so I guess that could be a good thing???

@arrmixer Zelda didn't have passwords. But yea Metroid was ridiculously annoying since dying is so common.

As long as it is more of a cool retro easter egg and it isn't the only way to save then yeah I am cool with that. I am sure they wouldn't revert to the old school NES ways of saving so I don't think there is any cause for concern.

It could be interesting. Maybe they could e-mail the passwords? Or store them online so we could access years from now? Just don't make it the main saving method.

Square decides on making the passwords as long as the transfer from Golden Sun to Lost Age!

Screw passwords, it's hard enough that nowadays I had like over 50 of them so no, we don't need them back.

@Totaldude911

Oh thanks totaldude911

I really miss passwords... Said no one ever!!!!!!!!

@123akis
What a genius idea!
I'm 100% sure everybody will appreciate having to connect to the internet so they can continue the game!

I think we should all give this a pass...WORD! Run DMC vc

Castlevania III used symbols in a grid and it was an awesome password experience!

I still have my notepad full o' passwords from 20 years ago. It still has some pages left to fill in...so, I'm game!!!

Eh, if it's optional for little extras that's cool.

Still need save points though

EECFG!

@argh4430 Using a password system to transfer progress between portable and home console versions would be great idea.

Could be cool or a nuisance have too wait n see.

Wow, everyone just automatically assumes the passwords will be for saving, and also that will be the only way you can save your progress.
I'm imagining something more like the passwords for the free-to-play Pokemon games, where you find a password on their Twitter page and it gives you a free Mew.
Or the Zelda Oracle games used passwords for linking your data over to to the other game after you beat one of them.

@DiscoGentleman Remember when people rented games from places like Hollywood Video, and always kept the manuals? I swear at one point I had a stack of like 20 of games I didn't even own. They were like trophies to us kids... XD

Or maybe it'll just be some passwords that could get you silly stuff and/or one-time items, possibly Special Edition-related stuff? Just a thought.

EDIT: Basically what @Asaki said, except since it's Dragon Quest, a sense of humor will inevitably have to be involved.

"Write down"? Who writes ANYTHING nowadays? Snap a picture! It's the 21st century for cryin' out loud!

@DiscoGentleman I was like 8 years old and all my friends took the manuals too. They got me started on it. It was basically a race to see who could get the most. Isn't that terrible? XD