Dragon Quest X Is Being Transformed Into A "Cute" Offline Game

Bring it to the West
Bring it to the West
Bring it to the West

After the DQIII remake, this was probably my second favorite part of the event. I'm sure this is going to be localized (they outright said X online wouldn't but didn't specify it for this one), so it's going to be great finally getting a chance to play DQX!

Like any change matters since the majority of potential buyers can't even get it.

The entire stream was such a mess. SE really screwed up on this.
Apparently that "half hour of Japanese-only stream" was them not communicating correctly. It was suppose to be "Half the half-hour stream will be Japanese-only content".
If we go off the 6 games alone, we had them confirm we are getting DQ3 HD-2D, the DQTreasures, and DQXII. So we might not even be getting this Offline DQX.
Combine that with the Online getting teased AGAIN and then the merch they show off before telling us "Japan-only, no export" and they really have to get their heads out of their own rears.

I'm kinda confused...
The offline version is definitly cute, but the regular one looks so great and they already have all the assets, why not just use those for the offline version too?

I'm sure they got their creative-brand reasons, but still seems a bit of a shame.
...Though I still hope the offline version will be released worldwide. A cute worldwide release of DQX is better than no worldwide release at all.

Has anyone here played DQ X? I know it's a Japan only game, but who knows, maybe some of you do live over there, or a VPN system can be used...

I was wondering if it's a good MMO, interested to check how it plays

@BakaKnight I was thinking the same thing. Probably to release it on mobile too, just like FF XV pocket edition?

Now this, if localized, could finally fill out the flagship roster in my franchise binge rather than leave certain numbers skipped like XI for Final Fantasy. As long as the game still offers all or most of the available content unlike FFXV's chibi digest.

Please please translate! As said above I have a gap in my DQ collection!!!

Reminds me of the 3DS DQ VII in terms of graphical style. I mean I'm just happy we'll have a way to play the whole series in the West because this is a shoe-in for localisation.

Why are people not convinced this is coming west? Only Dragon Quest X Version 6 had a "there are no plans to release this title worldwide" banner on screen?

@kupocake
The announcement (for the stream) also said half the show was for "Japanese audience only" and there were already three of the six games confirmed for outside Japan, the trailer was exclusively in Japanese, and SE has pulled this kind of "not saying it means you can hope" too many times with the DQ fans.

For example, DQ7's 3DS remake was fully made and released in Japan, they then started, finished, and released the DQ8 remake before trying to think about localizing DQ8 and Nintendo, as well as SE Shareholders, had to ask why DQ7 wasnt localized before they bothered to localize it.

At this point, SE needs to flat out say they are doing something before most of us believe them with even 70% confidence.

EDIT: It also certainly doesn't help that the message for DQX not being localized was only a single English line dropped onto the trailers and after a big portion of the entire segment for DQX Online was already shown off. As they actively had issues with the titlecard during the stream (which got updated 20 minutes into the 30 minute wait for it to start, it had the wrong time you see) it is thought that the stream chat (going crazy that we are finally getting it) might have had moderators realize people were misunderstanding the "Still not being localized" part of the DQX Online trailer and quickly request someone post that on top of the trailer as a way to clarify.

This is going to get localized the question is when.

@JonComms We can only hope Jon, we can only hope :')

Since it isn't online hopefully this version will actually come over to the west on the Switch, the art style doesn't look too crazy so I think it should be doable.

@LordGeovanni Dragon Quest sell 90-95% of it's copies in Japan, of course it's more tailored towards Japan.

An offline version would be the time to release it in the West, wouldn't it? No monthly fees involved, so no problem at all.

@BTB20
Sounds like you think they are in a Catch22 then. Cause if they don't push DQ games outside of Japan how are they suppose to catch on? This is literally the best time to push after how well DQXI did, especially with how explosive the DQXI-S did on Switch. For them to have, as you say, 5~10% of their fans get another tease of DQX localization followed by not even confirming the Offline DQX, it certainly feels like they just plain don't care. It is dismissive and demeaning to their fans.

Sp this is basically Dragon Quest IX for the Switch. I'm won't complain, even if I don't like chibi visuals, as long as the coop gameplay is as solid as DQIX

If this is how the west gets DQX, that's fine. I just hope it isn't distilled down as far as FFXV Pocket Edition.

Hopefully Square-Enix would consider doing the same for both Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV, make single player offline versions of those games were we can purchase as a standalone game and maybe do local co-op with multiple save files. As cool as that idea sounds we all know it is sadly never going to happen... 😔

Normally I love cute chibi visuals but I vastly perfer the original games graphics this time around.

@JonComms I could recall wrong, but I feel like they've hinted a lot that if Dragon Quest 10 ever came west "it'd be through some kind of offline mode or remake" so.... that could well be it.

I also like that it seems like the kind of thing that could really run decently on Switch too. Ditto the Dragon Quest 3 remake. Of that later, I'm almost more curious about the mention of remakes of 1 & 2 "with some new surprises" as those titles could very much do with a bit of a refresh for story/etc. Particularly the first one.

Interesting! I would like something like this, since I have no interest in online games at all. Hopefully it will release internationally as well. All these Dragon Quest announcements do sound very nice actually!

Can we at least get the offline version of X? Pretty please.

@LordGeovanni Thing is I'm not putting it against them to later announce a western port of X's offline remake.

They've strongly hinted in the past that "something like an offline mode or version" would be the way they'd consider bringing this game west.

While it doesn't change that re: there's no western release announced for this yet, it might have been part of the japan-only segment primarily just because of the fact of it's ties to the MMO version which WILL likely always remain Japan-only.

Plus.... even in Japan this will be confirmed to be a 2022 release, and with III's remake, Treasure and XII confirmed for tentative worldwide releases... their localization team likely have their hands full enough they likely can't confirm a "when" on a potential western release of "X Offline" so it's best to announce/confirm that only when they have more defined info.

I'm consider myself a Dragon Quest fan and this game is the only one I never had the chance to play. Bring this game to the West please!

I wonder why there is little will to bring this to the West. I would certainly buy and play

Yes! Yes! Yes!
I've been clamoring for this for years. I can't wait for the translated version.
They've finally decided turn DQX into a real game! Halleluyah!

@Ludovsky
While I am not saying they have no ability to later determine to release it outside Japan, I am saying simply that I do not trust them to. With Nintendo having to localize not only the DS remake of DQ6, but also do ALL the localization and advertisement work for DQ9 when it launched, I simply do not trust that SE knows how to market DQ in areas outside Japan.
This was further proven when they remade DQ7 and released it in Japan before going completely silent until DQ8 was announced, where DQ7 NEVER had any talk of localization happen. Even AFTER DQ8's release there was almost nothing to suggest they were going to localize until they decided to DMCA a fantranslation of DQ7.

I will say this, I do believe that a release of DQX will work outside Japan. I also believe that SE will screw it up somehow. I believe that SE thinks it will not sell and potentially an Offline version might sell better. But I also think that there is **no reason** to remake the game's graphics and all, just for Offline. This is looking like they want to make Offline into a mobile title, certainly not something for consoles... but here is the issue: it is already planned for phones. The Online version at that.

I am just tired of SE making stupid choices and not listening. At this point EA sounds like it listens more often. Not that it actually uses what it heard, but at least they listen.

I know a lot of RPG gamers are for the most part Single Players, but I for one only want Dragon Quest X in its online form here in the West! Just release it in the West already!!

I got slight Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition vibes from this, but IMO this looks even better. I honestly don't expect them to release X the MMO outside of Japan at this point (though I'd love to be wrong), but this game seems like a prime candidate to bring at least some form of X to the West. Unlike the MMO update, they never specifically stated this was Japan-only to my knowledge.

@BakaKnight
I thought the exact same thing. I always thought they should just take the original game, repurpose it for offline play, and translate it. Instead they've made a game from scratch, apart from the script. Whatever. I'm still glad to be getting the missing link in the series.

i dunno why everything has to be chibi

Not sure why they had to turn it into a kiddy mess for the offline version. I'm sure they could had easily made an offline version using all the assets of the original. It's like they are treating online and offline as different audience with online being the hardcore audience while offline being the casual crowd like c'mon Square Enix, just cause I don't like online doesn't mean I'm a casual player. I just don't like playing with real life people on my RPG that's all. Also I don't see Dragon Quest as a good multiplayer focus RPG, not in the same vain as Trials of Mana, an RPG that made sense as a multiplayer focus RPG which Square Enix stupidly strip of and turn into a single player only experience.

As much as I would want Dragon QUest X Offline to head for the West, I think Square Enix USA would rather the public have Final Fantasy titles on the consoles, because in the grand scheme, people prefer Final Fantasy over Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts as well. I mean, compare the reactions over Hero's inclusion to Sephiroth's inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Hoes Mad vs. Hoes Glad! And besides, Sephiroth has a cooler soundtrack than the Heroes of Dragon Quest, in particular, Advent One-Winged Angel!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5TeTsR7pyg - Listen for yourself!

What's the point? Unless you speak Japanese, this game is useless to people outside of Japan. SE can sod off with this game.

I'm pretty sure we'll end up getting the offline edition worldwide.

Will likely pick this up at launch.

I’m just glad for an offline version. I did vpn shenanigans when X first came out on wii but didn’t last long. It will be nice to see how the game has grown.

Square makes it frustrating at times to be a Dragon Quest fan in the West. This is one of those times.

@Bizaster
I'm on your same boat. I'll never understand why people play videogames online.

It would make sense to release the offline version over here, so crossing my fingers for that! Maybe it will support local play and be more like IX.

I noticed that unlike the main line title that this one did not have a disclaimer stating it's not planned for international release. Additionally, devs have expressed interest in an offline version for international release previously.

@Wilforce
That disclaimer was added during the Dev talking, so people are speculating that it was added by whoever was in charge of the English stream using an overlay due to how the English Stream Chat was exploding in happiness over the DQX "finally" being localized. So it is likely that the message wasnt intended to be placed originally.

@LordGeovanni Further supporting that they may bring DQX Offline west at a later date.

@Wilforce
Personally I find it "further support" that SE doesnt know what they are doing.
I understand that people want to believe it can come, and I am not saying I would be upset if it did come (I would be just as ecstatic), but I also have watched SE fail to tie their shoelaces for 20 years.
This isnt "they didnt say no so that means it could be yes", this is more like "They put a stop sign on DQX Online talks because people kept going down that road, but they didnt put it on DQX Offline because they know there is a massive cliff around the corner." And when you ask why they dont put a Stop Sign, it would be because they think it is "obvious" that it isnt happening, while you and I and everyone else is trying to drive at night in a heavy fog. They set us up for disappointment, and themselves up for failure.

This is why I hold reservation. Not because I think the game can't come, but because I know SE is too incompetent to see why we get confused.

@LordGeovanni Here's the article from two years ago where the producer literally lays out potential future plans:

https://www.siliconera.com/dragon-quest-producer-wants-to-bring-dragon-quest-x-to-the-west-possibly-an-offline-version/

My guess is it'll be published by Nintendo in the west like almost every Dragon Quest game in the past decade. Nintendo isn't know to publish MMOs in the west. I have hope that we'll see an announcement, possibly at E3, though more likely to be next year.

@Wilforce
Again that isnt proof. I can understand why you would think it is, it is very decisive towards proving the intention is linked to the action, but it doesn't confirm it. The current motivation could be merely to make an Offline version because of complaints in Japan that they keep losing internet connection on devices like the Switch. It could also be motivated because of the high cost to participate in the MMO. From the little bit of "google research" I did, I found that the game has a $50 price to buy it as well as a $12/month price for the membership. That is certainly something that would give me cause to avoid, even if it was in NA. But could that not also be true for a person in Japan? Perhaps they want to expand the sales of it within Japan alone.

Again, I am not saying that you are wrong. I am saying that evidence points towards them possibly localizing it, but I still do not trust SE. They have broken promises in the past and this isn't even a "promise". These are breadcrumbs that we are hoping lead us home but it could be SE throwing their garbage on the ground and then wondering why we are grabbing garbage off the ground.

I say wait for them to actually confirm something. Ask, petition, demand. But do not assume, cause they burn the non-Japan fans more often than a forest fire.

@LordGeovanni There is enough supporting evidence to believe a western release is probable.

@Wilforce
Not when it comes to SE. I will believe it when they say it. And still have a 30% chance they screw it up.

@LordGeovanni You just need more positivity. BELIEVE IT!

Dragon Quest sell 90-95% of it's copies in Japan

@BTB20 Do you have a source for this claim, by any chance? The global (non-Japanese) sales of DQXI S exceed 10% of lifetime sales, from the last I read.

@COVIDberry
That doesnt need to be proven for DQXI S, it needs to be evaluated against all DQ sales. Even if you look at only "recent" sales of 5 or 10 years, I am easily able to believe that claim.

@Wilforce
The problem is, my positivity was killed alongside most of Enix when the merger happened back in 2003. Like when it takes huge petitions to get a DQ game localized while Final Fantasy cant help but plan for localization to happen before the game is even done being sketched out.

@Friendly Same. I'm getting the feeling that they're planning to make it mobile friendly.

@TheWingedAvenger Cause it lets them play with much more players compared to couch co-op?

@Ghost_of_Hasashi They should've released this as an MMORPG spin-off instead of adding it to the main series and attaching "X" to the title.

I tried the game for roughly a month and the multiplayer aspect is pretty interesting and fun — it's pretty much like DQ IX but the player turns have a limited time to choose a command before they miss their turn (think online billiards or chess). The time is long enough to let you find what you need in the menu but having to plan ahead on what to do on your next turn makes it exciting for me.

I do hope they port it to mobile (without IAPs) with local multiplayer just like DQ IX.

@RendellDraw
Playing online doesn't mean you're playing with other people. It's a videogame, so you're playing against pixelated characters, not humans. If the AI is good, it doesn't matter who controls the characters that populate the game. That's why I don't understand why people play online games.

@TheWingedAvenger

"Playing online doesn't mean you're playing with other people."

Wait, what?

I most certainly played WITH my friend online. He manually controlled his character and we talked while doing a quest so that definitely counts as "playing with other people."

@TheWingedAvenger If you don't understand why people play online games, you probably haven't tried playing local, couch co-op games or maybe can't comprehend such concept of playing the same videogame at the same time with someone else.

@Tyranexx Honestly it looks almost like a traditional Dragon Quest which is something I'd be utterly okay with from them(in fact I almost weirdly like it better?).

Plus this might make the "visit the locations of older DQ games" in DQ11S less of an hassle to explain considering some locations from DQ10 were included in there, and that's something they could easily do in a single player remake.

@RendellDraw
I didn't do a good job of explaining myself. I think couch co-op is great, because you're actually with your friend when you do that. But online co-op is, for all intents and purposes, the same as offline one-player gaming. Your friend could theoretically tell you he was going to play with you online, and then after the session tell you that in reality he hadn't plyed at all but had let his sister play with you. If your friend isn't sitting in the same room as you, then you might as well be playing offline.

@TheWingedAvenger I don't get your logic.

A friend's sister is still a person you can cooperate with. Whether be it with your friend or a random person, it's still a different experience than playing offline.

Clearly you haven't dabbled in online games because you seem to think that playing and cooperating with people you don't know feels the same as playing with an AI.

You're not playing offline if you're playing with another live person from the other side of the world. Not unless that friend's sister is a robot.

If I go by your logic — you might as well play a couch co-op game solo if your friend's sister decided to stand in for your friend for a just a few moments, and that it automatically disqualifies the experience from being couch co-op, despite the fact that you're actually playing with a real person.

To expand on that, I won't be surprised if you think you're talking to someone here "offline" because I'm not your friend and that there's no way for you to prove that I'm not an AI replying to your comment.

If that's the case, you might as well also say "I don't understand why people talk online."

🤔🤔🤔

@TheWingedAvenger "If your friend isn't sitting in the same room as you, then you might as well be playing offline."

Does that mean if your friend moves abroad and asks to play Super Mario 3D World with you, you might as well play solo because you can't tell if you're actually playing with him/her?

@Ludovsky Honestly, I'd also prefer X in more of a traditional format. While I feel this game coming West is tentative, IMO it has more of a chance than the MMO. Besides, I swore off MMOs ages ago since they're such time sinks.

Interesting that XI S includes locations from X that you can revisit. I haven't played it yet (hopefully soon!) and do look forward to visiting areas from the games I have played!

@RendellDraw
When you play a racing game against AI cars in one-player mode, it's the same as playing against cars controlled by humans playing online against you. What I mean by that is that you couldn't tell the difference between the two situations. So why go out of your way to play online? If the AI is well-made, it's just as good as playing against a human.

@TheWingedAvenger Players have very limited interaction with each other in racing games — all you do is drive around, speed up or down. Not a wide range of decision-making.

Try a different genre. First person shooters maybe (though I'm not a fan).

All my friends who play Counter Strike never play against AI because all of them agree that the feeling of winning against a real person is quite different than winning against computers.

I played DQ X mostly alone, but it's quite a different feeling when someone I don't know who doesn't speak my language offer to help me despite the language barrier. The sense of adventuring is on a different level because I know that the player-controlled characters in the party that invited me can make genuine mistakes and also great decisions during battle.

I never get that same feeling when being accompanied by AI party members that accompany me for story driven purposes no matter how fleshed out they're characters are.

I'm not saying though that all NPCs should be controlled by real people to make it more fun.

The offline DQs are great. DQ X simply offers a different experience for those who are looking for it. The only mistake I think they made is putting "X" in it instead of turning it into a spin off.

@RendellDraw
I admit that FPSs can give you the satisfaction of collaborating with friends to take down another team, as in Con Strike. But if you can suspend disbelief and just pretend that computer-controlled AI is human-controlled, the experience is the same. Obviously there is no substitute for actually talking to your friends while you're playing with them online, so okey that's one point in favor of online gaming.
But think of Star Wars Republic Commando. The other guys on your team are controlled by AI, and they play just as well - if not better - than your friends would.
Online RPGs make absolutely no sense to me. I makes no difference to me whether any of the characters I bump into are controlled by AI or humans, apart from the fact that I don't want to be tied to a wifi router every time I play.

@Tyranexx It's not very much huge of a deal. Like, those are more easter eggs than the full fiat thing, meant to be very small sidequest fodder. You basically go there to get the quest.... and then do the actual quest in completely different locations to get the item or "boss" the quest require before it's considered fulfilled... and then you basically never return(unless ANOTHER quest from another of the "retro" locations require you to) since even the places that are village will see their INN/stores/etc nonfunctional with the NPC finding some excuse or another to explains why they can't sell you items actually(which tbh become kind of a running joke to be fair).

@Ludovsky Ah, so it's only a small piece of the puzzle. Gotcha. At least I wouldn't be missing too much context. I'm all for running jokes as long as they're executed well. 😁