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Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate - Announcement Trailer

If you have only logo to show, looks like it’s not coming out anytime soon and that’s disappointing. Darker turn for the series is big deal but understandable since they want to finally make breakthrough in the west like many of their peers did and west seems to only buy colorful childish games from Nintendo.
 

ethomaz

Banned
blaqPSG.jpeg
Not like this... more like old DQ games.
 

Metnut

Member
Looking forward to more mature content in DQ12 after being somewhat disappointed with DQ11. DQ5 and DQ7 were a little on the darker side, and are two of my favorites in the series, and I hope DQ12 can put something together like that.

Hopefully we can get a good soundtrack. I think it’s also time to bring the job system back in some form too.
 
If they take turn-based combat out of Dragon Quest like they did Final Fantasy, I will be PISSED.

That said, I'm all for a more modern turn-based style, whether it's like Bravely Default, Persona 5 or something new.
 

Javthusiast

Banned
Having a ton of fun with DQ11 on game pass right now. Last DQ game I played was my first one, 8 on ps2. Such a freaking good game.

Hope they change things up but not too much, like totally throwing turn based combat out for some real time action stuff. We have FF for that.

Would also appreciate a bigger music overhaul, but I doubt it will ever happen as long as that dude is still alive.
 

Belmonte

Member
Oh man, I'm worried about these "adult tones".

Dragon Quest being a immature game always was fallacy. Despite the silly and fun visuals, the puns, the quirkiness, there are a lot of darkness in it, like many classic animes. It is a mix between heart and darkness for me.

I can't think of a JRPG protagonist which had to deal with so much pain in his life as the DQV protagonist for example. There are many tragedies and dark implications in the story in all DQ games if you see beyond the fun exterior.

That said, Horii is in the head of the project so no need to panic!

Curb Your Enthusiasm Ok GIF
 
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killatopak

Gold Member
If there’s anything I’m worried about, it’s the music.

DQXI was kinda meh in the grand scheme of DQ music but it was also compounded by being synthetic. Orchestral with the simultaneous worldwide release is preferred.
 

Serouj2000

Member



Square Enix has officially announced Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate. Platforms and a release date were not announced, but a simultaneous worldwide release is planned.

The game will feature "a little darker and more adult tones compared to previous entries", and force players to make various choices and decide their way of life. The series’ traditional command battles will also be revamped, but fans of the series should be able to enjoy it without a sense of discomfort.


Can't wait to see more. This was a cool teaser trailer.

It broke the red logo for even numbered titles rule :p
 

Inxes

Member
Lets rejoice fellow DQ fans, we have been in the dark for way too long, lets ride on the success road VIII and IX started and XI revived. Its our time to become one of the popular sagas in the industry
 

Fbh

Member
e³ season is right around the corner, fingers crossed!

Yeah, hopefully they have more to show.

Though generally when they only do a title reveal (not even a full CG trailer with characters and locations) it's a sign things are waaay too early in development for them to show more.
 

Hugare

Member
People are scared about "dark/mature"

Ive only played DQ XI and V, but remember DQ V?

Your father getting killed in front of you when you are just a child, and then you getting enslaved for many years by monsters

That was some heavy shit

They can go to some serious places without getting "edgy". Its all about execution.
 
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Shouta

Member
Do you mean Dragon Quest Advantage of Dai?
de5iz2y-1a23b461-5c49-483b-9d3a-7ab3c8941296.png

This show can be surprisingly dark.

Nah. There's basically two Dragon Quest manga that are considered classics. One is the Adventure of Dai and the other is Dragon Quest: The Emblem of Roto. Both are highly regarded but they're pretty different from each other. Dai is action adventure but skews close to the Shonen Jump style of battle manga since it ran in Jump. Emblem of Roto is a lot more of a pure action adventure but it also is directly set in the same universe as Dragon Quest 1-3 using its locations and lore for its story.

I also want to note that having dark aspects to a story isn't the same as what Horii is probably talking about. Plenty of Dragon Quest games have things that happen that would be considered dark but their look and feel are pretty standard Dragon Quest, kind of dulling the edge of those events a bit. I think DQ12 is probably going to have a tone and look to it that make those darker moments feel heavier as a result.

 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
Give me that mature rating and dark adult oriented story along with a voiced protagonist, fully voiced cast and real time combat and im in!!!

Same. The series is getting boring.

Voice acting from top actors would be great start. Then make it set in a dark and horrifying setting full of gore and sex and you have a great reboot for the DQ franchise.

I basically want Game of Thrones X Dragon Quest!
 

ANDS

King of Gaslighting
I honestly couldn't get to the second half of DQ11 which sounded kind of interesting. The journey was just so by the numbers with you being funneled in one direction. The characters were cool and I liked the diverse playstyles, but the game hews way too close to its "roots." DQ8 remains - for me at least - the standard that future games should have been built on in terms of story, worldbuilding and overall shit to do.

. . .also we don't need a "mature" game, just a fun one.
 

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
Sorry to lean on this negatively but that was nothing.

Why can't these Japanese devs have something to show that's tangible when it's time. And if this is one of those games that isn't going to be out for 3 years then they should not have bothered showing a stupid logo with no game play to be seen.
 

blackjon24

Member
I’m all for it honestly loved the series and beat every main instalment with the exception of 10.

XI was good but not really better than what came before. Not looking to spoil the game but it really ruins itself story wise by overstaying it’s welcome. The true ending was awesome though
 

YukiOnna

Member
Oh it's being developed on UE5, eh? Don't think this was mentioned in the original post:

Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate is set to be directed by Takeshi Uchikawa and is being developed using Unreal Engine 5. The story is complete and only needed to be implemented – the game will be big so there’s still time to go before it’s complete. As such, Square Enix is currently recruiting new staff to help work on the game.

 
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Madflavor

Member
The Dragon Quest team almost always puts out high quality, so I don't know why anyone here is worried.

If there’s anything I’m worried about, it’s the music.

DQXI was kinda meh in the grand scheme of DQ music but it was also compounded by being synthetic. Orchestral with the simultaneous worldwide release is preferred.

Dragon Quest won't get better music until Koichi Sugiyama dies. Not trying to be morbid or edgy, it's just the truth. Also I don't feel bad saying it because Sugiyama is a piece of shit.

Personally I think Hitoshi Sakimoto would be an inspired choice for Dragon Quest, but what do I know?
 

Boneless

Member
A darker story combined with light moments with humor could work well. Please also a better story, better characters, better voice acting and a deeper combat system dan DQ11. I had fun with DQ11, but the voice acting could get really cringy, and there wasn't really any cool end game gear or spells to live towards.
 

Erdrick

Member
I trust Horii that this will be something worthy of the name. I'm a little apprehensive of some of the potential change but I know they wont deviate too much. Change is not a bad thing, just do it subtle and it should be fine. A darker story and such? Sure. Wish we could have seen more, but this will do for now.
 

TimeShinigami

Neo Member
I’m like the one person that didn’t enjoy DQ11, so I’m not sure I’m in for this one.

Darker tone sounds like edgy tryhard stuff. Not sure how to feel about that either.
I actually had major problems with XI as well. Still, if they can improve the pacing and story issues that game had, count me in on Switch.
 
Oh it's being developed on UE5, eh? Don't think this was mentioned in the original post:

Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate is set to be directed by Takeshi Uchikawa and is being developed using Unreal Engine 5. The story is complete and only needed to be implemented – the game will be big so there’s still time to go before it’s complete. As such, Square Enix is currently recruiting new staff to help work on the game.

Being developed using Unreal Engine 5 means we should see it on the PS5 but what about the Switch?
 
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Dragon Quest needs to change because it needs to finally start selling in the West. SE is seeing how some of their Japanese peers are making money hand over fist selling dark, gritty and bloody games to white people and DQ clearly is going nowhere with current structure. Even in Japan it seems it’s not as big of a deal as it used to be.

I understand and support this shift. I like when things are changing and reinventing themselves anyway.
 

FStubbs

Member
People are scared about "dark/mature"

Ive only played DQ XI and V, but remember DQ V?

Your father getting killed in front of you when you are just a child, and then you getting enslaved for many years by monsters

That was some heavy shit

They can go to some serious places without getting "edgy". Its all about execution.
Dragon Quest 6 had a king who would kidnap girls, have his way with them, and then sacrifice them to monsters.
 
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