The Super Smash Bros. series started as a fighting game crossover between Nintendo franchises, but with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate the game has evolved into a more general video game franchise crossover. The DLC has continued that with the inclusion of any characters from classic Japanese series, such as Hero from Dragon Quest. It also apparently was no easy task.
In a recent interview with Nintendo Dream magazine, the producer of Dragon Quest 11, Hokuto Okamoto, said there was a lot of back and forth between Nintendo and Square Enix about adding the various DQ Heroes to Smash. He says that apparently there’s been numerous attempts to put Dragon Quest characters in other games, but it’s always fallen apart due to the various guidelines between companies (thanks to Twitter user Robert Sephazon for translations).
“It’s nearly impossible for Dragon Quest characters to appear in other companies’ games. We discussed many ideas, including what we’re doing with DQXI S, such as making each color a hero of past games. Mr. Sakurai accepted both Nintendo’s direction as well as Square Enix branding, and then got on board. It was a very exciting experience.”
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Dragon Quest 11 S are now both available exclusively for Nintendo Switch. The next Dragon Quest title is in development, but it’ll be a few years before we see it.
