Looks like Square Enix is keen to avoid the stigma Dragon Quest has of being a traditional JRPG series, as their latest comments certainly seem to imply. Apparently, the latest Dragon Quest title has taken a leaf out of renowned western RPG’s, such as Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and the Diablo series.
“We have no recognition that Dragon Quest IX is a part of the so-called JRPG genre, unless you mean all the RPGs created in Japan are JRPGs,” producer Ryutaro Ichimura told Game Informer. “The quest system was inspired by The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which I played many times. And I would like to reference Diablo as the title which inspired our thinking about how we can maintain player’s motivations.
Dragon Quest IX is the ninth entry in the premier JRPG franchise, released exclsuively for the DS. Watch out for our review of the game later.
