So we only have a month to go until Dragon Quest IX comes out in America (July 11th) and a little bit longer until it comes out in Europe (July 23rd).  And as promised, Nintendo has started their advertising for the game, albeit only in stores and online.  But what little advertising it has so far is more than we've seen from SquareEnix in the past 6 years combined.  Things are looking up.  Hopefully those TV commercials will be coming soon.

What we do know is that Nintendo not only expects the game to sell well outside Japan, but some of the changes to the games design by the Dragon Quest staff were done specifically to help this.  Such as the added emphasis on multiplayer questing, lack of random battles and greater focus on customizing your characters.  And when you look at the design and structure of Dragon Quest overall, its not hard to see how this seemingly 'Japanese' RPG is easily adapted to become more Western friendly.  By design, it is already one of the most western themed RPGs in Japan.

The game features a number of enhancements to the already famous Dragon Quest formula including an expanded Class system, fully customizable characters (including your Hero), fully customizable and crafting gear (that changes your characters apperance), the ability to do quests with people via WiFi, downloadable content and the same 60-100 hour main quest that the Dragon Quest series is known for.

The question now is, how will you react to the game?  The title has proven itself as one of the biggest and best on the DS already, but its just taken a year to reach us in the west.  Are you willing to give it a chance?  Or will this game suffer the same fate as Monster Hunter Tri and only be bought by a handful of 'core' gamers?

Submitted for your approval, an additional item they are releasing along with Dragon Quest IX in America.  A Slime Speaker Stand that acts as both a speaker for better sound output of the DS but also an arm rest for extended gaming and a stand for your DS.  But this novelty device doesn't come cheap.  You'll have to cough up more dough than the game itself at $50.

http://www.ncsx.com/2009/070609/slime_speaker_stand.htm

This series really does deserve more attention. I first tried it with Dragon Quest IV on the DS and while i feel it started off a little too slow, it quickly morphed to one of my finest experiences with a JRPG yet. I have yet to purchase or play any future Dragon Quest titles but i do plan on pursuing the series because it is really good. 

I do look forward to the release of Dragon Quest IX because i believe it may very well be the best JRPG in a very long time.

This is huge!!! Hyped as hell for this game!

Jrpgs with no drama, no love story no cut-scenes... just the old fashioned slimes here, the evil wizards there!

Boy, one of the best things of the year, for sure!

Well, don't know about love story, but Dragon Quest is far from without Drama.  You can look to Dragon Quest III and V for that.  Its just a different kind of 'drama' than say...Final Fantasy or Tales drama.  Either focused on the NPCs or more focused on your Hero.  Aka, not story driven but character driven.

As for cutscenes, this game has already has shown to have a plethora of in game FMVs.  But I'm sure they hardly account for .0001% of the game time, considering normal Dragon Quest game time is over 80-120 hours now.

It remains to be seen how they're going to balance all these things in a game with fully customizable characters.

OMG SO HYPED!!!

Could it be better than DQV?!

DQV was my first one on DS & it quickly became one of my fav JRPG's of all time and better than most games in my other beloved JRPG series

DQIX is going to be amazing. 

I'm eager to see how will the story shape up, as that has been kinda of a weak point in the latest released DQ games (Especially DQVII). 

It's a shame that they "westernized" it too much, but the formula might have a chance of working out. The customization options look amazing and the questing does as well. Not a fan of the removal of Random battles though, that was one of the soul essences of any DQ.

Those early battles against the Slimes and Drackys are some of the most classic moments in video game history.

Must buy for me, since someone in vgchartz introduced me to DQ series I like them a lot

a go for no random battles!!1

YEAH no random battles. I'll actually be bothered to explore now!

and BTW, you're the user who actually introduced me to DQ series, remember?

oh yeah I'd just played DQV & I was amazed so I think I told you to get the DQV Remake on DS!

AMAZING GAME!

Kenryoku will be proud