So, here we are.  After a 4 and a half month delay, Dragon Quest IX is about to destroy the Japanese charts like none other.  And while we in the international scene probably will have to wait a long time to see the game, the game will most likely go multi-million in its first day of sales.

So is this game really worth it?  Is this game which has taken nearly 5 years to make going to be one of the best DS games of the year or even that the system sees?  Well let's just explore what has been announced so far.

-Extensive Revival of the Skill system, fusing skills from all the past games which used Classes and Skills (DQIII, VI, VII and VIII) and incorperating them into a new more in depth system with all the old classes and new 'secondary classes'.

-The same huge Dragon Quest world, focusing on exploration, character interaction and gameplay.  The story seems to be a unique mixture of a storybook like world (sometimes even taking influences from such works as Miyazaki and Osamu Tekuza) mixed with heavy influences of past Dragon Quest games such as DQIII and IV.

-Both visual and gameplay enhancements to the staged battle system including formations, visual attack animations designating turns for each character and surrounding enemies before battle.

-Battles are initiated by walking into enemies on the main map, as introduced in Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker.  (Think Chrono Trigger)

-All characters can be fully customized, from height, hair style/color, facial features, etc.

-All Equipment including armor, weapons, helms and accesories are fully visable on your character after equipping them both in and outside of battle.

-The Alchemy Pot from Dragon Quest VIII returns, allowing for combining of items to make new items.

Online Features - When going to 'Luida's bar' and speaking to 'Laviel', you can activate a number of online and WiFi connect features for the game:

-One feature is the ability to connect to up to three other players at once and send one of your party members over to a select members cart.  From there, you are able to participate in group quests, fight enemies/bosses together, compete in 'treasure hunts' or just talk.

-Another online option is the ability to 'download' aditional quests and items via the online system.  It is unclear if this is actual downloaded content or just unlocking locked data already stored on the game.

Trailers:

E3 2009: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFPR4Y8rHfk

Tokyo Game Show 2008 Trailer 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GzBD1z3LQ8

Tokyo Game Show 2008 Trailer 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClwnWcuupD8

It's gonna be a great summer in Japan for Nintendo. :o

Wow, it looks impressive. I might just get this when it comes out around here... I'm sure it'll generate incredible sales in Japan. And just like jefforange89 said, this summer will be big for Nintendo in Japan. Between this, Wii Sports Resort and Monster Hunter 3, it's going to be Nintendomination.

Yeah. Wii Sports Resort will hit the US on July 10th.

DQ IX will take Japan by storm the very next day on July 11th.

And after all this happens, Monster Hunter 3 will move thousands of Wiis  in Japan on August 1st, 3 weeks later.

Geez, I don't know if that's good planning for Monster Hunter.  I mean, I'm sure it'll still sell fine, but they probably should have pushed their Wii debut a little farther back.  Nearly everything in Japan is gonna take a hit from Dragon Quest.

Well, it is 3 weeks later, on a different console. Odds are, DQ will be very frontloaded, and everyone will get it first week lol. But seriously,people will be buying Wiis along with MH3.

I think in the handheld market, no game should be released until a good month after DQ, but in the console market, there will be no overlap in August.

Well, I was more thinking about how after buying the game, there's going to be some 4-X Million people who are going to take multiple weeks to play the game.  As this game looks to not only be the usual 80-150 hour long Dragon Quest, but have tons of online support for even more distraction.

But hopefully they'll be able to buy a whole new RPG by then.

I know i'm excited for that game. Its a JRPG with actual character creation. Thats pretty progressive for the Japanese.

It has always existed, but it was scarcely used. Latest example is White Knight Chronicles.

Monster Hunter 3 will hit Japan only 3 weeks after Dragon Quest but it shouldn´t damage Monster Hunter sales should it? I think the series are not very similar and have thier own legions of fans. I hope at least that there is room for both games in Japan.