never played 6 and can't wait for this one to be released :)

I have a feeling that the West will get this game shortly after the Japanese release. I wouldn't be suprised if the game is mostly finished at this point, since Square probably didn't want to release info and clash with DQIX's release over the last 6 months or so.

Yeah, they announced that all the games were going to use the same graphics engine from the start.  Which is good for consistency, but I fear that its going to hurt sales outside of Japan for the same reason most Drago nQuest games lose sales.  Because the graphics aren't as impressive as otehr RPGs.  Not that sales have been good anyway.

I'm fine with it though.  I think the game engine is perfect and truly shows the right combination of keeping the important things practical will lead to quick and solid gameplay.  Not every RPG needs to have full 3D animations and repetative character victory/battle animations.

Yeah, the game has probably been done for a while now, since ArtePiazza was doing it and not Level 5.  And they already had the game engine made and a good year and a half up to this point to make DQVI.  And it only took them about that time to make DQV.  Though DQVI has never been remade so they might be adding a lot to it.

But as for when it'll release, probably not until next year, March at the earliest.  I'm thinking more like Summer in Japan.  As for America and Europe, well, good ol' Wada and the boys at SE have never cared much about Dragon Quest in America.  Wada even said so recently, stating they would 'get around to localizing DQIX sometime next year'.  I highly doubt we're going to see DQVI for a LONG time outside of Japan.

To be honest, I really dislike the faux 3D some handheld RPGs have had. DQ4 and DQ5 were nice because they were consistent. If DQ6 is the same way then I won't be disappointed at all.

As for it hurting sales, I really doubt it.

Oh crap they all do look like DBZ characters! I spot Goku (bottom), Bulma (bottom right), and Trunks (top right) automatically.

You Win At Life!

Toriyama's art style is more about being dynamic and conveying action than it is visual distinction between characters.

Which is kind of bizarre to say, because all of the characters in the original Dragon Ball looked really unique. I think his primary problem in this respect is that he doesn't like to deviate from one particular design that he uses for heroes.

Since someone has to say: it's over 9000!!

As usual, a Dragon Quest thread just derails into 'lol DBZ'.

The thing is, most people in America only identify Toriyama with one thing, 'DBZ'.  Because that's the only thing they've seen of his and its one of the most popular Anime on TV.  When in Japan, of course Toriyama started off with a number of other things such as Dr. Slump, product designing, Game Designing and then Dragon Ball.  Many people don't even make the connection that the reason Chrono Trigger was made was because Sakaguchi wanted to make a game in the style of Akira Toriyama.  The style many people mock as being 'all the same' and 'bland'.  And Sugiyama has already made 3 games out of now (Chrono Trigger, Blue Dragon and Blue Dragon Plus).

The funny thing is, Akira Toriyama is probably one of the most influential manga authors in Anime history, inspiring much of the most popular Shonen/SciFi Anime/Manga/Gaming market today.

When I refer to his art being dynamic, I'm really talking about the set piece art from Chrono Trigger and Dragon Quest III. The man has a command of perspective and motion that would still be the envy of shounen artists today.