Dragon Quest Wars

Dragon Quest Wars
Developer(s)	Intelligent Systems
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Designer(s)	Yūji Horii (supervisor)
Artist(s)	Akira Toriyama (character designer)
Composer(s)	Koichi Sugiyama
Series	Dragon Quest
Platform(s)	Nintendo DSi (DSiWare)
Release date(s)	JP June 24, 2009[1] NA September 28, 2009[2] PAL October 9, 2009[3]
Genre(s)	Turn-based strategy
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer, online multiplayer[4]
Rating(s)	CERO: A ESRB: E PEGI: 3+
Media/distribution	Download

Dragon Quest Wars (ドラゴンクエスト ウォーズ, Doragon Kuesuto Wōzu^?) is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS's DSiWare download service. It is part of the Dragon Quest series and features monsters from the series. It supports up to four player multiplayer, both local and online. Dragon Quest Wars was announced on May 18, 2009, and was developed by Intelligent Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 24, 2009, in North America on September 28, 2009, and in the PAL regions on October 9, 2009.

Gameplay

Screenshot showing the general interface and gameplay of Dragon Quest Wars

Dragon Quest Wars allows up to four players to battle one another with four monster units each on a four-sided battlefield made up a squares.^[5][6] Battles during the game are limited to five to ten turns. Players move units by touching and dragging them using the DS sylus. Commands are issued to units also by touching and dragging them onto a unit from the bottom of the screen. These commands are color-coded and include red (physical attacks), green (recovery), blue (defence), and yellow (magic).^[6] Each monster unit has between one and three hearts.^[7] These hearts deplete as monsters are attacked, and when they reach 0, the monster walks off the field. A player can win a battle either when all enemy units are defeated or if one of their units crosses into an enemy's base. Dragon Quest Wars also features "survival matches", which require the player to set all of their moves within a time limit before the battle begins.^[6] The game has six playable units: Slimes, Hammerhood, Dracky, Golem, Chimera, and Healslime.^[7] All are recurring monsters in the Dragon Quest series.

Development

A trademark for Dragon Quest Wars was filed by Square Enix on April 28, 2009.^[8] The game was developed by Intelligent Systems as part of a collaboration between Nintendo and Square Enix for Intelligent Systems to design six video games for Square Enix on the DSiWare service.^[9] As with most other games in the Dragon Quest franchise, development on Dragon Wars was supervised by Yūji Horii, while Akira Toriyama and Koichi Sugiyama fulfilled their respective duties as character designer and composer.^[10] Producer Taichi Inuzuka states that has long been his hope to create simulation with Dragon Quest. The developers wanted to design a game to "convey the fun of simulation games and to provide a gateway to users who’ve never played simulation games."^[11] Intelligent Systems previously developed popular simulation titles for Nintendo including the Wars and Fire Emblem series.

Reception

1UP.com editor Justin Epperson described Dragon Quest Wars as a board game, going so far as to say he wishes it were a board game so it would be more entertaining. He added however that it was definitely worth the price.^[12] Wiiloveit.com offered a high recommendation with a 24/30, praising the "surprising amount of strategy", as well as the "robust" online mode which "[brought] the title to life".^[13] Dragon Quest Wars was nominated for Game of the Year by Nintendo Power, as well as DSiWare Game of the Year.^[14]

References

1. ^ "おなじみのモンスター達がボード上でバトルを繰り広げる，ニンテンドーDSiウェア「ドラゴンクエスト ウォーズ」が2009年6月に発売". 4gamer. 2009-05-18. http://www.4gamer.net/games/091/G009157/20090518005/. Retrieved 2009-05-19. 
2. ^ "Art Lessons, Auto Racing, and Arcade Action Multiply the Downloadable Fun". Nintendo of America. 28 September 2009. http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/_awl_FLReUbcL1u7VyJEGQAj8UglQUIL. Retrieved 28 September 2009. 
3. ^ "Dragon Quest Wars". Nintendo. http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/games/dsiware/dragon_quest_wars_14760.html. Retrieved 2010-02-21. 
4. ^ "Dragon Quest Wars': Square Enix's First Nintendo DSiWare Game". G4TV. 2009-05-18. http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/695671/Dragon-Quest-Wars-Square-Enixs-First-Nintendo-DSiWare-Game.html. Retrieved 2009-05-19. 
5. ^ "Fire Emblem Dev Making Dragon Quest Wars on DSiWare". Wired. 2009-05-18. http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/05/dragon-quest-wars/. Retrieved 2009-05-19. 
6. ^ ^{a b c} Spencer (June 25, 2009). "Dragon Quest Wars: A Strategy Game So Simple A Slime Could Play It". Siliconera. http://www.siliconera.com/2009/06/25/dragon-quest-wars-a-strategy-game-so-simple-a-slime-could-play-it/. Retrieved 2009-06-28. 
7. ^ ^{a b} Spencer (June 26, 2009). "Meet The Units Of Dragon Quest Wars". Siliconera. http://www.siliconera.com/2009/06/26/meet-the-units-of-dragon-quest-wars/. Retrieved 2009-06-28. 
8. ^ McElroy, Griffin (April 28, 2009). "Square Enix files trademark for 'Dragon Quest Wars'". Joystiq. http://www.joystiq.com/2009/04/28/square-enix-files-trademark-for-dragon-quest-wars/. Retrieved 2009-10-21. 
9. ^ Clegg, Aaron (May 18, 2009). "News: Square & Intelligent Systems Team Up". N-Europe. http://n-europe.com/news.php?nid=13196. Retrieved 2009-10-21. 
10. ^ McFerran, Damien (May 18, 2009). "Square Enix Confirms Dragon Quest Wars For DSiWare". NintendoLife. http://dsiware.nintendolife.com/news/2009/05/square_enix_confirms_dragon_quest_wars_for_dsiware. Retrieved 2009-10-21. 
11. ^ Spencer (October 21, 2009). "Taichi Inuzuka Details Dragon Quest Wars". Siliconera. http://www.siliconera.com/2009/10/21/taichi-inuzuka-details-dragon-quest-wars/. Retrieved 2009-10-21. 
12. ^ "Dragon Quest Wars Preview for the Nintendo DS from 1UP.com". 1UP.com. 2009-06-24. http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3174926. Retrieved 2009-08-22. 
13. ^ Wiiloveit.com: Dragon Quest Wars Review
14. ^ Nintendo Power 250th issue!. South San Francisco, California: Future US. 2010. pp. 73. 

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Dragon Quest Wars at Nintendo.com
• Dragon Quest Wars at Nintendo-Europe.com