During the Dragon Quest IX 10th Anniversary Special Livestream today, series creator Yuji Horii and the original co-directors Jin Fujisawa and Akihiro Hino talked about the possibilities of a remake or sequel.
Yuji Horii talked about wanting to do something with Dragon Quest that would take players outdoors, but he felt that Pokémon was able to beat him to the punch with Pokémon GO. The talk about taking players outdoors brought back memories of Dragon Quest IX and its feature that basically worked like StreetPass.
The discussion about a possible remake or sequel begins at around the 1:47:25 mark of the video, where the creators talk about which platform would be best for a remake. They appear to lean towards both Nintendo Switch and smartphones. Based on the comments they were getting, about 80~90% were asking for it to come to Switch.
Horii suggested smartphones while discussing possible functionalities, but Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino chimed in saying they could make things happen with Switch using Wi-Fi, too. They also talked about how Dragon Quest IX looked a lot better to them back in the day compared to how they see it now, and they acknowledge that fans would be happy to just get improved looks for the equipment.
Dragon Quest producer Miyake says Square Enix is always considering a remake for Dragon Quest IX but to them it’s a special title but if they were to do a remake or port they wouldn’t be able to decide on the platform at the moment. Miyake also mentioned that there are a lot of people who only played through the story of Dragon Quest IX just once, so he thinks it’d be nice to have Dragon Quest IX that will allow players to simply enjoy its story, too.
Director Jin Fujisawa says he wants to hear more from fans that want a remake. However, they don’t have any studios in mind as to who would take care of its development. Level-5 President Hino jokingly mentioned that he could do it in a couple months, but in reality he says that it would take about a year, and that’s not counting any additional content.
The creators talked about whether they should add more to the story or just do a remake with added quests and such. Hino added that back when he worked on Dragon Quest VIII and IX he told himself he’d never do a spinoff or remake, but now he’s like “Roger!” about doing one.
In the end, the creators wanted to remind fans that the talk session just for fun and nothing is actually in the works, but the brainstorming session about a hypothetical remake got their creative juices flowing, and they all appear pretty excited about the possibilities of getting it done in the near future.
Ryutaro Ichimura, Dragon Quest IX Producer: (Reading the chat) “They’re saying ‘Miyake! Miyake! Come on, Miyake, make it happen!’ What are you gonna do about it, Miyake-san?”
Yu Miyake: “Um, Ichimura-san. You’re supposed to be on our side.”
All: [Laughs]
Ryutaro Ichimura: “[Laughs] Well, I’m also on this side, it’s tough.”
Lastly, they have a multiplayer session for old times’ sake, which you can check out at around the 2:26:12 mark of the video.
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies released for Nintendo DS in Japan on July 11, 2009. It followed in North America exactly a year later on July 11, 2010 and in Europe on July 23, 2010.
