Dragon Quest goes online!!!

SquareEnix held a press conference yesterday in order to announce the next game in their venerable series Dragon Quest. For a couple of years we have been hearing that the company was working on a game for an unannounced platform but now the long wait has ended. Dragon Quest X: Waking of the Five Tribes is coming out in 2012 for both the Wii and Nintendo’s upcoming new console Wii U. But here’s the real kick to the nuts: It’s an MMORPG, or in layman terms: an online RPG!!

Now I have been playing JRPGs for more than a decade and have always enjoyed this genre more than any other for their propensity of telling a great story with memorable characters. This is where JRPGs differ from other genres which become the perfect hook for gamers looking for a great yarn. That is why I have never been a fan of online RPGs as they kill the concept of a story. But as they usually come out on PC, and I do understand the fact that there are a huge number of people who enjoy playing online PC RPGs, but when some of the biggest JRPGs franchises decide to go it is makes me very angry indeed.

SquareEnix has been the past master of the JRPGs for years now and many of their games are great classics from the likes of Final Fantasy 4, Secret of Mana, Romancing Saga to name a few. I will even go on to say that I have never been let down by the company, except on two occasions. First came with the announcement of Final Fantasy XI. The leap from a single player experience to an MMORPG one was quite disappointing and I still hold against the company of ruining the numbered series. Because of that I haven’t even give much thought to Final Fantasy XIV, for me that game doesn’t even exist!

Dragon Quest X being an online RPG is the second instance that I have been disappointed by the company. Look I am all for innovation in the genre, hell I support positive innovation. But does the gaming industry need ANOTHER online RPG?!? If online component was so important to SquareEnix they could had done what they did in Dragon Quest IX i.e. providing a solid single player experience with the added option of going online and playing with a friend. For me that would had made sense. Oh well I guess what’s done is done, and it’s a shame really. I guess I will be ignoring this game and will be thanking the stars that The Last Story is in the process of being translated in English.