Dragon Quest
[ドラゴンクエスト]
1986年5月27日
The Original RPG Experience
Dragon Quest, designed by Yuji Horii, developed by Chunsoft, and published by Enix, was released for the Famicom on Tuesday, May 27, 1986, under the direction of producer Yukinobu Chida who aspired to make Dragon Quest the greatest game in the world.
Dragon Quest merges the most successful elements of Ultima and Wizardry, adopting Ultima's top-down 2D perspective for exploring a vast world, and Wizardry's turn-based combat system, where the player engages in battles by selecting commands.
In 1985, Yuji Horii, under the pseudonym Yu-Tei, contributed to the video game column of the Shonen Jump, working under the direction of Kazuhiko Torishima, the renowned editor from Shueisha.
Thanks to successful manga like Kinnikuman, Captain Tsubasa, and Dragon Ball, the Shonen Jump gained popularity and entered a golden age that would last until the mid-1990s.
Together, Torishima and Yuji Horii created the Famicom Shinken, a pioneering video game review magazine which introduced a revolutionary system of tests and ratings, featuring multiple editors, which predated the birth of Famitsu.
To promote the magazine, Kazuhiko Torishima considered the idea of developing a video game that would be featured in the Shonen Jump.
Yuji Horii wrote Dragon Quest around a fully developed story, designed as a continuation of his trilogy of mystery adventure games released in the early 1980s on Japanese microcomputers.
Adventure games resemble illustrated stories, whereas top-down RPGs offer a clearer perspective on the game world and its various situations.
In an adventure game, the player can easily get stuck while trying to solve a mystery, leaving him with no further actions to take. Once stuck, there is nothing left to do.
In an RPG, however, even if the player is stuck, he can continue fighting battles and earn experience points to make his character stronger. There is always something to do, and as the player levels up, solutions can sometimes begin to emerge.
In a sense, RPGs offers exceptional versatility. By exploring a city, forming a party of heroes, and interacting with characters, the player quickly receives something in return.
RPGs are therefore a more effective medium for telling a story.
In 1985, the Famicom was dominated by action games and mass-market shooters, while the RPG was a niche genre, primarily enjoyed by passionate gamers on microcomputers.
Yuji Horii's masterpiece, The Portopia Serial Murder Case, was ported to the Famicom on November 29, 1985, serving as an introduction to Dragon Quest, in order to familiarize young players with reading character dialogues on the screen and making decisions by entering commands.
Portopia was the first adventure game for the Famicom, and Yuji Horii's first game on the system.
In this port, developed by Koichi Nakamura, the interface was modified, and the keyboard input from the microcomputer version was replaced by a command selection system designed for the Famicom controller, which became the foundation for Dragon Quest’s menu system, giving it its own distinct feel by introducing a multi-window system and a simplified message display system.
In traditional microcomputer RPGs, the screen was consistently divided into various sections, such as the main map section, the status display section, and a section for showing commands and messages.
Dragon Quest uses multiple windows that can be opened and closed.
The player can open a window only when needed and select commands to display messages within the window. This takes the form of a reading experience.
On the movement screen, the game uses the entire screen to showcase the map around the protagonist. The player navigates in a top-down view, similar to Ultima, which displays the main character and his surroundings directly, allowing him to move up, down, left, and right towards his destination, much like an action game.
The terrain is designed in a square format to match the drawing function of the Famicom, making it easier to map, and the movement unit of the main character is also structured around this square grid.
The character design takes into account how characters move and how to make them easier to distinguish once integrated into the game.
They are sized with a 1:1 aspect ratio and feature two patterns that are displayed alternately to represent movement. They always move at regular intervals, whether they are stationary or in motion, to make their presence more easily noticeable.
The window layout remains consistent, whether the player is moving or in combat: the status window is positioned at the top left of the screen, the command selection window at the top right, and the message window at the bottom.
The menu displays the range of possible actions that can be performed with a single button on the controller.
The player can open a command selection window with the A button while moving and choose from 8 possible actions. He can "talk" to characters, "search" the area at his feet, "go up or down” stairs, "open" a door, "take" the contents of a safe, "check" status and settings, "use" items, and "use" spells.
There is no concept of orientation, and, similar to RPGs on microcomputers of the time, the characters are always depicted facing the same direction, looking forward.
After selecting the "talk" command, the player must choose the direction of the person he wishes to address. This command can also be used at store counters.
In contrast, when the player initiates a conversation, he receives a direct response, without command selection.
In 1985, video game development was an extension of university club activities, with games being crafted in an artisanal manner.
To support Yuji Horii in this amateur-driven world, Kazuhiko Torishima decided to bring a professional onto the team: Akira Toriyama, the renowned mangaka from Shonen Jump and creator of Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball.
Akira Toriyama, who had never played an RPG and was unfamiliar with this type of game, accepted the role without imagining the series would continue for nearly 40 years. At first, this kind of game initially held no clear meaning for him. It was only after trying the game himself that he began to understand its content.
Following this decision, Dragon Quest established a close relationship with the Shonen Jump, and the first images of the game, still in development, were unveiled in the magazine for the first time in February 1986.
Akira Toriyama created the monster illustrations based on Yuji Horii's drawings and settings and designed the game's packaging.
Dragon Quest takes place in a medieval fantasy universe within a defined period and setting. This specific conceptual framework, unfamiliar to Toriyama, initially seemed to limit artistic options. However, since the fantasy genre allows for boundless creativity, he was ultimately free to draw without constraints.
He created numerous designs that were rejected. However, he drew countless small monsters that did make it into the game.
Programming was entrusted to Koichi Nakamura, who would go on to become the executive director of Dragon Quest.
He programed the entirety of Dragon Quest on his own.
He composed several pieces of music for the early development versions, but these tracks were not retained as they lacked the necessary appeal for repeated listening. To elevate Dragon Quest into a masterpiece, it became crucial to assign the music composition to a professional.
Koichi Sugiyama, composer, arranger, and conductor, then joined the team with the goal of composing more refined music to help complete the development of Dragon Quest.
Sugiyama, in his fifties, was the oldest member of the team, which mainly consisted of university students and young men in their twenties. After Toriyama, Sugiyama became the second professional to join the team.
At the time, video game music had little social recognition, and Sugiyama took a risk by putting his writing skills and reputation to the test. However, from the beginning, he confidently asserted that video game music would one day rival film music in importance and that it would play an increasingly significant role in video games in the future.
As a pioneer in the field, he is often regarded as "the father of game music."
The music of a video game is heard hundreds, if not thousands of times by the player throughout the game. It serves as background music for dialogue and storytelling. A wide range of emotions can be conveyed through a single melody.
Due to the technical limitations of the Famicom's sound chip, only 2 to 3 channels could be utilized in a single composition, and the range of sound was extremely limited.
Sugiyama drew inspiration from Bach, his great mentor, who mastered the art of expressing melody, harmony, and rhythm within a single track. Bach's Partita for Solo Flute is a remarkable suite composed for a single flute without any accompaniment.
Sugiyama uses 3 sound channels for the opening theme and ending music, while limiting all other songs to just 2 channels. He employs an arpeggio melody line that makes a single note sound like three, simulating harmony, rhythm, and a double bass, and creates a real orchestra with just 2 or 3 channels, giving the impression of a much richer soundscape.
The music of Dragon Quest would elevate the game’s recognition beyond the video game world, and the main theme will become a sort of national anthem.
In this way, Yuji Horii, Koichi Nakamura, Akira Toriyama, and Koichi Sugiyama completed the development of Dragon Quest.
Hiroshi Miyaoka, a writer in the Famicom Shinken under the pseudonym Miya-O, assisted Yuji Horii with the scenario. Both shared the feeling that video games of the time suffered from weak writing. For Dragon Quest, they placed special emphasis on the writing, character personalities, and even the names of the monsters, with the goal of sparking the players' imagination.
The title of the game, Dragon Quest, was inspired by the philosophy of Kazuo Koike, Yuji Horii's teacher at the manga school. The title combines the simple word "dragon" with the more complex and previously little-known word in Japan, "quest."
Kazuo Enomoto, designer for the Weekly Shonen Jump, designed the title's logo. The dragon featured in the logo was drawn by Akira Toriyama.
The illustrations in the game's manual were created by Takayuki Doi, the illustrator known for his drawings in the "readers' questions" section of the Weekly Shonen Jump.
After 5 months of development and a week of debugging, Dragon Quest was released on May 27, 1986 for the Famicom, with the leitmotiv "a new legend is about to be born." It was ported to MSX and MSX2 the same year. Although the initial sales figures were disappointing, positive word of mouth and numerous magazine articles about RPGs—some written by Yuji Horii himself—helped spread its popularity, and Dragon Quest became a real success, ultimately selling 1.5 million copies.
Early computer RPGs favored a very specific worldview that became the essence of the game's story, aiming to replicate the freedom of a tabletop RPG. These games were not designed to actively tell a story, and the player could only interact with certain characters, such as merchants, tavern keepers, or the king.
In the case of Dragon Quest, it is not just a worldview, but a game entirely centered around a story.
Alefgard, a beautiful land, was once shrouded in darkness by the Great Dragon King. However, he was defeated by the legendary hero Roto, and the monsters were sealed within a sphere of light. Since then, peace has prevailed in Alefgard.
Years pass. Now under the rule of Lars XVI, King of Radatome, a new evil threat arises in Alefgard. The Dragon King steals the Sphere of Light and captures Princess Lora of Radatome, shrouding the land into darkness once again, as monsters invade the kingdom. Despite the efforts of several heroes who have gone to challenge the Dragon King, none have returned to the kingdom, and Princess Lora remains imprisoned in an unknown location.
The prophet Mutsuheta has foretold that a descendant of the hero Roto will arise to defeat the Dragon King.
Thus, a hero bearing the bloodline of the legendary Roto appears. Wearing an armor and a horned helmet, he embarks on a solo journey to rescue the princess and reach the Dragon King's castle to restore peace.
All the inhabitants of this world, except for the monsters, are humans.
The name Alefgard takes the first letter of the Greek alphabet, Aleph, and combines it with the word "Gard," meaning "kingdom." Thus, Alefgard translates to "the kingdom where everything begins."
The country of Alefgard is centered around Radatome Castle, where King Lars XVI resides, and includes six cities, a ruined village, five dungeons, and two sanctuaries.
Radatome Castle is the central castle of Alefgard and the starting point of the adventure. It is where King Lars XVI resides, along with his only daughter, Princess Lora, who is typically present. The castle is adjacent to the town of Radatome.
To the northwest of Radatome lies a cave that contains the final message left by the legendary hero Roto.
Radatome is connected by land to the Myra Forest to the east, the Garaya Peninsula to the west, where the city of Garai is located, and the Melkido Plateau to the south, via the Domdora Desert.
The island of Rimuldar, located to the southeast, is an isolated island accessible through a cave dug beneath the sea.
On the opposite shore of Radatome Castle lies the central Magic Island, where the Dragon King's castle is located.
In Dragon Quest, the conflict is rooted in a similar battle that took place in the past between the legendary hero Roto and the Dragon King. The main character, a descendant of the hero Roto, is given the mission to repeat the same confrontation that his predecessor once faced. His fight against the Dragon King is, in a sense, the second battle. This approach adds an engaging dimension to the story, as the player follows in the footsteps of a previous hero, traveling to the Dragon King's Island with a clear sense of purpose. The player doesn't have to constantly think about what to do in the game, as it feels like the actions of his predecessor are guiding his steps.
This narrative pattern is called "Yusha to Maou"【勇者と魔王】in Japanese, which translates to "The Hero and the Demon King." "Yusha" refers to the player character and primarily means "a special being who has been given the mission to fight evil and protect peace." On the other hand, "Maou" refers to the demon king, a powerful monster who brings disaster to people or leads them down the wrong path. The Yusha fights the Maou, who is often positioned as the final boss, standing atop the monsters and plotting to rule the world. In Dragon Quest, the final boss is the Dragon King, who initially appears in a temporary sorcerer form and later reveals his true dragon form.
The word "Yusha" itself appears in Dragon Quest and has since become a tradition in the series. It is customary to refer to all the main characters in the series as "Yusha." Additionally, due to the frequent use of the term "Yusha" in Famicom games after the release of Dragon Quest, the term has become a widely recognized concept, often used without the need for further explanation.
The Yusha is considered the alter ego of the player. In contrast, all other characters are referred to as non-player characters, NPC.
With the influence of Dragon Quest, the idea of a "hero" as a special being, a savior, or a skillful and versatile character has become a staple of RPGs.
The first five minutes of Dragon Quest single-handedly establish an entire genre.
At the beginning of the game, the player decides on the hero's name, which determines the protagonist's "growth pattern" and initial parameters, based on four different growth combinations. These four combinations of values separately influence "strength", "speed", "maximum HP" and "maximum MP", determining how quickly they evolve over time during battles and as the hero acquires experience points.
Only hiragana can be used, and the length is limited to four characters. Any unspecified parts are left blank.
The game begins in the throne room of Radatome Castle. The player is informed of his adventure's goal by King Lars XVI. As a descendant of the legendary hero "Roto," the player's mission is twofold: first, to rescue Princess Lora, and second, to defeat the Dragon King.
To accomplish this goal, the player must fight monsters to earn experience points and money, level up, purchase powerful weapons and armor to become stronger, expand his exploration area to gather information from the inhabitants, and collect important items that will guide him to the Dragon King.
King Lars XVI addresses the player by the name he entered at the beginning of the game, which deepens his bond with the character he embodies, and unlike other RPGs of the time, which often used generic gimmicks like "player," "warrior 1," or "monster," helps make the images feel more immersive and realistic as the player progresses through the game.
The throne room is secured by a locked door, with a staircase waiting on the other side. Inside the room, there are three safes waiting to be opened. The player is encouraged to open the three safes to retrieve a key, unlock the door and descend the staircase.
In a single screen, the player performs basic actions and uses the commands “talk” to another character, “take” the contents of a chest, “open” the door and “go down” the stairs.
On the lower floor, in the main hall of the royal castle, the player discovers another room filled with chests, but it is blocked by a locked door. The player used his only key to exit the throne room just moments ago. The door remains locked. The game then introduces its first moment of frustration: the chests remain inaccessible without a new key.
A few hours later, the player can purchase keys for 53 gold coins. Taking a break from his quest, he tries the key on the castle door and opens the chests: a total of 40 gold coins, barely enough to cover the cost of the key... To make matters worse, the royal guard accuses him of being a thief! For the first time, the game does not reward the player. Long diversion can sometimes turn out to be nothing more than an unfortunate waste of time!
The player progresses alone, without teammates, throughout his entire quest.
He is the only protagonist in the story, embarking on his adventure alone. He thus replays the old legend of the great hero Roto, recovering his ancestor's artifacts.
In reality, Yuji Horii initially wanted to establish a system with multiple teammates, similar to Dragon Quest III. However, due to the Famicom's hardware limitations at the time, he designed the first Dragon Quest to focus on a single Hero.
This turned out to be a beneficial decision. If the series had begun abruptly with multiple characters, as seen in Dragon Quest III, it would have likely been too complex for young players who were new to the genre.
Since the hero travels alone, he can equip all the weapons and armor that appear in the story. Without any companions to compare him to, it’s difficult to judge whether his abilities are superior or inferior to those of others.
In Toriyama's illustration, the hero wears a helmet with a visor and cow-shaped horns on both sides. His armor is blue.
Thus, Toriyama designs the archetype of the hero.
When the hero equips a weapon or shield, his pixel art sprite changes to reflect the new equipment, following one of four predefined models.
The hero without a weapon or shield, the hero holding only a shield, the hero wielding a sword, and the hero armed with both a sword and a shield.
The adventure takes place on an open world terrain map, offering completely free exploration, divided into castles, towns, villages, and dungeons.
The Dragon King's castle is visible from the very beginning of the game, situated on the southern bank, across the ocean from the starting castle, impossible to reach initially, as it is separated from the main continent by the ocean. However, this final location is the first thing the player sees when accessing the world map for the first time. The desire to travel and explore the map to discover how to reach the Dragon King's castle is heightened from the very first moments of the game.
Fights with monsters occur randomly while traveling, and the monsters are not visible on the map. When a random battle is triggered, the screen abruptly changes, and the battle begins.
Dragon Quest reveals its game mechanics as early as possible, in a natural and invisible manner. The player has then unconsciously understood and assimilated all the key elements of the Japanese RPG genre within just a few minutes.
The very essence of the joy in Dragon Quest, embodied in its fundamental structure —fight, grow stronger, and experience the story— integrate perfectly into this context. The player engages in battles, levels up, acquires increasingly powerful weapons, embarks on an epic quest, and uncovers clues, forming a seamless chain of desire that unfolds throughout the game.
This seamless and invisible tutorial would lay the groundwork for the entire Japanese RPG genre, becoming an established convention just a year later with the release of Dragon Quest II and Final Fantasy.
Initially, Dragon Quest was intended as a single work, but as the game became a series, various official parameters were added later to make it relevant to later episodes. It is the first episode of the Roto trilogy, which includes Dragon Quest, Dragon Quest II: Akuryō no Kamigami, "Evil Gods ", and Dragon Quest III: Soshite Densetsu he, "And into the Legend".
Ultimately, the first three Dragon Quest games, forming the Roto Trilogy, act as introductory games that help young players, who are discovering RPGs for the first time on the Famicom, understand the fun and depth of the genre, while remaining fun for adults.
Yuji Horii emphasized two important leitmotifs: allowing players to quickly understand the goal of the game and allowing them to play with peace of mind.
In Dragon Quest, the ease of understanding helps stimulate the players' engagement. The game encourages active participation through events that unfold step by step.
But instead of categorizing Dragon Quest as a game solely for children, Yuji Horii carefully designed it as a game that adults can play and that children can understand. The gameplay, which revolves around fighting and becoming stronger, is simple enough to provide fun for everyone!
Dragon Quest is a knight's tale set in a medieval universe influenced by Western styles, while retaining a touch of fairy tale elements, thus creating a unique fantasy world specific to Dragon Quest, a style that has since established itself as a strong influence not only in video games but also in light novels in Japan.
This world of swords and magic ignites the imagination of players. Since this vision of the world is less familiar to the Japanese, it is more readily perceived as a realistic one.
Dragon Quest is structured around its cities, castles, and dungeons.
In each city or castle, a guide stands at the entrance to welcome the player and announce the name of the location, as there is no menu to automatically display the names of visited places.
There is a wide variety of dialogues of this type and a diverse variety of characters depending on the location: men, women, soldiers, old people, and children.
These characters also play a crucial role in helping the player understand the current situation and form an initial impression of the challenges ahead. Through their interactions, the player can gauge whether the city is welcoming to adventurers, shut off, or in a state of emergency.
Some characters may shift their attitude or dialogue as the situation develops, so that the player can experience the progression of the adventure and the passage of time upon entering the city.
The presence of these characters instills a sense of accomplishment and excitement in the player each time he reaches a new location or destination, reinforcing the idea that the challenges faced during his journey are meaningfully rewarded.
These characters contribute significantly to shaping and enriching the game's worldview.
Each town features its own storyline and presents a problem that the player solves by helping out, earning in return the townspeople's gratitude, along with valuable advice and practical hints. Treasure hunt elements, inspired directly by adventure games, introduce smaller objectives, such as finding the Sun Stone and the Rain Stick, all contributing to the achievement of a larger goal.
The core concept of the RPG genre —listening to townspeople and gathering clues— was new at the time. Players were captivated, dedicating their efforts to interacting with the townsfolk, and the story advanced through the lines of dialogue of NPCs.
The hero remains largely silent, speaking only during gag scenes and special abilities in battles. He can only communicate with yes and no, in order to deepen the player's empathy for the main character.
Dragon Quest crafts an environment where the player can naturally immerse himself in the game and experience a genuine sense of active progression.
In games where the main character speaks freely, the protagonist, whom the player has always viewed as an extension of himself, suddenly becomes a distinct entity. When the main character speaks freely or makes an arbitrary decision at a crucial moment in the story, it creates a sense of emotional distance between the player and the protagonist.
In Dragon Quest, the main character's dialogue is left to the player's imagination, in order to add as little personality as possible to the protagonist. This enhances immersion and the feeling of truly embodying the character.
The player actually becomes the descendant of a hero, a young man with Roto's blood. He is a reincarnation of Roto.
The texts are written in hiragana and katakana. Some rare kanji are redrawn by combining various hiragana characters.
At the time, the limited storage capacity of Famicom cartridges made it impossible to use kanji.
In Dragon Quest, due to the adoption of multiple windows, it is necessary to have map data, battle background images, and text data coexist within a limited memory capacity.
If the console loads all the hiragana, katakana, numbers, and alphabetic characters into memory, there isn’t enough space left to render the terrain and backgrounds for the monster battle scenes.
For this reason, Yuji Horii carefully selected the 20 most frequently used symbols from the 50 katakana syllabary characters, drawing inspiration from English letters, and named all the characters, locations, spells, and monsters that appear in the game using only these characters.
Dragon Quest ultimately incorporates the 26 letters of the Roman alphabet, all 50 hiragana characters, and 20 specifically selected katakana characters.
The font is a slightly modified version of the one used in "The Portopia Serial Murder Case." The stroke thickness of both Japanese and alphanumeric characters is standardized to enhance readability.
Yuji Horii does not use commas, but he leaves spaces between hiraganas to make the text easier to read. He inserts brackets to open or close the lines of dialogue.
The absence of kanji and the lack of punctuation in the dialogue condenses the pleasure into short lines, in an imaginative formulation that intuitively convey a large amount of information. This allows for a freer interpretation of the text, offering a unique experience for each player depending on his age, temperament, or life experience, as every line conveys the equivalent of three pages of information.
There are many lines of text that are not essential to the story, but depict a single moment in a character's life.
The distinctive use of words and writing techniques, optional texts and dialogues imbued with exceptional style, help the player identify with the protagonist and feel immersed in the game world.
This art of text, which allows for complex and profound dialogue despite the limited storage capacity of the cartridge, is referred to as Horii Bushi, 【堀井節】. It embodies the poetry and melodic quality of Yuji Horii's lines of dialogue. The short expressive style of the Horii Bushi is only possible in the Japanese language. The abstraction and interpretive depth of Yuji Horii's texts, written in hiragana and katakana, expand exponentially, according to the player's life experiences. Each player interprets the metaphors of the Horii Bushi through their own unique perspective. This is a crucial element that enriches the worldview of Dragon Quest, making it more fun and deeper. Yuji Horii personally wrote all the text and dialogues for Dragon Quest up to the seventh episode.
Yuji Horii continues to include lines of dialogue and gags to the very limits of the medium's memory capacity, sacrificing other more conventional elements. He never sets aside what he wants to convey and remains determined to include dialogues and gags at all costs to make the game interesting.
Among the inhabitants living in the different cities of Alefgard appear "Yutei" (Yuji Horii), "Miya-o" (Hiroshi Miyaoka), and "Kim" (Hajime Kimura), all three writers in the Famicom Shinken.
Thanks to these wonderful dialogues, Dragon Quest succeeds in evoking emotions in the heart of the player, transforming the image of video games—from something previously cold—into a warm universe.
Dragon Quest tells a story that can only be told in a video game. Dragon Quest constantly stands up and says: "Hey, it's a video game."
The small sound details also enhance the experience, such as the voice-like sound effect during specific dialogues, or the sharp, distinctive sound when the confirmation window appears in inns and shops.
In the town of Radatome, a girl says, "No, I’m not Princess Lora! But I wish I were!"
In Rimuldar, as the player explores the outskirts of the city, he encounters a young woman waiting for her boyfriend. "Don't be late, I miss you." The young man can be found on the opposite side of the city.
After rescuing Princess Lora, the main character's sprite transforms into a larger one depicting the hero carrying the princess in his arms, in a pose often referred as the "cuddled princess". They must travel together to Radatome Castle. While the plot encourages the player to return directly to the castle, he can instead take Princess Lora to an inn and spend the night by her side. The next morning, the innkeeper comments, "You went to bed late, you had a good time, didn't you?"
This delightful line of text expanded the fantasies of teenage players, made adult players smile, and opened new perspectives for both boys and girls.
If the player dies while holding Princess Lora, she will be trapped in the cave once more and will need to be rescued all over again.
The Pafupafu, inherited from Dragon Ball, makes its debut in this episode and has since become a symbol of Dragon Quest, appearing in all the games of the series.
"Come on, boy. If you want a pafu pafu, it's 50 gold coins."
In this first episode, it takes the form of a simple line of dialogue with no command options, and nothing really happens. It is nevertheless already an exquisite expression that subtly conveys the softness and physicality of the body.
In Melkido, a woman says, like an easter egg, "Hey, let's trade your Dragon Quest for my Portopia, okay?".
At the time, an urban legend claimed that if the player names the hero "Yasu" and accepts the Dragon King's blackmail at the end of the game, the hero would truly receive half the world.
Dragon Quest laid the groundwork for RPG storytelling by incorporating elements of manga mythology and translating them into the video game format. The game successfully conveys its story without relying on an overwhelming number of choices or statistics to fill in for a sparse narrative framework.
Dragon Quest places a strong emphasis on telling its story, prioritizing the creation of an emotional connection between the player and the game.
The world map of Dragon Quest suggests complete freedom of action. It is a central protagonist of the story, and like a narrator, it holds many stories to tell. It ties together all the scenes in the game and concentrates the entirety of the player's adventure.
It features a variety of terrains, including plains, forests, and deserts, which the player can traverse without penalty. However, rocky mountains, water, and walls serve as obstacles that the player cannot cross, and each time he walks on poisonous swamps and barriers, his HP decreases.
Cities and dungeons are scattered across the terrain map, and when the protagonist moves onto them, he automatically enter the respective town or dungeon. Conversely, if he leaves the town or dungeon, the protagonist automatically returns to the terrain map, which represents the entire world where the story takes place.
The overworld map showcases the bright, vibrant colors typical of Famicom games and possesses an exceptional readability with sharp outlines, simple shapes, and minimalist use of details, keeping the focus on the character and the ongoing action.
The same graphic blocks are reused repeatedly, combining them to create a complete map image, and are assembled like pieces of a puzzle. By using this approach, the game effectively saves memory.
The world map reflects Akira Toriyama's love for drawing vast plains. This influence is a direct legacy of his work on Dragon Ball, where landscapes serve to highlight moments of grand scale and narrative importance, while still allowing space for dynamic action.
These open plains, stretching across the world, serve as the backdrop for numerous scenes of combat, travel, and reflection. They symbolize the solitude and vastness of the protagonist's journey, emphasizing his solitary venture through a vast and wild land.
The only means of transportation is walking, as there are no vehicles. However, if the player uses a Chimera Wing or casts the Rura spell, he can instantly return to Radatome Castle.
In towns, there are weapon and armor shops, item shops, inns, and key vendors.
Items can be used through the "item" command, and the player can carry up to 8 items in his inventory. Among the consumables, medicinal herbs and keys occupy special slots and the player can collect up to 6 of each at the same time.
Useless items, aside from those crucial for the progression of the quest, can be sold at the item shop.
In dungeons, which are essentially underground, labyrinthine caves with multiple floors, darkness envelops the environment, and the player cannot see anything around him, except the space he is in. If the player uses a torch or the spell Remira, his field of vision expands. There are often chests scattered throughout the dungeons, containing valuable items and money. Increasingly stronger monsters appear as the player ventures deeper into the cave. Chimera Wings and the spell Rura cannot be used in dungeons, but the player can quickly escape by using the spell Riremito, which teleports him back to the entrance of the dungeon.
The music changes in pitch on each floor, becoming progressively lower and slower as the player descends deeper into the cave. This creates an atmosphere of growing tension and fear, enhancing the sense of realism.
Dragon Quest's dungeons are extremely satisfying because they strike a perfect visual balance. The player must constantly assess how far he can venture before dying or reaching a point of no return. The urge to discover what lies beyond the end of the path is very powerful, similar to the feeling felt after a long, arduous physical effort or a long walk back. The sense of relief the player feels as he gets closer to the end of the dungeon is incredibly refreshing.
If the player remains unmoving, a status window automatically appears.
The status screen displays the player's parameters: HP, MP, gold coins, and experience points.
HP represent the character's health points. They decrease as the player takes damage.
MP represent the character's magic points. They decrease when the player casts a spell.
HP and MP can be fully restored by staying at an inn, or partially recovered using spells and items. Lodging fees vary depending on the city, with the cost increasing the farther the city is from Radatome.
When HP reaches zero, the character dies. However, the game is not over. The player loses half of his gold coins but can restart with his experience points and items intact.
Given the high risk of defeat in battles, this mechanic allows the beginner player to progress in the game while keeping his experience points and items.
Gold is the currency of Alefgard. It is used in shops and at the inn.
Experience points represent the total points earned throughout the game. When the player accumulates enough experience points, his level and stats increase. He can also learn new spells.
The player can ask the King of Radatome how many more points are needed to reach the next level. The maximum level is 30.
The game also includes power and speed statistics, which affect the amount of damage inflicted on the enemy based on the player's power and weapon. Additionally, defense statistics affect the amount of damage the player receives.
This detailed "status" screen allows beginners to instantly understand the strength of the main character.
Equipment is categorized into three types: weapons that boost attack power, armor, and shields that enhance defense power. When new weapons or armor are obtained, they are automatically equipped, replacing the previous items, which are either sold or discarded.
The player can chant spells and cast magical powers, which are obtained each time his level reaches a certain value, and consume MP when used.
There are a total of ten different types of magical spells.
Some spells are restricted to use only during combat with an enemy. These include attack spells, attack support spells, and auxiliary spells. Some spells can be used both during combat and while moving, such as recovery spells, while others can only be used while moving.
The names of the spells are derived from Japanese, and some use only onomatopoeia, such as Hoimi and Parupunte.
On the field map, monsters appear randomly and become stronger the further the player travels from Radatome. The type of monster the player can encounter changes each time he cross bridges, and the encounter rate is higher in forests and mountains than in plains.
When a random battle begins, a circular screen introduces the start of the encounter. A battle window appears at the center of the screen, and an image of a monster is displayed inside it.
Dragon Quest features 40 different types of monsters. The same sprite is used to create up to four different monsters by simply altering the color palette.
Some designs are based on rough sketches drawn by Yuji Horii, but Akira Toriyama adds his own twists, and the final monster designs are almost entirely different.
They seem to menace the player with their sharp, drawn eyes or glowing eyes set against a black background, resembling demonic creatures. Yet, they possess an endearing quality, adding a unique warmth to the world of Dragon Quest.
The slime, initially depicted in Yuji Horii's sketch as a viscous, amorphous creature without eyes or mouth, evolved into a charming, water drop-shaped character that has since become the iconic mascot of Dragon Quest in its own right.
Toriyama's distinctive style effectively uses clean lines to express humanity, with a style of expression much closer to abstract than figurative, which fits seamlessly within the context of Dragon Quest. The drawings possess a certain clumsiness, yet they exude a playful and youthful audacity.
Akira Toriyama seamlessly crosses the gap between manga and electronic media. He navigates between printed media, cinema, and television screens, showcasing the broader possibilities of media expression. No matter the medium he works with, the remarkable qualities of his images stand out with undeniable authority.
There is no animation on the battle screen, and the monsters are presented as static images. To express movement despite the Famicom cartridge's limited resources, the enemy flashes white when the player casts a spell and red when the player inflicts physical damage. The screen shakes when the monster inflicts damage on the player, and the text changes color as the player's HP decreases.
The background of the window features a more realistic landscape drawing, simply composed of round mountains and trees, which captures the thrill of battle in the uncompromising nature, elegantly evoking Akira Toriyama's style.
It was both the simplest to draw and the easiest to reproduce in pixel art.
In dungeons and ruins, the background is black.
The progression of the fight is explained through text in the window.
The effective sound effects established in Dragon Quest quickly became considered definitive and will be reused, for the most part, without modification in the following episodes.
Dragon Quest thus establishes what would become the standard graphical representation of RPG battles.
The fight takes place one-on-one, with the player and his opponent taking turns in a turn-based system. The battle continues until one of the two either dies or decides to flee.
The player always attacks first unless ambushed by a surprise attack. At the start of his turn, the player can select an action from four available combat commands.
Attack with a weapon or bare hands. With a certain probability, the attack can become a critical hit that ignores the opponent's defense stats and causes great damage.
Cast a spell. The player can cast combat spells on the monster or recovery spells on himself. These spells are unaffected by attack or defense power but may have no effect and fail depending on the opponent.
Flee to end the battle without fighting. However, the player may fail and lose his action turn.
Use items. The player can only select items that are relevant to combat.
The enemy can use normal attacks and cast spells, but some monsters also use special fire attacks that cannot be used by the player.
Each monster has a unique personality and the player must adapt his tactics accordingly.
Once the monster is defeated, the player receives experience points and gold. If the player runs away, he receives no benefit.
When the player loses a lot of HP, the window turns orange as a warning. If his HP reaches 0, he dies and is defeated. If the player is defeated, the game is not over. Instead, he is sent back to Radatome Castle, and his number of gold coins is reduced by half. The player can, however, be revived and continue his adventure with his experience points and items intact.
As the player's level increases, weaker monsters are more likely to run away.
Dragon Quest’s combat system is ultimately groundbreaking and continues to feel as fresh as ever. It amazed all Famicom gamers of the time, who were enthralled by the circular screen displayed before the battle, captivated by Akira Toriyama's monsters design, reimagined in vibrant cartoon-like colors, and mesmerized by Sugiyama's tense music, which incorporated rhythms from rock and disco—much like how Bach and Beethoven’s music integrated popular dance rhythms of their era.
For many players unfamiliar with microcomputer RPGs, the command-based battles were a radical departure from the fast-paced action games they were used to. They offered such a unique experience that players would fight endlessly. They could spend hours fighting slimes, and the text-based combat information was simply incredible.
If the player quits the game, he can resume his adventure while keeping his statistics by using the Fukatsu no Jumon, the resurrection spell.
Until 1987, there was no way to save game data on the Famicom, whose cartridges did not yet have a backup battery. While it was possible to save data to Famicom Disk System floppy disks or to cassettes on microcomputers, these methods had the disadvantage of taking a long time to save and load.
The resurrection spell is a password taught by the king, consisting of a long string of hiragana characters, which the player retrieves when he wants to quit the game, and which he can enter upon restarting the game through the "continue" menu to resume where he left off.
At that time, password systems were commonly used in many genres, and each game often gave it a creative name to replace the bland term "password," which can destroy the worldview of the game.
For this reason, Dragon Quest adopts the term "resurrection spell," which fits the game's medieval fantasy worldview.
As long as the player knows the resurrection spell, he can restart the game, share it with friends, or even resume his progress on a different cartridge.
This password encodes essential game data such as the player's name, experience points, gold, standard items, and important items, all converted into a hiragana string. To keep the string as short as possible, the resurrection spell only stores the bare minimum of information needed.
The resurrection spell consists of 20 characters and has a cadence of "5 characters, 7 characters, 5 characters, 3 characters, resembling a haiku or senryu which have a cadence of 5-7-5. The final 3 characters can be interpreted as the name of the poet. Some resurrection spells even adopt real haikus.
This combination of words feels as fun as solving a word puzzle, and can be considered a playful and creative way to enjoy Dragon Quest.
To record and keep track of resurrection spells, players frequently used dedicated notebooks that often ended up filled with incomprehensible spells.
Dragon Quest offers a great degree of freedom of action, with a story that is not clearly structured from beginning to end, and the player can achieve his ultimate goal of defeating the Dragon King immediately after starting the game. Aside from some doors that require keys, and fixed bosses, there are no checkpoints that demand specific conditions to pass, and the player is free to explore every corner of the world map from the beginning of the game, with the exceptions of Melkido and the Magic Island.
The minimum requirements to reach the Dragon King's Castle are as follows: purchase three keys, obtain the Sun Stone, the Staff of Rain, and the Mark of Roto, and finally acquire the Rainbow Drop to build the bridge leading to the Magic Island.
There is no specific order for obtaining these items, though some require keys for access. Therefore, the first major objective is to reach Rimuldar, where the Locksmith is located.
In the town of Maira, the player acquires the Fairy Flute, which causes the Golem guarding Melkido City to fall asleep, granting access to information about the Mark of Roto.
The Princess's Love Symbol, which the player receives after rescuing Princess Laura, will help him locate the Mark of Roto, proving that he is a true hero.
The Princess's Love Symbol is an item that helps the player locate essential items needed to complete the game.
However, it is not necessary to gather information to discover the items, as long as the player already knows their locations. Therefore, retrieving the Princess's Love Symbol or saving Princess Laura is not mandatory, as it is not the final goal of the game but rather an intermediate event that occurs in the middle of the story.
If the player completes the game without saving the princess, she will not appear during the final scene.
The player then receives the Rainbow Drop in exchange for the Mark of Roto, the Staff of Rain and the Sun Stone, which is used to build a rainbow bridge leading to the magical island. At the end of this journey, the player reaches the Dragon King's Castle and uncovers a hidden staircase behind the throne, descending into a vast labyrinth.
On the lowest level of the castle, the player enters the king's chamber. The mighty Dragon King, who recognizes the hero's strength, offers him half the world if he becomes his ally. If he declines the proposal, the player and the dragon king then engage in a particularly fierce confrontation.
Dragon Quest features multiple endings, including the series' only bad ending, as well as a primitive and reversed New Game+ system.
If the player chooses to accept the Dragon King's offer to share half the world, he learns his final resurrection spell. The text turns red, the screen fades to black, and the game freezes completely. This marks a definitive game over, as it becomes impossible to continue the game. The player is left with no choice but to turn off the Famicom's power or press the reset button.
If the player starts a new game using the resurrection spell obtained from the Dragon King, all his current statistics are erased, and the player begins the game anew from the beginning at level 1, with no experience points, no gold coins, and no items.
Depending on the character's growth path, which is initially determined by the name entered at the start of the game, progressing in this new game may become impossible without any gold, weapons, or armor. Even the first slimes are too strong for a hero stripped of all possessions.
Since the player cannot buy weapons or armor, he loses almost every fight, and if he manages to survive, as he has no money to sleep at the inn and recover his health, he must restart the game.
The player's patience and mental resilience are put to the test during these initial stages. So, it's not truly a New Game + but rather a New Game -, as the player, instead of starting a new game while being very powerful, begins the game again in a state even weaker than at the very start of a normal game.
If the player declines the Dragon King's offer, he must engage in a merciless battle against him. When the Dragon King's initial form is defeated, he transforms into his true Dragon form, and becomes even more terrifying. He unleashes intense flames but does not cast any spells. If the player succeeds in defeating him, he recovers the Dragon King's Sphere of Light and brandish it to restore peace to the world. The final scene does not take place immediately after the last battle and the game continues. The player can freely explore Alefgard without encountering enemies until he returns to Radatome Castle. The NPCs then speak new lines of dialogue, in harmony with this new era of peace.
Upon returning to Radatome Castle, King Lars XVI offers the player the chance to become the new king of Alefgard and rule the country. For the first time, the game does not present a choice selection screen, and the protagonist directly speaks to King Lars XVI in a dialogue that is expressed in direct speech: "No. If I am to rule a country, I want to search for it myself." 【いいえ。 わたしの おさめる くにが あるなら それは わたしじしんで さがしたいのです】
When the protagonist, who has remained silent throughout the game, finally speaks these words at the very end, it creates a powerful impression.
The player can sit beside King Lars XVI and engage in a conversation with him. If the player has saved Princess Lora, she asks to join him and leave together. If the player refuses, the same choice window appears in a loop, accompanied by the message "It's terrible..." 【そんな、ひどい…】 . This Horii Bushi has become the most famous loop in Japanese video game history.
In the final scene, the hero departs from the kingdom with the princess, if she has been rescued, and otherwise, he leaves alone.
After the events of Dragon Quest, the hero's descendants became members of the royal family, and when combined, the territories controlled by their three kingdoms account for roughly half of the world's total surface area.
Bad Cover
Dragon Quest laid the groundwork for RPGs on Japanese consoles. As the pioneering title in the series and the first full-fledged RPG for home consoles, it introduced many original systems and a unique philosophy that has since become an integral part of the genre.
This global philosophy evolved uniquely in Japan, giving rise to a new genre that differs from the philosophy of Western RPGs, which are rooted in Dungeons & Dragons and tabletop role-playing games.
Dungeons & Dragons, first published by Tactical Studies Rules in 1974, is the original tabletop RPG and is considered the ancestor of all existing computer RPGs. It is a board game in which human players gather to play scenarios narrated by a game master.
At the time, only a small number of Japanese players had actually experienced Dungeons & Dragons, which was only partially translated into Japanese in 1985. This means that the creation of microcomputer role-playing games in Japan actually predates the discovery of Dungeons & Dragons.
As a result, aspects such as the complexity and high degree of freedom specific to Dungeons & Dragons have never been a priority in Japanese RPGs, which favor elements related to character progression, such as leveling up and searching for items, as well as solving puzzle-type riddles from adventure games and mechanics borrowed from action games.
In contrast, in the West, as the name of the genre suggests, the essence of Dungeons & Dragons lies in an improvised role-playing game where the complexity of the systems and the sense of freedom are essential requirements.
This inspired a trend in video game development that was starting to emerge in the United States. Wizardry and Ultima adopted the term "Classical RPG," referring to a board-based, discussion-style RPG that can be played alone on a computer without a group of people. However, by the time these games crossed the ocean, the foundations of Japanese RPGs had already been established.
The development of Wizardry and Ultima began with the goal of adapting Dungeons & Dragons to a personal computer, while exploiting the maximum capabilities of the microcomputers of the time.
From a game design perspective, a Western RPG tries to go beyond the limitations of the processors of its time, with developers eager to incorporate as many elements as possible, up to the limit of the system specifications.
In Ultima, the overworld is projected in a 2D top-down view, while the dungeons are displayed in a first-person perspective. The player controls the character using the arrow keys on the keyboard, while hotkeys are assigned to other commands, such as "A" for attack and "B" to open the menu. The world is divided into four continents, each featuring two castles where the player can receive quests. Additionally, there are various towns where the player can purchase different items. The world features dungeons to explore and is made up of forests, mountains, lakes, and oceans. The world also contains ruins and special locations in remote areas that the player can access to earn precious rewards.
Ultima is a game of truly epic scope and one of the first RPGs to have outdoor environments and conversations with NPCs. It represents the original form for 2D world map computer RPGs.
In Wizardry, the player assembles a party of six characters with diverse abilities, combining various professions such as warriors, wizards, monks, and thieves, as well as different races, including humans, elves, and dwarves. Characters also have intrinsic attributes such as good, evil, and neutral, which cannot be combined within the same party. The player explores a labyrinth displayed in 3D, seen from a first-person perspective. He takes part in battles against 1 to 4 groups of monsters, and the monster's full body is displayed on the screen. The game features a variety of monsters, including mythical and imaginary creatures like dragons, manticores, and slimes, as well as real animals and humans. The party earns experience points and improves stats through battles. When HP and MP are too low, the player returns to town, rests at an inn to recover, prepares his equipment, and ventures back into the labyrinth, gradually extending his exploration area. The game progresses by repeating this process.
Wizardry implements a command-selection-based combat system and displays monster images in a visually striking manner.
In Wizardry, the player fights and becomes stronger in order to improve his statistics, and each time one character levels up, another character is in turn close to leveling as well, and the player can fight indefinitely to become stronger. The experience points and leveling-up system, originally derived from Dungeons & Dragons, locks the player in an infinite loop that defines the essence of roleplaying.
It is this system of leveling up and gaining experience points that creates an emotional connection with the game.
The emotional level experienced while playing Wizardry is incredible because the game system itself is only a bare skeleton. As the player integrates his own desires and intentions, the game transforms and evolves into something exclusive for the player who feels as though he dominates a game or an adventure.
Dragon Quest aimed to transmit to children the pleasure of "fighting and becoming stronger".
Before Dragon Quest, Japanese computer RPGs were an extremely challenging genre, primarily intended for hardcore maniacs. RPGs were not easily accessible to everyone, and it was recommended to first gain experience with adventure games. The trend was that the more difficult an RPG, the more interesting it was considered, and complex games like Xanadu and Romancia were particularly popular.
Dragon Quest was designed with the distinct differences between computer gamers and Famicom gamers in mind, successfully breaking that trend and transforming RPGs into a genre that could be enjoyed by everyone.
Dragon Quest takes the systems of Ultima and Wizardry and adds a story and characters inspired by manga. Dragon Quest presents a more realistic world that the player can fully appreciate through the story and dialogues with characters who have unique personalities, while limiting the amount of information to keep the game from becoming overly complex.
The emotional connection with the game is built through its storytelling, and the concept of roleplaying comes to life when the player feels he has become the new hero of the story.
Thus, it is the story, narration, and the relationship between the player, hero, and the characters that make Dragon Quest as an RPG.
It is this definition, conveyed by Dragon Quest, that defines the Japanese RPG as a distinctive genre—one that has inspired hope in players and remains etched in the memories of many as their "original RPG experience."
Dragon Quest contributed to the popularization of the genre in Japan, while also establishing the archetype for RPGs on home game consoles. All the fundamental elements that would later define Japanese RPGs were already in place.
The encounter system, where the player is transported to a battle screen upon encountering an enemy; the turn-based battle system, where the player fights by selecting commands; the universe inspired by anime and manga; and a linear storyline in which the player advances in a straight line with few choices. Additionally, the top-down view of the field and the lack of role customization elements, with characters having fixed roles, are common features of many Japanese RPGs.
Thus, the Famicom gamer base expanded to include people who weren't particularly skilled at action games.
Originally, Western RPG fans, who valued freedom and complexity, often viewed Japanese RPGs as inferior, one-dimensional, and simplistic games.
However, during the Super Famicom and PlayStation eras, Japanese RPGs became more sophisticated in terms of presentation and narration. They even refined their linear storytelling and anime/manga-inspired worldview, developing a unique charm that won over many fans in Europe and the United States. During this period, Japanese RPGs proved that the JRPG style was not just a variation of Western RPGs, but could be embraced anywhere in the world and adapted to all types of games.