Written Reviews: Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies Part 2

Hey, here's a question for you all. Who cares about a story in a game? Is it the most important part? Or is it just something to make you continue playing and feel like you're part of it?

Well in the case of Dragon Quest, and moreso as the series as a whole, it's more of the latter.

Is a story in a game really important?

In many popular RPGs, they are mostly known for having a story arch (they are also memorable for gameplay, but let's be real here...). Many of the memorable moments in this genre are because of the characters you control in battle and the non-playable characters (or NPCs if you will) you come across. You become attached to these people in your playtime, like the people you would watch in a movie or the ones you read in a book, and their actions that shape up future outcomes.

Now, as much as you THINK Dragon Quest IX, along with some of its predecessors, would try to emulate this, the game doesn't really do that to the fullest extent. By this I mean you don't really have any memorable party members. The reason for this is because you can make your own team, with you (or your alias or alter ego) being the leader of the 4-man group. You can make team members from scratch thanks to the create-a-character feature or even choose from pre-created people within the game. It's not that groundbreaking, but because of this change, they don't utter a word or have any interaction between each other. The only dialogue that goes on in the game is the NPCs talking to your main person.

This is your band of heores. Name them anyway you want.

Somehow, with this omission intact, I sort of had a connection with the team I created. I didn't make people from scratch mind you (only because I have no imagination or creativity), but I did select from the characters already made. But as I went from place to place, sea to sea, and leveled up my party, I felt I couldn't be without them. My team was unstoppable and I went through so much with these people, but during my travels, there were some scripted moments in the game (no spoilers HERE folks) where I had to go solo in a dungeon. Most times I didn't want to because I wanted to go there as a group, with my fellow heroes, but I couldn't progress unless I was by myslef.

So, typically speaking, the character development isn't as traditional as you would believe, but if you have a group that you start and end the game with, you'll remember them. That's why I would recommend people use the pre-created individuals in the game.

Best way to play is be lazy and use the people Square Enix gives you.

Other than this, there is a story behind everything. It isn't epic in any way, but it is something that ties the whole game together. I'm not going to go into full detail, but I'll give you a general idea. You (or the neighbor you want to be) are an angel who is trained to watch over a town and fulfill wishes. In doing so, and granting said wishes, the ground people (or humans I should REALLY say) will praise you and pray upon your name, which in return you receive something called Benevolessence. You take back said item to the Observatory, the place where all angels watch over the people under them, and give it to a sacred tree Yggdrasil. Once enough Benevolessence is obtained, the tree, according to its mythology, is supposed to bear fruit that will send all the angels in the Observatory to the Realm of the Almighty (think of it as the equivalent of Heaven for us, but for angels).

But of course, as cliche as it sounds, something goes wrong when you get enough Benevolessence and the fruit come up. When this happens, you lose your wings and are demoted to roaming among humans. So NOW your new mission to uncover who was behind the mishap and recover the lost fruit.

Yes I know, sometimes you feel the same way
when you hear the SAAAME story 50 bajillion times.


Thankfully, through all the monotony, the places you go to each have their own sub-story with interesting NPCs to interact with in the towns. Many of the subplots are funny, others are sad, and some are even questionable. It feels like each town you enter is run like an episode of a TV show where there's a different problem to solve and the answer will get you that much closer to your main goal.

That, as a whole, is where the "story" comes into play within the Dragon Quest series (and really any other RPG if you think about it). It isn't emphasized as much as many would like and is lighthearted, but it keeps you interested in going from place to place to see what kind of problem you will find and solve. This picks up the slack in where there isn't much in terms of character development. And thanks in part to the gameplay aspects, the story will keep you going along and finding what is next to come.

And that is basically the jist of the story component. Like I said, the story isn't the main draw, but it will keep you interested while trudging trhough the game. There aren't many shockers towards the end of the game but overall, its still something worth noting.

That just about it for the story.

With that out of the way, there isn't much else to talk about other than its flaws. Like I say, no game is perfect unless God made it (okay I normally don't say that...just made it up). But I also say, wait until Part 3! It ain't gonna kill you to wait. Will it?