While there are many existing examples within the Japanese RPG genre today it's near indisputable as to which series carries the most influence; while Final Fantasy may be more popular it's thanks to Dragon Quest that these type of games exist at all in many ways and over the years has helped towards shaping what it has become today. Now in its ninth installment of the main series Dragon Quest returns again on the Nintendo DS in a most spectacular fashion thanks to a developer that's already done a lot for the portable system to date.

Level-5 could well be the most 'Nintendo' non-Nintendo studio that exists today. After gaining critical acclaim revitalising the Dragon Quest series with Journey of the Cursed King on PS2, the folks that gave DS owners Professor Layton has married a Nintendo system with a brand new, mainline Dragon Quest game for the first time in fifteen years. The genre may suffer a fair bit of criticism and face accusations of focusing too much on presentation in recent times, but Dragon Quest IX arrived just in time to reignite our faith in the JRPG, bowling us over with an effortless mastery of wit and charm that seems well at home on a Nintendo system.

Anybody new to Dragon Quest is unfortunate enough to have not yet experienced the intrinsic qualities the franchise can boast over, say, Final Fantasy, fans of the series will be pleased to know Level-5 have again done themselves proud in creating a diverse, colourful world brimming with humour and charm. The studio does seem frighteningly well-suited to the flair that has made Dragon Quest stand out over the years, and we can only feel lucky that Level-5's chief executive Akihiro Hino came together with series creator Yuji Horii all those years ago.

Their direction and unwavering commitment to a fun experience above anything else, combined with the artistic talents of Akira Toriyama, have created a game world that offers so much surprise around every corner, and its charismatic atmosphere could even rival Nintendo's own Paper Mario games. The complexities of the world really do the hardware proud, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a better looking game in DS this year.

To its credit this is truly a game that's not only for fans of the series and genre alike but is also ideal for newcomers as it takes nearly every successful element from past entries and manages to make it even more accessible without alienating anyone in the process, this is a rare and beautiful thing indeed. Most staple elements remain unchanged and while in the case of certain series this might cause stagnation Dragon Quest manages to evoke wonderful feelings of a classic RPG done right and still feel fresh and exciting in ways that have to be played in order to be fully appreciated.

And playing is what you'll be doing a lot of here as the main story itself is a fair length taking anywhere from around twenty five to thirty hours to complete quickly – even more if you're thorough – but even when you're done with this part of the game there is still much to explore in the way of quests which make up a large proportion of the game. Many quests can be acquired simply by talking to everyone you meet that has a blue speech bubble; some are simple while others will have you meeting special requirements and even these will keep you occupied for some time but as if that were not enough there is the lure of downloadable quests this time around which have been scheduled for weekly release so in theory you'll have plenty to do for the foreseeable future, Unfortunately no quests were available at time of writing but rest assured that it's something that's most likely to keep you coming back to the game due to its ever-expanding nature.

At the start of the game, you're going to want to create your main hero, and a wealth of appearance options is available to suit your preference. Before long, you can also create your other three party members in the same way, and choose their vocation, or 'job-class'. This tabula rasa approach to party building feels like it harks back to the likes of Dragon Quest III, and even Wizardry before it, and the removal of potentially weak main characters with cloying personal storylines makes the relationship between you and your party even more direct.

Even though the basic template of this game has been done before - it boils down to collecting a certain amount of mystical objects scattered across the land - it's structured in a way that maintains your interest; as you play you'll travel to lots of different places where you end up meeting a whole host of believable characters whom you must help in order to achieve your ultimate goal. Some parts of the story are genuinely emotional and thought-provoking, not on an incredibly deep level but enough to make you stop and reflect for a moment before simply powering onwards to your next destination.

Dragon Quest IX sticks to its forbearer's' roots with a simple, no-frills turn-based combat system, but don't dare think this as a negative. Like any great RPG developed with skill, what is a simple mechanic at its core can offer tremendous depth to those willing to experience it to its full. Battles flow with slick fluidity, and the removal of random encounters makes that levelling-up not a chore, but a genuinely addictive pursuit that offers lively fun every time. Indeed, we'd take this traditional approach done right above overly-complex, quasi-real-time battle systems any day of the week.

It's the turn-based battle system - that has been a staple of the series for many years now - that sets the game apart from many modern examples of the genre and works to its credit; some might complain about it but it works undeniably well and is delightfully simple while having a deceptive amount of depth. Once in a battle you are presented with four options Fight which is self explanatory, Examine tells you what the monsters are doing, Flee lets you run and Misc which is where you'll find tactics, equipment and line-up; these allow you to change the formation of your team, how they behave and what they use.

Fighting presents you with a myriad of options from just simply attacking and defending to using items plus abilities and spells that you may have gained through leveling-up and point allocation. Most interesting though is the Coup de Grace option which sometimes becomes available after you've been attacked and allows a certain class specific skill to be used, these range from moves that confuse and frighten your enemies to zero-pp usage and even whole party healing skills which can prove very useful indeed.

After a while you'll be able to change your characters vocations at will; the default six being minstrel, warrior, mage, priest, thief and martial artist, with more to be unlocked should you choose to pursue the many side-quests in the game. Each vocation has its own advantages on the battlefield, and you can flip as many times as you like to find your perfect play style. Taking it all into account, these customisation factors lay the foundations for an adventure guaranteed to be virtually unique to every player, and once you get your head around the thousand-plus pieces of clothing, armour, weapons and other accessories to be found, you may start to appreciate the sheer amount of content to see and do in the game.

Indeed the word 'immense' comes to mind when trying to describe the sheer wealth of content that's within this title, there are many monsters to find and upon nearing completion of the game only around typically half of the monsters had been discovered so clearly there is a lot of scope for replay value here even after investing a considerable amount of hours in the main story. Then there's alchemy which allows you to create all manner of items not to mention that there are many recipes contained on various books within bookshelves scattered across the land for you to learn.

But wait because there's more, during your progress the game tracks all of your stats and will periodically award you with 'accolades' which are like mini-achievements and much like most similar reward systems they don't really 'do' anything but it's nice to have your progress recognised especially in a game so full of content as this. There are many other things that could be commented on in this game but we shall not spoil anything for any potential players and indeed the best way is to just play and discover for yourself what makes the game so incredible.

So if this is your first Dragon Quest game then fear not for it was the first foray into the series for us too and we here at n-europe can say with no guile that it is hands-down one of the best games we've ever played and not just on the system and of course if you're a long-time fan of the series then of course you'd want this. Level-5 have done the series proud once more and it is both a privilege and a joy to have the Dragon Quest series back where it started on a Nintendo console; so what are you waiting for? It's slime time!

Sam Gittins
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Aaron Clegg
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