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The story
A trailer for Square Enix’s newly announced smartphone title “Dragon Quest RPG” became a hot topic on 5ch. The game is free-to-play with item-based microtransactions, featuring action-based field movement and a “Link” system — but the trailer also revealed that some paid unlocks can be obtained by watching ads. Comments poured in along the lines of “It’s just gacha in the end” and “Doesn’t work on anything older than an iPhone 12,” with many tying the backlash to existing distrust of Square Enix’s mobile game lineup and its remake monetization strategy for Final Fantasy. The game is still in beta testing, and the official launch date remains unclear.
What people said
And on top of that it looks super sluggish too
Square Enix's spin-off titles are basically just knockoffs of other games to begin with
I don't care enough to know the details, but even I can tell that much
An RPG is supposed to be about grinding steadily to get stronger, but with gacha microtransactions people are just going to blow right past that, aren't they?
I doubt anyone even keeps track of how many Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy mobile games they've put out at this point
it's free-to-play with item-based microtransactions
Direct item purchases lmaooooooo
If they don't spell it out like that, customers won't realize it's an RPG
Looks like the Square + Enix merger effect is finally kicking in
No way I'm playing this
Of course a mobile game is going to have gacha payments
If there were no monetization in it, they'd just release it as a regular Switch game
Final Fantasy is finally moving from mobile games back to consoles, lol
That's just them shutting down a mobile game that stopped selling and squeezing one last bit of profit out of it on the way out, which makes the impression even worse
But why does it have to be free-to-play?
Well, that's because it wouldn't sell if it were a one-time purchase anyway
Is there even an in-house dev team?
All I picture is fans making excuses, going 'outsource it! outsource it!' whenever something comes up
That's because there's just so little trust left in Square Enix and the Dragon Quest name
Funny how there's so little trust that it ironically becomes a hot topic
It's a game only old geezers play anyway, so the classic Dragon Quest battle system would've been fine
Didn't need 3D models or action scenes
But putting on a show of 'we're trying hard' while really just running a cash-grab machine is looking down on the users
The moment they added ad-watching, this already puts them on the same level as a cheap Chinese mobile game
Wait, there's ad-watching?…
I didn't actually watch the trailer properly
Well, that's the end of it then
They'll probably charge something like 5,000 yen to remove ads, basically turning it into a pay-once game anyway
That's basically what they're already doing with their cash cow, Dragon Quest Walk
So does that mean they're basically not making mainline games anymore?
There was an announcement a while back that they've restarted development on Dragon Quest XII from scratch
That "separate group" is just code for outsourcing it to an outside company
Apparently this one's being made by a GREE-affiliated company too
Maybe it deserves some credit for still putting out numbered entries, but the content gets panned
And when they finally released the long-awaited FF7 Remake, it turned out to be a multi-part cash grab
Square Enix as a company is just finished
I wouldn't complain if the money from mobile games and remakes went into making solid new console games, but in reality they just churn out mobile game after mobile game, remake after remake, and what comes out as actual new titles is garbage
It's basically bait for middle-aged men, yet it's lacking in monetization aimed at middle-aged men
Though young people don't really play it anyway
But it's still only in beta testing, which overlaps with the Monsters release too, so everything's kind of a mess
Even if the beta test goes well, the actual service probably won't launch until the year after next
Monsters will probably be riddled with bugs at launch just like the third one was, so it won't be properly playable until next year anyway
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
“Dragon Quest RPG” is a new smartphone title announced by Square Enix, and the released trailer is believed to reflect its current beta-testing state. The free-to-play, item-based microtransaction model itself is common for smartphone games these days, but what split opinion in the thread was the confirmed presence of an ad-watching feature. The gap between that kind of ad-based monetization — typical of free apps — and the series’ traditional image as a pay-once title fueled comparisons to “cheap Chinese mobile games.” Underlying this is Square Enix’s history of releasing numerous Dragon Quest- and Final Fantasy-related social games only to later shut them down, with its cash cow “Dragon Quest Walk” also cited as an example. On the other hand, regarding its relationship to mainline (numbered) development, some pointed out that since work on redoing Dragon Quest XII has reportedly begun, it isn’t as if the mainline series has been abandoned entirely — so even within the thread, the facts remain contested. This article confines itself to commentary and criticism of the companies and works involved, and treats any speculation about launch timing that cannot be confirmed from public information as simply reflecting individual posters’ opinions.
※This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Video] Square Enix’s New “Dragon Quest RPG” Confirmed to Be the Real Dragon Quest, LOLOLOLOLOL.”
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