It is quite surprising that the two biggest game developed by Square Enix was received by Western Fans in two different ways. Final Fantasy XV was well-accepted while Dragon Quest seems to be lagging behind. The thing is: these two video games offer excellent gaming experience. What's the reason why one is very popular in the West while the other seems to be playing the second fiddle?
Final Fantasy Is Easily Recognizable, Dragon Quest Is Not
Final Fantasy XV is very popular in the United States among the gaming community. It is even recognized by those who have only casual knowledge about it. In contrast, Dragon Quest is not as popular as FF. In fact some people in the West might not even recognize that it is a video game.
There Are Two Reasons Why This Happened
This matter was addressed recently by Yu Miyake, the Executive Producer of Dragon Quest. In an interview with EDGE Magazine, Miyake revealed some information as to why this has happened. He also stated that the game developers are concentrating on preparing the ground work that will launch the video game in the West.
During the interview, Miyake said that Square Enix should have given Dragon Quest a lot more publicity in the West than it provided Final Fantasy. He also revealed that the cartoon type of graphics used in DQ might not have suited with Western tastes. Based on his interview, it appears that these are the two primary things that affected the success of DQ in Western countries.
But The Situation Is Improving
But he also mentioned in the interview that the age of those who play Dragon Quest is rising and the interest on the game is also growing. The game developer, according to him, is also preparing the ground work for the video game by releasing some spin-off titles. The executive producer said these words in an apparent attempt to encourage the video game's growing fan base.
Miyake also mentioned that the game developers at Square Enix are putting a lot of effort on how to make the Dragon Quest attractive to Westerners. He said they worked on its menu design, and added regional voice acting that will appeal to the West. But they are not willing to give up its core element that defines the game.
Miyake also said that Dragon Quest is well-accepted in Japan because gamers they are not alienated by the cartoon style of artwork. The ages of DQ players in Japan range from young kids to those who are already in their 50s. However, players in the West often look down on cartoon style video games believing that they are childish. They would much prefer CGI graphics.
Dragon Quest Is One Of The Best RPGs
This is unfortunate since Dragon Quest is among the best RPGs available to gamers today. With greater efforts being pumped in by Square Enix to Dragon Quest, it is hoped that the day will come when Westerners will patronize the game as they did Final Fantasy.
Nevertheless, Square Enix is continuously putting forth the effort to develop and market the video game. Dragon Quest Heroes 2 will debut in April 2017 for PS4 in Europe and in North America. Meanwhile, Dragon Quest XI will launch in Japan this year as well. There is no release date yet planned for the Western countries
