Square-Enix seems to have a double strategy: While the Dragon Quest series hasn’t changed much from Super Nintendo over Playstation to Playstation 2, Final Fantasy became more and more a Western style RPG. First, they took away huge parts of the fantasy and replaced it with technology, then they got rid of the clbumical gameplay, just to become more Western-oriented. Finally, the Kojima-Syndrome: cinematic sequences, even more CGI movies, storytelling with in-game graphics, less actual playing.

If the game had a different name, no chocobos a slightly different overall design, you couldn’t tell it was a Final Fantasy game. I mean, bestias/aeons transforming into a motorbike? Game over if your main character in the party dies? No shops/cities to discover?

I can’t wait for Dragon Quest X Log in to see images!