‘To place it bluntly, it was copying others’: Former Dragon Quest producer says he left Sq. Enix as a result of the developer was too centered on making ‘protected’ video games

Former Dragon Quest producer Ryutaro Ichimura says he left Sq. Enix as a result of the developer and writer was too centered on making “protected” video games.

In a latest episode of ReHacQ (translated by Automaton), Ichimura says he had at all times deliberate to go unbiased ultimately, however Sq. Enix’s method of dealing with issues sped that course of up considerably. Based on him, the writer has been fairly centered on “protected” tasks during the last a number of years, which he wasn’t too eager about.

He says that compared to current-day Sq. Enix, the early days of Dragon Quest had been all about innovation. “In Dragon Quest 2, you had a three-person social gathering. In Dragon Quest 3, you may change jobs. In Dragon Quest 4, social gathering members might struggle utilizing AI,” he stated. “Every entry pushed the sequence ahead, each via the evolution of sport mechanics and by leveraging the newest {hardware} on the time.”

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It appears as if Ichimura wasn’t keen on Dragon Quest spin-offs like Builders—a extra narrative-driven Minecraft—and the Pokémon Go-inspired Dragon Quest Stroll. He says Sq. Enix pivoted to hitting its personal model of fashionable video games to attempt to nail some assured winners, particularly as Dragon Quest’s reputation outdoors of Japan wasn’t as stellar because it hoped. “To place it bluntly, it was copying others,” Ichimura stated.

Automaton notes that Ichimura calls the Dragon Quest spin-offs “pakuri kikaku,” that means copycat tasks. I do really feel like that is a bit of harsh within the case of Dragon Quest Builders, which feels prefer it does sufficient in a different way from Minecraft to shake off too many comparisons.

I additionally really feel like if anybody is taking dangers with unusual video games proper now, it is Sq. Enix. Does it put any effort into advertising any of them? Hell no, nevertheless it has not less than tried to push out some weirder stuff like Foamstars (which, to be truthful, was very Splatoon-coded), Harvestella, and The DioField Chronicle. And lest we overlook Forspoken, a sport that very a lot had the potential to be rad if it wasn’t, properly, a bit boring.

I do agree along with his sentiment at massive, although: greater video games are getting safer, and we’re all struggling for it. Why reinvent the wheel when there is a completely good one to slap one other coat of paint on and roll out to the lots?

Video games are getting dearer to make and persons are more and more much less prepared to threat spending the dough on potential duds that get banished to a decades-long backlog. It is a robust state of affairs to be in on all sides, and whereas I do not totally agree with Ichimura’s sentiment, his frustrations are definitely legitimate.