Dragon Quest X: Awakening of the Five Walkers Online, also known as is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Square Enix. It is the tenth mainline entry in the Dragon Quest series. It was originally released for the Wii in 2012, and was later ported to the Wii U, Windows, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, and Nintendo 3DS, all of which support cross-platform play. Other than a discontinued Windows version in Chinese, the game was not localized outside of Japan.
Dragon Quest X is set in the world of Astoltia, with the player character being initially human before an attack by Nelgel the Netherlord which he forces their soul into the body of another race. Following this, they must gather magical gems to seal Nelgel once again, while the player character's sibling is sent back in time to be safe from Nelgel. Gameplay follows a combination of elements from the Dragon Quest and other contemporary MMORPGs, such as real-time combat in an open world environment and a job system tied to skills and abilities.
Concepts for an MMORPG within the Dragon Quest series began among a small team during the later development of Dragon Quest VIII. Development progressed alongside that of Dragon Quest IX. The aim was to make it accessible to series fans and newcomers alike, along with creating a long-term content plan. The development team featured multiple series veterans, including director Jin Fujisawa, series creator and designer Yuji Horii, series artist Akira Toriyama, and series composer Koichi Sugiyama. New staff members included producer Yosuke Saito, who had previously worked on the Drakengard series and whose company Orca helped with development; and Chikara Saito, who took over as director in 2013.
Dragon Quest X was teased in 2008, with its full reveal as an MMORPG in 2011. Critical reception to the game have been generally positive, with praise going to its integrating of Dragon Quest features into an MMORPG structure. The game has since received several expansion packs and other updates. By 2014, the game had sold over one million copies across all versions.
Gameplay
Dragon Quest X is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), where a customized player character travels the world of Astoltia completing quests and fighting monsters. While starting out as a human character, the player character is later transferred into the body of one of five available tribes: the powerful Ogre, the inquisitive Puklipo, the aquatic Weddie, the forest-dwelling Elves, and the mining Dwarfs. Humans populate multiple settlements across Astoltia. Later versions added an additional Dragon race. The game utilizes cloud storage for save files and other game data. As with most MMORPGs, Dragon Quest X requires a subscription fee to access, however there is a daily two-hour window dubbed "Kid's Time" where players can access and play the game free of charge.
Battles are triggered when the player encounters an enemy in the overworld. Battles take place in a themed arena, using a version of the Active Time Battle system: each side is given a turn in which to perform an action such as attacking. Each side can also interrupt an opponent's action, prolonging their waiting time. At the end of battle, players are granted experience points, which raise their experience level and boost their maximum health and statistics, in addition to in-game currency. Players can form a three-strong party to fight monsters, explore and battle alone, or loan non-active player characters of a similar or lower experience level for a fee, which are then controlled in battle by the game's artificial intelligence. Any character can be loaned to three different people, and the loaned character keeps the experience points and gold that they have earned.