Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation, known in Europe as Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie, is a role-playing video game developed by Heartbeat and published by Enix for the Super Famicom as a part of the Dragon Quest series and as the last Dragon Quest game in the Zenithian Trilogy. It was released in Japan in December 1995, developed by Heartbeat; whereas the previous Dragon Quest games were developed by Chunsoft. In 2011, a remake of the game, along with Dragon Quest IV and Dragon Quest V, was released worldwide for the Nintendo DS, making this the first time the game was released in English. Another version of the game for Android and iOS devices was released in Japan in June 2015.
As the sixth installment to the Dragon Quest series, the graphics and gameplay remain close to the other games, with minor additions and upgrades. The graphics were vastly improved from Dragon Quest V, which was also for the Super Famicom, but had more rudimentary graphics due to being an early game on the console. Navigation remains largely unchanged from the previous games and the turn-based battles are still in first-person. The class system from Dragon Quest III returns, with minor adjustments. Dragon Quest VI sold over three million copies in Japan, becoming the best selling game of 1995. The DS version sold an additional one million copies by March 2010.
The story follows the traditional Dragon Quest "Hero" on a quest to save the world. In this particular installment, the heroes also have to endure the personal struggle of amnesia, as many of the main characters do not initially remember who they are. After completing a series of quests, the player learns that in addition to a Real World, there is also a Dream World, made up of people's dreams, and that there is a great evil that wants to conquer both. The Hero and his new party work together to save both worlds from the ever-growing threat.
Gameplay
Dragon Quest VI is a traditional, turn-based role-playing video game (in an overhead perspective) that features random battles and a character class system that the Hero and his party members acquire new skills and spells.
The Hero travels around the world gathering a party throughout his adventure. To progress in the story, the party must defeat specific boss monsters or trigger specific flags. In order to defeat the bosses, the player must spend time training the party by gaining experience points from battles to advance in character and class levels.
Other new features were added to the series, such as: the monsters being animated when they attack. The Slime Arena and Best Dresser Contest were new mini-games introduced; the casinos return from previous Dragon Quest games.
Like previous games, mini medals can be found hidden throughout the worlds and can be traded for items. There are bonus dungeons and a few extra characters after beating the main storyline. There is a day and night system, as in some previous installments; with certain storyline events happening at night.
While the Monster Master class can catch monsters in the original Super Famicom version it is not a major part of the game. Another returning feature from the past two games is the use of the wagon, which allows characters to be swapped out for other ones on the world map.
Class system
This Dragon Quest, similar to Dragon Quest III and Dragon Quest VII, has a class system. Once the party gets to Alltrades Abbey, they have the option of becoming one of several starter classes. Each class has eight levels, which are gained by winning a specific number of battles (unlike character levels, which are gained by earning experience points), and advancing in level teaches a character new spells and / or skills, which are retained across class changes.
Once a character has mastered a specific set of two or three starter classes, they can change into a hybrid class that builds on their themes. For example: mastering Warrior and Martial Artist unlocks the Gladiator Class, which learns powerful physical attacks, and mastering certain hybrid classes unlocks the Hero class.
Some of the classes give special bonuses beyond their stats and abilities such as the Merchant who gives a small bonus to the party's income after every battle, or the Sage who receives a discount to MP costs.
To master a class, the character must fight a set number of battles as that class. Once certain hybrid classes are mastered, a stat relating to that class will permanently go up. There are two secret classes as well, Dragon (Hackasaurus) and Liquid Metal Slime, which are unlocked through consumable books.