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Dragon Quest Builders releasing in NA in October on PS4 and Vita

T

Takao

Banned
It's been long enough to where I feel safe enough to say this isn't another typo.

C'mon guys, it's like pulling teeth to get SE to release Vita games in the west. They're not doing cross-buy.

Also, Setsuna isn't skipping Vita because that version is janky. The director said as much, and that wouldn't explain the Chaos Rings, Spelunker Z, Adventures of Mana and Romancing SaGa 2 snubs.
Aters said:
Asian version is already out and I'm afraid it doesn't have English sub option. They might add a patch though.
Click to expand...


That's just the Chinese and Korean (IIRC) versions. They could still do a SEA physical English version to meet NA/EU release. Both Bandai and Koei do that.
 
J

jj984jj

He's a pretty swell guy in my books anyway.
So happy the Vita version is coming over as well. Not sure what version I'll get though.

sublimit said:
I think that one is pretty much guaranteed it will come in the West.I was mostly afraid about Builders to be quite honest.
Click to expand...

Why? Builders always seemed to be aimed at a wider audience and the first Heroes bombed outside Japan. I'm glad they're still bringing over anything DQ, but I seriously doubt Heroes II is more of a sure thing.
 
N

NormalFish

Banned
Takao said:
That's just the Chinese and Korean (IIRC) versions. They could still do a SEA physical English version to meet NA/EU release. Both Bandai and Koei do that.
Click to expand...
Well that explains why I wasn't aware of it. Knew I should've asked for clarification lol.
 
N

NolbertoS

Member
Good news its coming out West, but booooooooo SE on Vita digital. Now I gotta buy an Asian version of the game via play-asia :'(
 
A

Aselith

Member
Sargon said:
I would love this game, but don't own a PS4 or Vita.

Any chance of a PC port?
Click to expand...

Maybe but DQ Heroes only did about 28k but it was SUPER late so maybe they'll try again.

I would say this game is at least positioned to do better than that did since the survival builder genre is very popular on PC.
 
D

DarkLordMalik

Member
KingBroly said:
No. I just question Square's motivations in regards to Dragon Quest in the west. How can't you blame them for all the lack of anything they've done? They had all this momentum with the series and they just stopped supporting it over here for a long time. Now they're kinda supporting it again, but still relying on another company to do the work they should be doing. It doesn't strike me as sustainable or as being confident with it.
Click to expand...
Your points are certainly valid but we honestly have no idea what is the real deal. The actual matters lie between Nintendo and Square Enix and look at it this way, if a company like Nintendo is willing to localize your game, why should you deny it? Square Enix isn't really favoring any platform per se here, they are just looking for a way which is the most profitable for them. They might have calculated the risks and thought it wouldn't be worth it to localize the games where as in the case of Dragon Quest Heroes, they were betting on PS4 and PC even if that plan failed. They are now trying with a different genre and hoping it pays off, we will see if they are successful this time when the game releases.

In the case of Nintendo, they are likely having some timed exclusive contract which in turn benefits their hardware while with Builders, there is a good chance it will be ported to other platforms, it is just up to Square Enix at this point.
 
P

Prelude.

Member
Aselith said:
Maybe but DQ Heroes only did about 28k but it was SUPER late so maybe they'll try again.

I would say this game is at least positioned to do better than that did since the survival builder genre is very popular on PC.
Click to expand...
Super late? It came out less than 2 months after the PS4 version.
 
F

Flarin

Member
Does anyone know how the Vita version runs, looks? I'd be down for that version if it's a solid port. Seems like the perfect game to play on the train to work.
 
1

1upsuper

Member
Very excellent news. Even though I already have the JPN Vita version I'll definitely double dip and pick up the PS4 version once it comes out here.
 
A

Aselith

Member
NormalFish said:
Not really, there should be numbers for JP retail, but nothing besides steamspy otherwise, afaik.
Click to expand...

I found this but it's sourcing a Neogaf post

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1141067

If that IS accurate maybe the PC didn't do horribly in relation to other version numbers so...

7kNeZ4.gif
 
S

sir_bumble_bee

Member
All this talk about Heroes doing poorly... what was the expectation? Last I checked, it wasn't far off from the DS remakes sales debuts (~40,000 first week), and those are mainline titles. Plus, it was the first localized game in the series in about 4 years, I thought it did just about what a lot of people expected.
 
M

MacTag

Banned
Prelude. said:
Super late? It came out less than 2 months after the PS4 version.
Click to expand...
I think the issue with the Steam version was it being announced about a week before it launched and a complete media blackout prelaunch combined with Koei Tecmo's questionable PC track record.

Plus when it launched at full price on Steam it was already down to $40 on PS4 in most stores. Price fell on the game at retail super fast.
 
M

MacTag

Banned
sir_bumble_bee said:
All this talk about Heroes doing poorly... what was the expectation? Last I checked, it wasn't far off from the DS remakes sales debuts (~40,000 first week), and those are mainline titles. Plus, it was the first localized game in the series in about 4 years, I thought it did just about what a lot of people expected.
Click to expand...
The DS remakes were considered sales disappointments, so much so that SE stopped publishing the franchise in the west halfway through them. Heroes debuting below DQV DS (the game SE quit after) isn't really much of an a achievement.
 
sublimit

sublimit

Banned
jj984jj said:
Why? Builders always seemed to be aimed at a wider audience and the first Heroes bombed outside Japan. I'm glad they're still bringing over anything DQ, but I seriously doubt Heroes II is more of a sure thing.
Click to expand...

I thought that the lack of online play might make SE apprehensive to bring Builders in the west especially since one of the main pulls of Minecraft is its online aspect.

Dragon Quest Heroes 2 on the other hand will have online play (across all Sony platforms) as well as an open world something that can appeal to Western fans much more than the previous game.
 
A

Aselith

Member
MacTag said:
The DS remakes were considered sales disappointments, so much so that SE stopped publishing the franchise in the west halfway through them. Heroes debuting below DQV DS (the game SE quit after) isn't really much of an a achievement.
Click to expand...

We got DQ 6. And 7 and 8 are coming. What do you mean?
 
T

Tabris

Member
That trailer does a bad job marketing at North America / EU

They should have focused entirely on the Minecraft aspect. Most people don't care about Dragon Quest themes here, it's just not popular, but if it's marketed as an "anime-like minecraft", they could have the chance at getting a much larger audience.
 
S

sir_bumble_bee

Member
MacTag said:
The DS remakes were considered sales disappointments, so much so that SE stopped publishing the franchise in the west halfway through them. Heroes debuting below DQV DS (the game SE quit after) isn't really much of an a achievement.
Click to expand...
They were disappointments due to how well VIII sold and how Square couldn't recapture that success with IV and V on a handheld in its prime. Heroes is a niche spinoff of an already niche series, released on a rather young console with a brand that hasn't seen a DQ title in over 10 years.

I'm not saying DQH did well, I'm just saying it didn't disappoint the already low expectations it had. SE seem to realize this, as they're adding more wood to the fire with DQ Builders while letting Nintendo crank out VII and VIII.
 
N

NormalFish

Banned
Tabris said:
That trailer does a bad job marketing at North America / EU

They should have focused entirely on the Minecraft aspect. Most people don't care about Dragon Quest themes here, it's just not popular, but if it's marketed as an "anime-like minecraft", they could have the chance at getting a much larger audience.
Click to expand...

if you're goal is to sell to a wide audience in the west, "anime-like" isn't a big improvement over an IP most people are only vaguely aware of.
 
M

MacTag

Banned
sir_bumble_bee said:
They were disappointments due to how well VIII sold and how Square couldn't recapture that success with IV and V on a handheld in its prime. Heroes is a niche spinoff of an already niche series, released on a rather young console with a brand that hasn't seen a DQ title in over 10 years.

I'm not saying DQH did well, I'm just saying it didn't disappoint the already low expectations it had. SE seem to realize this, as they're adding more wood to the fire with DQ Builders while letting Nintendo crank out VII and VIII.
Click to expand...
Holy goalposts batman! DQIV/V DS were dissapointments because they didn't sell like DQVIII (despite looking more like DWVII, which also never sold that hot) meanwhile the much bigger budget Heroes must've met it's assuredly low expectations, despite selling even worse and suffering an immediate retail price collapse. Seriously?

Why is so difficult for people to admit this game didn't do well outside Asia?
 
Eolz

Eolz

Member
MacTag said:
Holy goalposts batman! DQIV/V DS were dissapointments because they didn't sell like DQVIII (despite looking more like DWVII, which also never sold that hot) meanwhile the much bigger budget Heroes must've met it's assuredly low expectations, despite selling even worse and suffering an immediate retail price collapse. Seriously?

Why is so difficult for people to admit this game didn't do well outside Asia?
Click to expand...

Because PS4 is a magic platform that can't do no wrong. Same for Steam. /s

More seriously, as baffled from this as I am from some people acting as if not getting Dragon Quest in the west is Nintendo's fault.
 
Cindi Mayweather

Cindi Mayweather

Member
If DQBuilders is advertised as a marriage between RPG and Minecraft, I imagine it can do well on ps4 and Steam. Here's hoping it gets a Steam port to help with sales. Vita lol.
 
C

crinale

Member
MacTag said:
Holy goalposts batman! DQIV/V DS were dissapointments because they didn't sell like DQVIII (despite looking more like DWVII, which also never sold that hot) meanwhile the much bigger budget Heroes must've met it's assuredly low expectations, despite selling even worse and suffering an immediate retail price collapse. Seriously?

Why is so difficult for people to admit this game didn't do well outside Asia?
Click to expand...

I'd argue Heroes' budget is actually lower indeed but that's just my speculation..
 
J

Joqu

Member
Tabris said:
That trailer does a bad job marketing at North America / EU

They should have focused entirely on the Minecraft aspect. Most people don't care about Dragon Quest themes here, it's just not popular, but if it's marketed as an "anime-like minecraft", they could have the chance at getting a much larger audience.
Click to expand...

I mean, it's the announcement trailer. There's definitely an opportunity to sell to Minecraft fans in their marketing here, but it's not that strange they're gonna sell it to Dragon Quest fans first. There's room for both.
 
C

crinale

Member
Tabris said:
That trailer does a bad job marketing at North America / EU

They should have focused entirely on the Minecraft aspect. Most people don't care about Dragon Quest themes here, it's just not popular, but if it's marketed as an "anime-like minecraft", they could have the chance at getting a much larger audience.
Click to expand...

Because the core gameplay isn't that "Minecraft". Actually if you expect this game Minecraft clone you'd be a bit disappointed, so I wouldn't advertise this game as such if I were Squre Enix PR guy.
 
J

jj984jj

He's a pretty swell guy in my books anyway.
sublimit said:
I thought that the lack of online play might make SE apprehensive to bring Builders in the west especially since one of the main pulls of Minecraft is its online aspect.

Dragon Quest Heroes 2 on the other hand will have online play (across all Sony platforms) as well as an open world something that can appeal to Western fans much more than the previous game.
Click to expand...

I think it looks a lot better than the first but I don't know if they believe it will bring them more sales. In Japan, at least, it looks like it might sell worse than the original unfortunately. I want to play it so I hope you're right that they made the changes to make it more appealing in the west.
 
P

PixyJunket

Member
I'm a HUUUGE Dragon Quest mark, but don't see the appeal of this one.

I guess I'll have to dig deeper into some gameplay trailers (unless it really is just building).

I wonder there is a glimmer of hope for Pirate Slime at this point.
 
M

MegaManTrigger

Banned
KingBroly said:
3DS games of JRPG's have traditionally sold better than their DS counterparts. In addition, the DS remakes came in when piracy started to take hold, and with 6, well yeah, sales cratered. But the platform has proven it can support those games in the West time and again. Why Square has ignored it for so long is to their detriment because other companies are taking their place, Monster Hunter being one.
Click to expand...

Good point about piracy, but honestly, I don't even think piracy would have made much of a (negative) difference to the DS remakes. Also, I don't think the platform has proven anything except that the series is still strong in Japan. Using Square Enix's data from 2009, IV sold 1.2mil in Japan vs. 110k in NA and 160k in Europe. Moreover, V managed to sell 1.22mil alone in Japan, whereas it sold only 60,000 and 70,000 in NA and EUR respectively. It's clear that Square-Enix perceives a lack of market interest from the West. This is why I don't think Monster Hunter is a good comparison. MH had its own struggles in trying to nail the Western audience until 4U IIRC, and even then they're completely different games to DQ.

MacTag said:
Many of the spinoffs sold even worse though on major systems like PS1, DS and Wii, yet they still went ahead with Heroes and Builders. Plus it's not like SE didn't jump on bringing the mobile remakes west too, the issue doesn't seem to be with DQ but with 3DS specifically.
Click to expand...

How is it a 3DS issue? If that was the case, why not bring over the 3DS DQM games? It's easy to say they're bringing Heroes and Builders over, but I think Builders is a momentum move to try and spark more interest in the DQ series, rather than it being evocative of the West's interest in the series. After all, it still took 4 years for Dragon Quest VIII to be brought over, and it required Nintendo to come in. The series pales in comparison to the West compared to how it's received in the East (Dragon Quest is to Japan what Final Fantasy is to the West).
 
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