Will we ever see another Dragon Warrior?

by Christopher Lee Boger 

What's happened to Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest in Japan)? Was the last game Dragon Warrior IV? Odds are few of those who even know about Dragon Warrior nowadays really know the answer to that.

Enix made some major tactical errors in advertising, beginning with Dragon Warrior III, which has left the public nearly ignorant of the series in recent years. It's a shame that we've missed five games in the Dragon Quest series since Dragon Warrior IV. A lot of people aren't even aware that Dragon Quest 5, 6, the Super Famicom remix of 1&2, SFC remix of 3, or Taloon's Quest even existed.

Now, two more games are in development for upcoming release in Japan. Only a few people who are still die hard fans of the series even know about Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry's Wonderland, for the Gameboy. A few others have seen a few blurbs about Dragon Quest VII, but that's about all.

Enix really messed up when they failed to advertise Dragon Warrior 3 and 4 properly. The final straw was not releasing Dragon Quest 5. After that, fans of the series just faded into the woodwork. After all, they could at least play Final Fantasy 2 & 3(US) and the few other RPG's we have been blessed with over that period of time.

Dragon Quest is a name that many people don't even know, thanks to Nintendo's habit of messing with game titles and numbers. Thus, the name "Dragon Quest VII" may not even be clicking in recent gamer's minds as being associated with Dragon Warrior.

So that leaves us at the point where it is very likely Dragon Quest VII will never see the light of day on this side of the sea either. Yet another loss to the American public, and another blow to those few fans of the series who have been dissapointed five times now.

Yet again we will be denied the unique aspects of the Dragon Quest series. No pulse pounding rushes from dungeons with half your party members dead in hopes of saving your game and maintaining that rare item some monster just dropped before you. No addictive games of poker in the casino for hours on end in hopes of obtaining enough coins for those extra Meteorite Armbands. No searching every square inch of the world for one more Small Medal so you can get another Sword of Miracles. Unless.....

Now I come to the point of this document. If you liked the Dragon Warrior series, you should be writing letters right now. Let Enix know that they have fans here waiting for a new Dragon Quest game. Write the gaming magazines, e-mail thier web sites, tell your friends, tell your neighbors, tell that weird guy who hasn't come out of the house for the last two months, get the word out!

If the public is not informed that Dragon Quest is once again slipping away from us now, we will probably never see it (In English) again. Enix obviously has had (and likely still does have) a bias against the Western market. It's more or less their fault due to poor advertising, but they obviously don't realize that.

Feel free to contact me if you want to know more about what you have missed since Enix abandoned the US several years ago. I can direct you to all the screen shots, plot summaries, and midi music that will show you how much we have been denied. Then join the Dragon Quest community and put the word on the streets!