Did you hear? Dragon Quest IX is out in Japan. And if the Amazon Japan reviews are anything to go by, the people have spoken and the people are upset.
These are Amazon reviews, so please, take them just as that: Amazon reviews. At the time of writing, the game has 503 reviews, averaging 2.5 stars. Here is the breakdown:
5 stars (67 stars)
4 stars (57)
3 stars (70)
2 stars (86)
1 star (223)
The positive reviews gush over the customization options and combat. Negative reviews are largely honing in on "irritating" gal character Sandy, though some are ripping on the game's DS graphics, cut scenes and even costume changing. "It's rubbish," says one reviewer, "Change clothes quest."
More scathing criticism from players who claim to be long time fans covers things like lousy post-combat cut scenes, the game system, the tempo and most especially the single data save slot. "Putting this on the DS was a big mistake!" complained one player. "Six thousand yen (US$65) is too much for it!"
The whole experience seems bitter for some players. "I bought the game at launch! I played it for three hours... What a let down. I'm going to go sell it today."
Reality check? Regardless of any issues with the game (like not being able to change text speed!), this could very well be an organized effort by the Japanese internet to slam DQIX and spam Amazon Japan with one star reviews.
One save slot thing is pretty stupid but I dunno, the other stuff seems like needless nitpicking. In the GAF thread, the usual people (whose opinions I trust more than anonymous reviewers, especially about DQ) seem to think the game starts off slow but quickly finds its groove after about an hour or so.
Hearing the game is more along the lines of DQ5 length rather than DQ7 or 8 is a nice thing though. We need more 25-30 hour RPGs.
