Gamers outside of Japan have been clamoring for a release of Dragon Quest X Online since the game was unveiled back in September of 2011 and then released a year later on the Wii. Since then, the series has seen life on a variety of platforms, including the Wii U, Playstation 4, PC, mobile and even a cloud version on the Nintendo 3DS. Up to this point, the game has not been localized or released in English and it doesn’t appear to be coming anytime soon. With the most recent reveal of the upcoming Dragon Quest X Offline, a slight glimmer of hope has resurfaced for Dragon Quest fans in the west. But will this game see life outside of Japan? While I think the chances aren’t super high, I think that it’s definitely possible and I’m going to tell you why.
Interest from Producers at Square Enix
Talk of an offline version of Dragon Quest X isn’t anything new. Back in 2018, former Dragon Quest X producer Yosuke Taito went on to say, “Even with the traditional Dragon Quest series, Dragon Quest X is packed with excellent stories. Talk of an offline version often comes up, and I don’t think the possibility is zero. It would be great if we could introduce it to fans to play somewhere.” Echoing the statement by Taito, Dragon Quest series producer Yū Miyake said, “Since Dragon Quest X has tons of rich stories, I would like to make something that can tell those stories, including to players overseas.”
Even before we knew of the existence of the upcoming Dragon Quest X Offline, the idea is something like this has been kicking around at Square Enix for some time now. Which kind of leads me into my next point…
No Online Alleviates a Number of Issues
Being an online game, there are a lot of potential barriers of entry for playing not only in Japan, but also for introducing an MMO like this to the West. While many fans talk about how much they would like to see the online title release in English, it’s difficult to predict how many of them would actually be willing to drop down the cash on a monthly or yearly basis for the game. It’s obviously a risk that Square Enix hasn’t been willing to take outside of Japan for the game…with the exception of the short lived Chinese version of the game which released in 2016 only to be shut down in 2019.
Of course, with Offline being, well, offline, a number of other financial factors no longer come into play here. Square Enix obviously won’t have to pay for and maintain servers. Even simple things like worrying about toxic players coming into the fray will be completely alleviated with no internet connection. That would leave them time to focus on…
Contained Stories and Potential for the Future
By the end of 2021, there will be a total of six expansions available for Dragon Quest X Online in Japan. Dragon Quest X Offline is based on the original release of the game, translated by fans as Dragon Quest X: Awakening of the Five Tribes. The story is completed, and decided. Obviously players won’t be playing with others online simultaneously, but this still opens the door for an entire series of Dragon Quest X Online games that all feature rich storylines and promise tons of gameplay. In short, there is a lot of potential for a side series here.
Conclusion
As things stand right now, Dragon Quest X Offline has only been confirmed for a Japanese release at some point in 2022 with no platform specified. These are just the thoughts of some guy on the internet, so of course, take everything I said here with a grain of salt. I could easily make another article going the other way on this. I mean, heck, the localization process alone here would more than likely be pretty extensive on this title. Even with that said, I honestly feel that the possibility of Dragon Quest X FINALLY being released in the West is higher now than ever before. The series is arguably more popular now worldwide than it has ever been, so the time to strike is now. All we can do now is just wait and see. But let’s turn things over to you. Do you think Dragon Quest X Offline will see a release outside of Japan or am I completely off my rocker here? Sound off in the comments below, we’d love to hear from you.
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