Dragon Quest IX

"Despite my qualms, I came away from the DQ9 booth with a feeling of relief. The simple, intrinsic single-player DQ experience remains completely unaffected by either hardware specs or multiplayer modes. I've played enough Dragon Quests to know that I'll enjoy my latest outing with Horii, Toriyama, and Koichi Sugiyama...in all likelihood, just as much as I have in the past. If the final version's multiplayer does turn out to be something great, it will just be icing on the cake."

Forget AWOL, here’s AWOI – Absent Without Intent, the art of accidental fleeing. In a game that’s rammed with Japanese text, it’s a mis-prod of the run-away button that irritates most. Story, job classes, skills, spells and item conditions – you can muddle through without them, but showing a boss your back to stab is suicidal. ...

"Longtime Dragon Quest aficionados will recognize many of the enemies shown during the combat sequences--knights, hammer-wielding chickens, and the obligatory blue slimes will all make their way into DQ IX, along with a plethora of bosses to battle as well."

"In Japan, it was the biggest PlayStation and PlayStation 2 franchise. It may even end up being the biggest DS franchise. So what's the big deal about Dragon Quest? To find out, we went to the Jump Festa event in Makuhari, on the outskirts of Tokyo, in order to sample part IX, which was making its playable debut after well over a year of waiting."