 Video Game Remakes They're often seen as no-brainer for game developers. While the fans wait for whatever new entry in the series, you can bring a story that already exists to the current generation, adding new features and upgrading the graphics while maintaining enough of the original game for longtime fans to enjoy. It's great for old and new fans of whatever series, and every month it seems like another new game remake is announced. Dragon Quest is no stranger to remakes, with almost every entry in the series so far getting an updated version. These remakes have so far made big quality of life improvements based on global fan feedback and are some of the best remakes I've ever seen. They improve the gameplay, graphics, and sometimes even add new elements to the story not seen before. With this said, the only DQ game that hasn't been remade so far out of the whole main line series is Dragon Quest 9 on Nintendo DS. In fact, it's the one DQ game that is the least accessible today. The game was exclusive to the Nintendo DS, utilizing a lot of the system's unique features. It is also one of the most popular Dragon Quest games with over a million copies sold outside of Japan. Many fans of the channel have told me that DQ 9 is what got them into the series. Like a lot of people have told me this. Holy shit that's a lot of people grew up with Dragon Quest 9. And it goes without saying that a remake of this game gets requested by fans all the time. And you know what? I completely agree with this. Not only is a DQ 9 remake a great idea, it is also necessary for the game to be fully enjoyed today. DQ 9 is a very unique DQ game in that it was exclusive for the DS and many of its core features are tied to the DS hardware and its local multiplayer options. It is simply the type of game that wouldn't work on any console but the DS. DQ 9 was developed as a new type of DQ game that takes players outside into the real world to expand upon the single player campaign by playing with friends. This insane experience of DQ 9 as a participation game just won't ever be the same again since nobody is carrying a DS around with them anymore. Which is why Dragon Quest 9 needs a full remake that brings the game to modern day with new features and will get to those shortly. During Dragon Quest 9's 10th anniversary stream where Dragon Quest creator Yuji Hori and level 5 founder Akahiro Hino discussed DQ 9, they brought up the possibility of a remake of the game where they tried to discuss whether it should be on phones or the Nintendo Switch. If they remade it for mobile phones it could certainly replicate the experience of DQ 9 as many people have phones and the tag mode could theoretically work the same way. Personally I think level 5 should come back to remake the game on Nintendo Switch with revamped graphics. DQ 9 has so much replayability because of the insane class system and the fact that you can create your own character this time around. Considering if for the Switch is the right decision if you ask me, level 5 can do a really good job with bringing it to the present day and the portability of the Switch can bring back the multiplayer aspect that the original had. Looking back at Dragon Quest 9 it is the best looking DS game hands down. It utilizes 3D graphics in a way other games on the system haven't been able to match but comparing it to games nowadays it is so limited being on a screen that is literally 3 inches. It's very compressed looking and there isn't a lot of detail to be seen. If this game were to be remade on the Switch it should be more than just an uprest version. It has to be remade from the ground up if it is to stand among the newest DQ games on the system. I mean look at this. This is Ninokuni on Nintendo Switch. This is the game level 5 made after their work with Dragon Quest 8 and 9. And by the way Ninokuni was originally a DS game that was remade for consoles and I think they did a fantastic job. Just imagine a Dragon Quest 9 remake with this graphical style. It would be amazing to look at. Obviously with a remake they can focus on improving the game based on fan feedback in the past and of course there's a lot of fans had to say about DQ9. Things they could add to DQ9's remake. The game featured an extensive character customizer that allowed you to create your own hero. You could choose your gender, face, skin color, hair, eye color and more. Everyone could potentially have their own unique hero but that's not to say that it can't be improved. In the original there's only 10 hairstyles and 10 different faces. It's not bad but there could definitely be even more options. They could add like 20 if they wanted to. It would make the possibilities even more extensive. Heck different body types would be cool as well. And while we're on the subject there could be way more outfits and armors added to the game. Maybe even some equipment from Dragon Quest 11. See DQ9 had these downloadable ingests. They were characters from previous DQ games who would visit your world. They could definitely include some 11 characters in a remake who would give you special equipment. The gameplay can be improved to be more like Dragon Quest 11. They can add a fast forward button to speed up the drawn out battles of the 9 and maybe we can get newer spells and abilities. Dual wielding being added to the game would be great. Also I imagine a remake would replace the entire soundtrack with an orchestral version to replace the synthesized DS music and that would be absolutely amazing as I think DQ9 has one of the best soundtracks in the entire series. Heck there's so much they could add. New story elements, maybe alternate endings, added dungeons, legacy bosses that weren't in the original game and improved menu system. The possibilities are so huge. In regards to areas I think DQ9 can improve on, DQ9 has a recruitment system that lets you create your own party members with different names, looks and classes for them. There's so many possibilities and it's really an imagination fueled game like DQ3. You can name them after your friends or siblings and really role play like RPGs of old. However it would honestly get a bit lonely and I have my issue with this in the past. DQ9 came right after Dragon Quest 8 which featured Yangus, Jessica and Angelo as your teammates, companions with a lot of personalities and who you could always talk to at any point in the story for hints or just a chat with. Yuji Horii even said in an interview that he introduced his feature that let you talk to your companions because of how lonely players would feel in RPGs that didn't let you talk to them. And I feel in DQ9 because the characters you create don't talk to you. My idea or solution to this is to include maybe a few pre-set story characters as party members who have personalities so that the player doesn't feel like their party members are just puppets. I'm not saying to take away the party system in the game but having a few party members on the side who talk wouldn't hurt. The ones you create can act as extras to fill in space. DQ8's remake for 3DS included Red and Mori, two previously existing DQ8 characters as new party members. Maybe they can do the same kind of thing here and include characters like Eren or Ivor in your party and give them their own personalities. Heck, maybe when you create the characters they could let you choose their personalities from a list kind of like how they do it with Animal Crossing NPCs. That way they can have something to say when you're with them. Just my idea of how they can make DQ9 experience more realistic. Now for the part we've been waiting for. DQ9's most difficult feature to work around, the multiplayer aspect. DQ9 makes extensive use of the Nintendo DS's wireless communications. It was made so that, having the game in sleep mode, you could pass by other people with the game and exchange data between yourselves without even talking to the other person. In Japan where a lot of people had DQ9 and Nintendo DS's and the cities are way more crowded, this made the feature very very popular and a nationwide sensation. In the west, that doesn't really work as well, you'd maybe sometimes run by someone with the game but it would be rare and you'd have to be in a big city or at a convention for it to work. Regardless, the feature is cited as the main inspiration for the 3DS's Street Pass feature by Nintendo producer Hideki Kono. With the days of the DS behind us and the switch leaving Street Pass in the past, a DQ9 remake can expand upon the multiplayer aspects of DQ9 maybe by letting players quest together over wifi and long distances and having optional local multiplayer for friends. With the age of the DS long over and with online servers being shut down, you'd be very lucky to find anyone to tag with. Multiplayer is such an essential part of the DQ9 experience and the post game almost pushes people out of the house and into the streets to collect data and team up with other players. The biggest feature were treasure maps that you could find in DQ9. DQ9 is randomized dungeons in the endgame that you can share with others. They're generated based on some complicated algorithm making there be literally over 8 million different possibilities for dungeons, some of which have highly valuable loot or monsters and by tagging with other players you can share your maps which have special names in the name of the person who discovered it. The most famous map in DQ9 is the Masayuki map, named after the player who found it. It was called the Ruby Path of Doom level 87 by the game and it became somewhat of an urban legend after it was discovered that it had a floor that only spawned metal king slimes. Even it became a huge sensation, being shared thousands of times and even making its way overseas. This map would end up being featured in Dragon Quest XI's Taco Village, with the game developers acknowledging the real world impact that players had on the game. Yuji Horii even said at Tokyo Game Show 2009 that he thought it would be fun if the person discovering the map would become famous. This crazy sensation can be brought back but it will require worthy working in the game. I think DQ9 should include multiplayer that allows you and your friends to explore the world together, hunt down bosses, find treasure and do all that stuff over the internet. You see, the original game let you play with your friends but only over the DS's local place so you had to be near each other. I think DQ9 Remake can take a lot of inspiration from games like Animal Crossing New Horizons on Switch which lets you do local multiplayer and online multiplayer with your friends. It will allow people to meet up on the go and in countries where there isn't a lot of population density players can still enjoy these features. They could include exchanges of treasure maps through maybe an online trading system and I could see DQ9 becoming an internet sensation because of this. I could see players trading and selling valuable loot to each other the same way they're doing with Animal Crossing right now. Heck, the multiplayer could be overhauled and brought into the current era with way more features. They could introduce multiplayer battles and tournaments to maybe even some mini games to play with friends, that would be really cool. A multiplayer dragon quest experience is exactly the kind of thing the current dragon quest community can use and I'm sure it would be very popular if brought over. There's just so much that can be done with current hardware that wasn't available on the DS and this is really a game that has a lot of potential for a remake. Going back to the Anniversary Stream, they said that Square Enix is always considering a remake of 9, with Jin Fuji Sabah saying that he wants to hear from fans if they want a remake. So if you want a remake, you gotta let Square Enix know on their social medias. Let your voice be heard. As for what I want to hear, let me know in the comments what kind of changes and additions you want to see in Dragon Quest 9's remake. I already shared my thoughts, now I want to hear what other people have to say. Hope you enjoyed the video, thank you for 9000 subscribers and I'll see you next time.