Role Playing games have a rich history with roots in pen-and-paper adventures extending all the way to the latest 50 plus hour hi-def epic. When looking at the history of RPGs 1986 is an appropriate starting point. This year saw the release of Dragon Quest on the Famicom and perhaps the birth of the console RPG genre.
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Before making the leap to the home console Role Playing games were played using books which outlined rules, enemy strength, and scenarios for the players; most importantly these games required the use of a person's imagination to create the world and its inhabitants. Dungeons and Dragons, created by Gary Gygax, set the formula for RPGs as a genre. His pen-and-paper games introduced the concepts of character leveling, Hit Points as a representation of health, and random enemy encounters. The core concepts of Gygax's adventures were eventually brought onto the computer with notable games including Akalabeth and Ultima.
Ultima was a huge success in Japan - this game, along with Wizardry, heavily inspired Yuji Horii of Enix. Horii's intent was to create a game that incorporate the same depth and sense of adventure that his favourite computer games portrayed, but using a simpler control scheme.
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What Horii and his team created was Dragon Quest, and it took the Japanese Role Playing community by storm. By exploiting the best elements of Ultima and Wizardry, and creating a story about saving a land from the clutches of an evil enemy the console RPG genre was set in motion.
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Though these shared similarities to early Role Playing games this new breed of RPGs eschewed the complex control systems of their computer counterparts which required players to type commands to interact with the games' worlds, opting instead to use the basic - and now iconic - directional pad of the Nintendo Famicom's handheld controller. Players could now search chests, battle monsters, and navigate dungeons with a single button press.
The basis of Horii's game became the foundation of future RPGs. Players would now travel across an overworld from town to town encountering monsters along the way. Success in battle was rewarded with Experience Points which enabled a character to gain higher levels, improved statistics, and more powerful skills. Everything that players had to perform prepared them for the final duel against the evil force which was threatening the kingdom. The game outlined the general premise of the plot, but demanded that players discover where they must go and what they must do in order to reach the conclusion of their journey to preserve justice and righteousness. The basis of Dragon Quest would be emulated and expanded upon to create newer and broader adventures.
This set the stage for other developers to experiment with the new style of Role Playing games and led to release of other historic epics such as Final Fantasy and Ys among others.
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Oh Dragon Quest. How we dearly missed out on thee.
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Nice little write-up. It makes me wonder if it could have done a better job taking the West if it had come out much sooner on the NES.
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I guess because Japan was crazy for RPGs compared to the west waiting to localize the game was the only plausible option for Nintendo. Remember, they used to release those early games with maps because they thought us North Americans weren't clever enough to figure out what to do within these journeys.
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Great writeup, Fleach (as usual). Regarding your comment about the maps (and other media): I often wonder who was behind all that. It's been a while since I really looked into it, but I wonder if a good chunk of the "help" that arose was created by Westerners thinking the NES kids wouldn't get it. Remember that when the NES came around the majority of the players were kids; kids who, for the most part, were not PC gamers. Now this is only significant if you take into account the fact that all the major RPG-type games were PC releases (East and West), but I imagine that Japan had already experienced something like this already when Dragon Quest was first released.
I think the most significant thing that Dragon Quest did for the future of the genre was the standardization of controls. We managed to move away from using multiple keys on the keyboard to perform related tasks to a simple sub-menu, which later let to context buttons (which made things even better). I don't think it was really ever complicated, but using only four buttons instead of six or seven was still easier.
Can't wait to read more, Fleach. I'd love to see you dive deeper, too.
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Good point about the average demographic for NES players. That could very well be the reason for the maps. But then again, if the average gamers (console gamers) were kids and young teens, why would Nintendo decide to bring these RPGs over? Could it have been to tap into another market, the older PC players perhaps?
I agree with your comment about standardization of controls and the introduction of submenus. Horii is also well known for his almost philosophical reasoning behind level grinding.
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I think the reason we saw Dragon Warrior released in the west was due to its insane sales as a series in Japan. Nintendo firmly believed they could have similar success in the US, to the point of over manufacturing the carts and subsequently having to give them away with Nintendo Power subscriptions.
My guess the maps, etc. was a product of experience with the Game Counselor service and Nintendo Power itself.
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Duke has knowledge. That's a fact!
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I still need to sit down and take on the Dragon Warrior games on the NES. Kind of have a hankering for some Wizardry first though....
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@Crabmaster2000: Oh man, I hope you like grinding. Dragon Quest is pure grind-o-rama! The Gameboy rerelease with 1 and 2 is much more player friendly. But if the NES versions are the only ones available to you they're still worth playing. Have fun!
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