One of the coolest things to happen in DQX, if not all JRPGs, or even games, is that you become Hell Emperor (in other words, the devil) in version 5. Anyone interjecting that Japanese makai (demon world) and hell aren't the same thing, the area you start your journey through hell and which links its other bigger areas is called Gerhenna Field, which isn't exactly Gehenna, but close enough to not be a coincidence.

There is one thing that sours the accomplishment though. DQX has many side activities that you can do with other players other than fighting bosses or questing. In version 5 they introduced the card game President. Which is played with a French deck of playing cards, commonly known as Trump in Japanese.

They have a kind of Mount Rushmore in Astortian hell, not really a mountain, just a wall of faces of legacy Demon Emperors. The player's (masked) face is also added to this wall.

Is there some kind of hidden message being alluded here?

In DQX version 7 you travel to the distant planet Zenias and in the kingdom Amalark you encounter a foe that cannot be harmed by regular attacks called the Fuurazuura. These are usually black with three eyes but there's also a stronger boss called Azu Fuurazuura which is white.

Despite being quite different in many ways they did somewhat remind me of the whispers in FF7 Remake/birth, at first because of the name. Fuurazuura is similar to fiiraa/feeler which is the Japanese term for the whispers. But also the two colors they come in added to the impression that they're similar.

Of course in FF7 the feeler fight over dominion of the lifestream and the fate of the planet, the white and black whispers representing different sides, which are at odds with each other. Whereas the white Fuurazuura is on the same side, just more powerful.

And the Fuurazuura are a threat to people, not just trying to shape their path.

Picture from the official DQX version 7 site.

Having played DQX version 7 "The Door to the Future and the Dozing/Half-asleep Girl", it has become more clear what the dozing girl part is referring to.

Sometimes Porte is wearing her hood, for example when you first meet her. And at those times she speaks differently, not like her young girl self but like an older person. So it seems there is another person dormant inside her who only rarely can take control.

That other person seems more knowledgeable but regular Porte also knows a lot about creational power which is a key concept in this version and is linked to people completely disappearing from existence and even other people's memories.

It's funny because there's another upcoming game I'm interested in called Reynatis in which hoods also feature prominently. There they're used to suppress magic/power to avoid being spotted whereas here in Porte's case it symbolizes an increase in knowledge/power so kind of the opposite.

A bit late but I found this commercial for DQX version 7 interesting. Both this ad and the game came out over a week ago, on March the 20th and 21st.

The finished trailer for version 7 of Dragon Quest X Online, launching on March 21st in 2024. There was another DQXTV stream on the 26th where they showed this trailer again and revealed that the Dragon Mage's zone technique is to turn into a dragon.

During today's Winter Story DQXTV program they saved a treat for the last hour: a work in progress trailer for version 7. Director Anzai says he had to convince the animation studio for the unfinished trailer to be shown so it won't go up on its own on SE's youtube channel right away. It can be seen at the 4 hours, 41 minutes and 51 seconds mark:

After showing the trailer they revealed the voice actors for Porte (Ruriko Noguchi) and Raki (Rie Kugimiya). Noguchi was invited to appear on the stream to talk about her character as well.

The new magic used by the Dragon Mage was also shown, called Dogan (which I guess captures the sound this earth elemental spell makes on impact).

The dragon mage is the second master class job, based on the mage and the armamentalist (magic knight). This job uses two handed weapons (staffs, scythes, bows) or wands in combination with small shields and can wear the same equipment as mages and sages. Like the earlier master class job, the guardian, it has a zone state and techniques instead of the usual special techniques. Version 7 will also introduce a completely new type of spell never before seen in Dragon Quest which only this job can use.

Images from the official version 7 site.

Raki is another new character teased for the next version of DQX, encountered in Zenias. Images from the official version 7 site.

Some screens showing the new world Zenias introduced in DQX version 7 from the official version 7 site.

Is Porte the dozing girl from version 7's title? Maybe, but also noteworthy is her name, which resembles words for door in many European languages, e.g. French porte, Italian porta, or German Pforte. So she's connected to both of the two concepts in "The Door to the Future and the Dozing Girl".

Images from the official version 7 site.

No trailer for The Door to the Future and the Dozing Girl yet but a release date (Thursday, March 21st 2024) and some still screens and key visuals.

The protag's cousin from 5000 years ago, Mereade, wishes for people to walk together hand in hand into a bright future. But Astortia is also faced with a new threat, people not just disappearing from the world but also be forgotten to ever have existed. A new heroine named Porte, a new world to explore outside Astortia called Zenias and a new vocation called the dragon mage are teased for this upcoming version 7.

Images from the official version 7 site.

A new DQXTV stream is scheduled for November 14th, bringing new information on version 7 which will launch in 2024 (supposedly by March). I guess this is where we'll see the first trailer. Apparently the title was already announced in August but had escaped my attention until now. It's called: "The Door to the Future and the Dozing Girl".

The stream is of course Japanese only, as is the game. It can be viewed on Nico Nico and Youtube.

DQX version 6 doesn't end with the last boss and not even with the victory celebration following it. There are more quests to do afterwards to flesh out the celestial world and wrap up some smaller loose ends.

That's not new. But there is an actual story quest to unlock, with a voiced long cutscene if you do most of these optional quests that ties up a loose end that is everything but small.

Version 7 has been announced to release next year by March, no trailer or exact date yet. But the version 7 teaser at the "To be continued" screen already shows a red haired girl that supposedly is linked to the Jia-Cto being devoid of creational power and thus having to conquer other civilizations.

Two Japanese Dragon Quest live streams today, one for a new smartphone game and one for version 6.4 of DQX Online.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T3QzqFt620

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDklbZagy8Q

The next version of DQX will introduce a new job, the Guardian, which is a mixture of Warrior and Paladin. Expect to hear more about this job today.

Dragon Quest X Version 6.3 “Rise of the Demon Eyed Moon” (releasing on Wednesday 10/19/22)

The core of the crystal lifeform Jia-Cto appears in the sky over Astortia, as its ambassador Jia-Lumina announces the commencing of Astortia's invasion. The angel Eulysa and Ashley, the first brave in history, are there to keep Jia-Lumina at bay but Eulysa did not think Jia-Cto would arrive so soon. Ashley feels they’re outmatched by the numbers of Jia-Cto’s army. Eulysa reminds him they’re the last line of defense to avert harm from the people of Astortia.

Cut to Sage Lucienda in Astortia. “To prevent further spread of crystalization, until we find a suitable counter measure, it is crucial to avoid injury at all cost.” Back at ground zero of Jia-Cto’s invasion, Eulysa and Ashley face Leone, Ashley’s twin brother and history’s first guiding companion. “I made a choice”, he declares, “no one told me to, it was by my own volition.” Ashley is seen as a child, swinging his sword in what seems to be a flashback to when he and Leone were raised to become the first braves in history, without any say of their own in the matter.

Cut to somewhere in Astortia, what looks like an underground Pukulipo village. The angel Kantis is heard asking Eulysa to investigate the whereabouts of missing angel chief Mitra. Next cut they have already found her but Mitra says she has no intention of returning to the celestial city. Eulysa urges Mitra to reconsider, they absolutely depend on Mitra to defeat Jia-Cto and protect Astortia. But she again declines, saying Astortia is fated to be destroyed. Eulysa is lost for words: “Fated... you say”.

Cut to Fostale who offers to help with finding a way to fight Jia-Cto. They meet with a bearded Pukulipo and obtain what seems to be a kind of ore. Cut to Eulysa taking on a white golem warrior, followed by several short cuts with various angels at the celestial city. A longer one shows Mitra spinning with only one wing. Jia-Lumina appears in the celestial city, Leone is seen turning and walking into a mist.

An immense number of ships emerge from Jia-Cto. Eulysa insists they cannot give up, or the world will be crushed by Jia-Cto. “Your defeat is already certain”, claims Jia-Lumina. Then current age brave Ann-Lucia appears, countering a beam attack with her own. The demon eyed moon is seen, then a rupture in space from which monster invaders emerge. Ashley catches the falling Eulysa in mid-air. Trailer ends with an illustration of Mitra.