Dragon Quest III – 1988 Roundtable Interview

Yuji Horii – Scenario Designer
Koichi Nakamura – Director
Koichi Sugiyama – Composer

Endo: Tomorrow is the long-awaited release of Dragon Quest III. So, how does it feel?

Sugiyama: In the course of my work I've already cleared DQIII three times now, but yeah, it feels like we're doing a rocket launch countdown! I've released many records in my career but this is the very first time I've felt this kind of excitement. (laughs)

Nakamura: When I think how tomorrow, a grand debugging of one million people is about to begin, I can hardly contain myself. (laughs)

Horii: For me, I just want everyone to play it right away. It would be sad if someone waits too long to buy it and ends up hearing all the spoilers and secrets before they can play.

―Sugiyama, as someone who has beat the game three times already, without spoiling anything for our readers, can you share what aspects of DQIII left an impression on you?

Sugiyama: Yeah, I thought that all the events throughout the game were wonderfully done. Also, the way the whole color palette would shift when changing scenes really wowed me. The events are very cinematic, truly excellent this time. Other than that, I don't want to say any more lest I spoil the surprise for everyone. (laughs)

Horii: Yeah. The events in DQIII are on a grander scale than before.

Nakamura: In that sense, I think DQIII has much to offer that will delight hardcore players like yourself, Endo. There's a lot of "maniac" level content to enjoy.

Sugiyama: Yeah, and I think the game is designed in such a way that average players can enjoy those parts that normally might only appeal to the maniacs. I also love the sound effects used in the different events, too.

Horii: The battle sound effects are great. The sound for Stopspell, for instance…

Sugiyama: I love the scene where you're flying through the sky. The music is great and it feels like some nature documentary.

Endo: Ah, you shouldn't have said that! I didn't want to hear that yet. Flying…?! You can't just go spoiling something like that for everyone! (laughs)

Sugiyama: The image I had for the music, and the image the graphic designers had were in perfect alignment, I was so happy about that. It's a "critical hit" from both the visual and sound side. For DQIII, by the way, I was working on the sheet music for the full orchestral arrangement at the same time I wrote the game music, but in terms of sheer manhours I'd say the sheet music took more time.

―By the way, why did you make the world map of DQIII look like the actual continents of the Earth?

Horii: We figured doing it this way would make it more familiar for players, and thus easier to grasp.

Sugiyama: It was a lot easier to understand. And you could remember things easily, "oh that town over by Brazil…"

Endo: Personally, I think that's boring. Asking someone, "Did you make it to Rhone?", that feels like a closer, more intimate connection to the game world to me.

―Speaking of which, are there are any connections to the maps of DQI and DQII? Are there any hidden secrets there...?

Horii: Oh, there's a very deep secret indeed. (laughs)

―How do you feel Dragon Quest has changed from I to II and now III?

Endo: I bet the biggest change is the amount of memory, right? It's doubled with each game.

Horii: DQII had to be twice as interesting as DQI. Otherwise people wouldn't say it was fun; in fact, they'd say it was boring if it was just the same. And in that sense DQIII had to be four times as interesting as DQI.

Endo: With an approach like that, it means you have to make the graphics better too… I can see a lot of problems multiplying…

Nakamura: It makes the hardware limitations all the more difficult. (laughs)

Endo: The monsters of Dragon Quest are very cute. In DQI, in the battle scenes the monsters would appear with the overworld map backgrounds behind them, and I thought was very fresh. I guess if I had to complain about something in DQII, it would be the removal of those backgrounds. Why did you make the backgrounds all black? I guess it was impossible because of the memory.

Horii: I've been saying over and over that we should add them back.

Sugiyama: But on the other hand, the black backgrounds allow the monsters to stand out more.

Horii: Yeah, and the monsters are very colorful in DQIII. As impressive as the monsters are, I don't think anyone has minded the absent backgrounds. (laughs)

Endo: DQII allowed you to control three characters. As a player it was a lot easier. I remember having to level up by yourself in the latter half of DQI… now that was rough. (laughs)

―Being the third Dragon Quest game you've made, I imagine many things were different about this development: the way you imbued the game with emotion and feeling, as well as the struggles and travails you faced along the way... can you speak to that?

Nakamura: I think it's easier now that it's a series, a known entity. Players understand a lot of the underlying conventions and ideas of the game without us needing to explain anything. For that reason I think the first Dragon Quest, in which we had to establish all those rules, was probably the hardest development of the three.

Horii: We took great care in DQI to make sure the players understood the whole idea of leveling up and getting stronger. That meant we had to be very careful about the speed at which you level up, and make sure that when you bought a better weapon you would clearly feel the difference. Those kind of subtle balancing things were a big challenge back then.

Endo: In computer RPGs, it's not satisfying if you don't see the effect of leveling up. I'd love to be able to actually see the new weapons when you buy them. Another dilemma is that, if leveling up is too easy it's boring, but if it's too hard it's also no fun. That said, I think the "walking RPG" formula has been pretty much perfected at this point.

Horii: Even if we wanted to dramatically change things up for the next game, I think it would just end up making it worse.

Endo: That's true. The Dragon Quest system is well done, though, so I think it's probably best not to mess with it.

Horii: One thing that scares me lately is this growing tendency to want games to be more realistic. I don't think realism is bad per se, but in an effort to be more realistic all these designers are adding things that, from a gameplay perspective, are just boring or annoying. Even if you're striving for realism I think you have to simplify things a bit for the game's sake… you've got to bring out the "fun" element within that realism, you know? For example, there's nothing realistic about monsters dropping gold after they're defeated. And following that logic, there's been more games lately that make it so you don't receive any gold after battles. But it's really unfun. It destroys the pacing and flow of the game, and I worry that it will trigger a vicious circle of other bad ideas.

Endo: One thing I see a lot is developers trying to do something weird or new with their sequels. And yet the only people wowed by such stunts are the developers themselves. The players don't give a hoot about newfangled gameplay mechanics; I think they'd be perfectly happy if you just changed the story up and kept everything else the same. Look at the B button, it's become a convention now that it's always used to cancel commands… and the advantage there is that you don't have to explain that to players anymore.

Horii: It's almost like there are unspoken rules of game design. The big question is how to work within those rules. In terms of gameplay systems, everyone is very conservative.

Sugiyama: It's true about everything, but the things that are simple-yet-deep tend to get preserved over time. It's the same in backgammon. 1

Nakamura: It's so difficult, making something that is both simple and has depth. In all the long history of humanity, I think you can count those successes on one hand.

Sugiyama: It's also very hard in music, to create melodies that are simple yet remain in your heart long after.

Horii: Hmm, I'd have to say making sure everything is easy to understand. I also put a lot of care into writing the dialogue. If the dialogue is too long and wordy you can lose track of what someone is trying to say. So I strive to make simple dialogue that leaves an impression on the player.

Nakamura: I think that just proves how a good game is one that the creator loves himself. (laughs)

Horii: That's not something I could openly admit to, but yeah. (laughs) The other key thing is that we play the finished product ourselves and then take the time to fix the parts we think are bad.

Nakamura: Yeah, no matter how much effort you've put into something, if it sucks you've got to let it go. Everything depends on your ability to do that.

Endo: Surely you were satisfied with Dragon Quest III, though.

Nakamura: Well, there's always something to improve.

Horii: I'd wanted to do a little more with some of the playful aspects of the game. We couldn't get the balance quite right with the monster arena…

Endo: ....monster arena??? Damnit, not another spoiler! (everyone laughs)

―Well, to wrap things up, if you could each give us some final words about Dragon Quest III.

Sugiyama: Sure. I've played it myself and I had a great time.

Nakamura: Don't try and rush through it, just take your time and enjoy yourself.

Horii: My sentiments are very similar. Don't just blindly follow some strategy guide; try and immerse yourself and play it with the feeling that you're there in this world.

―Do you think Dragon Quest III could finally dethrone that certain famous game?

Horii: Nah, I think Super Mario will rule the roost for awhile longer. (laughs)

―Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to talk with us today!

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