It made me a true portable enthusiast
That game wasDragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime, and based on the short recommendation in that issue, I picked it up at my local K-Mart upon release. Then, over the next week, I fell head over healslime for that game — it’s still my absolute favorite on the Nintendo DS — and a fandom was birthed. I would go on to pick up every release of that era, fromSwordsto the oft-forgottenDragon Quest Wars, but it wasn’t until 2010 that this fandom changed to a downright obsession. Because that is when Nintendo publishedDragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skiesfor the Nintendo DS. That title would end up changing the way I game for years to come.
Reggie Fils-Aimé famously put over 200 hours intoDragon Quest IX, a number I have to bow down before because I didn’t get anywhere near that. I did crest the 90-hour mark and heavily enjoyed every second of it. I’ve now come to learnDQ9is something a black sheep of theDragon Questfamily, but that doesn’t phase my love for it one bit. Because while it may lack the engrossing story of the previous entries, it has treasure maps, the hunt for which dominated my life in the summer of 2010.
Dragon Quest IXdid so much right on the Nintendo DS. It’s absolutely beautiful and being able to see monsters on the map made it a more user-friendly experience. But it’s the treasure map hunting found in the game’s Tag Mode that really set it off. Before Streetpass, Square Enix experimented with wireless communication between games with Tag Mode.
InDragon Quest IX, after activating it at Quester’s Rest, players could put their Nintendo DS to sleep and go about their lives, collecting data from other players who were doing the same thing. In Japan, Tag Mode was a massive success, setting records for wireless communication. For me in California, well, I couldn’t exactly just walk around and pick up a great number of maps, quests, and other goodies. Despite being the best sellingDragon Questgame in the west, player concentration was still pretty sparse. However, Nintendo sought to rectify this by hosting events where players could go, meet up with otherDragon Quest IXowners, receive new maps and more.
The very first event I could attend was at a Best Buy in San Luis Obispo. It was my day off and I was probably 30 hours intoDQ9at this point without ever having used the Tag Mode feature. So I got in my car and drove to the event, a sleeping DS in my pocket. The set-up inside was just a table with a fewDragon Questfreebies to be given away to the first people to arrive. I was third in line so I missed out on the prizes.
By the time the event started, there was probably ten of us there total. I thought I would just log in and get my special treasure map, but then the ten of us started talking to one another. We started sharing stories of our adventure so far, giving tips on certain bosses and detailing the make-up of our parties. We started exchanging more maps and supplies with one another, and this simple in-and-out event turned into 45 minutes of blissfulDragon Questbonding.
I’ve played games with other people before but there was something different about this event. We all traveled some distance to be in this spot because we lovedDragon Quest IXand we wanted to get as much out of it as we could. Square Enix intended for this game to be a social one and it succeeded. I’d always been a fan of portable gaming, but I never got into thePokemoncrazy so meeting up with other players was just something I never did. In fact, I really didn’t carry my Nintendo DS with me at all. Tag Mode changed that.
WithDQ9, I became a gamer who took my DS with me everywhere I went, always with that game in sleep mode – just in case I come across another savior of The Protectorate. And even when I stopped playing, the habit stayed with me. I brought my DS along toThe Legend of Zeldapreview concert in LA and played When I went to theLegend of Zeldapreview concert in Los Angeles, I brought my DS along and playedFour Swords Anniversary Editionwith other concertgoers in line. I broughtMario Kart DSwith me to the airport and spent a layover racing against some kids. I went to war with a guy at GameStop inAdvance Wars: Days of Ruin. So many great experiences all because Square Enix wanted us to get up and get out to meet otherDQfans.
Nintendo shut down the DS Wifi system in 2014, long after it has created its own Tag Mode gimmick with Streetpass and Spotpass. To this day, I still carry my 3DS — technically my Pokéball 2DS XL — with me every day to work and anytime I leave the house hoping to add more players to my Mii Plaza. I haven’t tagged anybody inDragon Quest IXin almost eight years and I don’t know, with the Nintendo Switch not having any sort of passive wireless communication, if I’ll ever experience something as wonderful as the summer of 2010 again.
DQ9is still absolutely worth playing and copies are easy to find. In fact, in writing up this feature I’ve started replaying the game once more and have quickly fallen back in sync with it. I have that jumbo players guide for the game and there are still many maps for me to find. Look out Fils-Aimé, because I’m not stopping until I surpass your total hours!
