PixlBit

Lest I jest, I bet my best vest this quest pest lacks zest.

Dragon Quest IX is a fun, traditional, single-player RPG that provides an additional, flexible, and open multiplayer experience.

Where is it lacking? Tag mode.

You may be familiar with the DS’s tag mode. That’s the mode where the DS activates WiFi and searches for other DSs with the same title in the vicinity. Often, the mode is used to unlock bonuses or trade items passively, should someone with the game enter the DS’s range.

Unfortunately, in most of my experiences with the mode, there are two common flaws, both apparent in Dragon Quest IX. To begin with, it isn’t possible to play the game while tag mode is active. For me, that’s meant that any time I wanted to progress in Dragon Quest IX and I’m not certain there’s anyone to tag with nearby, I’m left to make a choice: Either play the game or wait and hope for a tag. It’s one or the other. There’s no in-between. Beyond that, there’s no option to have tag mode on for Dragon Quest IX while any other game is being played or while any other game is being tagged. It’s a problem very related to the first, but still substantially different. Essentially, it’s impossible to both play Dragon Quest IX and tag at the same time, but if I’m not playing Dragon Quest IX, it’s also impossible to tag!

I realize the 3DS plans to solve these inherent issues with tag mode that were discovered early in the life of the DS, and I also realize that this isn’t as much of a problem in heavily populated areas, particularly in Japan. Unfortunately this isn’t Japan, and even more unfortunately, this isn’t the only problem with Dragon Quest IX’s tag mode!

See, in Dragon Quest nine, players are limited to three tags per tag session. I’ve attended both promotional tag meet-ups for Dragon Quest IX, one held at Game Stop, the other at Best Buy, and both times, I’ve had the same problem. I reach three new tags, then have to leave tag mode, run out of the room, then run back in. There doesn’t seem to be much of a reason for this, but it makes tagging in arranged meet-ups take a much bigger chunks of time than one would expect, since each time the player is prompted to enter tag mode, he or she is prompted to listen to explanations about the mode.

Oh, I forgot to mention: Reaching the point in the game where tagging is a possibility can take a few hours. At the Best Buy tag event, the Nintendo representative present offered incentive to buy the game in the form of a King Slime-based shirt. While she disclosed that a purchase of the title at Best Buy at any point in the past, with proper documentation, would allow an attendee a promotional King Slime shirt, anyone who bought the game in response to the event would be unable to participate! I’d say this is more of an issue with game design, in my opinion, but it illustrates an issue with the title’s promotions, as well.

So I can make it clear, through tagging, players can trade bonus maps. They’re essentially random dungeons with enemies, rewards, and bosses based somewhat on the strength of the player who unlocked the map from the previous dungeon. Some maps can have an entire floor devoted to specific enemies that give levels of experience much higher in magnitude than virtually any other enemy, and these maps typically become well-known and famous, as well as highly traded. Additionally, each player can unlock rooms of an inn, providing bonus items after receiving set levels of tags, with at lowest, 30 being the target goal. Given not only the difficulty of successfully, randomly tagging with another player in the US, but the steep requirement of tags to unlock extra rooms and items, I’d venture that the entire mode, without utilization of some save-hacking device, is a general flop, even with the organized local tag events.

All I can say is that I’m not a fan of DS tagging in its current state, and Dragon Quest IX is an excellent example of everything wrong with the idea. Requiring tags to unlock content, however unimportant or insignificant, is a great way to lock users out of some game content, and from my perspective, doesn’t seem to encourage word-of-mouth sales. Furthermore, while great maps can be spread through the tag mode, the process is time-intensive and much more limited than one would typically expect, especially with the one-map, three person tag limits in place. My only hope can be that Nintendo, and in this case, Square Enix, have learned their lessons. Future titles, on both the DS and 3DS can avoid these issues with just a little thought and consideration on the part of the developer. Still, I remain pessimistic in my outlook, since the several tag mode issues that were easily identifiable in earlier titles still persist today.