Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii says he saw one major difference between his game and Final Fantasy
Horii also named his favourite game in the Final Fantasy series
Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii has explained what he originally felt was the key difference between Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.
In an interview with Game Informer, Horii was asked if he felt there was competition between Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, particularly in both series’ early 8-bit and 16-bit days when Square and Enix were separate companies.
Horii replied that he didn’t consider the games competitors, but that he was still keeping an eye on the Final Fantasy series to see what it offered.
His conclusion was that the main difference between his Dragon Quest games and the Final Fantasy games was that the protagonists in Final Fantasy games spoke to each other, whereas in Dragon Quest the player controls a silent protagonist.
“Way back then, when Final Fantasy originally came out, I was definitely paying attention to it because it was something we needed to look out for,” he explained. “But there’s one key difference that I really saw back then – the protagonists in the Final Fantasy titles, they speak a lot.
“Whereas for Dragon Quest, the key objective for [the games], or the experience it offers for the player, is that the player becomes the protagonist themselves.
“In Final Fantasy, you kind of observe the protagonist, but you’re not necessarily becoming the protagonist in the games. So I thought that was a really interesting and stark difference between Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, but I didn’t necessarily see them as a rival back then.”
Horii explained that he didn’t have the protagonists in his games “just start talking on their own” because the player was supposed to be playing that role (hence RPG). However, he stressed that while Final Fantasy did it differently, he was still a fan of the series, and revealed his favourite entry.
“I do like Final Fantasy, though,” he said. “When I first saw Final Fantasy X, I recall feeling this was the ultimate perfection of Final Fantasy.”
Earlier this month Horii was recognized by the Japanese government in its autumn honours by receiving the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, for his work on the iconic role-playing game series.
Horii is the first game designer to receive the honour, which is awarded to those recognized for distinguished service to the state in various fields, except military service.
Horii has worked on every mainline Dragon Quest game since the 1986 original and, via his company Armor Project, co-owns the franchise alongside Square Enix.
