Dragon Quest IX’s One Save Data Slot Explained!

@doubtful: Well now we know you have a personal bias against the save system more than an actual objective opinion.

@RiceBandit: You have never played a DQ game have you.

@BoSU: I would be happy to date any one of the three, I don't know where you get ugly from.

@tim rogers: "...meaning that you are officially asked to live with both your mistakes and your decisions."

Man, aren't they taking this role-playing thing too far?

Jesus Christ, this game should have just come out on a console. You can tell that they were too ambitious with this title and the DS's limitations held them back. But they are so money hungry that they had to pick the format that would get the most sales. Don't get me wrong. It will probably be great, but imagine how much better it could have been on a console or even the PSP.

ebola9717

"the data that needs to be saved is enormous."

I don't buy this. Not for a second.

Wolfers

@doubtful: well.

one save slit DOES mean more sales because people cannot share.

and the "too much freedom for more than one save slot" thing IS most likely bullshit.

however! the co-op aspect is very important to the game. and multiplayer elements have very often (until, uh, monster hunter) been ignored in japanese games.

if they just gave people multiple files, theyd play it like it was dynasty warriors, get to the end, and hand it to lil sis.

with one slot, everyone wants their own copy! so they are encouraged to play the multiplayer.

that is to say they are encouraged to play the game the way it is meant to be played.

meaning that they will enjoy it more, instead of just immediately feeling empty after finishing it.

or something!

@Ueziel: Wrong. Medals were missable in Dragon Quest IV. Or the missable medals from Dragon Quest VII.

"You know, it's becoming increasingly apparent that there are probably tons and tons of people on this site that think they know all about how every RPG ever works, but actually have no clue." You're one of the them.

AncientUnknown1

@Sama-Recarm: It's just that I can't afford to buy every game that comes along, and nor can my erstwhile sibling. So one of us will buy it, and if it has more than one save slot, we can both play it - otherwise, it's buyer's rights.
I bought Class of Heroes recently, so I'm out of money - even if my brother picks up Devil Survivor (I do want to play it!), one save slot means I can't play it.

@BoSU: The one on the right is kinda hot.

@AncientUnknown1: There has never been anything like that in any Dragon Quest game. Ever.

You know, it's becoming increasingly apparent that there are probably tons and tons of people on this site that think they know all about how every RPG ever works, but actually have no clue. Not saying you're one of them, but that's my general observation.

@Slagathorian: It's great that you still have absolutely zero clue as to what you're talking about.

@ourovoros: The chances or even the idea that you're going to get a corrupted save file on a DS game are so tiny/laughable, it's ridiculous.

@Fernando Jorge: As has been said, no Dragon Quest game has ever or ever will even allow you to save right before a big boss battle. You save in towns and if you die in some dungeon, it sends you back to that town with all of your experience and items intact, but with half of your gold.

@BoSU: i love them all long time

And the reason I won't be buying this? I don't want to give SquareEnix Money

mascot1063

@warjilis: Yes, because passwords were so awesome and worked so well.

If there was a password for every single possible combination of items obtained, quests completed, people spoken to, then it wouldn't surprise that either the game or someones head would explode.

madog

@grampaspanky: Logic would dictate that the game was in development far before the DSi came out. That alone could be the reason there aren't specific features for it.

madog

Were going back to the 80's. Even Dragon Quest 1 had 3 save slots. If Square Enix is going backwards and worried about the size of the save files draining battery life, which is stupid argument, why not bring back passwords

@j.m.ratkos: I don't think that's the case, but don't take my word for it (just my balls).

@Pombar: You'd be doing a favor by playing them (or so I heard). I say it's your loss for missing out on Devil Survivor. The game's supposed to use the single save feature because of the multiple paths in the game. Maybe you know that, yet you're still stubborn that you swear you have to save anywhere and anytime you want because you might make a difficult and regrettable choice. AAAAUGGHHHHHHHH!!!

Honestly, I'm addressing this to others that won't play Devil Survivor also.

I guess per person, it depends on how deep you allow youself to get into the real nitty-gritty teeny-tiny details of a game. For instance, Pokemon Platinum, I've done enough stuff and have enough higher leveled pokemon that when it saves now, it takes (I think, haven't actually counted) almost 10 - closer to 20 if I've just been in the PokeCenter's computer - seconds to save.

PsiWren

@Inzoum: In all my years of DS gaming this has never happened to me. After realizing that charging the DS while playing is completely harmless, I rarely ever quit a game for the sole reason my battery light is red.

@tim rogers: Who are you arguing with?

@Carmin Pierre: On what grounds? Are you a DS developer? Please, enlighten us.

grampaspanky

@BoSU:
Your standards are absurdly high. You must be married to a European Supermodel! Or maybe you ARE a European Supermodel. That's the only explanation.

@NinjaMarion:
Ah, okay. My mistake.

@Grifflame: Haha, it does! She even has that soulless stare that eats away my dreams.

RedLupo

You know what really needed backups/multiple saves? RE5. Die in a fire Capcom I'm not starting from scratch again.

Erion04

@tim rogers: Actually, thwy would have sold LESS rather than MORE seeing that people might be sharing one cart.Duhh.

@BoSU: Yeah I'm sure they'd be much, much better off with you as their model... /eyeroll

Ramonskito

@Slagathorian: And you know this how? If the game is anywhere as big as Dragon Quest 8, you have way to much shit on that small ass cart and they still have a back-up save if your battery dies.

@tim rogers:

for that i says Persona 4, i've lost 1:30 of leveling up at the second dungeon, then my party was wiped out, THAT'S a cruel dominatrix rpg... no save point, no resting, that fox is ***** expensive.

Blitzgrilo

Jesus christ people are still fucking crying over a single save slot?

Seriously just dont buy it.

I highly doubt you folks are going to matter all that much in the sales numbers anyways.

@Ueziel: You do have to realize however that the game isn't hurt any by having like 3 save slots.

This is nothing but a bad thing.

@tim rogers:

...those games only sold like ten million copies each! if it weren't for the one save slot, they probably would have sold a billion! -tim rogers

I think their concern is just the opposite of that. Multiple save slots allow for cartridge sharing among family and friends, so sales could be lower.

Having only one save slot is a method of increasing sales, and this tech-talk about how a wonderfully free world results in unmanageably large save files is nothing more than an excuse to stifle game sharing.

The whole situation reminds me of G rated movies versus R rated movies in the States. G rated movies always do well because the kids who want to see them have to be accompanied by an adult, which automatically doubles the number of tickets sold.

This is just a trick developers use to sell more tickets.

is this title still supposed to ship on 2 ds cartridges? if so, I'm curious to see how they handle that (I didn't think that you could swap out ds carts on a ds / ds lite system without it rebooting or locking up).

@Shredator: 4th Strike:

It is why I didn't play more than 3 hours of that game. Every time I try to play it again, the save system puts it's ugly, long fingernails on a chalkboard and ruins my gaming experience.

I read this as corporate speak for, "One slot sells more copies."

I understand that they had to do this but I wonder what memory size SD card they use. I let my friend borrow The World Ends With You and I wanted to try it out, but to even start a new game, you have to overwrite the previous save. I just wanted to play but not save!

transcend

@Alternate: I lol'ed ... a lot.

Lapoisse

@stereo-head: I think that is the point, should sport a label saying "don't share this game".

Great, so now it's another RPG one of either me and my brother won't be playing. Pokemon, TWEWY, Devil Survivor, Etrian Odyssey... we've gone back to the early 90s with saves these days.

There better not be any missable content then. I don't want to get 40 hours into the game only to realize I can't get the best weapon in the game because at 10 hours in I didn't do something obscure that makes the weapon available later.

Because if that happens I will just quit and trade it in.

AncientUnknown1

@Ueziel: The problem with that last statement is that I would never subject any sane person to the DQ series.

Do Kesubei

@Rebochan: It's the color palate: lime-green and magenta. It's like Crecente hates "taste".

AncientUnknown1

@Ueziel: I always assumed that it was because Nintendo wanted siblings to get their own copies, rather than trade off with the cartridge or DS.

This is pure BS.

Carmin Pierre

@Zunnoab: You could look at it backwards-- stuffing a game so damn full that there was little space to even have more than a single save file.

This becomes an apparent plus for pirates (r4 and the like)

"save state" (cough. cough)

@mwoody: Pokemon also makes a backup save just like dragon quest will be doing. In the case when your save gets corrupted, the backup will be restored.

@spannu: Yeah, I rarely go back on my multiple saves. I went back on rare occasions, but they were really helpful though. Plus, on an that is supposed to be harder than the others in the series, I think it is important to have at least 2 save slots. Else you may find yourself in a start-over situation, because you might have build your characters in a way that they can't get through an extra hard part late in the game, or because you've saved right before a big battle, and after you are defeated for the first time you discover you don't have enough healing itens to possibly make it through alive.

Fernando Jorge

@tim rogers: ... I drive a Dodge Stratus!

@Zunnoab:
Well, considering this game has a ton of quests, items, customizable characters and options, etc. that is a whole lot of flag management and custom user data that needs to be saved. For the record, DS games have a seperate save chip inside of them and the size of chips available are not that big so it's not like they have many options, plus bigger save chips means more expensive to make, which means higher price tag.

aevanko

...Just like Pokemon...
Man I really want that bundle!

@BoSU: Gosh, I wonder why more girls don't come to this site?

@tim rogers: Green and spiky??

ourovoros

@Ueziel: I like to have at least two save slots and alternate between them, so that even if the save file becomes corrupted I don't lose a lot of progress.
On the other hand, being predominantly a PC gamer, I absolutely HATE games that create a new save slot whenever you save

ourovoros

@tim rogers: How strange, just this morning I was playing Pokemon for the first time, and I spend 10 minutes trying to figure out how to switch save slots. One slot on a device that can lose battery power during a save operation is unacceptable, whether Nintendo does it or not.

mwoody

@Ueziel: I hated that pokemon did it! I wanted to try out different starter pokemons!

@Gabe Newell the Fat Princess:

Well excuse me, I work for the FBI, and your ass is officially grass.

@NinjaMarion: Or worse, and I think that's where they're getting to: The DS battery dies WHILE you're saving, happily corrupting your past 45 hours of gaming

Inzoum

@Shredator: I love that system. An acquired taste for sure, but I really liked it.

Remember the Dead Rising save system.

I'd save my data in the right most one's slot.

Alternate

@tim rogers:

Well excuse me, on my Cyclo Ds you can have multiple save slots.

Wait, what? Sorry, distracted, what was the article about again? I think I might have yellow fever.

@N●Gage Croal: The DS battery. For when you're playing and can't get to a save point or ignore the red light and don't save and quit then and your DS ends up dying without you saving first.

Is it just me or does the one on the left look like a mannequin? Detachable limbs and all.

Grifflame

Is that Red DSi apart of a Dragon Quest bundle or something?

@undefined: yeah, i personally don't foresee ever turning my DS off for the next six months, to be perfectly honest.

sleep mode + plugging the DS straight into the charger as soon as i get home = hell yes

also, IX doesn't have online; the multiplayer is local.

and before anyone talks about how this makes the game useless for "adults" -- in japan, i see Real Adults (sometimes even COUPLES) playing monster hunter local multiplayer on PSP literally every day.

@spannu:
winner! /daytona_theme

cihx

@tim rogers: Even with online, I don't see it playing out differently from previous Dragon Quests. There's usually a way to save/not need money after a while, and in the time it takes to reload you can make up for the losses anyway.

They could have just gone with one auto-save and been fine. The only real use for the extra file is probably New Game+ or bonus endings, etc.

spannu

@BoSU: The right one is hot, the left one is doable and the middle one just needs a paper bag. Overall it's a good deal.

@BoSU: That's because they aren't models; they're in-game characters in corporeal form.

spannu

I have a hard time grasping the concept of an RPG needing that much data to save a game. If it's really that groundbreaking I could understand of course. This is starting to remind me of Peter Molyneux, but note I mean nothing negative in saying that.

Zunnoab

Battery? I thought the DS games' saves are all on flash memory. I don't think there's a battery in the Game Cards.

What about us DSi owners with SD card support? Can we get an option to save more than once in our SD cards please?

@BoSU: My standards must be way too low then, cause I only think the one in the middle is below average.

People die in RPGs now?

VasinHumphrey

And here I was thinking that they were pulling a Fable 2 or Dead Rising.

firehawk12

@BoSU: Isn't that a little harsh? Only the middle one is somewhat homely looking.

@BoSU: hey :(

i'm sure they all have beautiful personalities, okay :(

@riffleraffle: since its a new feature that would make it incompatible with older DS they cant rely on that.

chamoo232

@Ueziel: yes, what he said.

for god's sake, people, let's stop imagining dragon quest as some cruel dominatrix of a game. from the very first installment, the games have let you keep your experience and items when you die, at the cost of half your money.

the thing is, dragon quest has, for the past twenty-three years, asked players politely to at least try to learn from their mistakes. reloading the save is, of course, always an option (you get your gold back, though you lose your experience. the message is that "experience" ("happiness") is more important than "gold" ("money") -- or something! talking out my ass here, i know, lol, etc))

it's just that now -- with a game that also encourages players to play together and cooperate to overcome challenges they couldn't overcome while alone, they understandably seek to encourage a higher degree of (social) responsibility in the player, meaning that you are officially asked to live with both your mistakes and your decisions.

@Ueziel: Forgive me then. I haven't played a real DQ since the PSX days.

Black-Dog-Howls

Not that big of a deal. The only reason I ever need another save slot is when I have to share a game with my brother or something. Since my bro isn't a Dragon Quest fan, this won't affect me in the least.

They sure did pick out some ugly models to promote the game.

BoSU

@Black-Dog-Howls: There's no Dragon Quest game like that either. If you die, they always send you back into town to the last place you saved with all of your experience intact. You just lose half of your money.

@Ueziel: In games that allow it, I always end up with hundreds of save files that I'll never even use. I like the feeling of extra security, although I can't remember a single time that I had to go back by several checkpoints.

spannu

@tim rogers: I don't recall Pokemon ever having inescapable dungeons with save points in them save the elite 4. You know, the one you walk into underleveled, get raped, load, then try to get out only to find out there's no where to escape until the boss is beaten.

Black-Dog-Howls

So in theory, I could use the real save for important points, and just play off the backup if I keep making it lose power. Sounds like a plan!

spannu

What about the DSis SD slot? Surely they could create an option for those who can make us of it.

pre-empting the haters:

you know, there's another game i can think of that only has one save slot . . . hmmmm . . . which one is it?

OH! POKEMON!

yeah, those games only sold like ten million copies each! if it weren't for the one save slot, they probably would have sold a billion!

I still don't think having one save slot would matter anyway. I was fine with Pokemon doing it and I'm totally fine with Devil Survivor doing it. If someone wants to try the game out, let them screw around with your game to get a feel for it, tell them not to save and then tell them to go buy it and play it with you!

they all ugly

ladyx