Dragon Quest IX, as you may or may not know, began as an Action RPG. After twenty years of traditional (classic?) grinding, Square Enix was ready to follow the rest of the RPG genre in moving away from traditional combat systems into new, innovative avenues. What happened? You did, apparently. As a Square Enix spokesperson said at E3, "People didn't want the change. When you've sold over 40 million copies, you've got to listen to your fans." Apparently the same syndrome that affects children when they purchase movie-based games and perpetuate the creation of terrible licensed titles has also infected the RPG market. Can there be any hope for change, especially within a flagship series such as Dragon Quest?
I kind of have to wonder about the age group doing most of the complaining. I can't imagine it was wholly the younger generation of gamers. I'm almost inclined to suppose to the old DQ fogies decided they wanted the game to stay the same as when they played it two decades ago.
I did think it was weird for a main entry in DQ to experiment with another battle system entirely, especially when the series has been so stylistically consistent. Still, it would have been a change welcomed by me. Maybe we'll see it again in another spinoff title.
Also, the Japanese of all people whined about the change? Shocking! I thought only Americans did that.
I think it's all a conspiracy involving SE, the Illuminati, and Denver International Airport. Sometime after the merger they said that FF would be continuously changing with new innovations in the genre, while DQ would retain more traditional elements, like turn-based combat, and free demos for upcoming FF games as an incentive to purchase them.
I eagerly await purchasing the $35 demo of the next DS FF Game, that just happens to come with DQ IX.