New Screenshots and Information Revealed about Dragon Quest X: Mezameshi Itsutsu no Shuzoku Online

Giuseppe Nelva September 21, 2011 1:45 PM EST

Today Square Enix Published a whole slew of new pictures and information about Dragon Quest X: Mezameshi Itsutsu no Shuzoku Online. the new numbered chapter of the Dragon Quest saga, coming in the form of an Online RPG on the Wii and, subsequently, on the Wii U.

They introduced the five races of the game (ogres, elves, dwarfs, pukuripos, and wedis), an overview of the areas of the game, and also some juicy bits about the story.

Ogres are the tallest and strongest between the five races, they are extremely proud of their heritage and have strength and courage as their main ideals.

Pukuripos are naughty and curious creatures, that live to dream and laugh, and spare no effort to make other people laugh and be merry.

Wedis are a sensitive and gentle island race strongly bound to the ocean, and to their traditions. They love to sing and pass on their folklore to the new generations.

Elves are a petite race that respects wisdom above all else. They are proud and smart, and live in harmony with nature, accumulating vast amounts of knowledge.

Dwarfs have an advanced nature that keeps wealth and technology in high regards. They are rather malicious and greedy in their nature, but are also extremely intelligent.

There are a total of five areas in the game, one for each race. Four are mainland continents and the other is a archipelago of islands. Each player will start from the original area of his chosen race, but will then be able to move around freely as soon as he starts to get involved in the story.

The Ogre Continent is the largest area of the world, and it’s the only mainland area. Home of the ogres, it shows radical climate differences between harsh deserts and snow-covered mountains. The ogres live scattered in several towns made of homes built with stone.

The Pukurando Continent is the home of the pukuripo, featuring rolling hills and lush plains. The main city of the pukuripo looks playful as much as their nature is, and is dominated by a big windmill shaped like a sunflower.

The Uena Islands are an archipelago made of several islands, blessed by the ocean and characterized by a subtropical climate and vegetation. There are also rocky areas eroded by the sea water and coral reefs. The main city of the Wedi, that live of the islands, is a beautiful coastal town that integrates perfectly with the sea.

The Erutona Continent is a temperate landmass in which the Elves live in harmony with nature. Roads and paths are lined by trees with colorful flowers in full bloom. Elven architecture strongly reminds the Asian one in the real world, with wooden structures and Pagodas.

The Dowachakka Continent is the home of the dwarfs, and is in large parts made by deserts and volcanic regions. The continent is scattered with the ruins of an once glorious civilization that is now forgotten. The dwarfs live in towns made of sturdy stone, showing superior techniques of construction and engineering compared to the other races.

Players will be able to move between areas fast thanks to a mysterious train, that will have to be discovered during gameplay.

Each continent is populated by several races of monsters and demons, some of which will be returning from previous Dragon Quest games (like the slimes), while others will be new.

An interesting bit about the story is that there also asixth continent, named “Rendashia”, and a sixth “secret” race: the Humans. The continent has been sealed off from the rest of the world by the demons, and one of the purposes of the player characters will be to rediscover that continents and to regain their original human form.

The opening of the story will be played offline and after that the player will be able to join with others to play online. For those that want to continue playing offline there’s a chance to recruit some AI party members in order to be able to face the hardest challenges without going online. For those players that prefer to play offline Dragon Quest X will play exactly like the previous chapters of the series.

Communication with other players will be both textual and gestural, with a wide array of emotes. The use of USB keyboards will be supported and shortcut keys will also be fully customizable.

The game looks definitely promising, especially the bit about characters having to regain their humanity is quite interesting. You can see the full gallery of screenshots below.