Dragon Quest X

Dragon Quest X: Rise of the Five Tribes Online, also known as Dragon Quest X Online, is a 2012 massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) by Square Enix. It is the tenth mainline entry in the Dragon Quest series. It was originally released for the Wii and was later ported to the Wii U, Windows, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, and Nintendo 3DS. Other than a discontinued Windows version in China, the game was not released outside of Japan. A single-player remake, Dragon Quest X Offline, was released in Japan in 2022 and later throughout Asia.

Dragon Quest X is set in the world of Astoltia, with the player character being initially human before an attack by Nelgel the Netherlord which he forces their soul into the body of another race. Following this, they must gather magical gems to seal Nelgel once again, while the player character's sibling is sent back in time to be safe from Nelgel. Gameplay follows a combination of elements from the Dragon Quest and other contemporary MMORPGs, such as real-time combat in an open world environment and a job system tied to skills and abilities.

Concepts for an MMORPG within the Dragon Quest series began among a small team during the later development of Dragon Quest VIII. Development progressed alongside that of Dragon Quest IX. The aim was to make it accessible to series fans and newcomers alike, along with creating a long-term content plan. The development team featured multiple series veterans, including series creator and designer Yuji Horii, artist Akira Toriyama, and composer Koichi Sugiyama. New staff members included producer Yosuke Saito, who had previously worked on the Drakengard series and whose company Orca helped with development; and Chikara Saito, who took over as director in 2013.

Critical reception to the game have been generally positive, with praise going to its integrating of Dragon Quest features into an MMORPG structure. The game has since received several expansion packs and other updates. By 2014, the game had sold over one million copies.

Dragon Quest X is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), where a customized player character travels the world of Astoltia completing quests and fighting monsters. While starting out as a human character, the player character is later transferred into the body of one of five available tribes: the powerful Ogre, the inquisitive Poppet, the aquatic Weddie, the forest-dwelling Elves, and the mining Dwarfs. Humans populate multiple settlements across Astoltia. Later versions added an additional Dragon race. The game utilizes cloud storage for save files and other game data. As with most MMORPGs, Dragon Quest X requires a subscription fee to access, however there is a daily two-hour window dubbed "Kid's Time" where players can access and play the game free of charge.

Battles are triggered when the player encounters an enemy in the overworld. Battles take place in a themed arena, using a version of the Active Time Battle system: each side is given a turn in which to perform an action such as attacking. Each side can also interrupt an opponent's action, prolonging their waiting time. At the end of battle, players are granted experience points, which raise their experience level and boost their maximum health and statistics, in addition to in-game currency. Players can form a three-strong party to fight monsters, explore and battle alone, or loan non-active player characters of a similar or lower experience level for a fee, which are then controlled in battle by the game's artificial intelligence. Any character can be loaned to three different people, and the loaned character keeps the experience points and gold that they have earned.

Player characters' combat abilities and skills are dictated by a character class-based job system. The jobs in the initial launch were Warrior, Priest, Mage, Martial Artist, Thief, and Minstrel. Later updates added further jobs, such as the Beast Tamer and Dancer. Each job has a separate skill point system that allows customization, and jobs can be changed at dedicated temples found in each major town. Player characters can also adopt Trades, skills that include woodwork, weapon and armor forging among others. Each Trade skill requires materials gathered from the overworld, which are then used to create a specific type of equipment unique to the gathered materials and Trade. Weapons and items are acquired either in battle alongside in-game currency or through Guilds scattered through Bazaars located in major towns. Guilds will forge new gear, weapons and items for a combined fee of money and materials salvaged from the game world. Also found in towns are vendors where excess items can be stored, merchants which buy and sell various items, and tailor's establishments where the player character can gain new outfits.

The story begins in the village of Tenton, focusing on the protagonist, an orphan living with their sibling. The peace is shattered when Nelgel, the Lord of Hell, attacks the village. The protagonist's soul is transported to a shrine and placed within the body of a member of the five non-human tribes, while their sibling is transported to the past to protect her from Nelgel. Under the guidance of a sage, the protagonist travels to Astoltia searching for sacred emblems with which to reach Nelgel's lair. After collecting six out of ten emblems, the sage attempts to form a bridge to Nelgel's lair. This fails, and he decides to separate the protagonist's soul from their body in a desperate attempt to try another method. This proves to be successful, as the protagonist then meets the body's original owner.