The Nintendo DS had a surprisingly large and strong selection of RPGs. While the genre certainly didn’t define the console, it offered wide-eyed fans of adventure, such as myself, the opportunity to get a taste of the types of games people had been enjoying on home consoles and PC for quite some time. Whether it was Dragon Quest, Radiant Historia, Golden Sun, or Pokémon, there were more than enough RPGs to keep fans busy. However, while they made a big splash at the time, few of them have gone on to receive sequels or be remastered for modern consoles.
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The legacies many of these amazing Nintendo DS games left behind are being forgotten, with even entries in some of the biggest RPG franchises in the world abandoned to time. That absolutely has to change, especially as even by today’s high standards and expectations, many of these incredible RPGs hold up. One in particular, the iconic and legendarily good Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies, deserves a comeback, either in the form of a full-blown remake or a remaster. It was way ahead of its time and still remains a truly unique gem in the JRPG genre that goes criminally underappreciated.
Dragon Quest IX Was Way Ahead Of Its Time
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies was developed by Level-5, the same studio behind 2025’s biggest and most underrated game, as well as the likes of Yo-Kai Watch, Fantasy Life, and Professor Layton. It shows too, as Level-5’s take on the Dragon Quest formula is just as rich and densely packed as all of those aforementioned games. It dared to take the series in a bold new direction, one that focused less on a pre-defined party and more on delivering a sandbox RPG experience with a greater emphasis on customization. DQ IX gave players the ability to customize both their appearance, class, and equipment alongside those of their party members.
This greater focus on customizability complemented the game’s largely loose approach to its narrative, allowing players to explore its vast world at their own pace and complete missions in a relatively relaxed order. It broke free of the rigid nature of a lot of blockbuster JRPGs of the time and felt more akin to a western RPG, especially with its inclusion of multiplayer, which elevated the entire experience. I have so many fond memories of roleplaying as pirates alongside my sibling as we sailed across the high seas together, or as students in the frost-smothered haunted school, Swinedimples Academy. The sheer number of unlockable pieces of clothing really catered to this, as did the ability to change your class with relative ease.
While I can completely appreciate how one could dislike the drastic changes Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies made to the classic DQ formula, it nevertheless made for an exceptionally enjoyable RPG experience whose more relaxed and open nature felt perfectly suited to the handheld nature of the Nintendo DS. These many years later, I still fondly recall the dozens of playthroughs, the thoughtful, engaging, and engrossing narratives peppered throughout that coalesce to tell a greater story, and riding aboard the Starflight Express after having beaten the game and wrapped up the surprising amount of endgame content that is unlocked.
The variety in biomes, the intricate quest design, peak Nintendo DS visuals, and a plethora of customization options, both visually and mechanically, make Dragon Quest IX one of the greatest RPGs ever made, in my humble opinion, of course. Which is why, after 17 years, I feel it is more than justified in getting its own remake, especially after Square Enix has shown a fondness for remaking every Dragon Quest game, at least at some point. However, as much as I’d like to see it happen, there could be a reason why Square Enix is so hesitant to make it a reality.
Dragon Quest IX Should Be The Next Remake
It would make sense to remake Dragon Quest IX, especially considering it is currently locked to a single system and hasn’t had a remaster or a re-release on any other platform, unlike the majority of other DQ games. Dragon Quest 9 is also one of the best-selling games in the series, proving to be a smash hit in Japan and a moderate success abroad. There’s clearly an audience for it, one that would likely jump at the opportunity to revisit this unique spin on the series’ formula. It also isn’t as if Square Enix or Level-5 are against remakes; the former is very much keen on remaking as much as it can, and the latter has released one for its 3DS title, Yo-Kai Watch.
However, there are some complications that could potentially be the reason why we’re yet to see a remake. Of course, there’s the dual-screen nature of the original release to take into consideration. The entire game’s UI would have to be redesigned for a remaster, although this is something that has proven to be rectifiable by Switch ports of many Wii U games, like Xenoblade Chronicles X, as well as the Switch port of the DS game, The World Ends With You. Additionally, there’s the implementation of multiplayer, something previous Dragon Quest remakes haven’t had to worry about, but would nonetheless be troublesome to include, nevermind costly.
Furthermore, every previous and successive Dragon Quest game has released for home consoles, and therefore had an easily adaptable art style. Dragon Quest IX, as phenomenal as it looked on the DS at the time, hasn’t aged particularly gracefully, requiring a complete reinvention of its visual style. This is something Square Enix is clearly not afraid of, as it has done this with its current DQ remakes. However, it is nevertheless something that would need to be taken into consideration, should a remake or remaster ever materialize.
Still, despite all the obvious pitfalls getting in the way of remaking not just a phenomenal DS RPG, but one of the absolute greats, I would love to see Dragon Quest IX at least get the recognition it deserves. It did a lot in helping establish my love for both role-playing games in general and the JRPG sub-genre, its blend of severe melancholy and light-hearted adventure paving the way for the extremely memorable journeys of games like Xenoblade Chronicles 2. I absolutely love Dragon Quest IX, and no matter what Square Enix decides to do with it, I will hold a very sizable space in my heart for it. However, I sincerely hope that many others get to enjoy its brilliance as I once did, all those years ago.
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