Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies -Nintendo DS- 9

April 4, 2025

After just over 60 hours of playtime, I have reached the end credits of Dragon Quest 9 for the Nintendo DS. Initially, I was not sure how much to expect from DQ9. This was the first DQ entry to be regulated exclusively to a portable console, and I thought the inclusion of multiplayer could mean the narrative might suffer. Furthermore, I was only going to be playing solo, so I worried this would weaken the intended experience. Boy, was I was wrong on all counts! DQ9 astonished me with its sublime storytelling and engrossing gameplay, even as a solely single player venture.

In DQ9, you play as a Celestrian angel who is tasked with collecting benevolessence to offer to the Almighty so that your brethren may ascend to the heavens above. The story starts with a great hook when a giant earthquake occurs, emanating a force so large that it disrupts the Angel Observatory, throwing you down to the Earth amongst the mortals. You spend the majority of the game traveling to different cities where people have eaten forbidden fig fruits that turn them to evil, and you later discover what caused the incident with the earthquake.

The story slows down a bit when you first start exploring on Earth, but each town has their own charming little subplot, getting more and more interesting as you go along. My favorite was in the town of Bloomingdale, where the Marionette doll eats the fig fruit and starts impersonating her owner Marion. I also liked the episode in Swinedimples Academy where students were being abducted by the ghost of a teacher and being held hostage in class. After you finish collecting the seven figs, the central plot becomes more focused and really starts to heat up. DQ9 especially captivated me in its third act with some unexpected twists and big revelations. I loved the ending, which wrapped up the main tale magnificently, but still left things open for more adventures in the postgame.

A big concern I had before starting DQ9’s campaign was that your entire party is silent, due to the members potentially being played over multiplayer connectivity, meaning they would have no personality whatsoever. DQ9 gets around this issue in a few key ways. Just like previous games in the series, your hero is given ample backstory, bestowing him a sense of purpose in the world. Furthermore, you are accompanied by the fairy Stella and later the train operator Sterling, who provide plenty of personality as they react to different situations with the hero and npc’s.

The gameplay of DQ9 is outstanding. Powering up your characters and outfitting them with new equipment is just as fun and engrossing as ever. The battle mechanics are simple and work flawlessly, and enemies are even visible before they attack now. DQ9 cleverly mixes the class system of DQ6&DW7 with the skill point system of DQ8. Now you can change classes again like in DQ6&DW7, but you also earn skill points to enhance your weapon abilities like DQ8, giving the player tons of options and paths to enhance their fighters. Cooking returns from DQ8, but it is improved with clearer instructions on what ingredients you need for each recipe. You also find dozens of mini-quests on your travels, providing even more opportunity to earn rewards.

Despite my reservations, DQ9 absolutely delivered as another fantastic installment in the highly lauded jrpg series. The heavenly soundtrack also fits the mood perfectly with angelic and emotional tunes. From what I have seen in the postgame, there is a seemingly endless amount of extra content to enjoy, so this game could potentially be played for ages. Just from completing the primary campaign, I am confidently rating DQ9 a 9 out of ten. It is a beautiful little game that is not to be missed by fans of the series.