Dragon Quest XI producer’s dilemma: How to work on a series he grew up with

Art in the 21st century is weird because the past that informs it is, for the first time in human history, preserved to an exhaustive degree and with pristine clarity. George Lucas made Star Wars to mimic and revel in Golden Age Hollywood serial films because those serials weren’t just in fashion anymore. You couldn’t run down to Blockbuster and rent the 1936 Flash Gordon. Both audience and artist were experiencing the work free of the originals; even if they remember the old stuff, it’s not like they can compare it to the new.  But in 2018, anyone who wants to make a new Dragon Quest also has access to the entire history of the series, whether through legal rereleases, remasters, and remakes or through legally gray emulation.

Hokuto Okamoto is also in a unique position as a producer given the unusual structure of every Dragon Quest development team. Yuji Horii, the original man behind the slimes, remains the director but is somewhat removed from the large pool of creators realizing his vision so Okamoto has a far more creative role than your average producer. But he’s also under unique pressure: Okamoto was born just weeks after Dragon Quest came out. It was the first video game he ever played. The man stewarding the series has, in effect, grown up alongside it.

So how do you make a new Dragon Quest in 2018? Okamoto told VentureBeat at PAX East with the help of a translator

[PhoenixUp]

I still have a feeling Dragon Quest XI won’t be the commercial breakout in western markets that Square Enix is hoping for

[3-4-5]

Once it releases on the Switch it will help it a lot. I think it might sell better on Switch than on PS4, because it will be one of the first big RPGs on the Switch, as opposed to their being like 100 on the PS4.