I only found out that the Dragon Quest franchise existed a couple of years ago when I discovered a game on the Nintendo DS, so imagine my surprise to discover the franchise is now 29 years old, as today was the official debut of the very first entry in the Dragon Quest franchise in Japan on May 27th 1986. It wouldn’t be until a number of years later that Dragon Quest would begin seeing localizations, but what counts is the Japanese debut of the now historic franchise.
For a franchise this can be considered quite the milestone and to celebrate this series creator Yuji Horii sent out the following message for fans:
“Everyone, thank you for the congratulations on Dragon Quest‘s 29th. Next year, we’re finally approaching the 30th anniversary. I think we’ll be able to make various announcements in the near future, so please look forward to them.”
Square Enix’s Ryutaro Ichimura also said:
“Today, May 27, is Dragon Quest‘s birthday! Already 29! Congratulations! As for next year, we’re welcoming the 30th anniversary! Celebrate! We’re going to have a grand celebration next year!”
Next year the franchise will hit the true master of video game milestones 30 years, and hopefully the developers live up to the promise of making it quite a year, hopefully for both Japanese and other audiences outside of the country. But there is something certainly interesting, the franchise has had such a long history and for the sake of history and a trip down memory lane for some here is the first ever advertisement for a Dragon Quest game, enjoy the nostalgia:
