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Ryutaro Ichimura, former Dragon Quest series producer at Square Enix, talked about his decision to leave the company in a recent episode of ReHacQ. Ichimura was part of the Dragon Quest development team ever since he first joined Enix in 2000, and he went on to become the series' chief producer, handling titles like Dragon Quest 8 and 9, Dragon Quest of the Stars and Dragon Quest Heroes. In March 2023, he announced his departure from Square Enix and became the CEO of PinCool, a new NetEase Games-funded development studio.

According to Ichimura, while he already had plans to go independent at some point (in the footsteps of his mentor Yuji Horii), the internal situation at Square Enix at the time was a big part of why he ultimately decided to leave. His dissatisfaction lay in the company's shift to pursuing "safe" projects that imitated the formats of other hit games in the industry. He found this attitude to be fundamentally at odds with the Dragon Quest series, which is why he ended up quitting several years earlier than planned.

Ichimura believes that a core value of Dragon Quest is evolution. "In DQ 2, you had a three-person party, in DQ 3 you could change jobs, in DQ 4, party members could fight using AI. Each entry pushed the series forward, both through the evolution of game mechanics and by leveraging the latest hardware of the time." Ichimura wanted Dragon Quest to continue being a "leader" in this sense, and considering he feels most at home when "building something from zero," he aspired to work on projects that would surprise players with something new.

However, as development costs skyrocketed across the industry, new releases had to sell in huge numbers just to break even. Ichimura notes that while Dragon Quest is still very popular in Japan, its weaker performance in the West (compared to franchises like Final Fantasy) made it harder to recoup development costs. This, according to Ichimura, led Square Enix to shift to projects based on already-proven hits, much like other companies in the industry. "To put it bluntly, it was copying others."

As examples, he cites Dragon Quest Builders, which was developed as a Dragon Quest-take on Minecraft, and Dragon Quest Walk, inspired by Pokémon Go. He also mentions proposals for projects modeled after hits like PUBG and LINE: Disney Tsum Tsum. Ichimura grew dissatisfied when these kinds of projects (he calls them "pakuri kikaku" or "copycat projects") multiplied, as he believed the role of the Dragon Quest IP was to lead innovation, not follow in the steps of others. Meanwhile, several of his own proposals were allegedly shot down, including an idea for a "Dragon Quest Marker" game in which players could learn about worldbuilding and story structure through gameplay, and then build their own Dragon Quest-style games.

With new games taking 4-5 years to develop per title, Ichimura was afraid of the possibility of spending the rest of his career on "safe" projects aligned with Square Enix's policy, which contributed to his decision to leave the company.

Former Dragon Quest series producer says he left Square Enix after the company shifted to safe “copycat” projects modeled after existing hit games - AUTOMATON WEST

Dragon Quest 8 and 9 producer Ryutaro Ichimura recently talked at length about his departure from Square Enix.

automaton-media.com

 

[jshackles]

I probably would have left, too.

 

[Punished Miku]

When even a Dragon Quest producer thinks it's too safe, that's bad.

 

[Coloress_Kafka]

He also mentions proposals for projects modeled after hits like PUBG

Hold up, Dragon Quest Battle Royale might have been interesting

 

[TintoConCasera]

Hold up, Dragon Quest Battle Royale might have been interesting

Didn't they make a FF battle royale already?

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

No shit, Sherlock. The way they are mismanaging the Nierverse, also pissing off Yoko Taro, is pretty telling.

Shit company that's become pretty much like Ubisoft.

 

[Scrawnton]

Would love to see those hit game copy cats because I'm not seeing it lately.

 

[Coloress_Kafka]

Didn't they make a FF battle royale already?

Yeah but the FF teams tend to not be as competent as the DQ teams……

 

[MagiusNecros]

Didn't they make a FF battle royale already?

Dissidia NT was bad

 

[TintoConCasera]

Dissidia NT was bad

Didn't even got to try that one. I was thinking about FF The First Solider tho.

FF x Battle Royal looking as bad as it sounds.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

 

[MagiusNecros]

Didn't even got to try that one. I was thinking about FF The First Solider tho.

It was a 3 on 3 Dissidia 3 but Arcade only.

The only thing they did with DQ is DQ Heroes 1 and 2 which are Musou games.

I might have given First Soldier a try is if it wasn't mobile and could have been interesting if it was a MGS or Recon Shooter clone.

 

[Brigandier]

Japanese Ubisoft

 

[Plies]

1990's Square was badass.
They weren't afraid to take chances and experiment.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

Meanwhile DQ12 was basically the same as DQ8- not that I'm complaining.

 

[mayham2199]

When even a Dragon Quest producer thinks it's too safe, that's bad.

Very true unless he wanted to do something different with DQ and they told him to keep it the same. DQ11 doesn't get anymore safe/copycat.

 

[SamusXAran89]

I think you always have to listen to both sides. Final Fantasy reinvents itself with each installment and tries something new, and the series is almost irrelevant anymore. Why change the DNA of Dragon Quest?

 

[londontko]

Meanwhile DQ12 was basically the same as DQ8- not that I'm complaining.

Are you from the future?

 

[Physiognomonics]

DQ Builder 1 & 2 are good games though. So I was glad they mixed Minecraft with Dragon Quest.

Those games are better than the last Dragon Quest mainline games.

 

[londontko]

I think you always have to listen to both sides. Final Fantasy reinvents itself with each installment and tries something new, and the series is almost irrelevant anymore. Why change the DNA of Dragon Quest?

I couldn't agree more, there's a fine line.

Even though Dragon Quest XI didn't really innovate in the way past Dragon Quest games have it's still one of (if not the best) and wildly successful because it does the things we expect it to so well. What identity does Final Fantasy have now besides naming conventions?

 

[SamusXAran89]

I couldn't agree more, there's a fine line.

Even though Dragon Quest XI didn't really innovate in the way past Dragon Quest games have it's still one of (if not the best) and wildly successful because it does the things we expect it to so well. What identity does Final Fantasy have now besides naming conventions?

Unfortunately, not much is left, and that's a big problem. Final Fantasy's DNA has always been the same. They only changed the Combat System a bit: Materia, Draw System, Learning Skills from Weapons, New Summon System, but the basic framework was always the same.

DQ3 Remake sold incredibly well in Japan compared to other Square Enix titles, so you should stick to the recipe for success and not think of it as copy and paste.

I like the statement by a Nintendo director that he sees games as a product, not art. Many other directors have a different perspective, and that can ultimately even cost jobs.

 

[Moochi]

Dragon Quest Maker sounds like an RPG maker "pakuri kikaku".