Dragon Quest localization history
This article seeks to provide a localization history of the Dragon Quest series. The various English localizations of the Dragon Quest series are a result of different eras of the franchise in North America by Enix and Square Enix. This article will list the localization changes that have been made since the first English release of Dragon Quest.
Old localization (before 2005)
The first Dragon Quest game (from 1986 in Japan) came to the American market on the NES on August 1989, and was published by Nintendo of America. At that time, Dragon Quest III was already released in Japan.
The game was originally renamed Dragon Warrior for its American release, as a company called TSR produced a tabletop RPG called Dragon Quest at the same time, and owned the trademark in reference to all RPG context.
Then, Enix established their first American subsidiary (Enix America Corporation) to handle the release of subsequent titles. This way, they released the remaining Famicom/NES titles over the American market, also renamed to Dragon Warrior II, Dragon Warrior III and Dragon Warrior IV. Unlike their original Japanese versions, the American versions did not feature a subtitle in their names.
After that, Enix closed their American subsidiary in 1995, and opened a new one, titled Enix America, Inc. in 1999. As such, Dragon Quest V and Dragon Quest VI did not get an American SNES release. However, they did release Dragon Quest VII on the PlayStation for the American market, also titled Dragon Warrior VII.
Thus, every Dragon Quest title that was released during this period of time was always renamed to Dragon Warrior in its localization, the subtitle that could be found on Japanese titles were removed. Also, this localization was mostly just for the American market. These games include:
| Japanese name | English name | Platform | JP release date | US release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ドラゴンクエスト (Dragon Quest) | Dragon Warrior | Famicom/NES | 1986 | 1989 |
| ドラゴンクエストII 悪霊の神々 (Dragon Quest II Akuryō no Kamigami) | Dragon Warrior II | Famicom/NES | 1987 | 1990 |
| ドラゴンクエストIII そして伝説へ... (Dragon Quest III Soshite Densetsu e...) | Dragon Warrior III | Famicom/NES | 1988 | 1992 |
| ドラゴンクエストIV 導かれし者たち (Dragon Quest IV Michibikareshi mono-tachi) | Dragon Warrior IV | Famicom/NES | 1990 | 1992 |
| ドラゴンクエストモンスターズ テリーのワンダーランド (Dragon Quest Monsters Terry's Wonderland) | Dragon Warrior Monsters | GameBoy Color | 1998 | 2000 |
| ドラゴンクエストI・II (Dragon Quest I/II) | Dragon Warrior I & II | GameBoy Color | 1999 | 2000 |
| ドラゴンクエストVII エデンの戦士たち (Dragon Quest VII Eden no Senshi-tachi) | Dragon Warrior VII | PlayStation | 2000 | 2001 |
| ドラゴンクエストIII そして伝説へ... (Dragon Quest III Soshite Densetsu e...) | Dragon Warrior III | GameBoy Color | 2000 | 2001 |
| ドラゴンクエストモンスターズ2 マルタのふしぎな鍵 ルカの旅立ち (Dragon Quest Monsters 2 Martha no Fushigi na Kagi Ruka no Tabidachi) | Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 Cobi's Journey | GameBoy Color | 2001 | 2001 |
| ドラゴンクエストモンスターズ2 マルタのふしぎな鍵 イルの冒険 (Dragon Quest Monsters 2 Martha no Fushigi na Kagi Iru no Bouken) | Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 Tara's Adventure | GameBoy Color | 2001 | 2001 |
To note that for all those games, barring the 4 releases of the NES, they all had their logos faitfhul to the Japanese ones except the "Quest" word was edited into "Warrior".
Also, those all are American releases, and the Dragon Quest series barely existed outside of Japan and North America. However, Eidos did release the first Dragon Quest Monsters title in Europe too.
Current localization (since 2005)
In 2003, Square Enix managed to properly register the trademark for Dragon Quest on other territories. Thanks to this, in November 15, 2005, they released Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King for the PlayStation 2 in North America, with a release the following year in Europe and Australia. This marked the first time where a Dragon Quest title was released under its Dragon Quest name out of Japan, alongside with a subtitle like it does have one in the Japanese release. Following that, every subsequent Dragon Quest release in the West was named properly with this naming.
Another thing to note is that, for some of the earliest European and Australian releases, the numbering in the titles were omitted. This includes the PS2 release of Dragon Quest VIII, and the DS releases of Dragon Quest IV and Dragon Quest V. Those games were released in Europe as Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King, Dragon Quest: The Chapters of the Chosen and Dragon Quest: The Hand of the Heavenly Bride respectively in Europe and Australia.
However, this change ceased since the release of Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies where the name is shared over all localizations.
Generally, since this localization scheme has started, Square Enix reviewed pretty much every part of it, from monsters to characters, spells and locations, etc... As such, it is fair to consider any naming coming from the old localization is outdated and irrelevant since.
Localization differences
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