For those living in Japan, we have some unfortunate news for you. The offline iteration of Dragon Quest X, aptly named Dragon Quest X Offline, has been delayed from its initial release date of February 26, 2022. The title will now launch a bit further into the year, with the tentative Summer 2022 now being the tentative release time frame. Square Enix stated that they will reveal an official date for the release at a later time.
Producer Takuma Shiraishi mentioned that the delay was mostly due to some final polishing and some more adjustments rather than anything serious. In addition, Shiraishi also mentioned that this delay should have no effect on the upcoming updates for the online entry. The offline version of the game was announced last year during the Dragon Quest 35th Anniversary event and is currently slated to release for several consoles and the PC gaming market. Sadly, as of this writing, it is still only exclusive to its native Japan.
As for the game itself, Dragon Quest X originally launched in Summer 2012 for the Nintendo Wii. It was eventually ported to numerous consoles which include the Nintendo Wii U, Windows, Android, iOS, the Nintendo 3DS, the PlayStation 4, and the Nintendo Switch. While it’s already impressive for the game to be ported several times over, it’s even more impressive that it’s an MMORPG, that launched on the Nintendo Wii of all systems, before going to PC. The game is currently on the Version 6 expansion which launched this past Fall.
Dragon Quest X is the only entry to be introduced as an online-only title, similarly to Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV. With that in mind, it’s not that surprising to see Square revisit the game with an offline single-player concept, as most fans know the series as such, to begin with. As we already mentioned, the game is still only planned for a Japan-only release. Hopefully, Square Enix will eventually seize this opportunity and bring the title to the other regions.