Dragon Quest X details due by year's end

Considering the multimillion-unit success of Dragon Quest IX for the DS, Square Enix has been surprisingly quiet about its follow-up, Dragon Quest X. Beyond announcing the game at the tail end of 2008, Square Enix has offered little indication as to what gamers can expect from the title, aside from its being in development for the Wii.

While it doesn't appear that Square Enix's radio silence on the subject will end anytime soon, the publisher has at least said that it plans on opening up about the game this year. Speaking to Go Nintendo, Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii said that he expects to have an announcement for the game ready to go by the end of the year.

"All we can say is that development is going well and we're on the last parts of the game," Horii said. "We can't really share much else at this point, but by the end of this year we should be able to announce something regarding it."

Horii also offered a tease on what gamers can expect from the title, saying that it is being built in the same vein as Dragon Quest VIII.

"Something else we hear is that players want a new Dragon Quest that follows the same system of Dragon Quest VIII, so that's something else we're taking into consideration while in development for a Dragon Quest on Wii," he said.

DQVIII was notable for being the first installment in the franchise released for the PlayStation 2, as well as the first to be rendered in full 3D. The plot saw gamers facing off against an evil wizard, who stole a magic scepter and cursed an entire castle. As the lone unaffected resident of the castle, players set out with a portly companion (the king) and the princess to track the wizard down, reclaim the scepter, and break the curse.

For more on the highly regard DQVIII, check out GameSpot's review.