is a geolocation-based

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

developed by COLOPL and published by

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...

for

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

and iOS. It is a free-to-play entry in the ''

Dragon Quest previously published as ''Dragon Warrior'' in North America until 2005, is a franchise of Japanese role-playing video games created by Armor Project (Yuji Horii), Bird Studio (Akira Toriyama) and Sugiyama Kobo (Koichi Sugiyama) to its publi ...

'' series and was released in Japan on 12 September 2019.

Gameplay

The gameplay of ''Dragon Quest Walk'' is centered around interaction with various real-world locations in-game, with various monsters and characters from the ''Dragon Quest'' series being in the game. Players could battle monsters in order to improve their character and obtain items, or in order to advance quests. The quests system in the game require players to walk towards certain destinations in real life, which would unlock enemies or interactions with in-game characters. Various locations in the game would also restore the player character's hit points. The battles with monsters involve the player character, or their party with other players, engaging with one or more monsters. Once the battle is completed, players may receive items which could be equipped on their characters in order to improve their skills. As with other games in the JRPG genre or in the ''Dragon Quest'' series, players may opt to automatically resolve the battle without additional input. Occasionally, more powerful monsters may appear in the in-game map, which could be fought by up to 12 players simultaneously. Within the game, players could also establish "home" locations wherever they would like. These homes could be customized with various decorations, similar to the MMO '' Dragon Quest X''.

Development

''Walk'' was developed by Japanese mobile studio COLOPL, with planning and production being done by Square Enix. Its development was first announced in June 2019, and a beta registration was opened to enroll 20,000 beta testers (10,000 for Android and iOS each). ''Walk'' had Yuji Horii as General director,

Akira Toriyama is a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He first achieved mainstream recognition for his highly successful manga series ''Dr. Slump'', before going on to create ''Dragon Ball'' (his best-known work) and acting as a character design ...

as character and monster designer and Koichi Sugiyama as composer. ''Dragon Quest Walk'' was released on 12 September 2019 in Japan for

and iOS.

Reception

Within the first week of its release, the game had been downloaded over five million times. Analytics company Sensor Tower estimated that the game received 86 million in revenue during its first month, while throughout 2019, ''Walk'' generated US$201 million in revenue, making it the second-highest grossing location-based mobile game after '' Pokémon Go'' and ahead of the China-exclusive '' Let's Hunt Monsters'' in third place. In January 2020, a partnership with

Suntory (commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and makes Japanese whisky. Its ...

was established, where 14,000 of their vending machines across Japan would act as in-game locations to restore health and receive special missions.

References

External links

Official website
{{Dragon Quest series 2019 video games Android (operating system) games Free-to-play video games IOS games Location-based games Pervasive games Video games developed in Japan Proprietary cross-platform software Walk