Dragon Quest II

Dragon Quest II is a role-playing video game. It allows the player to control more than one character, each of whom has their own characteristics, and it is the first game in the Dragon Quest series to do so. The game introduced a party system where, instead of beginning the game with an entire party as was common in previous computer RPGs, the player begins the game with only one character and gradually recruits more party members during the course of the game. The player controls his or her characters as they move in the game world. They can search treasure chests, talk and trade with villagers, equip themselves with weapons and armor, and cast spells.

While wandering fields, towers, caves, seas, and dungeons, the player randomly encounters monsters, after which the game shifts to battle mode. The game's battle mode introduces groups of monsters, which is an upgrade from the one-on-one battles of Dragon Quest. In the battle mode, the player gives orders to the characters on how to fight the monsters. Once the player defeats all of the monsters, the characters gain experience points and gold.

Dragon Quest II is set one hundred years after Dragon Quest. The story begins with an attack upon Moonbrooke Castle by the wizard, Hargon, who seeks to summon the demon, Malroth, to destroy the world. A wounded soldier escaped the battle and fled to the kingdom of Midenhall, where he informs the king of the attack before he dies. The king then commands his son, who is a descendant of Erdrick (known as Loto in Japanese translations and some later localizations), to defeat Hargon.

The Prince begins his quest alone, but is later joined by two cousins: the Prince of Cannock and the Princess of Moonbrooke (as well as the princess of Cannock in Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake). After finding the Prince of Cannock, who began a similar journey at the same time as the Prince of Midenhall, they restore the Princess of Moonbrooke to her human form, having been transformed into a dog during Hargon's assault on Moonbrooke Castle, which was reduced to ruins. As the heroes quest to find and defeat Hargon, they secure a ship that allows them to travel across oceans to reach new continents, including Alefgard, which is where Dragon Quest took place. There, they meet the grandson of Dragonlord, the villain from the previous game, who gives the party valuable information.

Like other main games in the Dragon Quest series, Yuji Horii wrote the story for Dragon Quest II, Akira Toriyama did the artwork, and Koichi Sugiyama composed the music. Co-creator Koichi Nakamura, Chunsoft's president, directed the game and did half of the programming.

Planning for Dragon Quest II began in April 1986, a month before the release of the original Dragon Quest. With the system and memory map decided, they started development in early July. At the beginning of development, producer Yukinobu Chida asked director and programmer Koichi Nakamura for a definite release date, and he offhandedly set one. Then the development team was divided into two groups, with one designing the story, as well as the monsters, and one doing the programming.

Dragon Quest II received both critical and financial success in Japan. 4 million copies by the end of the year, grossing several hundred million dollars. 41 million as of 2008. 92 million copies worldwide.

The Japan Mobile version was downloaded more than one million times. The game was included in a 2011 compilation called Dragon Quest Collection for the Wii, which sold 403,953 copies.