As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I'm running interviews with Dragon Quest fans all around the globe. I'm hoping it lets us all feel a bit more connected and helps build up the global community even more. This time around, Joel from Argentina is sharing his stories about the Dragon Quest series and why he loves these games so much. Joel was one of the first people I got to know in the DQ community, so I'm really glad to be interviewing him for the site this time around. You can also read more from Joel in The Dragon Quest Book.
Austin: Can you tell everyone about yourself?
Joel: I'm Joel, I'm from Argentina, 31 years old. I've played video games since I was a kid. Currently trying to figure out what to study while I search for a job. And that's pretty much about it!
Austin: What was the first Dragon Quest game you ever played?
Joel: It was DQ VIII, around 2012, I think, when I was able to get a copy of the game.
Austin: Can you share a bit more history about your time with the Dragon Quest series?
Joel: What I can say? It's pretty much one of my favorite franchises of my life, it made me learn a lot of things, and I made a lot of friends around the world. It wouldn't be the case without DQ. When it was pretty lonely in my early days of being a Dragon Quest fan, when I had the idea to search on Twitter, and that's how I've found a fan community from Spain that was pretty much the door opened to a whole world of great people from the DQ community.
Austin: Do you have a favorite Dragon Quest character? What do you love about them?
Joel: Bianca, Yangus, Kiefer, Maribel, Meena and Maya, Sancho, Gabo, Carver, Jessica. Probably because I felt related to them, I think, like when Yangus has to put his guts on the table and ask for something he would never do just to help his friends or when Sancho keeps searching for his family after years without giving up. Or Jessica having to put her own motivation aside to keep trying to save the world. Bianca is pretty much the type of girl I would like to have as a couple, for example. I can talk about them for hours! XD
Austin: Can you tell people a bit about what Dragon Quest is like in your country?
Joel: I think it is definitely less popular than other RPG franchises, sadly, but I can tell there are people that like it and they're as passionate as me. Quality is better than quantity for me. Still pretty rare to try to find good DQ stuff but it's way better than before at least
Austin: What was the first Dragon Quest game to release in your country?
Joel: I'm not sure, but maybe it was DQ VIII that make it more popular since the PlayStation 2 was a fan favorite in terms of consoles. And also DQ VIII was a great game to start for a lot of people back in that day.
Austin: Is there any way Dragon Quest has gotten you to interact with other fans from around the world?
Joel: Absolutely. I do have a lot of new friends thanks to DQ. It's even helped to improve my English and some Japanese too. I do appreciate how social media helps a lot with that for me and for others, too.
Austin: Is there a Dragon Quest game you’re most looking forward to playing next?
Joel: Pretty excited for the 2D-HD remake of DQ III and Treasures. Still have to see the gameplay of DQ XII but I'm excited for that one, too. For the others, I'm not able to try so much out of the ones I've played already (NES to PlayStation 2 era) but I'm looking forward to them!
Austin: Anything else you’d like to add?
Joel: I would like to say thanks for thinking of me and sharing a little of my life as a DQ fan. I felt honored for being part of your book and I hope you make more of them. DQ = Life for me and I guess that's the case for a big amount of us around the world! 😄
You can find Joel on Twitter @Snake_RIVER_90 and I highly recommend following him. He's a great guy!