DQ9 EncyclopediaThe Japanese version (Hoshizora no Mamoribito, July 2009) and the American version (July 2010) compared in their two ROMs: every data file and every function of the code. The European ROM has not been compared yet.
The essentials
- The game is the same. Identical in both ROMs: items (prices, stats, effects, resistances), monsters (stats, drops, experience, gold), spells and abilities, vocation growth and skills, alchemy, shops, chests, furniture, sparkly spots, encounters, scripted battles, fountain, story and quest triggers, grottoes (same maps, same seeds: map methods filmed on a Japanese cartridge also work in US / EU), battle formulas, monster AI, random generators.
- Six quests ask for more wins in Japanese, three of which unlock a vocation: the American version softened them.
- The rest: text and interface, the opening music, battle memory, and a few tweaks listed below.
Six harder quests in Japanese
The number asked for is written in the battle quests' script (scenario/quest_btl_1.stb: same file, only these numbers change) and in the Japanese quest text.
| Quest | Japanese name | US / EU | Japan | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 91 · Critical Appraisal | 小さな村の用心棒 | 2 | 3 | — |
| 98 · Slowly, Slowly, Critty Golem | 武闘家のきわみ | 3 | 10 | — |
| 102 · Prat's the Way to Do It! | 一流芸人への道 | 2 | 5 | — |
| 103 · Gladiator Graduator | バトルマスターの心得 | 3 | 5 | Gladiator |
| 109 · Elementary Training | フォースイメージ | 2 | 3 | Armamentalist |
| 112 · Ranger Changer | サバイバルの知恵 | 3 | 5 | Ranger |
Battle and companions
- Battle memory: in US / EU, monster models get a fixed 158,336 bytes, hence the 153 KB rule (one species too many is removed from the battle along with those after it: Randomness). In Japanese, the game gives them all the free room left in the same field heap (196,608 bytes in both versions): at least as much as in US / EU, usually more, so fewer species are removed; the exact value depends on what the field uses (not measured in game yet). The site's “% of battles” are the US / EU ones.
- Disco Stew (“Je Ne Sais Quoi” skill line, 100 points): in Japanese, the companions' AI can choose it; in US / EU, it is never among their choices (a flag in its action record).
- Everything else in battle (damage, spells, success, coups de grâce, tension, fleeing, drops, monster and companion choices): same code.
Map, randomness, start of the game
- Monster stuck on the map: when a visible monster stays a long time in the same state without being able to move on, US / EU makes it take a new decision (one more table A roll); Japanese does not. A rare case.
- Boot seed: the opening sequence (logos) was redone in US / EU (durations, lid test every frame). The seed comes from how long the boot takes, so the ranges change with the cartridge; community (yab, hurblub): 0x31600-0x319FF on an American cartridge, 0x32600-0x328FF on a Japanese one. Hoimi table calculators are set by region.
- The inn's 8 default companions (created at the start of the game): in US / EU, a first name out of 101 per sex, redrawn if already taken; in Japanese, one out of 5 by vocation, duplicates not checked. The number of table B rolls at the start of the game changes.
Online services and multiplayer
- Sellma (DQVC): in Japanese, two of her lines depend on a condition comparing the console's date with a stored date; in US / EU this condition is always false (the day of the last connection is read from the server).
- Playing together: community: Japanese only plays with Japanese. The code explains it: a character's record is laid out differently (longer names in US / EU shift the fields after them), so exchanged data cannot be read across versions.
- Small technical tweaks in US / EU (one more timer in multiplayer, flags set while the save is accessed): no known effect on the game.
Text, interface, sound
- Languages: the American cartridge holds five languages but uses only three, from the console's language: French or Spanish, otherwise English. The Japanese one only has Japanese (kanji with furigana).
- Grammar: in US / EU, messages agree (articles, gender, plural) and change when the one acting is a party member; longer names, a Latin keyboard. Almost all text and menu functions differ.
- Opening: the Japanese one plays a recorded orchestral overture (87 seconds, a stereo audio stream); US / EU replaces it with music played by the console (a 38.4 MB sound bank instead of 43.5).
- Skin tones (character creation): the same 8 colours, but the last two are swapped. In Japanese, the 8th is a greyish brown lighter than the 7th; in US / EU, the 8th is the darkest (seen in the Japanese game, palette of the US
bg_cm_scscreen). Community, not checked yet: in US / EU, vocations are icons in the status window. - Cutscenes: same scenes; text display times and a few shots redone (the party scene at Patty's).
How it was checked
- Files: the 44,585 Japanese files compared with the 79,269 American ones (five languages); 34,300 are byte-identical, the others are texts, menu images, cutscene scripts or the tables above, compared field by field.
- Code: 12,541 paired functions (9,430 identical); in the others, data placement in memory set aside, every change to the game's mechanics (battle, map, randomness, grottoes, alchemy, quests) was read: only those on this page change the game.
- The community already said some quests and vocation requirements differed: true, they are the six quests in the table.
On this site
The “Game version” setting (US · EU or JP, next to the language): in JP, cards show the official Japanese name (items, monsters, places, quests), search accepts Japanese names (kana or kanji), and differences are recalled where they matter.