That’s right, folks! Square Enix has announced that a Dragon Quest X beta is opening some time in the middle of this month, and for the lucky people who get selected by a lottery, they’ll receive a limited-edition “Dorakii” hat (that bat thing on the characters’ heads in the pic above) as a special gift and a token of appreciation.
Now there must be many questions on your mind, like “Where can I get started?”, “What things can I do in this beta?”, and perhaps most of all, “How the hell do you get to play a beta for a Wii U game?!?” Well, the answer to that last question is … you play it on the Wii, because, you know, it’s on the Wii too.
The beta is coming out very soon — in the next week or two. You will need a Wii Remote and Nunchuk, a USB with 16 GB of free space to download the software kit, and an Internet connection. It’s free to play, and no experience of playing an MMORPG is required. (Not like that would’ve stopped any of you.)
So what will this beta allow you to do? Well, you’ll get the chance to be a hero of “Astoltea.” You will be given a choice from five different races to pick one character for your journey, and though all players start from the same place, you’ll be free to roam and progress through the adventure as you please. However, there is no story progression in this beta, as that’s being saved for the actual release. You do get to fight an early boss though, so there’s that.
However, whatever character growth you make from the beta will not transfer to the actual game should you choose to buy it, and that’s where the special gift comes in. Furthermore, Square Enix wants to be keep everything under wraps, thus beta testers are prohibited to discuss or show content to anyone.
“What’s the catch?” I hear you cry. First you need a Square Enix account. That’s not a big deal. Then you need to be 20 or over, otherwise you need your parent’s or guardian’s permission. Why? Because, that’s the age of adulthood in … Japan, which means that this beta is thus … in Japan only.
So, yet again something is exclusive to Japan, which sucks. However, if you manage to get a Japanese Square Enix account, apply for the beta, get picked and download it, then maybe — just maybe — you might have a chance to play it. Any of you gonna try and get in?
Dragon Quest X Beta Test Entry Notice [Square Enix Japan]
What’s a beta test? Dragon Quest X Beta Explained [Square Enix Japan]
