One of the staples of MMORPGs is the ability to choose the race of your character in addition to his or her class. In this, Dragon Quest X is no different. There are six playable races in DQX. Some of these are completely new, others are found in thousands of different fantasy works. However, one of the best things about DQX is how it takes these well-known races and makes them different from what you would expect.
To see what I mean, click through the gallery above for a brief look at each playable race.
Dragon Quest X was released on August 2, 2012, for the Nintendo Wii in Japan. Stay tuned to Kotaku East for our import preview later this week.
Weddie
The Weddie are a blue-skinned fish people (much like Zelda's Zora) and come from the Wena Islands. They are of average human height, have a large ribbed fin on their backs, and have smaller ribbed fins for ears. Their villages are often on the beach and are comprised of island huts. In their cities, they live in seashell-like buildings.
Ogres
The Ogres of Dragon Quest X are giant red humanoids from the mountains and valleys of Ogreed. Bigger than your standard human, they are like a race composed entirely of people the size of Andre the Giant. Other than being red and huge, they are also distinguishable by the pointy protrusions on their shoulders and the horns on their heads.
Elves
The Elves in Dragon Quest X are almost nothing like the common image of Tolkien Elves (tall, beautiful, and human looking—just with pointy ears). While they do have pointy ears, the DQX Elves are a purple-skinned fairy people. They are somewhat shorter than most humans and have tiny wings on their backs. They come from the land of Eltona.
Puklipo
The Puklipo are a tiny little people, the smallest in the game. They are very cute and have light green or blue fur. They resemble tiny cat or rabbit people and come from the forests, plains, and caves of Puku Land.
Dwarves
Dwarves in Dragon Quest X are also far from their Tolkien counterparts. While still short, they are uniformly fat, green, and ugly. And though they are not quite as small as the Puklipo, they are still far shorter than humans or elves. Their home continent is known as "Dwachakka."
Humans
Humans are playable, but only in the single-player portions of the game. While the humans in single player live in a small village, other human NPCs can be found in the various cities around the world.