In the autumn honors checklist, the Japanese authorities has given Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii the Order of the Rising Sun. That is one of the highest awards the authorities of Japan can bestow on residents. It’s awarded to those that have made important contributions of their area, and Horii is the first sport creator to obtain it.
“I feel it is an ideal honor, I am stunned.” Horii responded in a video interview with TBS. “I’ve been making video games for fairly a very long time now, about 40 years, however I didn’t do it alone. It is all due to the employees who helped create the video games alongside me, and to all the gamers who’ve constantly supported us.”
Yuji Horii’s first sport was 1983’s Love Match Tennis, which he entered into a game contest the place it caught the consideration of Enix. This was adopted by the genre-defining visible novel thriller The Portopia Serial Homicide Case. He would change into most well-known for his work on the sport design and situation for Enix’s long-running Dragon Quest sequence (1986-present).
Sq. Enix’s current 2D-HD remakes of Dragon Quest I, II and III have purchased new consideration to the RPG sequence’ origins. Horii is presently nonetheless exhausting at work on Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Destiny, the much-awaited subsequent sport, which was introduced again in 2021 throughout the thirty fifth anniversary celebrations.
In Could, Horii confirmed Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Destiny had not been canceled. “Sure, certainly, I can not say something, I apologize,” he stated at the time. “I’m making it, placing tons of work into it… I can solely say that the subsequent work will likely be nice too, [I’m] working actually exhausting. Please look ahead to it’s the solely factor I can say.” It’s set to be the first mainline entry since 2017’s Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age.
In the TBS interview, Horii additionally supplied phrases of encouragement to future creators: “It is necessary to truly create one thing tangible, do not simply give it some thought,” he suggested. “Simply strive making it.”
The Order of the Rising Sun presently has six courses. As reported by nippon.com, Yuji Horii acquired the 4th class honors: Gold Rays with Rosette. Amongst the others to obtain this explicit award in 2025 was Devilman and Cutie Honey manga artist Go Nagai.
Photograph by TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP through Getty Photographs.
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance author who beforehand served as editor, contributor and translator for the sport information website Automaton West. She has additionally written about Japanese tradition and flicks for varied publications.