Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels of the Starry Skies has remained locked to the ageing Nintendo DS for 17 years, never receiving the re-releases or ports that most other entries in the long-running series have enjoyed. Series creator Yuji Horii has revealed he was "a little disheartened" upon learning that fans never actually wanted the game to be a DS exclusive in the first place, suggesting the decision to keep it tied to that one platform was not something the audience had asked for or welcomed.

The comments highlight a long-standing point of frustration among Dragon Quest fans, who have watched numerous mainline and spin-off titles ported to modern consoles and PC while the ninth instalment stays confined to ageing handheld hardware. Horii's remarks suggest the original platform choice may have been more of an internal or business decision than a fan-driven one, fuelling renewed hope and speculation that Square Enix could eventually bring Dragon Quest 9 to current-generation systems.