Nintendo's long-running and hugely popular RPG series returns to DS gamers with an emphasis on character customisation and multiplayer co-op in Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies. Players can create their own unique hero by choosing from more than 1000 options, including race, vocation, clothing, armour, weapons, and special abilities. Once a character has been created, gamers head off on a quest to track down fallen angels who have been transformed into monsters by the unintended consequences of wish-granting fruit from a magical tree. Dragon Quest IX has done away with random battles, but players must still engage in turn-based combat frequently with the first-person planning stage followed by a third-person action stage. In addition to gaining new armour and weaponry from fallen enemies, gamers can also bulk up their inventory by creating new items through alchemy. Sentinels of the Starry Skies offers an expansive number of side quests designed to help players earn items and experience points and the four-player local co-op mode lets friends wirelessly band together to slice through monsters and explore dungeons.