Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake

With the HD 2D remake of Dragon Quest III, Square Enix is releasing an elaborate remake of a classic RPG. But why is the remake of the third instalment coming out before the remakes of Dragon Quest 1+2? And what's all new in the remake?

Unlike many recent remakes and remasters, the HD 2D remake of Dragon Quest III brings back a truly classic game. Dragon Quest III was released for the Famicom (NES) in February 1988, developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix. The US version followed four years later (under the title "Dragon Warrior III"), but it was not released in Europe at the time. The game saw an enhanced remake for the Super Famicom (Super NES) in 1996, the Game Boy Color in 2001 - again not in Europe. Later, ports followed for mobile phones (2014), 3DS (2017), PS4 (2017) and Switch (2019).

And even though it has a 3 in its title, the game is a prequel to the first Dragon Quest - and that's why Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake isn't coming out until sometime in 2025. At least the releases follow the story, even if the title numbering is a bit confusing. Together, these three games make up The Erdrick Trilogy. All in all, the Dragon Quest franchise is very important to Square Enix. Over 88 million copies of games in the series have been sold worldwide, including eleven main titles and numerous spin-offs. The last main instalment was Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age (2017/2018), followed by a Definitive Edition (2019/2020).

"Years ago, the great hero Ortega bid farewell to his wife and child as he set off on a quest to defeat the villainous Archfiend, Baramos. Ortega failed his quest, and Baramos still threatens the world. Now, on their sixteenth birthday, Ortega's only child is summoned by the king of Aliahan and entrusted with a mission of the highest import: to take on Ortega’s quest, vanquish Baramos, and save the world." - the starting point of the story

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is a classic single-player role-playing game in which you lead a party through an open, medieval-style game world, while battles are fought in a turn-based mode. Players can have up to four characters in their party at a time, with extra members can be kept in the tavern. Each character has a class/job/vocation that determines which spells, abilities and equipment they can use. The remake retains all of this, but also adds new features. These include additional story passages with the hero's father, which were not present in the original game, and some story elements have been refined to provide a better bridge to the next games.

Monster Arenas and the Monster Wrangler class are completely new. Monster Wranglers know a lot about monsters and will "help befriend any creatures you find that look lonely". Monster Wranglers fight with monstrous abilities and also heal their companions. They'll also learn more skills based on the number of monsters they've rescued. Speaking of monsters: Monster Arenas can be found all over the world, where friendly creatures help players test their strength in battle. Some cities even host tournaments. Teams consist of a maximum of three monsters.

Several quality of life features also enhance the game. Battle speed can be increased, an optional destination marker helps with orientation, conversations with characters can be started from the menu, the game saves automatically and there are three difficulty levels to choose from. Once again, Square Enix is using the patented HD 2D style introduced in Octopath Traveler. This combines rendered, dynamic 3D backgrounds with classic 2D pixel sprites. The game's world is generally very colourful and makes extensive use of light and shadow effects, although the characters could have used a few more running animation sequences as they move around the world. There are English and Japanese voices, while the soundtrack was composed by Koichi Sugiyama and performed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake will be released on 14 November 2024 for PlayStation 5, Switch, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Microsoft Store and Steam. The three console editions will also be available in retail stores as a boxed edition, distributed by Plaion.

Conclusion

The HD 2D remake of Dragon Quest III is a modern reimagining of the classic RPG, both visually and with substantial quality-of-life enhancements and gameplay additions.