Square Enix has just revealed Dragon Quest HD-2D, coming to PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam.
Square originally announced that Dragon Quest 3 would be receiving a remake, with the graphics getting an HD-2D overhaul in the same vein as Octopath Traveler. This was all the way back in 2021, and incredibly enough, it took three years before they came back to announce it again. But things may be different now.
The announcement doesn’t actually say Dragon Quest 3, but instead shows us the emblem of Erdrick. The Erdrick lineage is relevant in the first three Dragon Quest games, so the project may have been expanded to the trilogy. Some spoilers follow in the paragraph below.
The first three Dragon Quest games actually make a trilogy of one world, as opposed to the Final Fantasy games having their own self-contained world. The timeline actually begins in Dragon Quest 3, followed by Dragon Quest 1 and 2. The entire world in the first Dragon Quest appears as part of Dragon Quest 3, a pleasant surprise for gamers all the way back in 1988.
So, it’s possible that we get the three games, and it’s been made in such a way that you can play them in either order of release or where they are in the timeline. Much like the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster remakes, we have to assume that Square Enix will also add QOL options so that players won’t have to deal with the eccentricities and shortcomings of the original Dragon Quest games, owing to Enix having to make these games on Famicom cartridges back in the day.
Square Enix already made a rerelease of the first three Dragon Quest games, but that collection isn’t the best experience. They were based on mobile ports of the games, so they have cleaned up UI and new art for characters and monsters. They may look great on a phone, but can turn out as jarring when placed in front of the older sprite art backgrounds.
Furthermore, the first two Dragon Quest games do not hold up on a game design level. These games were designed to make you grind for hours to increase your stats. Without this gameplay element, they would be considerably shorter to play through.
That was also true of the Final Fantasy games too, and that’s why Square Enix added QOL changes for the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster remakes. All of this, wrapped up around Octopath Traveler’s visuals, and possibly the flourishes of the studio making these games, could make it one of the biggest retro game releases, not only of 2024 or 2025, but of this console generation.
