Dragon Quest is getting the HD-2D remake treatment starting with Dragon Quest III. And it’s releasing next month.
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is a remake of Dragon Quest III, story-wise a prequel to Dragon Quest I and II. It’s the reason this entry is getting remade first with Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake coming next year.
As the son of the hero Ortega, you must go on a quest to defeat the evil Archfiend Baramos and save the world. Pick your travelling companions and commence the quest exploring the world now rendered in Square Enix’s HD-2D style: high-fidelity pixel sprites for characters juxtaposed with 3D environments. This is the same aesthetic style that powered games like the Octopath Traveler series and Triangle Strategy.
Dragon Quest III features turn-based combat, a class system where party members can switch classes, and a day-and-night cycle to name a few of its gameplay features. It may seem not as noteworthy today, but the original was from 1998, and cemented Dragon Quest as one of the biggest and influential RPG series in Japan. The original NES game sold more than a million copies in one day in the country. It was a big deal.
2024 sure is the year of the dragon games with not one, not two, but four major games with “Dragon” in the title being released this year.
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake releases on November 14 for the PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch. In Asia, it will launch on November 15 on PC (Steam).