Despite the demand for remakes of beloved classics, it's always a risky endeavour for developers to go ahead and actually fulfill those requests. Change too little and you risk a version that feels inferior to the original, but change too much and you get something that feels like a completely different (and not necessarily better) experience. Dragon Quest III set sales records at the time of its release and was met with universal critical acclaim, and remains highly regarded to this day; it's definitely one of those games that needs to be handled with utmost care with regards to bringing it to modern platforms. So, giving it an HD-2D remake, a visual style that has seen considerable success thanks to games such as Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy, seems like a match made in heaven. Thanks to Square Enix, I had the opportunity to go hands-on with the full version of Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake ahead of its release next month to see if it does any justice to its legacy.
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake opens in a very non-typical fashion: after selecting your character's appearance, you'll need to complete a fairly extensive personality test followed by one of several short scenarios. It's a unique approach to more nuanced character creation that I've not seen attempted in other RPGs, with the closest comparison I can make being the personality quiz that determines your starter and partner in the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. Despite not having any notable impact on the story, your result here is fairly significant, as it will determine your character's stat growth. Although you can change it later in the game via special books and equipment, it adds a personal touch that draws you in before the game has even started.
The character you play as is the child of Ortega, a renowned hero who attempted to defeat the archfiend Baramos but failed, at the cost of his life. Baramos is now threatening the world once again, so on their sixteenth birthday, your character is summoned by the King of Aliahan and proclaimed the new hero, given a measly handful of gold and some meager supplies, and sent on their way to save the world in their father's stead.
Dragon Quest III was originally released in 1988, during a time when many games took a more hands-off approach to gameplay than we see in modern titles. It was often left entirely to the player to figure out where they needed to go next by speaking with NPCs for clues, trial and error when they ran into an obstacle, and through simple exploration. This is still very much a factor in this HD-2D remake, but the addition of Quest Help Text and Objective Markers, which you can toggle off and on at any time, make finding your next main story objective a simple task.
If you choose to make use of these quality of life features to navigate the world, it is still worth interacting with NPCs. Talking to the local populace will yield useful advice, hints about secret locations on the overworld map, and otherwise missable sidequests that can lead to valuable loot to aid you on your adventure. After speaking with a character, you can commit what they said to memory and review it any time via the Recall function in the menu, which feels more organic than the traditional sidequest menu that most RPGs make use of. One NPC I encountered early in my adventure gave me vague directions towards five secret spots on the map, and many will offer valuable hints that aren't covered in the Traveller's Tips section of the menu.
Combat is turn-based, although you'll select your entire party's actions before everything plays out on screen in order, rather than when it's that character's time to act. If you've ever played a turn-based RPG, you'll be mostly familiar with the core mechanics at play here, as that is the only major difference. However, it is also perhaps a little more challenging as a result of this, because it's entirely possible (and happened to me more than once) that enemies will all target a single character and wipe them out before you can heal them on the following turn. You'll be thrown into random battles as you explore the game's overworld map and numerous dungeons, but battle speed can be adjusted at any time and there are also three different difficulty settings which can be adjusted outside of combat, which lets you set the pace and challenge level of the game according to your personal preference.
Of course, the highlight here is the graphical shift into the HD-2D style, and although I've only visited a few locations so far, I've been consistently impressed. Enter a town or city for the first time and you'll be greeted with a brief cutscene to show off its most notable architectural features, and the level of detail present whilst exploring has easily been on-par with Square Enix's other HD-2D titles. The lighting brings an added depth to the surroundings, and is shown off to great effect at night, in particular when your hero carries around a torch. Colours are deep and vibrant, and it elevates this version of the game well above the mobile port that was released on the Switch in 2019.
My adventure in Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake has only just begun, but I'm already captivated by the visual splendour, hooked on the turn-based combat, and excited to see where the game's narrative leads me to next and what secrets I might uncover along the way. There are a few design choices that feel a little archaic and could have perhaps used some tweaking to make the game more accessible, but as things currently stand, I can safely say that this is shaping up to be a remake that has brought one of the most highly regarded classics up to a modern standard that is more than worth experiencing. We'll have a full review for you closer to when the game launches on 14th November 2024.
Launch trailer:
A copy of Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake for Nintendo Switch for preview purposes was provided by Square Enix.
