Since Octopath Traveller introduced us to HD-2D visuals in 2017 it has felt like an untapped resource as a vehicle for bringing classic titles from the 16-bit era to the current generation. It captures that nostalgic feeling older games invoke, whilst introducing some much-needed quality-of-life features to bring the gameplay up to a modern standard and cut out some of the frustrations that can, at times, make them difficult to go back to. With 2022's remake of Live A Live, a relatively obscure 1994 Super Famicom title, giving us a taste of this idea, a beloved classic like Dragon Quest III feels like the perfect game to fully realise it. Our preview left some strong positive first impressions, and now we'll find out whether this is a triumphant re-telling for the ages, or if it turned out to be a tale best forgotten.
Dragon Quest III is a prequel to the original Dragon Quest, although it is not primarily a narrative-focused experience. Following the opening scenes, where your character is given their mandate to defeat Baramos in their father's stead, the focus is almost entirely on the adventure. The story builds up gradually through small cutscenes, which are largely disconnected from the larger threat and centred more on the individual problems of that location, feeling more like a series of random events than a single quest to accomplish a specific goal. Saving the world is a much larger task than ending a single threat, and to that end, Dragon Quest III excels at worldbuilding. If you choose to interact with the game's NPCs along the way, you'll find several smaller sidequests that can lead to valuable items and information, all delivered in regional accents reflected both in text and occasional English or Japanese voice acting. There is notably less of this when compared to modern titles, but it is nonetheless a nice touch that gives each area a little added personality.
The original intention was for the player to work out where they needed to go by talking to everyone, but the new option to turn on guided markers will point you towards your next objective if you become lost or would prefer to focus on the main quest. Adventuring is at the heart of Dragon Quest III, and although light progression blocks do exist in the form of doors that can only be opened with specific keys (finding these will be the main objective of the first part of your adventure), the land is otherwise open for you to explore at your leisure, and there are surprises around every corner to reward your curiosity. You'll find equipment and usable items in pots and drawers in towns and cities, glittering gathering points on the overworld yield a variety of helpful loot, and secret areas you can enter will reward you with valuable treasures or a new monster companion to add to the Monster Arena. The Zoom spell allows you to revisit any previously visited areas at any time, and the game's day/night cycle completely transforms towns and cities, changing the behaviour of NPCs.
The world of Dragon Quest III is one that is rich in history and culture, and this is only enhanced by the HD-2D visual style. Despite being fundamentally the same in design as the original, each location has undergone so much expansion and change that they feel completely different, and there is an impressive sense of scale as the architecture of cities towers over you, and caves and dungeons turn their minimalistic and linear design to their advantage to feel oppressively claustrophobic. Although I did notice some slight frame drops when moving in busier environments, as well as a slight blur at times that didn't feel entirely natural for the settings, the use of lighting in the game is superb, and there is an excellent level of depth frequently shown off to good effect thanks to the fixed camera angles, as objects in the foreground momentarily enter your field of vision out of focus. Sprites also benefit from the visual touch-up, being more animated and detailed when attacking, and visual effects for attacks and spells have a satisfying amount of flashiness to them.
When you're not exploring the world you'll be engaged in turn-based combat, with your success or failure revolving around how you make use of the game's Vocation system, a simplified version of the Job/Class-based systems that are frequently seen in modern RPGs. You have a handful of Vocations to choose from, with the tried and true archetypes of Warrior, Thief, and Mage all making an appearance. Naturally, each one comes with their own set of Spells and Abilities, although stat growth is primarily determined by personality, which is assigned randomly when you first hire the character and pick their starting Vocation. Once a party member reaches level 20 they are able to change to a different Vocation, resetting their level back to 1. This allows them to keep a portion of their stats and the abilities learned, which sets the system apart from more modern iterations which normally have you either stick to a single class for the entire game, upgrade to an advanced class, or acquire a secondary class later.
Gaining levels in the game is a slow process, with the clear intent being that players will be encouraged to frequently swap Vocations to create party members with a wider skillset, or to adjust for the strengths and weaknesses of enemies and bosses. It's a system you'll definitely need to engage with as much as possible: by modern standards, Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is an extremely challenging game, and there is little room for error. For those unfamiliar with older RPGs it may come as a bit of a shock, and even veterans of the genre will likely find themselves staring at some frustrating game over screens. Enemies can (and frequently will) ambush you, call for backup, heal themselves and their allies, inflict multiple status ailments that will linger after the battle ends, attack multiple times at once, and stop you from fleeing from battle entirely. When combined with the high random encounter rate, this can make the game feel unfairly punishing at times, and it never gets any noticeably easier as you progress.
From beginning to end, it requires a very cautious approach, and an excessive amount of level grinding and preparation to minimise the chances of a swift party wipe-out, which is made all the more tedious by how little experience you'll gain per battle and the high cost of better equipment from shops. This level of difficulty is not unique to Dragon Quest III and it is certainly not a point against it, but it does limit its appeal, and the steps taken in this HD-2D Remake to mitigate the challenge feel heavy-handed at best and lacklustre at worst. Dracky Quest, the game's easiest difficulty setting, only prevents your HP from dropping below 1, and although this does remove the frustration of being wiped out by random encounters, it does not address the high random encounter rate or how long it will take to defeat bosses without being sufficiently prepared. This makes it feel more like a stopgap measure to ensure you can progress if you're stuck, rather than a meaningful quality-of-life feature that makes the game more accessible.
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake does an excellent job at preserving the spirit of the original game, cultivating a satisfying sense of adventure in a richly detailed and culturally diverse world that is teeming with hidden secrets to discover, and challenges that will test the skills (and often the patience) of newcomers and veterans alike. The HD-2D visuals more than live up to the name and add a new level of depth and detail to the world that make it a joy to explore, elevating the remake far beyond its previous mobile port. Although more could certainly have been done to make this more accessible to a wider audience, it remains an adventure that you'll not soon forget. Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake releases for Nintendo Switch on November 14, 2024.
8/10
A copy of Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake for Nintendo Switch was provided by Square Enix for the purpose of this review.
