Without taking away from the importance of the original, many fans will say thatDragon Questdidn’t hit its stride untilDragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation. The third mainline entry built upon the foundation laid by the earlier games and fully realized the potential the series possessed. The player now had control over what kind of party members supported the main hero. Story development was greatly improved and the world was much greater in scope.Dragon Quest IIIhas been remade a couple of times already, but aside from a visual facelift and added content, it didn’t stray too much from the original 1988 game.Dragon Quest III HD-2D RemakerebuildsDragon Quest IIIfrom the ground up, finally bringing the celebrated classic into the modern era of gaming.
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake Modernizes the Classic Without Sacrificing Charm
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is coming out soon and these are early impressions of what we might expect to see.
Dragon Quest Traveler
As the title states,Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remakeutilizes the HD-2D graphic style pioneered byOctopath Traveler. The characters and monsters retain the look of their pixel art sprites, but are now inside a detailed 3D world. The graphics aren’t the only thing that’s different, as there are many new additions in the remake. The Monster Wrangler is a new playable class, inspired by the heroes of theDragon Quest Monstersspin-offs. The Monster Wrangler learns the skills used by monsters in combat and is also able to approach friendly monsters to fight on the player’s behalf in the revamped Monster Arena.
Earlier versions ofDragon Quest IIIdid not do any hand holding. Talking to NPCs would point the player in the right direction, but it was up to the player to figure out where to go on their own. This remake is more forgiving as it has added a minimap and quest markers, which makes it a lot easier to find the destination. Players who want the sense of exploration found in the original can turn these off. Difficulty settings have also been added, which can be changed at any time. Dragon Quest is the standard difficulty and seems accurate to what one would expect from aDragon Questgame. Dracky Quest is available for those who only want to experience the story with no real threat of danger, and Draconian Quest is for those who want the ultimate challenge, which will become more apparent in the later parts of the game.
One of the more surprising changes inDragon Quest III HD-2D Remakeis the abundance of treasure. Throughout the world, there are sparkly spots scattered across the world map and interacting with them will give the player items. These can be mundane items like medicinal herbs or occasionally they’re powerful weapons and armor, so it’s advisable to check them out. There are also secret spots, areas that look out of place like a random palm tree on a coastline or a slightly larger tree in a forest with a clearing around it. These are secret spots, which the player can enter and encounter NPCs, friendly monsters or treasure of varying quality. To offset the increased amount of hidden items, equipment is now sold back to the merchant for one fifth its buying price, as opposed to half in earlier versions. This can be discouraging, but it’s there to prevent the player from crashing the game’s economy with the ability to purchase every available upgrade without consideration.
Birthday Party Planning
The story begins on the Hero’s sixteenth birthday. The child of the legendary hero Ortega, the Hero has some big boots to fill, as the king believes they are the only one who can slay the archfiend Baramos and bring peace to the world. After having an audience with the king, the next stop is Patty’s Party Planning Place, where the Hero must choose the party members to accompany them on the journey. Technically, the player could attempt the game solo, but it’s much easier and more fun with the variety of adventures available for recruitment.
There are three heroes ready to accompany the Hero: a Warrior, Priest and Mage. This is considered a well-balanced party and those playing the game for the first time might want to use these characters, though there are other factors to consider. The Monster Wrangler, the new class, is recommended as they are essential to get the most out of this remake. Having a Monster Wrangler in the party allows the player to recruit all the friendly monsters to fight in the Monster Arena. The player, however, is free to create new party members to recruit at any time, and at a later point in the game, they can change an existing party member’s class once they reach the required level, so monster catching can be returned to later on.
The other available classes are Martial Artist, Merchant, Thief and Gadabout. Each class is limited as to what kind of equipment they can use and has their own set of spells or abilities they learn. They all have strengths and weaknesses, even the Gadabout who can sometimes be more of a hindrance than an asset in a party. Changing the class of a party member later in the game can have certain benefits as well, like a Martial Artist can turn into a heavily-armed Warrior with high agility or a Merchant can turn into a Magic User that can find additional treasure. Each character class can be part of a viable party and offer different benefits. Even the Gadabout, though their value doesn’t become apparent until later on.
Guided Open World Exploration
Now that the Hero has assembled a party, it’s time to venture out into the world. NPCs will guide the Hero to the next objectives, and while the player is free to explore, the travel limitations make story progression linear early on. It isn’t until shortly after getting the Magic Key that the player becomes free in how they want to explore the world and in what order they tackle some of the later quests. Typically, inDragon Questgames, the monster strength is an indicator of whether a player should be in an area, and if the player is able to emerge victorious in battle without too much difficulty, they’re probably fine where they are.
Pocket Power: Dragon Warrior III (Game Boy Color)
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is upon us, so let’s take a look at an older version of Dragon Quest III that looks more like the original.
The battles inDragon Quest III HD-2D Remakeremain how they were in the previous versions. Some of the newerDragon Questgames will have enemies roaming freely and the battle will be initiated when they make contact with the player, and once in battle, the party members can be seen charging to attack the enemies. This remake keeps things how they have been in other versions of Dragon Quest III. Battles will randomly start as the player moves, and aside from the screen which the player assigns commands, the battle unfolds with only the enemies staring down at the party.
The difficulty inDragon Quest III HD-2D Remakeis both easier and harder than the original game. Quality-of-life improvements such as autosave, quest markers and access to maps remove some of the uncertainty of exploration and remove some of the risks associated with having the party be defeated. This makes navigating through dungeons easier, but the difficulty has been increased for boss battles. Some of the newer boss fights, such as Garboyle, do offer a greater challenge than most of the familiar boss battles. There’s also a difficulty spike late in the game when the hero is finally ready to head to Baramos’s Lair, where the random encounters are capable of wiping out an ill-prepared party in a single turn. The new challenges are a welcome addition, as returning fans who know Dragon Quest III inside and out will likely restore the thrill to a game they’ve completed several times.
Third Remake The Charm?
Dragon Quest IIIis considered by many fans to be one of the stronger entries in the franchise. Part of that is nostalgia, as it was a huge leap forward from the two previous games. But even after taking the nostalgic goggles off, if one is able to look past the conventions of what an RPG was over three decades ago, it holds up surprisingly well.Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remakeis an example of how a game from that era should be remade to appeal to modern sensibilities. The random encounters play out in battles in the same manner they did in all previous versions, but AI options have been added if the player wishes to experiment with auto-battle.
The main story remains unchanged, which while developed for its time, may seem simple compared to more recent games. The backstory of Ortega has been fleshed out, so those who have playedDragon Quest IIIpreviously will be able to gain more insight into his journey when he left his family behind to go on his adventure. The classic RPG mechanics have remained intact, but feel more contemporary with the remade graphics and sound. This is the classic game with just enough changes to make it feel modern.
The one thing that fans ofDragon Quest IIIare likely to complain about is, aside from everything this remake does right, it’s missing the Pachisi tracks that were in the Game Boy Color version. Presumably, the revamped Monster Arena takes the place of Pachisi, and while the Monster Arena is exponentially more fun than it was in previous versions ofDragon Quest III,it doesn’t serve as a one-to-one replacement for Pachisi. One could argue that there’s room for both in the remake, and there’s merit to the argument, but the reality is it was not included for whatever reason. Even with the absence of Pachisi,Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remakeis still a fantastic remake. Additionally, the other bonus content that was in theGame Boy ColorandSwitchversions is included here.
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remakeis an example of how a game from that era should be remade to appeal to modern sensibilities.
The changes to the graphics are the most noticeable change, and this change was done incredibly well. The familiar environments have been completely remade, with a great deal of attention to detail. Every town and dungeon now feels like it has its own identity. More importantly, the character and monster sprites have mostly stayed true to their original designs, as anything else would not feel like a properDragon Questtitle. The limited voice acting that has been added included the tradition of giving each reach an accent based off of its real world inspiration. The original soundtrack has been fully orchestrated, bringing new life to the familiar tunes.
Closing comments:
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remakeis how a classic game should be remade. The new graphics style bringsDragon Quest IIIinto the modern era while maintaining the original iconic designs. The quality-of-life improvements also make the 36-year-old game feel modern without sacrificing the core elements of the original experience. There are certain aspects that may not appeal to everyone, such as maintaining the original first-person battle perspective instead of changing it to the more animated one seen in more recentDragon Questgames, or the omission of the Pachisi minigame. Even with these criticisms, however,Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remakeis among the best releases of 2024, reimagining the classic game in a contemporary form without sacrificing any of the original charm.
