Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D isn't just an Octopath Traveler-style glow-up - the remake reportedly expands the iconic 1988 JRPG's story with famed creator Yuji Horii's oversight
Jun. 20, 2024Not the Dragon Quest 3 you grew up with
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
TheDragon Quest 3 HD-2D remakeis not only beautifying the 1988 classic with an Octopath Traveler-style makeup brush, but it’s also apparently expanding the original game’s story.
RPG Sitereports that an early preview session for Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D began with a pre-recorded message courtesy of famed series creator Yuji Horii and the remake’s producer Masaaki Hayasaka. The latter reportedly revealed that the upcoming remake would feature “additional story scenarios written under Horii’s supervision,” which makes sense considering how the Erdrick trilogy ties into almost every other Dragon Quest game somehow.
Exactly what those new scenarios look like is unclear, but if publisherSquare Enix’s remade Final Fantasy 7 games are any indication, expanded cutscenes, beefed-up side plots, and all-new characters are all on the table. It’s definitely welcome news since, up until now, Square Enix has only really boasted about the game’s jazzed-up visual style that slaps 2D sprites onto some gorgeous, dioramic, 3D spaces a la Octopath Traveler - just, seemingly, without all the fog this time around. No matter what those scenarios look like, there’s something new to look forward to if you’ve already played the iconic JRPG over the last 40-ish years.
Whether you started the game decades before I was born or are completely new to the series, the wait for Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D has been a long one. The remake was first announced three years ago -a timeframe that the studio admits was “too early”- before reappearing in this week’sNintendo Direct, while also dragging its older (chronologically younger) siblings,Dragon Quest 1 + 2, onto the HD-2D train.
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D comes out on November 14 for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC courtesy of Triangle Strategy developer Artdink and Octopath Traveler stewards Team Asano. Dragon Quest 1 + 2 HD-2D are then being bundled together sometime next year, also on all platforms, thanks toSqueenix’s new multiplatform push.
Gamesradar+’s Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D previewsaid the remake “holds tight to the roots of what makes Dragon Quest 3 such a classic.”
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that’s vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he’ll soon forget.
Dragon Quest 3 remake producer wants Final Fantasy 6 to get the HD-2D treatment because it has “the highest quality pixel art”
Dragon Quest 3 remake producer would “love” to do more HD-2D JRPG remakes, but with 9 releases in 7 years, he worries fans may get “bored” of them
We haven’t seen the open-world Wonder Woman game for 3 years as it was reportedly “literally nothing” when WB Games announced it
