You always know what you're getting with a mainline Dragon Quest game. The series is pretty much the epitome of consistent, having stuck to its timeless Japanese RPG formula for decades. But that comfy feeling of familiarity somehow hits even harder with Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake — a powerfully nostalgic rebuild of a true classic.
In franchise canon, Dragon Quest 3 takes place before 1 and 2; it's like an origin story for the series' recurring heroes and themes. But it's also from a time when narrative depth wasn't a priority. Aside from some late-game revelations, the title's plot is incredibly straightforward. You're the chosen one and the Big Bad must be stopped. What more reason do you need to embark on a globetrotting fantasy adventure?
Basic stuff, but in typical Dragon Quest fashion, it's all delivered with a huge amount of charm. As always, the dialogue is wonderfully localised and the remake even has voice acting — although it is a rarity. The vast majority of text is just that — text — but key scenes are given a bit of extra spice through spoken word.
The remake also brings some brand new story elements to the table, most of which expand upon the protagonist's father, Ortega. Being able to relive glimpses of Ortega's escapades is a nice touch, but don't go into this remake expecting any major adjustments; the new bits and pieces are few and far between.
At this point you might be thinking that the remake's additions are rather minimal, but as the awkward 'HD-2D Remake' name implies, the real star of the show is the game's complete graphical makeover. Environments now consist of 3D assets entirely — complete with some gorgeous lighting effects — and as you'd expect, this visual evolution is transformative.
The adventure is given a much greater sense of place and purpose thanks to the overhaul. Towns and cities have never looked more inviting, but we're perhaps most impressed with the overworld map. The game's sprawling wilderness feels vast and much more memorable in 3D, with varied terrain — both in terms of looks and elevation — greatly enhancing the actual journey between locations.
Speaking of which, the remake comes with optional objective markers. Those familiar with old-school RPGs will know how obtuse they can be with regards to progressing the story — and Dragon Quest 3 has these potential hurdles in abundance. Especially later on, when you're free to traverse much of the map, plenty of players will be thankful for an objective marker or two.
The remake's quality of life improvements cover combat as well — but we find ourselves wondering whether it could have gone even further.
First up, you can increase the speed of battles, which is something to be truly thankful for. While we enjoy Dragon Quest's basic but pleasantly tactical combat system, the remake retains the original's often glacial pace as attacks are exchanged alongside informative text pop-ups. Being able to speed that along really is a game-changer.
Tying into that, the remake offers two new difficulty settings which can be selected at any time. 'Dracky Quest' is described as a more casual mode, while 'Draconian Quest' is for the hardcore.
But regardless of which difficulty you're on, there's no getting away from the fact that Dragon Quest 3 is a grindy game. Whether you need just a few extra levels to even the odds or you're short on gold, grinding through battles that barely tickle your brain is an eternal part of the series' DNA.
And here in the remake, you really start to feel the tedium. In its move to 3D environments, the overall scope of the game's world has been expanded quite significantly; dungeons are actually bigger than they once were, and the world map is colossal by comparison. However, the rate at which you encounter random battles is seemingly unchanged — and that's a problem.
Sometimes, it's like you can't walk for more than ten seconds without being hit with yet another battle. In particular, later dungeons can become a serious slog, especially when you're backtracking to missed treasure chests, and you're just being bombarded with fights against tougher monsters.
You can make use of items that temporarily prevent encounters, but that ends up feeling like a workaround for an issue that's unnecessarily exasperated here in the remake.
Again, given the other quality of life updates that the remake provides, the balance feels off. Ultimately, ways to lessen the grind would be welcome — and a toggle that reduces the number of random battles would make the whole thing much easier to stomach, especially if you're new to the traditional Dragon Quest formula.
But aside from these gameplay hangups, it's honestly hard to fault this reimaging. The stuff that made Dragon Quest 3 great is still present, like being able to create your own party members and assign them unique jobs, and it's flanked by worthwhile additions, like the inclusion of a full-on monster arena. Put everything together, and this comes across as a robust but welcoming RPG.
Conclusion
That eternal Dragon Quest charm is especially potent in Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake — a thoughtful repackaging of a classic RPG. With its quality of life additions and delightful 3D visuals, it's easy to argue that this is the adventure's definitive form — even if some of its structural weaknesses remain in place.
Comments 26
Can't wait! I never finished this one so I'm looking forward to finally doing that. Especially excited for DQ 1 and 2 next year. Keep these 2D HD games coming!
Weekend is preordained on JRPGs. Picking this up tomorrow with a continued awe of Metaphor on the side. What an incredible year for games, goodness, I dare say it’s as strong as last year, especially if this is your genre. Very glad gaming is a passion of ours… even with stinkers that release every year. Can’t wait to play this, happy adventuring everyone!
Truly a timeless RPG.
@ShogunRok Thanks for the review. Are there any QoL features like adjusting game speed or adjusting battle rewards? You mention encounter rate, one thing I love that some other RPG re-releases do is allow you to reduce the encounter rate 2x, 3x, etc. but increase the rewards 2x, 3x etc. so it all balances out.
I love Dragon Quest 3 but not sure I can stomach that many random battles in 2024. Might get it on PC where someone will make a patch/hack if not.
Well this certainly looks like a step up from the Switch port of the mobile version I have, censorship aside!
Still taking my time with Romancing Saga 2: RotS and then I'll go to Bloom Town for a bit as I really enjoyed the demo. Dragon Quest will be next (probably).
Love me some Dragon Quest. Don't love it as much as some out there but it's definitely a solid series full of great Jrpgs. Shame it's never really taken off in the west though, it deserves more recognition.
I can’t wait for this to release. I thought I was going to play it day one, but I’m still enamored with Dragon Age Veilguard. Whenever I’m done with that game, I’ll be diving into Dragon Quest. It will be the perfect Christmas time RPG.
Just waiting for tomorrow!
My main question is whether the additions make it worth it to play 3-1-2 or if the reviewer would still recommend perhaps waiting and playing in release order. Thanks!
I CANNOT WAIT
Welp that was a good review can't wait till I can pick this up
Im a filthy casual and only started with DQVIII, but i do love an old school rpg
Pass.
Anyone who thinks they can change Toriyamas art deserves to be fired.
@themightyant Whilst you cant change the encounter rate, you can set the battles to 'ultra fast' so that you can level up faster etc.
I like what they have done to remaster this. Another on the wish list!
@Titntin Thank you! That helps speed things up!
I grew up playing this series and Final Fantasy on the NES. RPGs were always my choice of game all the way up to present day. That said, I have trouble enjoying and completing retro style RPGs in the past few years. I thought I would love Octopath Traveller or the FF Pixel Remasters. But it turns out that I loved these games for the tales and exploration, and merely tolerated the turn-based mechanics as limitations of the tech at the time. Today I much prefer games like Dragon’s Dogma 2, Red Dead Redemption 2, Zelda BotW, or Xenoblade Chronicles X. My memories are very fond of DQ1, 4, 5, 7, and 8, but I think I have moved on from the formula. At least for now.
Anyone know how long the game is? I can handle grindy if it's a 30-40 hour game but if it's like DQ7 or 11 length...
Totally need it, loved III when I played it a year or two ago.
It’s the sense of adventure that makes me love titles like these. Life can be so mundane sometimes so it’s great to lose yourself for a few hours now and again! Wishlisted!
Eagerly awaiting the follow up pro enhanced article on this one . Oh the reflections!
It's a shame about the insidious censorship, down with the kai-aku.
Needs to be a switch cart for me, even w the slowdown. Happy it's turned out as well as we thought it would!
Whenever there are so many people making a huge fuss over censorship I always think "Gee, I wonder if it's about a strangely sexualized underaged character" and 99% of the time I'm right. If only you guys were as concerned about things like sexual violence towards minors in Japan, or other real life issues instead of seeing less skin in a character resembling a teenager... but that's no fun, right?
Played through DQ 1-5 a couple of years ago on my retro machine. Glad I did, but I'm in no hurry to revisit them. Maybe down the line.
Question: how easy can the game be made? I've been playing videogames since 1991, but I sick so hard at, well, harder games.
E.g., Soulslikes are out of what I'm capable of. I couldn't conquer Returnal either, although I MASSIVELY enjoyed its style and setting. Yet, I finished Stellar Blade on a minimal possible difficulty. I play most games on Easy difficulty, because I like to relax playing games and not to challenge myself to death. I get the fun of a challenge, but it's not for me, I'm too easy to get discouraged by it.
I don't ming grinding, but I really hate it when a boss can fully wipe your party after, like, half-an-our battle. So if I set the game to Draco difficulty anf turn on the auto-battle option, am I going to get a relaxing - albeit grindy - experience? By "relaxing" I mean "you know where to go and how in principle to beat a boss, but you might want to grind a couple of levels.
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