Square Enix’s continued unearthing of buried treasure in its back catalog continues this week with the launch ofDragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, which takes the seminal 1988 JRPG classic and reimagines it using the HD-2D visual style that originated in theOctopath Travelerseries. BeforeDragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remakewas released, Square Enix already announced it had plans to give the same remake treatment toDragon Quest 1and2, with both titles arriving as a single package sometime next year. It’s clear that Square Enix knew the remakes would be popular among fans, and withDragon Quest 12’s development seemingly up in the air, the path forward for the series has never been clearer.
The near-universal critical acclaim and positive fan response toDragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remakemakes future remakes in the same style almost a foregone conclusion, and the next project for Square Enix to tackle before, concurrent with, and after the release ofDragon Quest 12should be remakes of the threeDragon Questgames in the Zenithia Trilogy. Unlike the titles in theErdrick Trilogy, which have been remade and ported several other times prior to the recentHD-2D Remakeseries, the Zenithia games are harder to play on modern consoles despite being every bit as important to the continued evolution of theDragon Questseries, and it’s time they come to modern consoles and PC.
Dragon Quest 4, 5, and 6 are Foundational to Many of Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D’s Improvements
Throughout the history oftheDragon Questfranchise, a lot of attention has been paid to the opening trilogy of games (otherwise known as the Erdrick Trilogy), with the first three games in the series having been remade and ported multiple times across several hardware generations. The same can’t be said ofDragon Quest 4-6, despite all three games being equally important to the continued growth of the franchise (and the evolution of JRPGs in general). Notably, many of the new mechanics present in theDragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remakecan trace their origins back to the threeDragon Questgames in the Zenithia Trilogy. Innovations from each game include:
Though all three games in the Zenithia Trilogy are currently available on iOS and Android mobile devices, the most recent console release for all three titles is each game’s Nintendo DS port. With a 10-15-year gap between the last time the Zenithia entries were brought to consoles, the second major trilogy in theDragon Questseries is due for a modern reinvention that pays homage to its innovations to the series.
The Purported State of Dragon Quest 12 Leaves Room for Remakes of Past Games to Cover the Gap
Following the reveal of the game duringDragon Quest’s 35th-anniversary celebration, the still-in-developmentDragon Quest 12seems to have suffered one setback after another, with one of the more profound being the passing ofAkira Toriyama, legendary manga artist and lead designer for the series. Since then, series creator Yuji Horii has assured fans that the game is still in development, but the recent resignation of the game’s producer from the project in April of this year raises questions about when the game will eventually be released.
With a potential 12-24 month gap beforeDragon Quest 12’s release(well beyond its initially planned late 2024/early 2025 release window), Square Enix can keep players hungry for moreDragon Questsatiated by releasing a steady cadence of remakes done in the same style asDragon Quest 3 HD-2D. TheDragon Questseries continues to experience a bit of a rising star in the West, and newer versions of classic entries in the franchise could be a great way to reach an even greater audience.
