Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake review

I didn’t think I’d get emotional watching Dragon Quest 3 again, of all games. It’s decades old, has sold millions of copies, and has been remade twice. The “HD-2D” look may be very well done this time around, but it’s hardly unique. I thought this would be another warmed-over round of something innocuously retro and pleasantly familiar, which would be erased as quickly as it would be forgotten afterwards.

Need to know

What is it? A brilliant remake of a legendary RPG

Release date: November 14, 2024

Expect to pay: £49.99 / $60

Developer: Square Enix, Artdink

Publisher: Square Enix

Rated on: Intel i9-13900HX, RTX 4090 (laptop), 32 GB RAM

Steam deck: Verified

Multiplayer? No

Link: Official website

But I did get emotional. This game, a place where warm rays of sunlight break through green forests, purple poison corrodes the earth, and the holes in the crumbling masonry of an ancient tower offer glimpses of the lush grass far below, finally looks the way my RPG-loving makes heart feel. The innocent sense of wonder conveyed by the new perspective, combined with fantastic attention to detail – colorful banners hanging around a peaceful town, the sea catching the light at sunset, flowers blooming along a stony path – ensure that the pixel art feels alive in certain ways. that has never happened before.

I wanted to explore it just for the fun of seeing where I would end up next and who I would meet when I got there, or what impressively animated pixel monsters I would fight. The dungeons have never been as intimidating and claustrophobic as they are here, and the warm glow of my brave hero’s trusty lantern gently pushes back the darkness. These seemingly small details breathe new life into something old, familiar and excellent. Dragon Quest 3 has always been a perfect capsule of the very best of the traditional side of the genre, innocence turned into something epic. There are ships to sail, kings to visit, volcanoes to climb, and wrongs to right, but the scale of it all (especially the parts that are only lightly sketched in most RPGs) is so grand that even the visiting a new city feels like an adventure. . These aren’t places where you can stock up on stuff and leave immediately; you can browse around and feel at home, then come back in the evening to see what’s open and who’s out and about in the early hours of the day.

Dragon Quest 3’s job system really enlivens battles that only resemble so many other classic RPGs on the surface. The starter trio of warrior, priest and magician is sensible, safe and soon gives way to thieves who can defeat entire groups of enemies at once, treasure-hunting merchants on their own quest, and even the unpredictable madman, a real clown. of a character who is often both a hindrance and a help.

The skills you learn are built upon over time, creating characters with an incredible and entirely unique set of skills. It made every party and playthrough I’ve done over the years feel completely my own. Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D keeps all that and adds much more.

Old warriors, new tricks

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Dragon Quest 3 HD 2D Remake — (Image credit: Square Enix)

This is a remake inspired by the past but not held back by it, and a willingness to embrace the new while being respectful of the long, long The history makes the game feel comfortable yet truly surprising at the same time. The layout of a labyrinth doesn’t perfectly match an older cousin’s map, but the exit is still located somewhere in the upper right over a wooden bridge. The shrine I’m looking for is, as always, north of the village, but I’m not entirely sure what I’ll see and who I might speak to along the way. One of the chests in this area is definitely a sneaky copycat, but I’m not sure which one anymore.

I always have an idea of what I’m doing, but still have to explore as if it were my first time playing. Getting that magical new adventurer feeling back in a game as old as this is a real gift.

How the game behaves in this beautifully recreated world is largely up to me. It only takes a quick trip into the menu to tune Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D until it fairly accurately recreates the somewhat brutal experience of the 1988 original. Or I’ll go all-in for the comforts of 2024. When I respond you old man I have to pay close attention to the tasteful NPC dialogue (now occasionally dubbed in a wide range of British accents, covering everything from thick cockney to rich northern tones) if I want to learn where to go and spend time running around in grind circles for XP and gold to survive the upcoming challenges. I can still allow the game to take a good chunk of my hard-earned money when I die in the middle of a dungeon because I pushed my luck instead of sensibly retreating to safety like I used to.

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The game is just as happy to lean hard the other way. A handy bookmark feature lets me save every conversation I’ve heard and then replay it whenever I want, saving me the frustration of standing in an open space wondering if the helpful person I was talking to earlier said that I had to go south and then east, or east and then south. If I’m still not sure where to go, I can pull up a handy minimap at any time, then ignore it once I decide I’m done with it. If I’ve been away for a while, I can have the game remind me of my current objectives and even highlight the precise location I need to visit next – and hide these features individually when I’d rather get out and explore on my own. steam. Dragon Quest 3 doesn’t care how I customize it, as long as I have fun.

Combat has its own short but powerful set of customization options, allowing me to easily speed up or slow down the new battle animations whenever I want (even every turn), and decide how much of a challenge I want the battles to be. The easy setting “Dracky Quest” is so generous that it prevents my party from dying in battle. On the other hand, the Draconian Quest setting is ready and willing to try to kill my team whenever I dare activate it, and the regularly updated autosave is still there to catch them if necessary (or completely ignored to become like me ‘I prefer to suffer the old-fashioned way).

Dragon Quest 3 HD 2D Remake

(Image credit: Square Enix)

One person’s modern helpful addition will always be another’s retro RPG ruin, and this version of Dragon Quest 3 is smart enough to let everyone decide exactly where that line lies for them.

With these thoughtful options, Dragon Quest 3 is a fantastic RPG for everyone in 2024: a grand adventure full of exciting monsters, heartwarming characters and a combat system with enough depth to reward strategic thinking, but not so complex that it becomes a second job. It’s focused and pulled along by an energetic story that’s eager to take me from one incredible event to the next with as little padding in between as possible. Each twist offers an extraordinary mini-storyline, from false kings to daring rescues, and the overworld – normally the bit between the interesting stuff – packed with hidden treasures and fun secrets.

It’s a perfect remake. The changes are substantial yet respectful, extremely nostalgic and surprising at the same time. More than RPG history made accessible to a modern audience, this is a great RPG for anyone who longs to embark on a fantastic (dragon) quest.