Many think that Dragon Quest is just its epic music, unmistakable sounds and those monsters that are impossible not to hug. However, the core philosophy of the series has had a great impact on my life, more than its iconic artistic elements. As I mentioned in the preview of Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, the creative duo formed by Yuji Horii and Akira Toriyama it caught me off guard. I was around 8 years old when the eighth chapter of the saga forcefully entered my life as a budding gamer.
In elementary school I wondered with my classmate what the title meant, while he tried to convince me that it meant “Question of Dragons”. I thought it made perfect sense. Like any self-respecting fairy tale, there will be an ugly and evil monster waiting for meperhaps a scaly and treasure-hungry dragon. What I indelibly remember is that one afternoon, while I was driving around the game world with my characters, I came across Leopolda strange and unusual enemy.
The immortal philosophy of the dragon
He didn’t exude the same serenity and carefreeness as the others. His story followed which, for obvious reasons, does not follow the raison d’être of this review. However, it was that meeting that changed me, surprised me and confused me. How can such a seemingly soft and funny game suddenly become bloody and despicable? The plot took hold in a crescendo of mystery and thundering darkness.
Smiling monsters and soft drawing lines were only deceiving me: behind it there was much more waiting for me and the more I delved into that world, the more he became less simple in his reading. The philosophy of Dragon Quest was spreading its royal wings before me and there I was, astonishedlike a child who on the last page of a color fairy tale does not find the ending, but a realistic photo of a crime scene. Strange, unusual, destabilizing, but damn curious and fascinating.
Shape to new needs
Dragon Quest for me is this: the art of dealing with profound stories, with the apparent art of an eternal fairy tale. In the religious undertaking of examining how much Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake still had to offer, I stumbled upon such memories, which spurred me to reflection. How and why should you recommend Dragon Quest to someone? You have to be honest, today’s audience is – for the most part – not inclined to pick up the pace of past titles. We can spend hours in the classroom screaming about how important the saga is and its incredible influence on works of the caliber of Final Fantasy and Pokémon, but it wouldn’t be enough.
The latter took a lot from Yuji Horii’s poetics, but then took significantly different paths. However, fragments of gaming history are not enough to make a product attractive again. In addition to the aesthetic side, there are mechanics and times that they must be revised according to how new users approach the medium. Without considering that not all the great names of the past have aged equally well, regardless of their importance. In Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake this concept was taken very seriously.
Airy and refreshing atmospheres
The delicate union between the sacredness of the main work and a more digestible modernization was sought. First of all, the work has maintained the basic structure of the game world, but a huge amount of work has been done on the graphics. Driven by the success of Octopath Travelerthe proposed visual art succeeds in the feat of rendering the atmosphere that we had only imagined in the pixels of the original product three-dimensionally.
Among gasping plains and dense trees, the towns that you will learn to love for their simple complexity dominate. Strange term you might think, yet, although the plan may seem simple, Thanks to the renovation, a more welcoming atmosphere emerges, full of secrets that are eager to be solved. What once seemed like a bare floor with a few columns is now a lush palace with a light that seems to pierce its architecture.
Creative blasphemy or laziness?
Everything is open, but also well condensed on the map and I’m sure you’ll appreciate the details that make the environments so energetic and vibrant. On the gameplay side there have been no significant changes compared to the original, but the Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake team still had to make the experience more fluid. What was worrying was the presence of tedious and uninvolving combat, but the solution was well presented. First of all, you can increase the speed of the text when resolving attacks. Banal, sure, but necessary.
At normal speed each attack has a small waiting moment that separates it from its correct execution. After a few fights you may feel the need to speed up the process, also because during the encounters everything is quite static on the screen. The work done in remaking the enemy animations is certainly to be commendedwhich religiously exploit the original designs, but then there is some small shyness. A sincere thank you also for having included the save accessible at any time: something that had stained the original work with unjustified difficulty.
An adventure without time and limits
Leaving everything as faithful as possible to the past is generally an advantage in these cases, but perhaps the process of streamlining the gameplay would have required some improvements. Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, as I mentioned, is the first title from the brand that needs to be recommended to those who want to discover or rediscover the genesis of the saga that drove the JRPG genrebut it is not always easily digestible. The fights are not exactly immersive, but at least they maintain the heart of the original philosophy.
Party creation is perhaps the most intriguing aspect and you might find it satisfying. The combination of different classes stimulates creative ingenuity during the tactical setup. This is because the brutal approach does not always pay, on the contrary, and therefore it will be necessary to review the characters to add to our group on several occasions. Balancing offensive and defensive spells and having some alternatives for physical damage can be a wise choice, but I’m sure you’ll find an even more appreciable combination.
Legacy from the past
Fortunately, the inhabited centers offer all the services suitable for your adventurous palate. Shops and inns always available to support your trip, all accompanied by a pleasant day-night cyclewhich is not only preparatory for the gameplay itself, but was also an example for the history of the video game. The passage of time will impact your experience, so prepare yourself well before leaving. There’s no point in going into more detail about the plot, also because I wouldn’t sleep at night ruining the experience for some novice.
Nonetheless, Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake has symbolic importance. As I detailed in the preview, the work is actually the first chapter to be played in chronological order, as true opening of the Erdrick trilogy. In the synopsis, the great hero Ortega set out to try to defeat the Ultra Demon Padramos, but failed in his attempt. Now the baton has passed into the hands of the son who must try to fulfill his father’s destiny. There’s a bad guy and we’re the heroes, have we seen this before? Ah, how you will love to be wrong.
New things aren’t always tempting
In addition to the graphic makeover and the fluidity of combat, another curious novelty is the customization in Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake. In fact, you will be able to choose between a boy and a girl before leaving for the adventure. In general, on various characters it will be possible to modify other aesthetic elements including aesthetic ornaments and physical details, but none, obviously, will impact the gameplay. Nothing particularly surprising, but still pleasant for those who love to indulge in showing off their style.
The vocation, i.e. the choice of class, will have a fundamental weight throughout the game. There will be many alternatives available, but you will have to be careful to develop the one that best suits your gaming style, because then the other characters you choose will have to fill the gaps that, inevitably, you cannot fill. Honorable mention for Domamostria class that embodies the essence of the Pokémon games in every way, as well as the delightful tribute offered in Like a Dragon.
We are talking about a vocation capable of exploiting monsters in battle and each of them will have its own tactical inclination. The cute little monsters will have unique characteristics and peculiar abilitiesin fact you can adapt the battle by deploying one capable of doing very powerful magic or, if you need it, one capable of supporting the rest of the party with defense magic.
What needed to be worked on better?
Before the verdict of the scales, my personal open discussion on what could have been done to improve the work. Although Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake is the return of a great classic and has been tailor-made following the outline of the original, we can see that he lacks courage in certain aspects. Already nowadays turn-based battles are gathering around a niche of users, because the average attention in tactical titles is now decreasing. Good intentions in animation and putting a button to make the text faster are not enough.
It’s like 2xing an online video and hoping it’s more enjoyable regardless. We needed to be more daring, perhaps making the fights more dynamic, or making the scenario more immersive. In the long run the new player, faced with the same repeated clash, is unable to feel involved. The battles had to be more modern, even taking the risk of redoing some animations. You can’t take it from Octopath Traveler just the graphics without noticing that with disarming simplicity they had also managed to make 2D combat much more galvanizing with some additional effects.
Source: www.tomshw.it
