Like almost every video game genre, the RPG has evolved significantly throughout the history of gaming. However, there is one series that has remained the guardian of the pure traditional old RPG spirit, and that is Dragon Quest. One of the pioneers of the genre, Dragon Quest has been entertaining gamers with its specific brand of fun fantasy for over three decades. And what better way to celebrate a series with such a history than a remake of an early title, but with a significant improvement. Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is a wonderful way to experience that classic RPG spirit at its best, but some may struggle with this thirty-six-year-old game in the modern era.
Dragon Quest III has a fairly simple story that sends you on an adventure suddenly. You play as the child of a great hero who unfortunately died when you were a baby. Now, as an adult, your goal is to follow in your father’s footsteps and travel the world for the good of the kingdom. It’s a basic story as you can imagine, but the charm of the characters you meet along the way enhances it significantly.
Before you head out onto the world map to explore every town and cave it has to offer, you’ll need to prepare a team of adventurers to fend off monsters. Your main character is an all-rounder with spells, healing and great sword fighting potential, but balancing the rest of your team is important. If you want a traditional lineup of warriors, mages and healers in your team, that’s a perfectly acceptable choice, but there are slightly more interesting options like a thief or a brand new monster trainer.
The turn-based combat itself in Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake couldn’t be simpler, with each team member and enemy choosing an action, then everyone swinging axes and casting spells. As with all Dragon Quest games, there’s a slight nuance to how you attack enemies grouped together (as some spells and weapons target all identical enemies standing next to each other), but strategy mostly comes down to using the right spell or ability in a given situation.
As far as I can tell, not much has changed in this combat system compared to the original 1988 release of Dragon Quest III, but those used to more modern RPGs will appreciate one major improvement: combat speed. Setting the speed to incredibly fast allows each encounter to last much shorter than it used to, and makes those somewhat stale random encounters far less tedious.
As is almost always the case in RPGs, one of the most exciting moments in Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is when a character levels up. There are no hard decisions or skill trees when this happens, you’ll just see your stats increase and get a new spell or ability if you’re lucky. It’s simple but very effective in providing gaming joy, especially if you learn a new mass healing spell or a powerful fire sword attack.
If you’re a fan of old RPGs, you’ll find a lot to love about Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, but for me, the best part of the game is the exploration. The world is filled with glowing dots that mark loot, which are always worth checking out for the stat-boosting seeds and new gear they contain. Also, there are many secret areas to discover on the main map, which are marked by slightly different-looking environmental elements, such as oversized trees. There you can often find monsters that want to join you, which opens up a whole new activity.
As someone who adored Dragon Warrior Monsters as a kid, I was thrilled to find a monster fighting coliseum during my adventure. Friendly monsters you meet are added to your team in the arena, and your top three can be sent to battle in a tournament. The difference between fighting with your regular team and with monsters is that you can’t directly command the monsters, and you can only tell them to attack everything, use balanced tactics or focus on healing. This means it’s much harder to secure a win, but it also makes for an interesting change of pace.
Above all, there is one obvious improvement in this version of Dragon Quest III, and that is the visuals. The combination of the late Akira Toriyama’s signature art style with the HD-2D visuals is simply beautiful, and creates an experience that is both delightfully retro and stunningly beautiful. Combined with a great soundtrack that contains many songs that will give veterans of the series the chills, it’s hard not to smile as you beat up Slimes and Anteaters.
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