Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake: the final preview — A goo-d first impression

There are a lot of versions of Dragon Quest III. There’s the original Famicom and NES release, the Super Famicom remake, the Game Boy Color port, and then the rereleases/enhancements based on the SNES version for phones and Switch. So what makes Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake worth playing? That’s a question I’m still finding the answer to, as Square Enix gave us early access to the game to share my impressions. I played the first six hours or so of the game, up through the Pyramid dungeon to get the Magic Key and, while the game hasn’t quite introduced much that’s new, this is still the masterpiece it always was.

In Dragon Quest III, you are the child of the hero Ortega, who set off to defeat the evil fiend Baramos years ago but never returned. On your sixteenth birthday, you set off with the blessing of the King of Aliahan to follow in your father’s footsteps, defeat Baramos once and for all, and save the world.

Upon starting the game, you’re given the choice of playing as a Type A or Type B hero, or hero and heroine respectively as there’s no option to select the protagonist’s gender separately from visuals. In a dream, the goddess will test your character with a personality quiz. This determines the protagonist’s initial personality, which affects which stats increase each time they level up. You have tons of opportunities to change personalities throughout the game, so don’t fret too much over this. Just answer honestly as the game asks, the hero will be the strongest party member regardless of the results.

This is where the additions begin to show up, albeit in very small forms. Rather than cutting straight to your mom waking you up, we see her reading a book at the kitchen table, which those who have finished a certain other Dragon Quest title will recognize. She’s having trouble concentrating, however, as she’s thinking about Ortega and the dangerous journey you’re about to undertake. I really like this change, as it gives you a bit more connection to your family; it certainly made me visit home more often throughout the journey. This is a good example of the changes to the game, subtle moments that serve to accentuate what was already there rather than overhauling sections entirely.

Some changes I’m not too keen on, however. The dialogue where you meet with the king as a female protagonist has been removed and replaced with the normal speech. He no longer misremembers you as a boy, which I thought was chuckle worthy in other versions and can easily allow players to headcanon their hero as trans. I can understand this change, as Square Enix is… attempting to make the game more inclusive, but overall I think they’re going about it the wrong way, as mentioned above with the Type A and Type B debacle. Still, I hope the old man who wants to become a young maiden is still hanging around Alltrades Abbey.

From here on, this is the Dragon Quest III you know and love, albeit with a new, gorgeous art style, voice acting, and a new vocation in the form of the Monster Wrangler. Before setting out from Aliahan, you’ll want to form a party at Patty’s Party Planning Place. Patty already has a few pals picked out for you, but I always prefer to head upstairs and create my own team. This time, I went with a Warrior, Priest, and Monster Wrangler, keeping things fairly basic at least to start out with. The Monster Wrangler begins pretty weak, and doesn’t exactly learn new abilities as they level up. Instead, they gain new moves by finding and recruiting friendly monsters around the world. In fact, if you hit a certain threshold of monsters to unlock a new ability, the Monster Wrangler will learn new moves immediately upon finishing the next battle, regardless of if they level up or not. It’s an interesting system and has some very powerful moves to unlock, including healing abilities and unique debuffs. I’m curious as to how this will work with switching vocations later on in the game, but for now they’re a nice, all-rounder addition to a team.

While the voice acting is sparse (aside from in-battle lines), the visuals are absolutely stunning. It’s clear Square Enix is using everything they’ve learned so far from other HD-2D games to pull out all the stops for one of their most beloved titles. The sprite work is genuinely jaw dropping whine combined with the excellent lighting, particularly at sunset or in caves with the lantern lighting your way. They’ve also breathed new life into old areas, with some slight redesigns to make things less square and angular.

I may have my issues with the late Koichi Sugiyama as a person, but his compositions here are absolutely legendary and have been brought to life by the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra. I have had these tunes stuck in my head since I first hit Venture Forth and I’m still not sick of them. I don’t know if Sugiyama directly worked on this before his passing or if someone else did the arrangements but they’re all phenomenal. I especially love the new little flourishes with the town theme, it makes everything feel so much more lively and playful. I also adore hearing the space these songs were recorded in, it makes orchestral versions sound much more natural; like you’re there in the room rather than listening to a recording as you can hear how the sound travels throughout the space and bounces off surfaces. It reminds me a lot of the excellent Dragon Quest VIII soundtrack in that regard.

I may not yet be convinced of why this version of Dragon Quest III deserves to exist, other than the amazing music and visuals, but the game is still so good I simply find myself immersed in the world all over again. I’m excited to encounter more new stuff, like the Ortega sections, later on in the game, and I have no doubts there’s even more to discover. Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake launches on November 14th for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. Please look forward to a full review of the game on PC around that time.

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