How many Dragon Quest games have you started on a lunch break, only to realize the lunch break was three hours ago? Square Enix would like to help with that, sort of. DRAGON QUEST RPG The Cursed Tree and the Chosen Isle is the next entry in the series, and it's built from the ground up for iOS and Android, with a global release planned for 2027.
The full announcement trailer premiered this morning, and the pitch is refreshingly simple. This is a classic, turn-based Dragon Quest: you head out into a wide world, pick fights with the local monster population, and haul the loot home to build up your base. No genre experiment, no spin-off gimmick. The word "RPG" is sitting right there in the title on purpose.
Towns, Fast Strike skills and a beach that is very much not a vacation.
Combat leans on two new-sounding tools. Fast Strike skills and pep powers are how you take down whatever's in your way, and the screenshots show a familiar four-member party with the HP and MP readouts every series fan could draw from memory. From there, the spoils go back to your base to help it flourish. Explore, gear up, come back stronger, repeat. It's the Dragon Quest loop, just cut into pocket-sized pieces.
Series creator Yuji Horii wrote a message to fans on the official site, and his framing is honest about who this is for. It's meant to capture that unmistakable Dragon Quest feeling of exploring towns, meeting new allies, gearing up and steadily growing stronger. He also says it's free to play, so longtime fans and first-timers alike can play at their own pace for years to come. Even on busy days, he says, there's room for a little adventure.
The title gives away the setup. In the key art, a corrupted world tree hangs over the land in a sphere of purple energy, and elsewhere on the official site a green island floats above the clouds. If the key art is any indication, a small hero in a blue cape and his slime buddy are going to have a lot to deal with. The credits are the usual dream team, too: Yuji Horii, character designer Akira Toriyama, and composer Koichi Sugiyama. The series turns 40 this year and has shipped more than 100 million units worldwide, so Square Enix isn't exactly short on goodwill to spend here.
If you'd rather not wait until 2027, there's a shortcut. A closed beta test runs from December 8 through December 15, with room for 25,000 players. Applications are open until November 23, and if more people apply than there are spots, testers get picked by lottery. Results go out to the email you use on the application form. On the hardware side, Square Enix recommends iOS 15.0 or later on an iPhone 14 or newer for the test, or Android 13.0 or later on a 64-bit device with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 or better and 6 GB of RAM. Older phones can still get in at the minimum spec, which drops to an iPhone 11 or a Snapdragon 855.
DRAGON QUEST RPG The Cursed Tree and the Chosen Isle is planned for iOS and Android in 2027. You can apply for the closed beta here until November 23. Stay tuned to GamingTrend.com for more on this one, and for all your upcoming reviews, previews, and gaming news!
