Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake continues Square Enix’s tradition of bringing its classic catalog of IPs to modern platforms through remasters and remakes. It provides a proper visual upgrade for the three-decade-old JRPG. It has stood the test of time well but occasionally suffers from dated elements that could benefit from modern enhancements. It often feels like Square Enix tried to strike a balance between introducing modern elements and retaining the spirit of the original release, which is understandable given that the game was developed under the direction of Yuji Horii. As the franchise’s creator, his vision to preserve the game’s original charm without sweeping changes is well-respected.
The biggest improvement has been made visually. The game now runs on the HD-2D engine, first used in Octopath Traveler and subsequently in titles like Triangle Strategy and Star Ocean: The Second Story R. This engine blends retro pixel art with modern lighting and environmental effects, giving Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake a timeless quality. Based on what we know so far, Square Enix plans to remake the entire Erdrick trilogy, meaning Dragon Quest I and II will also receive the HD-2D treatment in the future.
Dragon Quest III begins uniquely, unlike other JRPGs. It starts with an interview where numerous questions are asked about our behavior, traits, and knowledge of our surroundings. It might seem like an innocent questionnaire at first, but it carries a lot of importance as it sets the starting personality of the main protagonist, The Hero. This also determines how the stats of The Hero will improve throughout the game. Knowing this, I tried my best to fit the personality within my play style.
I also liked how Square Enix has made some quality-of-life improvements to the game, making it stand out among its peers. Basic functionality like auto-saves is included, but for nostalgic players who prefer traditional ways of saving data, Churches still exist and can be used to save data. The difficulty can also be tweaked with three options available, from easy to hard. Other improvements include the ability to fast-forward through interactive cutscenes and battles. These elements are essential because of how slow they can often feel, and in a world where pace is everything, I appreciate how Square Enix has offered these options while ensuring those who prefer the old ways can still play it in their way.
The HD-2D engine is gorgeous, and throughout my gameplay experience on the Steam Deck, it felt like one of the most visually striking games I’ve experienced. It does have some minor flaws, though, as the transition to 3D loses some of the charm of the original sprites. While the character models and most environments look good, the overworld didn’t transition as well. Still, I prefer the newer visual style since it brings many improvements that make the game feel modern and improve its pacing and the general flow of combat.
If Square Enix had only settled on the visual upgrades, it would still be impressive. But some fans will return to the game and might have already beaten the story mode. For them, there’s new content, including expanded storylines, monster battle arenas, and a brand new class, Monster Wrangler, which radically alters the combat system. This class allows the user to learn the abilities of any monsters, but its effectiveness depends on how you play the game, making it either deadly or useless.
If we’ve learned anything these days, it’s that people have little patience for slow-paced turn-based battles. While Dragon Quest III HD-2D offers multiple battle speeds, the default one is far too slow in my opinion. I had to switch to the Ultra Fast speed mode because otherwise, the battles felt like they dragged on, especially with the world map littered with random encounters. I understand this is a thing of the past, but a toggle to slow down the frequency of battles or skip them altogether would have been preferable.
The combat system is turn-based, so the turns are split between your party members and the enemies. The issue is that even battles with smaller minions take too long if you’re playing at the default speed. You can tweak the AI of your party members to fight in different ways, such as offensively or defensively. Alternatively, you can make choices for each party member yourself. This works well for boss fights, but for general encounters, I always preferred my party to attack the enemy as instructed.
The problem with the game is partly that it requires a lot of grinding throughout various story segments. I died right near the opening town because I was quite weak at that point. I had to skip the story mission and just head out on the map to fight battles and grind experience points for my party. The game has many instances where you will feel the need to grind. While I was able to enjoy this due to my familiarity with traditional old-school JRPGs, I’m not sure how modern gamers will feel about it. The difficulty tweaks do help somewhat, but grinding is never entirely gone from the game, even on the easiest setting.
The visual improvements and quality-of-life changes make this an excellent JRPG to experience, despite the minor issues with random encounters and grinding. It is honestly a perfect companion to have on a handheld like the Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch. It has quickly become one of my favorite JRPGs of this year, even though it is technically a remake. In the end, I would highly recommend Dragon Quest III HD-2D to fans of the JRPG genre or even modern Dragon Quest fans who have yet to play any of the classics that made the franchise what it is today.
DRAGON QUEST III HD-2D Remake Game Information
- Price: $59.99
- Publisher: Square Enix
- Developer: Square Enix
- Platform: PC (Reviewed)
- Disclaimer: A review code was given by the publisher
