Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D is a wonderful way to start your journey | Hands-on preview
When talking about the origins of JRPGs most people immediately jump to Final Fantasy. While this series is obviously hugely influential, Dragon Quest has actually been around for a little longer. As a Final Fantasy kid I’ll admit I missed out on the world of Slimes for a long time, but now as a fully grown human it’s time to actually play all the way through a mainline Dragon Quest game. What better place to start than Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, which I have now spent around five hours with.
As a remake of a thirty-six-year-old game, the setup of Dragon Quest 3 is pretty simple. You play as the child of a great hero, whose dad died on an epic quest when you were but a baby. Now old enough to adventure on your own, you aim to take your dad’s place and help purge the land of evil. With the backing of the king and a ragtag bunch of mages and warriors by your side it’ll be an epic quest across multiple continents. It may sound like a simple story, but there’s a charm in this simplicity and it also means you won’t be sitting watching cutscenes for the first hour of the game.
Simplicity is the name of the game in combat too, which is that traditional turn-based style we all know and love. Each turn your party can choose to attack or use a spell/ability, and before you know it you’ll have taken out a big group of anteaters and earned a nice chunk of experience. Chucking boomerangs and slinging Fizz and Woosh spells is as compelling as it ever was, and although it’s not a particularly complex battle system the speed of it (when you turn it up with the shoulder buttons anyway) is so rapid that it actually feels fairly modern.
You’ll fail in battle immediately though without a party of buddies to bring with you, and gathering some allies is your very first mission in Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake. There are three perfectly balanced premade heroes (a warrior, a mage and a priest) waiting to be added to your team at a nearby adventurer’s tavern, but if you’re feeling more creative you can craft your own allies. Naturally I wanted to add my own personal flair to the party and made a trio myself, which included a thief, a priest and the new Monster Wrangler vocation.
Most of the vocations in Dragon Quest 3 are pretty straightforward – the warrior hits hard, the thief is quick and gets bonus loot and the priest heals and buffs to keep everyone safe. The Monster Wrangler is a little different though, with a variety of skills based on the monsters that infest the world. With an early game mass heal skill and a few handy offensive abilities, I was glad to have added my trusty Wrangler Bimmy to the party.
When you aren’t fighting slimes and bunnies in battle, you’ll spend your time exploring the open fields and dungeons of the land. With a lovely fast run speed it’s a joy to search high and low for treasure and quest-advancing key items, although for some the random encounters will likely feel a little archaic.
While Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake is very much an old school RPG experience, the newly updated graphics are anything but. The HD-2D visuals are as gorgeous here as ever, with Akira Yoriyama’s legendary artstyle complimented perfectly by lovely lighting effects. The charming world of Dragon Quest has simply never looked so good.
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake will appeal to series veterans and newcomers alike, with classic turn-based combat and modern quality of life features. No other series has ever quite captured the slightly silly charm of the Enix classic, and if you’ve never experienced that before then Dragon Quest 3’s new remake is looking like a wonderful way to start your JRPG journey.
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake will be release on November 14, 2024 on PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PC via Steam.
