Dragon Quest III: HD-2D Remake - 14th November

[Glen-i]

You got Octopath Traveller in my Dragon Quest!

Revealed during the Dragon Quest stream a few hours ago. Uses the same engine as Octopath Traveller.

No release date yet, although it will be a simultaneous worldwide release. No word on what platforms it'll release on either. (Just a mention of "Home consoles", whatever that means...)

Quote

Masaaki Hayasaka:
Up to now, I’ve worked on various games such as Octopath Traveler and Various Daylife.
The HD-2D style we’re using combines pixel art with 3D effects to produce a sense of depth and atmosphere like nothing else.
Our hope is that by recreating Dragon Quest III in this HD-2D style, everyone will have the change to experience the game through fresh eyes, from adults who played the original back when it was first released, to little kids picking it up for the first time.
We’re aiming for a simultaneous worldwide release on home consoles. The release date hasn’t been decided yet, but when it is, you’ll be the first to know!

Well excited for this! III is one of the DQ games I've not played yet and I won't have to do so with an ugly mobile port!

Edited July 5 by Glen-i

[Hero-of-Time]

Sweet. I dropped off DQIII when I played it on the Switch. This gives me an excuse to give it another go.

[Glen-i]

1 minute ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Sweet. I dropped off DQIII when I played it on the Switch. This gives me an excuse to give it another go.

I'm glad you went for a XII thread first!

I was terrified that you were making a thread at the same time as me there!

[Dcubed]

Oh HELL yes!!! Just hook it into my veins!  

[Julius]

This looks great! I think a concern when transitioning anything to a new look like this is that some of the original charm is gone, but it all seems intact. I love the look of the battles in particular. 

Can't help but wonder if we might see something similar for next year's Final Fantasy anniversary...

44 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

III is one of the DQ games I've not played yet and I won't have to do so with an ugly mobile port!

Honestly, I feel like that's why I've been dragging my heels on playing the port of the original DQ, it looks horrible. All part of Square Enix's plan to drum up hype for eventual HD-2D remakes I guess 

[Glen-i]

4 minutes ago, Julius said:

I love the look of the battles in particular. 

You can say that again!

That's borderline pornographic!

This needs to sell well so that FF VI gets the same treatment. I don't think I could handle that if it happened!

[drahkon]

Cool, cool, cool.

Still haven't finished DQII and most likely won't for a while as I sold my Switch, but I'll find a way.

The battles remind me of Golden Sun!

[Julius]

26 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

This needs to sell well so that FF VI gets the same treatment. I don't think I could handle that if it happened!

I don't mean to put pressure on Team Asano, but...just do it for all of the 2D FF's  and Chrono Trigger! HD-2D Frog, are you kidding me?! 

[Glen-i]

1 minute ago, Julius said:

HD-2D Frog, are you kidding me?! 

No, stop!

My heart can't take the awesome!

[Julius]

So turns out Horii straight up said during the stream that they might get to Dragon Quest I and II remakes after this 

The whistle is hilarious. Horii gone rogue! 

[Glen-i]

13 minutes ago, Julius said:

So turns out Horii straight up said during the stream that they might get to Dragon Quest I and II remakes after this 

The whistle is hilarious. Horii gone rogue! 

OK, wow. Is this stream's entire point to say "We heard about this dude in England called Glen and he hasn't played some DQ games, but really wants to, so we're gonna release them in a way he would love"?

Because this is actually creepy at this point!

Edited May 27, 2021 by Glen-i

[Jonnas]

Gotta be honest: I'm really happy with this. DQ is a series that gets consistently updated and remade with each re-release. The latest version of DQIII was the mobile version, which was then ported to other systems, and that version looked... too imperfect. I feared that's what the OG trilogy would look like for the foreseeable future.

But now this! It looks amazing! Gorgeous! This will now be the definitive version of DQ3, and I'm all for it!

(Also, let's pray for orchestrated music)

[Nicktendo]

Absolutely wonderful art style. Very, very interested in this. It really captures the 16-bit vibe well. 

[Ike]

11 hours ago, Julius said:

The whistle is hilarious. Horii gone rogue! 

Horri has a history of leaking stuff like that, hence the whistle. 

Wish I wrote down my predictions, as this was one of them. Now no one will believe me. I was half expecting it to be in the XI engine.

I'm actually kind of mixed on the art style, apart from the battles which look great.

[Julius]

Gematsu have provided translations to a Famitsu interview from August, with series creator Yujii Horii. And it's...nothing much to get excited about. 

Quote

—Is your involvement in Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince similar to your involvement in the Dragon Quest III in HD-2D and Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate?

Horii: “It’s roughly the same. Well, when it comes to Dragon Quest III, I already created that game once before myself and know a lot about it, so I’ll give advice along the lines of, ‘If you want to change this, you should do it this way.'”

—What is the development status of Dragon Quest III in HD-2D [...]?

Horii: “Dragon Quest III in HD-2D is progressing quite steadily."

Well, there you have it folks! A game first announced nearly two and a half years ago is progressing quite steadily...

Currently not expecting any news out of TGS, given that S-E have given a pretty clear picture of what their panels are looking like this year, and they want all eyes on the new Monsters game. 

Seriously starting to wonder if this is being held back to be announced for the Switch 2 (not as an exclusive, but just because hype), or if their plans have changed for the remake, maybe some megaton announcement about the trilogy being fully given the HD-2D treatment (not as one package, but just to announce an overall project) given it was previously teased - and they've gone with the "I mean, if we're remaking III, why not do the others at the same time?" route. 

Because, while it's possible they've hit a snag with development, I'm struggling to imagine what it could be if so. The DQ team isn't exactly known for their quantity of mainline games output, but they are known for quality, whereas Asano (who we all assume are working on this) have a high output (I mean, at least compared to a lot of the rest of S-E). I wonder if they're upskilling the DQ team on HD-2D development so that when the time comes to do I & II that they can do it without Asano's support? 

Actually, scrap that, I've just had a horrible thought about what the snag could be while typing this out: what if they're having trouble with the music rights after Sugiyama's death? We haven't had any worthwhile update on this game since then (September 2021)... 

[drahkon]

7 hours ago, Julius said:

not as an exclusive, but just because hype

It will be exclusive, won't it?

Anyways, this was announced two years ago? Time flies.
Hope it'll release soon...

Edited September 19, 2023 by drahkon

[Glen-i]

Well now!

Is it finally happening? Maybe.

[Dcubed]

Will make for a swell Switch 2 launch title

[Julius]

8 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

Will make for a swell Switch 2 launch title

[Dcubed]

Looks like it's no longer DQ3 HD2D, but probably the entire DQ1,2,3 "Erdrick" Trilogy!

Also now confirmed for all platforms (Switch 1, PC, Xbox, PS5)

Edited May 27 by Dcubed

[Julius]

32 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

Looks like it's no longer DQ3 HD2D, but probably the entire DQ1,2,3 "Erdrick" Trilogy!

Also now confirmed for all platforms (Switch 1, PC, Xbox, PS5)

Oh HELL YES, finally an update! Hilarious to me that Horii's tease of potentially doing I and II at some point might mean this is the trilogy now (big might, I guess chronologically the tagline makes sense still if that's not the case?) – I do feel like it would explain why we haven't seen it in such a long time, and also help justify a potentially higher price tag? Which I'm sure S-E would loveeeeee to do. 

Interesting to me that there's no PS4 listed but the Switch is. I know the Switch has obviously done much better than the PS4 in Japan, but the PS4 has done much better than the PS5, so can't help but wonder if this is S-E having some sort of agreement to cycle things on to PS5 and leave PS4 in the dust now. 

The real question is, now that they've dropped this and they seem to be implying that the marketing cycle is ready to be refreshed and start ramping up for this game: where are we going to be seeing it next? The rumoured State of Play/Showcase? The June Nintendo Direct? Summer Game Fest? Are S-E going to randomly swoop in with their own event? 

[Jonnas]

I really hope that's true! I really like the first Dragon Quest, and while DQ2 isn't quite up my alley, I've seen a lot of people who legitimately love it. It would be so nice to have a better way of playing these genre-defining games, outside of those mobile-looking ports.

[Dcubed]

34 minutes ago, Jonnas said:

I really hope that's true! I really like the first Dragon Quest, and while DQ2 isn't quite up my alley, I've seen a lot of people who legitimately love it. It would be so nice to have a better way of playing these genre-defining games, outside of those mobile-looking ports.

Indeed.  It's utterly criminal that 35+ years on, we STILL don't have a good version of these games in English outside of their original NES versions (which themselves have never been re-released, outside of a Japanese-only Wii collection).

This collection is desperately needed.

[Glen-i]

On 19/09/2023 at 8:28 AM, drahkon said:

It will be exclusive, won't it?

Just gonna quote this...

Also, now that we have confirmation it's coming to Switch, I would very much like to request @Cube or @Shorty to move this thread to the Nintendo Board, please.

It's my thread! I want it there now!

EDIT: Ta very much, Cube.

Anyway, it's very suspicious that they're not using the DQ III logo in that tease above. And seeing as the "Legacy of Erdrick" covers three games, I'm getting unreasonably excited at the possibility to knock out 3 of the 4 DQ games I haven't played in such a way.

Edited May 27 by Glen-i

[Julius]

1 hour ago, Glen-i said:

Anyway, it's very suspicious that they're not using the DQ III logo in that tease above. And seeing as the the "Legacy of Erdrick" covers three games, I'm getting unreasonably excited at the possibility to knock out 3 of the 4 DQ games I haven't played in such a way.

If you listen really, really closely, you can almost hear the monkey's paw curling 

(but seriously, fingers crossed, can't go having III remade this way only for I&II to be announced in 2027 and finally released in 2028/2029 )

Edited May 27 by Julius