Dragon Quest 3is considered a masterpiece by many fans of the franchise, which in turn makes the idea of any remake a double-edged sword. Of course, many fans are excited about returning to the classic title, but some may be reasonably worried about any changes made. The graphical shift alone inDragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remakemay be pause for some, despite how well-loved the HD-2D style seems to be, but luckily none of this seems to be the case. It’s clear thatOctopath Traveler’s development team understandsDQ3’s masterpiece status, and it worked with that in mind when makingDragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake.
Game Rant recently played a brief demo ofDragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remakeat Gamescom, first interacting with new content such as Monster Arenas and then taking it the ambiance of its cities and overworld map. It clearly understands what make the originalDragon Quest 3special, with most new features being mechanical in nature and/or deeply rooted in the world and lore, like the Monster Arenas. Game Rant also spoke with producer Masaaki Hayasaka (via translator), who helped explain how the team approached new content and honored the franchise’s legacy.
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake Feels Like a Solid Improvement
The biggest change when hopping into thisDragon Quest 3remake is obviously the HD-2D graphics, but they are as crisp as any other game that has undergone this transformation. Fusing 2D pixel art with 3D graphics really makes a game pop, and it works with a lot of classic games for a reason. It does the same exact thing here: it doesn’t sacrifice the aesthetic or vibe of the game whatsoever, while elevating the visuals of the titles. It also modernizes and improves the UI, alongside other quality-of-life improvements like new animations and adjustable dialogue/battle speed, and every mechanical improvement goes a long way in making this originally 1988 game feel like a 2024 one. Otherimprovements toDragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remakeinclude 3 separate difficulty modes, the ability to save anywhere, performance and graphics modes, new enemy animations and status changes to reflect health loss, new story content, improved fast travel, quest markers, and more.
At the start of the demo, we messed around in the new Monster Arena feature. Here, players can pit monsters against others in team-basedPokemon-like combat. We can adjust strategies and make a few decisions, but otherwise, it very much fits into the hands-off approach ofDragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake’s combat. While the Monster Arena is a new feature, it’s one derived from the original game.
Whereas the original arenas saw players bet on the outcome of monster battles,Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remakeputs players as the leader behind that combat. As Hayasaka explained,
‘‘In the originalDragon Quest 3, there was a kind of monster arena, but the way that worked was that players would bet on the outcome of monster battles. That kind of gambling system wasn’t something that we wanted to do in a modern game, as it wouldn’t really work as well."
From this change also comes the new vocation inDragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake: The Monster Wrangler. Although this class appeared inDragon Quest 10(andDQ3 HD-2D Remake’s version is based on it), it adds something new toDragon Quest 3’s gameplay. We didn’t get to see the class, but based on trailers and footage so far, it seems to use a combination of Monster-oriented abilities and healing in combat.
Dragon Quest 2 HD-2D Remake Nails Its Vibe
Afterward, we found ourselves exploring the city before heading out into the world. We explored, engaged in its combat, and found ourselves just taking in the refreshed vibe of its world. For its combat, Masaaki Hayasaka also explained that the team considered making new animations that would see more first-person style attacks, instead of the off-hand animations seen in the game. However, the team decided against it because it made combat longer (even with the battle speed increases) and because it didn’t necessarily mesh with the vibe of the game. Again, respecting the original’s legacy was a driving factor for this remake. As Hayasaka said,
“The original is a masterpiece, so our number one policy is to verify that we respect the original, carrying over everything that made it into such a masterpiece in the first place. I knew that if we just went around changing things, people would come in and say, ‘‘How did they change this? This wasn’t what we wanted, this wasn’t how it used to be.’’ We wanted to make sure that we weren’t doing that.’’
As such, any change is to make the game mechanically better or, at the very least, fits into theworld ofDragon Quest 3. Overall, it makes for a very nostalgic feeling in the game, where everything is obviously new and improved but still feels so much like the original. There are still a couple of months until its release, butDragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remakeis shaping up to be everything fans expect.
