Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake (2024)

Those FF the past many years leave a lot to be desired (I would call many even bad) but ChatGPT says to give this a chance:

"Most fans agree that the Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is one of the best examples of a classic JRPG remake done right—it’s visually stunning, respectful of the source, and only lightly modernized. While some purists still prefer the original for its nostalgia and simplicity, the remake is widely considered a worthy and even definitive way to experience the game for both newcomers and returning players."

Decent Reviews here... I really need to continue this series. 😿

I am super obsessed with JRPGs since I can recall really. I remember playing Dragon Quest 3 NES version when I was a little, but the game was too complex for me to understand, plus English was not my native language so it was very hard for me to get through it.

Fast-forward into the future, when I played Dragon Quest Xi. I was confused at first. How come a series running for so long had remained this classic to its roots? At first, I thought it was old-fashioned and boring, but as things started to happen, I was really into it. So why didn’t a play the other games? I was really looking forward to playing a more up-to-date version of the original games, and I really didn’t want to go back to its original releases nor the re-releases… and when this game was released, I knew it was it!

This was such a fun experience. I was a little bit concerned of the 2D-HD graphics at first, but honestly, I think it was the right choice – the game was able to remain classic, yet fresh at the same time.

The story is very classic and straightforward, but it has some touching moments here and there that are presented with very few sentences yet VERY WELL delivered.

The music is very touching – I did wish it had a couple more themes, but that’s fine. And then the gameplay was VERY addictive, the JRPG-iticality of it all!

Super recommended for those who love JRPGs and never had the time for this great classic.

Looking forwward to the new 2D-HD versions for I&II!

What do you think about 2D-HD graphics?

I am what we could say "a 2D-HD hater". I mean, it looks good in Octopath Travellers because it was unique and maps were like a diorama. But Square are using those graphics in tons of games: Live a Live, Star Ocean, Dragon Quest... They were games that looked pretty different, but they used the same graphics for all of them.

Also, it combines sprites and 3D with no intent of make a good combination. It looks like they just "throw" sprites in a 3D world. This game, for example, doesn't look good, and it doesn't look like a Dragon Quest either.

But... everyone likes it, so I don't know what to think. What about you?

Even though I own Dragon Quest 7 and 8 on 3DS, I have actually never played a Dragon Quest game in my life. I started out as a Final Fantasy fiend, and will probably die one, but something tells me I need some Dragon Quest in my life after seeing this on Steam... The only thing that turns me off is that I saw DQ 7 and 8 were clocked at like 70 hours on howlongtobeat. I can tolerate up to 50-55 hours tops.

I know people like the HD-2D aesthetic, but I find the juxtaposition of pixel sprites against 2.5D backgrounds rather off-putting. The two clash in a way that isn't pleasing to me, and some of the 2.5D backgrounds look particularly drab, like that in the screenshot below:

The effect is somewhat reduced on a small scale, but it's quite disappointing on a big screen. Maybe that's the beauty of playing it handheld, where that clash between aesthetic styles is softened.

However, other backgrounds where 3D objects have been textured with pixel-art styled assets look great, and I wish the game was consistent throughout.

Why does Dragon Quest III get such a wonderful remake treatment, when most other Square Enix remasters/remakes look like utter trash? This remake looks like it both updates the game while respecting its aesthetic origins. Updated menu boxes alone fit in a way that we seldom see in updated Square titles. Compare this to the menu and text boxes in the PC release of Chrono Trigger. Chrono's menus are downright atrocious. DQ III updated text boxes look like accurate approximations of old 8- and 16-bit boxes. Or compare this to the recent Saga Frontier remaster that has awful pixel smoothing and really bland and out of place text boxes. I wish more of the current remakes and remasters had as much love invested in them as this DQ III remake seems to have.