Dragon Quest has had its share of spin-offs in recent years, but it’s been a long wait for the next mainline entry. While that wait will continue, Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake is out on November 14th for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Developed by Artdink, it’s based on the 1988 classic and delivers gorgeous visuals alongside quality-of-life features and new content. Here are 15 things you should know before picking it up.
Story
As the first chapter in a trilogy, which – fun fact – was originally developed by Chunsoft for the NES, Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake is about Erdrick, a hero who embarks on a quest to defeat the archfiend, Baramos. It’s a task that their father, Ortega, failed to accomplish, and at the best of the King of Aliahan, Erdrick must now see it done. There’s more to the story than meets the eye, but it’s a classic tale of heroism.
Visual Revamps
The biggest change with Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake lies in the name. It’s developed on Unreal Engine 4, but the key is the HD-2D look. Characters and enemies retain a classic sprite look, while the environments are in full 3D with realistic lighting and shadows. The contrast looks contemporary but retains that classic look and feel that fans know and love.
Side Quests
Of course, there’s more to the game than just the main quest. Players can take on side quests for additional rewards and XP in classic RPG fashion. One such side quest, as seen in recent gameplay, involves returning the Dreamstone to the fairies to lift a sleeping curse from Norvik village. The problem is finding it, and thus, players venture to the Underground Lake. There are other side quests, which can provide even more potent rewards, but other optional activities await, which we’ll get into later.
Customizing Party Members’ Appearances
If you’ve played any of the more recent Dragon Quest titles, then it may come as a surprise that Erdrick is the only character with a connection to the plot in your party. You can recruit others to fill different roles and assist in combat (up to four maximum). Those aren’t locked in stone either, as additional party members can be brought on and swapped out.
While Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake retains this, it offers more personalization for your party members. At Patty’s Party Planning Place, you can customize their appearances, names, and voices. It doesn’t seem like the most extensive creator, but the additional options are appreciated.
Vocations
Each party member has a Vocation, which is essentially their class. You know the drill – Mages specialize in spells; Warriors focus on physical damage and defense but lack agility; Martial Artists focus on bare-handed attacks; and so on. Though you can swap out Vocations, only Erdrick possesses the Hero Vocation, which can use spells and has high attack and defense on top of exclusive equipment.
Monster Wrangler Vocation
Though it also appears in Dragon Quest 10 and other spin-offs, the Monster Wrangler is brand new to Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake. They can learn monster skills and have extensive utility, whether hitting multiple enemies at once with rocks, stunning and causing them to lose a turn with a War Cry, or healing the party. Monster Wranglers also come in handy when rescuing friendly monsters since they won’t immediately flee from you.
Monster Arenas
Unlike in the original, Monster Arenas are much more involved, as players can use rescued monsters to create teams to compete in tournaments. These involve multiple fights in a row without any healing in between, but you can’t directly control the monsters, instead dictating what tactics they should use. Rescuing monsters of the same type also unlocks new abilities and improves their stats.
Episodes Focused on Ortega
The other big new content addition is the playable story surrounding Ortega, the Hero of Aliahan and Erdrick’s father. If you’ve ever wondered what happened as he embarked on his quest to defeat the Archfiend Baramos, these new episodes should shed some light. We’ll also see his encounter with Simão, battle brand new enemies, and how his journey ultimately ended in the iconic volcano.
Combat
As with many other titles in the series, combat is turn-based. Players and enemies take turns, with the former utilizing spells, weapon attacks, items, and other actions to achieve victory. It’s pretty straightforward, and like the classics, the perspective shifts to first-person whenever commands are executed.
Party Tactics
While you have direct control over party members, the remake also sports Party Tactics. Depending on the selected tactic, they’ll adjust their approach. For example, Show No Mercy is for when you want the party to attack without holding back. Conserve MP limits their spell usage, while Fight Wisely balances offense and defense. Whether you seek control over every action or your character alone is up to you.
Combat Speed Options
As enjoyable as combat can be, some might crave a faster pace. Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake has three battle speeds – Normal, Fast, and Ultra-Fast. Ultra-Fast may not seem all that essential, but combined with the new Party Tactics, it allows for quicker XP and Gold farming.
Difficulty Options
Regarding the difficulty, the original Dragon Quest 3 ranks fairly above the rest. For those who want an even more challenging journey, the remake offers three difficulty options – Dracky Quest, Dragon Quest, and Draconian Quest. On Dracky Quest, party members will deal more damage and bosses won’t regenerate HP. Dragon Quest is the default difficulty, while Draconian Quest difficulty will push you to the limit, increasing the health pools of bosses and even awarding less gold and XP.
PC Requirements
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake is pretty light with its PC requirements, with only 20 GB of installation space needed. On the Lowest graphical preset for 720p/60 FPS, you’ll need a Ryzen 3 1200 or Intel Core i3-6100, 8 GB RAM, and a Radeon RX 460, Intel Arc A380 or GeForce GTX 750. The recommended requirements for achieving the Highest graphics quality at 1080/60 FPS include a Ryzen 3 1200 or Intel Core i3-6100, 8 GB of RAM and a Radeon RX 470, an Arc A580 or a GeForce GTX 1060. Intel GPU users are explicitly required to have 16 GB VRAM.
Graphical modes
According to the developer when speaking to Game*Spark, Xbox Series X/S and PS5 players will have two graphical modes to choose from: Graphics and Performance. The former is focused on resolution and graphics quality, while the latter is all about the frame rate, though exact specifics on both have yet to be revealed. How it runs on Nintendo Switch is also a mystery, though judging by the lowest requirements on PC, it wouldn’t be surprising if it ran at 720p/60 FPS.
Playtime
The original Dragon Quest 3 is a pretty decently sized role-playing game – even if you stick to the Main Story, it’s about 28 hours to complete on average according to HowLongToBeat. This can go up to 33.5 hours for completionists. Though the developer hasn’t outlined the total playtime of the remake, it will end up longer, especially with the addition of Ortega’s episodes and the new Monster Arenas.
