On May 27th, 1986, the original Dragon Quest was first released in Japan. In the decades since, Square Enix has celebrated that date with Dragon Quest Day, which usually sees new announcements and updates on existing titles. This year is no exception, as the company has offered updates on two games that fans have been waiting to hear about: the remake of Dragon Quest III, as well as Dragon Quest XII, the next numbered entry in the franchise. A remake of Dragon Quest III was first announced on Dragon Quest Day 2021, and this is the first time we've even heard about the game since!

A short teaser trailer for Dragon Quest III was released today, and unlike the previous one, this one doesn't have any actual gameplay footage. It does, however, reveal all the platforms that will be supported: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Steam, and Windows. The trailer can be found below.



Dragon Quest III Remake
Dragon Quest III is one of the most beloved games in the long-running series, so it makes sense that Square Enix is giving the game a remake! As revealed back in 2021, the game will utilize Square Enix's popular HD-2D style, which has been used in games like Octopath Traveler, Triangle Strategy, and Live a Live. Unfortunately, we still don't have a release date or much of anything else to go on. However, it's possible we could learn more next month. A new Nintendo Direct is set to take place in June, and that would seem like the kind of game that would be featured. There's also Summer Game Fest, and Square Enix had a lot to show at last year's event, including a release date for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Dragon Quest XII
While the remake of Dragon Quest III seems to be coming soon, Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate could still be a far way off. However, series creator Yuji Horii did celebrate Dragon Quest Day with a small update on the game's status. On Twitter, Horii talked about the need to honor those that have passed since the release of Dragon Quest XI.

"Thank you so much to everyone for all the congratulations. I'm sorry for the worry about Dragon Quest 12, but I was just having a meeting about it," Horii wrote on Twitter (translated by Google). "I can't say much yet, but I want to make something worthy of the posthumous work of the two people who passed away. I'll do my best!"

Horii is speaking about Akira Toriyama and Koichi Sugiyama. Sugiyama died in 2021, after composing the music for every numbered game in the series, as well as several spin-offs. Toriyama passed more recently, in March 2024; he was the character designer on the series, starting with the original Dragon Quest, and staying with the series all the way through Dragon Quest XI. It's hard to imagine a new game in the series without the involvement of these two creators, and it will be interesting to see how the project takes shape!

Posted: Jun 03, 2024 10:19 am
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/square-enix-dragon-quest-day-2024-new-details/