As someone who has spent countless hours immersed in the enchanting world of retro JRPGs, I must say that Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake has truly struck a chord with me. Growing up with the original game, I can wholeheartedly attest to its endearing charm and engaging gameplay, but this remake has taken it to new heights.
On February 10, 1988, the gaming company Enix (before it merged with Squaresoft to become Square Enix) launched Dragon Quest 3 for the NES in Japan. This was the third game in the iconic Dragon Quest series, which was praised by both fans and critics as one of the most groundbreaking turn-based JRPGs of the 1980s. It built upon the mechanics of its predecessors and introduced innovative features that later games in the series would carry forward, such as creating and customizing party members, a day/night cycle, an open-world style gameplay structure, and more.
Since its initial release, Dragon Quest 3 has been re-introduced globally across various platforms and undergone several updates, including the focus of our current review – Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake. This remastered version seeks to recreate the classic JRPG experience with an HD-2D visual style, refine its intricate class system by revamping existing Vocations and introducing a new Monster Wrangler Vocation, enrich its narrative through additional lore for a deeper storyline, and offer fresh optional difficulty and accessibility options to attract novice players while preserving the original game’s challenging nature for veteran gamers.
Instead of asking “Does it succeed?”, a more conversational way could be: “Did it manage to impress me? Absolutely, let me share my thoughts on the Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake and why I believe it’s the finest version of this globally acclaimed JRPG yet.
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake Review – What is it?
Similar to earlier renditions of Dragon Quest 3, the Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake is a turn-based role-playing game set in a Japanese-inspired fantasy world. In this adventure, you assume the role of a young protagonist and a team of customizable characters as you embark on a journey to thwart the evil Baramos and save the realm from his wicked grasp.
You’ll embark on a journey to gather intel about Baramos and the gear necessary to strengthen your team, aid townspeople under threat by monsters, accomplish secondary missions for enticing rewards, and delve into intricate dungeons to vanquish Baramos’ minions in tactical, turn-based battles.
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake Review – Presentation: Graphics, sound and performance
One of the key attractions for this remake is the game’s stunning HD-2D visual style, which blends 2D pixel-art characters with 3D backgrounds enhanced by realistic lighting effects. In simpler terms, think of it as a combination of 2D sprite-based character designs set against detailed 3D environments. This unique art style gained popularity during the 1990s in games like Grandia, Xenogears, Breath of Fire 3, and others. More recently, HD-2D has seen a resurgence due to the success of Square Enix’s Octopath Traveler series and the remake of Live A Live.
Clearly, the HD-2D art style in this remake is an ideal match for Dragon Quest 3. It preserves the nostalgic allure of the Super Nintendo version’s pixel art graphics, yet brings it up to date with contemporary visual standards. The characters and monsters are intricately detailed in their pixel-art form, featuring seamless animations. Meanwhile, the backdrops in 3D are beautifully enriched by realistic lighting and fog effects.
Without a doubt, it truly stands out during strategic combat sequences, showcasing iconic beasts from the Dragon Quest universe in vivid detail through animated sprites. The player’s team engages these monsters with flamboyant, stunning spells and special moves that are visually captivating spectacles.
The Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake boasts an enhanced experience, thanks to a grand rearrangement of its original NES soundtrack by veteran series composer Koichi Sugiyama. This new arrangement is epic and stirring, while occasional instances of skillful voice acting breathe life into certain characters within the narrative.
In terms of smoothness and visual quality, the Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake performs exceptionally well on both PC and Xbox platforms, consistently hitting frame rates of 60FPS and 1080p resolution. This enhances the appealing HD-2D art style of the game. I personally tested the Steam version of Dragon Quest 3 using a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card and an Intel Core i5-9400 CPU, but even if your computer isn’t equipped with the latest high-end components, you can rest easy. The system requirements for this game are quite modest, so upgrading to top-of-the-line graphics cards isn’t necessary to run Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake at its best visual settings.
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake Review – Story
In a realm of enchantment, teeming with peril, I find myself as the heir of a legendary warrior named Ortega. This valiant hero, in days long past, waged a battle against the malevolent Archfiend Baramos, yet never returned from the fray. Now, in this present moment, I am compelled to complete my ancestor’s unfinished mission. With a heart full of courage and a spirit burning with determination, I set forth on an epic journey across the world, vowing to vanquish Baramos once and for all, reclaiming our realm from the clutches of darkness. And as the player, you have the power to name me and guide my destiny as we stand united against the forces of evil.
In essence, the tale of Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake closely mirrors the classic NES edition of Dragon Quest 3, maintaining its timeless conflict between Good and Evil. You, along with your crew, are tasked with saving the world from a band of comically wicked adversaries. The narrative is generally linear, offering foreseeable plot turns (with a few exceptions) and limited character growth. Interestingly, each member of your party is a customizable avatar without much individuality or personality.
In the remade version of Dragon Quest 3, the storyline is more effectively presented than in past versions due to its enhanced cinematography made possible by the upgraded HD-2D artwork and its enriched orchestral music score.
Although Dragon Quest 3’s storyline might seem simple compared to later games such as Dragon Quest 11 and Dragon Quest 8, which are known for their grand, expansive narratives, it is skillfully crafted. Moreover, this early installment features a few engaging sub-plots that left me captivated by their execution and development, given the limited complexity in videogame stories during its era, often focusing on rescuing princesses or preventing dragon-born catastrophes from consuming the world.
In contrast, the narrative in Dragon Quest 3’s HD-2D Remake is significantly enhanced compared to earlier versions, primarily due to its upgraded cinematography and high-definition 2D art style, as well as an orchestral soundtrack. This upgrade enables certain scenes to carry a stronger emotional resonance, free from the hardware constraints of NES, SNES, or Game Boy Color.
Moreover, delving into non-spoiler details, the Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake includes extra scenes within the main plot. These additional scenes offer in-depth background information about specific characters and fresh lore tidbits that seasoned Dragon Quest enthusiasts will find delightful.
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake Review – Gameplay
In the style of classic Japanese Role Playing Games (JRPGs), Dragon Quest 3’s gameplay is quite conventional. You, alongside your team of heroes, embark on a journey across the world. Along the way, you interact with towns for guidance about your next destination, purchase equipment and healing items, delve into ominous dungeons where battles against adversaries in turn-based combat are inevitable, and so forth. Essentially, you follow this pattern repeatedly.
In the revamped HD-2D edition of the game, while the core gameplay remains remarkably similar to its predecessors, it introduces innovative exploration and combat features for enhanced accessibility. To begin with, it comes equipped with a novel Recall function in the settings menu, enabling you to save important dialogues with Non-Player Characters (NPCs). This tool is designed to aid memory retention of clues they give out, thereby guiding you towards your next main mission or side quest.
As a fellow enthusiast, let me share some features that can enhance the gaming experience for beginners: Adjustable difficulty settings to tailor battles according to your taste, whether you prefer an easier or harder challenge. Additionally, objective markers and logs will help keep track of your main goals, while maps will serve as your guide through the game’s world, towns, and dungeons, ensuring you never get lost!
These fresh quality-of-life improvements are beneficial enhancements because navigating through the extensive world and intricate dungeons in previous versions could get perplexing. Plus, players often had to remember tips given by NPCs to advance the storyline. Fortunately, Square Enix has revamped certain scenes in the remake, making it easier for players to understand where they need to go next.
It’s worth mentioning that many of these life-improving features are entirely discretionary. If you’re a seasoned Dragon Quest player eager to experience Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D as it was originally played without aid, you can disable the objective markers and logs in the settings menu, disregard the Recall function and maps altogether, and instead rely solely on your memory of NPC hints, mirroring the gameplay from the NES, SNES, or Game Boy Color versions.
Vocations have received major upgrades across the board
As a devoted fan, I must say that the most significant shift in gameplay for me is the revamped character classes or Vocations in the HD-2D Remake. These are roles you assign to your party members at creation, and they span an extensive spectrum, from warriors and priests to mages, thieves, merchants, and beyond.
In the remake, almost every profession boasts an abundance of fresh skills that they didn’t possess in earlier versions. Take the Warrior for instance; it was devoid of any special moves or magic abilities before. But now, the Warrior has a vast array of new skills, many of which are aimed at shielding fellow party members. Additionally, there are powerful sword-fighting techniques that cause significant damage.
In the HD-2D Remake, the Martial Artist, Thief, Merchant, and Gadabout Vocations have all received significant updates. The Martial Artist now boasts powerful new super moves, while the Thief has been equipped with numerous utility skills that prove beneficial in and out of combat. Even the eccentric Merchant and Gadabout Vocations have become more versatile, thanks to newly added abilities that will significantly aid the party during the latter stages of the game.
In the revamped Vocations for Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, they’ve added a fresh Vocation that hasn’t been featured in any prior editions of Dragon Quest 3 – the role of the Monster Tamer or simply, the Monster Wrangler.
The Monster Tamer (originally introduced as the Monster Master Vocation in Dragon Quest 6) is essentially a character class that specializes in befriending creatures. The primary feature of this role is capturing friendly Non-Player Characters (NPCs) during your travels and expeditions through the world and dungeons. By doing so, they can learn battle techniques by managing these captured creatures in their enclosure. Moreover, Monster Tamers have the ability to summon all the beasts they’ve befriended onto the battlefield, where they can combine their attacks to inflict significant damage on enemies, with the effectiveness increasing based on the number of friendly creatures you’ve tamed.
I really enjoy the job of Monster Tamer because it not only has an impressive character design but also provides a thrilling experience in combat. By hunting and subduing monsters, you can acquire incredibly potent abilities that make quick work of bosses, much like a hot knife through butter. Additionally, the Monster Arena mini-game offers opportunities for significant rewards when you win tournaments, making this profession quite profitable.
Though it may be frustrating that you don’t have direct control over your monsters in the Monster Arena, only able to influence their AI behavior towards favoring specific abilities, the enjoyment and value of this experience lies in the abundance of cash and equipment rewards available to win.
One way to rephrase that sentence would be: “What I find most enjoyable about the revamped Vocations and the fresh Monster Wrangler Vocation is their ability to introduce more diversity to the turn-based battle system. Although the initial combat system in earlier versions was straightforward and functional, it could grow monotonous as you had to strategically arrange your party’s Vocations with repetitive tactics when facing challenging bosses.
A world of new possibilities at the Alltrades Abbey
At some stage, you’ll come across a structure known as the Alltrades Abbey, where you can switch your party member’s professions, or Vocations, as many times as desired. When a character switches professions, they keep all the skills they’ve learned and get half of the stats they had from their previous profession, effectively enabling multi-classing. However, the main character isn’t able to switch professions because they are fixed with the Hero Vocation, which is quite potent in its own way, so it’s not much of a disadvantage.
Back in 1988, the Respec feature in this game was groundbreaking and definitely a step ahead of other games at that time. However, when I first played it on the Super Nintendo years ago, I seldom utilized the Alltrades Abbey feature because most Vocations didn’t have abilities that were particularly useful for inheriting. But now, with the new skills every Vocation has been given in this remake, plus the addition of the Monster Wrangler Vocation, there are plenty more incentives to make use of the Alltrades Abbey and build a diverse array of strong characters for your team.
In the Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, I developed a formidable character named “Jezerath.” Initially, I made him a Priest to master healing spells. Later, I transformed him into a Warrior to equip him with heavy armor. Subsequently, I switched his class to Merchant to enhance his attack power and summoning abilities. Afterward, I changed him back into a Warrior. By the conclusion of the game, Jezerath had become a Paladin-like figure, shielding my party while annihilating enemies with an array of lethal physical attacks.
I’ve dedicated numerous hours to brainstorming and testing different class combinations using the Alltrades Abbey, aiming to develop extraordinary characters that could wield unprecedented abilities against adversaries. The outcomes varied dramatically, with some instances resulting in amusing failures and others leading to magnificent victories.
This is just one example of how insanely in-depth the Vocation system has become in the HD-2D Remake. I spent hours theory-crafting and experimenting with multi-classing Vocations via the Alltrades Abbey to see what kind of godlike heroes I could create to unleash their newfound powers onto enemies. The results ranged from hilarious disasters to glorious triumphs.
In Dragon Quest 3, they’ve refreshed the traditional turn-based battle system with a sprinkle of innovation, ensuring that gameplay doesn’t feel monotonous or like a simple repeat of earlier versions.
To achieve power, you must be prepared to level-grind for it
At Alltrades Abbey, if you switch your character’s vocation, there’s a significant drawback: their levels are reset to 1. This implies that you’ll have to grind by battling monsters and accumulating EXP (experience points) to get them back up to the same level as the rest of your party, which may take quite some time.
This leads to probably the biggest problem I feel most people may have with Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake – level-grinding. Modern Dragon Quest games, like Dragon Quest 11, for example, are pretty forgiving when it comes to the amount of EXP needed to level up your characters. However, a lot of the NES and Super Nintendo-era Dragon Quests were not, requiring tens of thousands of EXP to level up. The same is true for Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake.
Towards the end of the game, you’ll find yourself spending a considerable amount of time battling enemies to increase your characters’ levels so they can learn new skills to help them survive against tough bosses. This can be quite challenging if you’re not well-prepared and it can also be quite tedious and time-consuming.
If you can’t stomach the thought of level-grinding fighting the same enemies over and over for a couple of hours at a time, then this game may not be for you.
I’m grateful to find that Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake offers a few enhancements that help expedite level grinding compared to past versions. One such feature is the adjustable difficulty setting, which can be cranked up to its easiest level, allowing me to accumulate substantial EXP from standard battles without having to painstakingly hunt down the elusive and scarce Metal Slime monsters for massive EXP boosts. Once I’ve reached my desired level or completed a specific objective, I can easily revert back to my preferred difficulty setting.
I also recommend adjusting the animation speed of turn-based battles to ‘Fast’ or ‘Ultra-Fast’ so you can get battles with low-level monsters over and done within a flash. On top of that, when a character changes Vocations at the Alltrades Abbey, the amount of EXP they need to level back up to their previous level is cut down by a good margin. However, if you can’t stomach the thought of level-grinding fighting the same enemies over and over for a couple of hours at a time, then this game may not be for you.
A Personality problem
One aspect of this game that I find challenging is the Character Trait system, which influences how quickly your teammates improve their stats during level-ups. You can momentarily alter a character’s trait using certain items, or permanently modify it by consulting books.
As an analyst, I find myself leaning more towards games that don’t heavily rely on Personality systems due to the time-consuming nature of understanding their usefulness. The trial-and-error aspect can be quite frustrating as it often leads to wasted hours. Moreover, Personality systems have a tendency to make a significant portion of the accessible equipment redundant. If one isn’t meticulous about an accessory’s description, it could inadvertently modify a party member’s Personality and disrupt their statistics without warning. It comes as no surprise that this feature hasn’t been reintroduced in subsequent Dragon Quest titles, as it seems to lack the polish necessary for a satisfying gaming experience.
Is Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake playable on handheld consoles?
Indeed, as Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake has been verified for Steam Deck, you’ll find no trouble enjoying this game on superior portable gaming devices such as the Steam Deck, Lenovo Legion Go, or ASUS ROG Ally.
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake Review – Should you buy it?
You should play this if …
✅If you’re a fan of old-school lighthearted JRPGs or a fan of Dragon Quest
The Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake retains its traditional JRPG essence but has been updated to remain contemporary without compromising the charm of the original game. It boasts a humorous storyline, an engaging turn-based battle system, revamped character classes, and a vibrant world teeming with hidden treasures and optional missions to explore.
You should not play this if …
❌You prefer RPGs with darker stories or don’t like level grinding.
As a dedicated fan, I’ve noticed that Dragon Quest games typically steer clear from deep, dark themes, preferring instead to maintain a more upbeat and light-hearted atmosphere. However, when they do touch upon heavier subjects, the emotional impact can be quite profound. That being said, if you’re looking for a dose of darkness in Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, you might be disappointed as its storyline of ‘Good Vs Evil’ is as traditional and bright as it gets.
In case you find level grinding tedious, you might not relish playing Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake. The game requires a reasonable amount of this activity, particularly if you aim to maximize its character class system or encounter less difficulty when facing the tough bosses in the later stages.
In summary, I found Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake quite enjoyable. It managed to update a cherished retro JRPG without losing its nostalgic appeal. The HD-2D graphics are visually appealing, the battle system is fun, and the character class system through Vocations has seen significant enhancements. New user-friendly features enrich the gameplay experience, and there’s plenty of immersive content to keep you occupied for extended periods.
While the level grinding can be tedious and demanding during the latter portions of the game, I feel the reward is worth the effort now that you can have tons of new character-builds to create and experiment with due to the overhauled Vocations in this remake. If you’re a stalwart fan of Dragon Quest who grew up playing previous versions of Dragon Quest 3 or a lover of retro old-school JRPGs that hark back to the 1980s or 1990s, then you’re going to love this game.
The Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake is scheduled to drop on November 14, 2024, across platforms including Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Steam for PC. Among the top games I played in 2024, this one truly stood out on both PC and Xbox. I’m eagerly anticipating Square Enix’s approach to rebooting the initial and sequel primary entries of the Dragon Quest series, with the Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake slated for release in 2025.
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2024-11-13 18:11