Dragon Quest III HD-2D Preview – Preview

Over three years ago, we got our first look at the latest remake for the long-running Dragon Quest franchise, a series that’s been no stranger to the remake treatment. My main exposure to the third Dragon Quest title came in the form of the mobile port released on Switch in 2019, and while I did enjoy the gameplay and story, the visuals left me wanting. You can imagine my delight at the 2021 announcement of Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, and with the game’s November 14th release date looming, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to go hands-on with the Switch version at PAX West.

The demo begins in the town of Romaly, and we were encouraged to try out the new monster arena battle mini-game that’s been added for the remake, which will be familiar to long-time DQ fans. After trouncing my three sets of opponents, I raked in some rewards and set off for the open dungeon of the demo, Skyfell Tower. It was handy to have the Zoom spell available from the main menu, rather than it being a spell I needed to learn and cast. The dungeon offered random encounters that showcased the revamped battle screen in all its HD-2D glory, with your squad of characters visible at the outset of combat before the perspective reverted to the traditional menu-based/row of enemies look. Spells and attacks had a much more distinct effect on screen, but I could see newcomers and even veterans perhaps wanting a little bit more oomph (not the spell) in terms of the battle presentation. The random encounter also seemed a little bit high during the dungeon portion of the demo.

Following my victory over Robbin’ ‘ood and his pals atop the Tower, I elected to explore a couple of the towns to soak in the visual splendor and test performance. Playing the game in handheld mode provided an opportunity to gauge things like loading times, pop-in, and frame drops; from what I could tell in my 30-minute session, the performance was very solid, with fairly short loads, almost no object pop-in, and what appeared to be a consistent frame rate. The HD-2D graphics add a palpable vitality and charm to the already charming towns I visited, with the standout being a woodland village whose name escapes me. The familiar sights and sounds that DQ fans have grown so fond of are alive and well in this Square Enix remake.

With the ability to customize your own party, in the vein of the original Final Fantasy, and the addition of a new job class–Monster Wrangler–whose talents focus on using monster-inspired abilities, there’s more to love about Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake than just what’s in front of your eyes. Seeing the game in action and getting some hands-on Switch time with it made me confident that this version should be able to hold its own against those on other platforms. November 14th may be just around the corner, but we’ve got a few other RPGs to cover at Nintendo World Report in the meantime, so stay tuned for more impressions from PAX West.