Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake Review
In a year already chock-full of excellent remakes like Persona 3 Reload and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, it’s impressive that I can still call Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake one of the best I’ve ever played. That’s not because it sets out to redefine the 1988 NES original like Square Enix did with Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth, but because of how it strikes a nearly perfect balance between faithfully sticking to the bones of Dragon Quest III while adding modern quality-of-life improvements and a beautiful new coat of paint that make it more fun than ever to explore and battle across its surprisingly dense overworld. Dragon Quest III is a true godfather of the RPG genre, and this immensely satisfying retelling so clearly spells out why it’s one of gaming’s essential works.
HD-2D Remake is fundamentally the same adventure Dragon Quest III has always been, and it’s hard not to marvel at how well its original blueprint still holds up in 2024. This is as classic as JRPGs get – the genre boiled down to its absolute essentials of rock-solid turn-based combat, atmospheric caves and dungeons filled with monsters and treasure, and a straightforward story about good versus evil that asks you to fill in a lot of the gaps with your imagination. It evokes nostalgia for a bygone era of video games in the best ways while proving it still has the stuff to hang with the fancy, modern RPGs.
Despite the unabashedly old-school design, it does manage to feel new thanks to its overhauled graphics, and Dragon Quest and the HD-2D style pioneered by Octopath Traveler are an absolute perfect combination. The enemy design is amazing, with highly-detailed sprites and animations that are a joy to look at. The late Akira Toriyama’s signature style is wonderfully realized here, and battles feel more dynamic with each enemy’s lively animations for attacking and defending. Towns are delightful to explore, with stunning castles, houses, and shops that are breathtaking to look at from the
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