Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake: an easy, old-school RPG

We’re in a reasonably good second for sprawling, complicated role-playing video games. New releases like Metaphor: ReFantazio and Dragon Age Absolution, together with older titles like Elden Ring (together with this yr’s enlargement), Cyberpunk 2077, and Baldur’s Gate 3 have sucked tens of millions of individuals into their expansive worlds. They are often all-consuming experiences, providing gamers every kind of freedom to discover their worlds and characters. However truthfully? Generally I don’t wish to fuss with dialog wheels or make troublesome, narrative-altering decisions. I simply wish to go on an enormous journey and slowly flip into an overpowered hero preventing monsters — and that’s the place the superb new remake of Dragon Quest 3 is available in.

The sport initially got here out method again in 1988 (it was initially known as Dragon Warrior 3 in North America) and it has a refreshingly easy premise: you’re on a quest to kill an excellent evil that your father didn’t destroy a few years earlier than. There are a number of colourful characters, however there isn’t a complete lot else to it past a quest for revenge. This isn’t a recreation you play for the story. As an alternative, it’s about occurring adventures, exploring unusual and harmful places, and killing plenty of cute blue slimes.

That simplicity has stood the check of time somewhat nicely, with techniques which are straightforward to understand whereas nonetheless providing a problem (even when the common battles can finally get tedious). This can be a good factor, as a result of the remake doesn’t change all that a lot. The exploration and turn-based battles all nonetheless really feel largely as they did. Because of this the sport follows a largely predictable path, as you go from one dungeon to the subsequent, visiting cities in between to relaxation and equipment up for the subsequent problem. There are some additions, like a brand new character class that permits you to accumulate monsters, together with further story scenes to flesh out the barebones narrative.

Although it’s principally the identical as the unique, there are main modifications to the presentation and a few notable high quality of life options. To begin, this model of Dragon Quest 3 seems to be unbelievable. It makes use of the identical visible model as video games like Octopatch Traveller and Triangle Technique, which Sq. Enix awkwardly calls “HD 2D.” Principally, these are nonetheless video games with pixel artwork characters, however they discover extremely detailed worlds. The builders then throw in a tilt-shift impact that offers the entire thing a diorama-like look. The result’s a recreation that appears decidedly old-school, however in a slick, fashionable method. I particularly love the lovable monster animations in battle. There’s additionally an up to date orchestral rating carried out by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, together with all-new voice appearing.

It’s extra than simply an aesthetic overhaul, although. The Dragon Quest 3 remake additionally makes some very good tweaks that always make it much less irritating to play. These embody a extra helpful map that makes it simpler to search out the place you’re headed, an possibility to hurry up battles so you may grind faster, and a handful of problem choices. These might sound small, however they’re the form of fashionable conveniences that may make many older video games troublesome to play, particularly ones constructed round repetitive fight like a basic RPG. Smoothing out these few tough edges has a huge impact on the general really feel of a recreation like Dragon Quest 3.

Although it’s technically the third recreation of the sequence, this model of Dragon Quest can also be an excellent place for newcomers to see what the sequence is all about (and actually, issues haven’t modified all that a lot through the years). It’s a reasonably, approachable approach to expertise an epic quest with out getting overwhelmed by story or options. It’s simply you, some swords and magic, and a complete lot of monsters to defeat. Generally, that’s all you actually need.

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D is out there now on the Swap, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.