To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Dragon Quest series, Square-Enix held a livestream to talk about what is in the future of the ever-popular RPG series with series creator, Yuji Hori.
The big announcement is that the next mainline DQ game is in development. Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate is the name and appears to be going for a darker tone. No release window was given, but Hori said they are planning for a worldwide release. They are not ready to announce the hardware/consoles the game will be on. Interestingly, they are thinking about changing the traditional command battle system. Prototypes have been made, according to Hori.
The other big announcement is that there will be an HD-2D remake of 1988’s Dragon Quest III coming to consoles. It will be produced by the Octopath Traveler producer, Masaaki Hayasaka. No release window was given, but a worldwide release is planned. Hori also mentioned that they would also like to remake Dragon Quest I and II in this style as well.
One of two other minor announcements is Dragon Quest Treasures. It is a spin-off RPG featuring Erik and Mia from DQ XI. It is prequel that is set during their childhood. No platforms and no release date were given, but it is planned to also release in the west. It is being produced by Taichi Inuzuka who works on the DQ Monsters series.
The other minor announcement is Dragon Quest Poppy!, a free-to-play mobile puzzle game for both iOS and Android that is releasing in Japan this year; however, an overseas release is also planned.
That is all for the announcements that apply to the west, as the other two announcements were for DQ X, the Japan-only MMO. What is your favorite announcement? Comment down below!
Dave’s first Nintendo platform was the GameCube when he was age 7; however, he was introduced to Nintendo through Duck Hunt on NES.