''LONG ENOUGH TITLE, SQUARE?''
Developed: Squre-Enix
Published: Square-Enix
Genre: RPG
Release Date: November 14th, 2024
Platforms: PS5/Xbox Family/NSW/STEAM
*Review copy provided to me by Square-Enix
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake is the latest remake to hit the market and it is developed and published by Square-Enix. Having had the opportunity to play this over a week early thanks to an opportunity from Square-Enix, I focused on two simple things, for one, does this remake live up to the standard of remakes that Square has brought forth in the past? or do they finally fall short in that department and have their streak end? well honestly, there's only one way to find out the answer to those questions, so lets go!
''THATS MY THRONE''
GAMEPLAY:
Dragon Quest is back and aiming to refuel our nostalgia as Square-Enix now brings us a remake of the classic Dragon Quest 3, with a long winded title known as Dragon Quest 3 H.D.-2.D. Remake. I mean.. Square come on now, you think you could've made it ANY longer? or did you listen to the people who name all of the Kingdom Heart games? just saying. The revitalized H.D.-2.D. remake of the classic Dragon Quest 3 completely aims to maintain the charm of the original 1988 title, but this time for a modern audience. Uh oh, modern audience, that can't be a good thing right? well honestly, in this case, yes it is, it is actually a very good thing. Using the same H.D.-2.D. type of style that's similar to other great R.P.G's such as Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy, Dragon Quest 3 gives itself a true visual reimagining that appeals to not only fans of the original title from the 80's, but also to anyone new to the franchise that may be diving in for the first time. Which if this is your first time playing a Dragon Quest game, then Dragon Quest 3 is actually the best place to start that journey as this is where the series story officially begins in canon. Now if we can only make Vegeta's brother in the Dragon Ball specials be non-canon so we can pretend he's not married to a weird looking alien... only then would the world truly start healing. It goes without saying that this remake also gives way to a lot of visual upgrading that makes the old sprites that you know and love look even better than they previously did the last time you saw them, with a few modern twists here and there, which include fully reimagined towns, dungeons, better textures for landscapes your tread across, way better lighting, etc. It all feels extremely cozy and even inviting just based off the visual appeal of it all alone. Basically it does the opposite of what a lot of remakes or remasters do which is upgrade the graphics, but either the original looked better due to the lighting or they took creative liberties to ''update'' specific parts of the game WAY too much, making it lose the charm the original had. I'm looking at you ONCE AGAIN, Until Dawn. Luckily for my sanity and the sanity of all Dragon Quest fans, the gorgeous visual upgrade adds a new dimension to the already great exploration that we experienced in the original, on top of all characters, even with their visual upgrades, retaining their iconic pixel art look, but using a render of their character that is engulfed and rendered with modern lighting effects that makes the game look both like a brand new style game, like again, seen with titles like Octo-path Traveler, but also keeps the appeal of why we loved the original Dragon Quest 3, as well and keeping it truly authentic to series of Dragon Quest in general. But honestly, should we be surprised? Square-Enix has basically mastered the style of H.D.-2.D. and keeps upping the quality the more games that utilize it. Something Blizzard should've taken to heart with Warcraft 3 Reforged, because yikes, just what in the heck was THAT?.
Jumping on over to the gameplay aspect, what you know and loved about the gameplay itself generally remains intact and true to the original that you remember, preserving the turn based combat and exploration that we as Dragon Quest fans have become extremely addicted to and love over the decades. Thankfully, Square also thought ahead like most of their recent remakes and remasters and also introduce quite a few quality of life changes that improves the experience for newer and older players... but mainly new ones since Dragon Quest games can tend to be a tad bit on the grindy side. Which is not a problem for me, I can spend 10 hours in one spot fighting a MOB over and over getting 30 E.X.P. per kill and do that till I level up like ten levels. Easy, no sweat. But ask me to take out the garbage before trash day? meh.. ''I'll do it later'' and then procrastinate till the last minute. The quality of life improvements this go around are more so aimed at modern players who typically do NOT want to spend their time grinding, have longer days at their jobs or even maybe only get a few hours of the day to dedicate to video games. By not leaving modern players out of the mix, Dragon Quest 3 this go around offers players faster battle options, more customizable character appearances, new battle tactics to streamline the gameplay more to make action feel more snappy and engaging, but doing so in a way that doesnt negate the strategic depth of the actual original, or lessen the impact of what the series of Dragon Quest is known for. However, wait! THERES MORE. Also entering the fray is the newly added mechanic known as Monster Wrangler, which adds another new dimension and uniqueness to the combat system by allowing players to recruit monsters as allies to fight by your side, similar to the way it works out in titles like Monster Hunter Stories. These monsters can be used during your main battles or even entered into competition in the awesome Monster Arena. If you were already addicted to the combat itself, then Monster Wrangler with its fresh strategic change to the combat system, allows for multiple different playstyles as you test and figure out which monster you ally with fits best for you in specific scenarios. What makes it more interesting though is that it does NOT take away from the core combat style, which you'd think that type of change to a classic system like this would in a way, but strikingly it flows very well and compliments more than circumvents. This seems to be again a problem with a lot of games, with one of the biggest offenders being Oddworld New and Tasty that completely lost sight of why it was remade and remastered in the first place and ignored the atmosphere of the original. But Square is on top of their game here, even with silly monsters in tow.
Monsters you say? oh ya were not done with monsters just yet, well unless you're one eyed freaks like Mike Wazowski. Silly one eyed goofball, I'll give you a pass but right now, move it, you're in the way kid, we have other monsters to get to. What are these monsters I speak of? well thats simple, its the great Monster Arena of course. Monster Arena this go around has been reworked, much like the rest of the game and now offers you as a player a far more immersive experience by allowing you to enter your recruited monsters via Monster Wrangler into battle and spectate like a Pokemon match and watch your chosen characters do battle against each other.. which only further ups your addiction to want to go on a monster collecting spree, trust me. Sadly, I don't get to have a cool looking pokemon creature myself, I just have an angry little Chicky who warks at me for food. So lame. Monster Arena in general is a very awesome thing and helps you enjoy some good ol friendly competition while also mixing up the combat a bit by again bringing in your Monster Wrangler class to the mix for this arena and even furthers the endless combinations of monster allies that are usable to keep all challenges here in the arena even more fresh and way more challenging. Plus it helps that it cuts down the grinding and leveling up here nad makes it feel cut in half compared to before and lets players get through it faster, rather than spending 20 hours trying to reach a certain level and ultimately falling asleep because it got a tad bit repetitive. So thank you ol mighty Monster Wrangler, you have saved many a player quite the headache. But wait? visuals being great, retaining exploration of original, classic combat thats enhanced by Monster Wrangler class, improved Monster Arena, those are great yes, but aren't we forgetting something? oh yeah, oops, the story, well duh. The story here in Dragon Quest 3 follows of course the typical and classic Dragon Quest formula with players taking on the role of the child of the great hero Ortega as you set out to defeat the major archfiend Baramos. As the dangers become more clear and treacherous, your quest will take you across a big diverse world thats filled with various villages, engaging dungeons and mysteries that make everything you thought you knew about your journey, come into question. Much like people agreeing to let me drive in a video game, no matter how many times I crash, they still keep giving me the keys to the vehicle. Oh well, maybe this time will be different? YEAH... NO.
''AIM FOR THE HEAD''
OVERALL:
At the end of the day, Dragon Quest 3 H.D.-2.D. Remake exceeds at capturing the magic and scope of the original, but in a definitive format. Sure the plot for the game may not be as broad and feel a bit simplistic due to being the same story from the 1988 classic and not up to date with modern story telling cliches, some aspects and parts of combat getting repetitive at times especially if any area keeps repeating enemy mobs, etc. But with a game focused on journey, exploration, polished visuals, an amazing enhanced soundtrack, great quality of life gameplay upgrades, addition of Monster Wrangler that adds way more strategy to your arsenal, all of those added up together makes this not only an amazing remake, but honestly, it might make this the definitive way to play Dragon Quest 3 from now on. So with all that having been said, my verdict is clear, GameNChick says BUY NOW!
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