Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is a modern reimagining of one of the most influential JRPGs in history from 1988, which on PlayStation 5 uses the same HD-2D graphics as previous Dragon Quest remakes, combining pixel-art characters with the depth of three-dimensional environments, dramatic lighting, and distance blur. The game follows a young hero who, on his sixteenth birthday, sets out into a world full of monsters to complete the legacy of his father, a warrior named Ortega, while the series' classic turn-based combat system remains faithful to the original, only streamlined and sped up for today's players accustomed to a more modern pace of play. The player assembles a party of their own, nameable characters, whose appearance and abilities are determined by their chosen vocation, and can retrain them into a different vocation at any time in the capital city, allowing the party's composition to be adjusted to the current needs of the expedition.

The remake preserves the series' iconic music in new orchestral arrangements and adds modernized spell and combat animations, making the game look noticeably livelier on PS5 than the technically simple original from the 1980s. The open world with the option to choose day or night, which affects character behavior and available shops, and the elaborate vocation system, which determines the skills and appearance of individual party members, are among the elements that made Dragon Quest III famous upon its original release and that the remake carefully preserves while slightly expanding with new content.

Upon release, the remake was received as a sensitive and faithful modernization of a classic that shows the roots of many mechanics found in today's JRPGs directly at one of their founders and reminds us how fundamentally this entry shaped the entire genre. Today it serves as an ideal entry point for players who want to discover the history of the genre without having to play a technically outdated version from the 1980s.

Why play it: For players wanting to discover the roots of many mechanics in today's JRPGs without having to reach for a technically outdated 1980s version — a sensitive and faithful modernization of a classic.