Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake Finally Gets Release Date, I & II Remakes Confirmed

Oh my GOD I'm SO GLAD I WAITED!! Getting both, no question

Damn, I hope DQ 1 and 2 have major changes, otherwise I'm most likely skipping them.

Good to finally have the confirmation.
This will surely be the ideal way to play these games from now on.

I was midly excited about the III remake, but adding in I and II seals it for me.

The art style on the characters clashes really hideously with the absurdly overdesigned backgrounds. They don't go together at all.

Thank you. Very cool.

All I see is my money flying away. Geeze I may need a second job.

Turns out the leaks were true. I'm really looking forward to it. To people who have played the Erdrick trilogy, is chronological order the best way to experience it? Otherwise I might play by release order and wait for I and II.

Wow does this game look STUNNING, genuinely. Those vistas are worth the purchase alone, plus a full orchestral soundtrack?!

@FreasurePlanten As was overtly mentioned by the DQ creator himself IN the Direct, DQIII is chronologically the first story in the trilogy, and he recommended to play that one first before the other two release next year!

@Ulysses Yes, I know he said that. That's why I'm asking if people agree that chronologically is the best way to experience it. Because usually I ignore that and prefer to play by release order, as anyone would have experienced it as the creators' released the games.

@fenlix they are getting the hd-2d remake as well..

Im so happy rn

I'm a very happy Dragon Quest fan!

@FreasurePlanten If the creator of the series himself recommends to play DQIII first, then I don't know what else to tell you.

I’ll just wait for the trilogy pack and buy them all at once physically.

@Ulysses I don't think there's anything wrong with asking for other people's opinion even so. Anyway, for what it's worth I had heard from people before that III is more satisfying if played after I and II. This is usually, in my opinion, the case with games that have different chronological and release orders. I'm now replaying the God of War games and I wouldn't enjoy starting with Ascension for sure, to give an example. So I think it's a legitimate question nonetheless. The release order for these remakes might be an artifact of the fact that the project started as a remake of III and then expanded.

Too bad they didn't put the first 3 all together, but I understand cos Seeds of Salvation was when DQ first hit it's stride.

Glad the other two games getting the great HD2D treatment.

I wonder if 1&2 will get some additions? They're both very short games, so it would be nice if the world is enhanced.

Honestly, I'd also love it if DQ4-6 got the HD-2D treatment too.

It does look great. I love the art style. The characters are a bit of a mismatch but I am going to get it regardless.

@Lizuka i disagree entirely

@FreasurePlanten
Personally I still recommend playing dq1 first. Dq3 has an aha moment that hits harder if you play one first. Although after 40 years maybe everyone already knows the connection. In which case it wouldn't matter too much. 3 is definitely the better game, but one has its charm as progenitor.

@Lizuka
I definitely felt that about the mobile ports. Clash so bad I couldn't bring myself to play them. Here, I think it looks fine. Maybe because the background is so different my style that my brain allows for some incongruity. But I know what you're saying.

Maybe with the “HD 2D” run of Dragon Quest they will be done in chronological order or the preferred way by them?

@speedracer216 I'm not aware of this spoiler, and this is the kind of thing I fear missing out on by playing the games in chronological order. Thank you for replying

@FreasurePlanten
No problem. When it originally released in japan, it was a well-kept secret that it was a prequel. In English they slapped it right on the box. These days I guess people know, but if you can be surprised in how it's a prequel, that's a lot more fun.

@FreasurePlanten I don't think playing in chronological order would be bad, but I think that playing in release order would definitely be a smoother experience from a gameplay perspective on top of making III's big moments more satisfying. DQI is incredibly barebones by today's standards (but still a good time and interesting as a historical game since it's what essentially kicked off an entire genre), and while DQII built on DQI a lot, it's still a bit basic and rough around the edges in some ways (though I'm sure the latter point will be fixed in the remake). DQIII is when the series hit its stride, so it might be tougher to go back to the first two after playing III. All three are good games, though, and I'm curious to see if they do anything to flesh out the first two with these remakes.

@ReaperMelia The other reason I was considering perhaps waiting is exactly that I fear I and II might feel a bit simpler and not as easy to get into if I play III first. I'm really curious to see what they'll add in detail to each entry to make them feel more modernized. Based on the preview available here, it sounds like it goes further than a simple visual glow-up. In a similar example, even with some bells and whistles, I'm having a bit of a harder time enjoying Persona 3 Reload after having played P4 Golden and P5 Royal. I would like to avoid that if possible (especially if there might be reveals coming in III that I'd be unaware of).
Don't get me wrong, though, this looks stunning and I'm very much looking forward to it. It's really just a matter of which of the three games I start with.

So excited for III and also I and II next year. Was confused until the series creator came on after and recommended the play order.

@Lizuka Agreed. I don’t understand why everyone says this looks good. Octopath 1 and 2 were a perfect marriage of 2D and 3D, but this is not. The 3D assets are so generic.

I think my main issue with the current eshop versions of 1-3, with 1 especially, it had very juddery scrolling which genuinely made me nauseous if my eye strayed anywhere that wasn't the exact centre of the screen where the character was. In a way, I'm glad I powered through them though, it'll make me appreciate these HD-2D versions all the more. And I did find III a genuinely decent game, despite the technical issues.

That $199 collector edition is a joke. No soundtrack, art book or wingle wangle? Japanese version it is.

I wouldn't call Dragon Quest II a short game.
Just that the first game is too short to sell on its own these days.

I wonder if they'll do 4, 5 and 6 later. 5 is my absolutely favorite.