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Here are some Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake Hands-On Impressions and the best Australian deals

VaselineSeptember 6, 2024

0 4 minutes read

Here are some Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake Hands-On Impressions and the best Australian deals

Let’s start with a confession about one of my biggest weaknesses. I am absolutely worship the HD-2D visual aesthetic of the Octopath Traveler series, and I’ll play anything that uses it. Is your game unpolished with a bug that may or may not ruin save files? I’ll take my chances with it in HD-2D. Am I also looking at a 30-hour plot that reads like your intern just threw up random gobstoppers filled with names, places, and plot twists? How concerning—give me my HD-2D now.

If you choose to combine this modern, ancient art style with one of the most celebrated RPGs from the golden age of gaming, then of course winged serpents can’t keep me from your HD-2D adventure.

I’m clearing my schedule for such a rejig, even though I didn’t grow up with the original NES, as it wasn’t released in my country. For a few Australians like me, our introduction to DQ3 was a Game Boy port of the SNES Refresh, which sold a million cartridges on launch day in ’96. Apparently it also got 300 Japanese fans arrested for skipping school – a bit of gaming trivia I love almost as much as HD-2D.

Speaking of delaying education, I’m going to tell you what to expect from Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake in two shakes of a Jackanape’s tail. But for now, let’s cater to the needs of the “mind’s already made up” types, because I know you exist. If that’s not you, then by all means skip the window shop by clicking here to proceed.

Pre-order Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake

Dragon Quest III HD 2D Remake

Nintendo Switch

PS5

Xbox Series X|S

computer

The Standard Edition comes with the game, along with the pre-order bonus (described below), which includes a handful of in-game upgrades for your team of heroes. Don’t worry if you don’t see your preferred retailer in the list above. We’ll be adding new retailers as the deals become available.

Pre-order bonus for Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake

If you pre-order the game from a retailer, you will receive the following in-game items:

Elevated Shoes x1
Seed of Agility x3
Seed of Magic x3
Seed of Defense x3
Seed of Power x3
Seed of Life x3

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake Impressions

Here’s a quick rundown: Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is a brand new take on a classic RPG that first made a splash on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988. It’s a faithful remake that, despite significant graphical updates and refined story elements, doesn’t stray too far from the source material.

If you’re already an uberfan, you’ll know that the first three Dragon Quest games represent the Erdrick trilogy, and (slight spoiler) this third installment was actually a prequel that outlined the first steps of the adventure. Kind of confusing, huh?

Anyway, you have to fill the 16-bit boots of a 16-year-old child of a hero named Ortega, who was sent to defeat the villainous Baramos. Your old man messed up, so the king sends you and a group of companions to right his wrongs.

I should also mention, by the way, that you won’t be stuck in a storyline for long after the credits roll: Dragon Quest 1 and 2 HD-2D upgrades are scheduled for 2025. It’s definitely worth jumping on board now if you’re wondering what all the fuss is about with this (soon to be) 12-game-thick franchise.

Although I only had an hour or so of hands-on time with DQ3, I found it surprisingly fun and engaging, despite the somewhat creaky source material. I hear there will be new story elements and never-before-seen professions for the heroes. Sounds like some montage-floor material that the diehards will drool over.

To dive into the technical details, I noticed that Performance and Graphics modes are available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and more. The former translates to 60 frames per second, and the latter is 4K resolution. I don’t know why we can’t have both, honestly. This is a turn-based combat affair where the only major movement is your top-down scrambles through the overworld… I just went with 4K and was perfectly happy with it.

I also noted that the developers offer a choice between two protagonist appearances and three difficulty levels. If you do take the plunge, you can always fall back on a number of quality-of-life features, including autosaves (manual saves are still available). Since the fights here are light on animations in order to maintain that OG feel, I was glad to have the ability to speed up the fistfights with my shoulder buttons. Just give me my XP and a ton of victory-affirming, 16-bit-esque sound effects, please and thank you.

Other welcome additions were two camera modes and a toggleable minimap. Another feature I love and wish was in more RPGs that I have to finish intermittently: an NPC conversation log that saves the last 30 interactions.

Looking back at my notes, I also seem to appreciate the now-rudimentary visual aesthetic, with overworld cities looking like miniatures compared to your super-deformed mob. It’s also cool that the level designers added some rolling topography to what were once pancake-grid overworlds, not to mention the lovely dappled light provided by foreground trees and moving clouds beyond your field of vision. It’s modern things like this, like the day/night cycle thrown in, that really make you appreciate the effort that went into improving this in a sensible, non-destructive way.

Unless my eyes and instincts are deceiving me, this package already feels like it was built by a team that adores the original article. Playing a remake like this is always an infectious experience, and I can’t wait to fill in the gaps in my understanding of the “in the beginning” of a series I’ve come to love later in the game. November 15th can’t come soon enough.

Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He plays pretty much everything, often on YouTube.