Dragon Quest 3’s remake is a nostalgic trip back to the 1980s but we wish it gave a little more

IT’S hard to imagine that video games have been in our homes for almost 40 years, but they’ve been a part of our lives for so much longer.

While the last two years have been called the Golden Age of gaming, there is something about the classics that always have us coming back for more.

Square Enix

Dragon Quest is one of the most iconic RPG series[/caption]

Square Enix

And it looks more beautiful than ever in HD 2D[/caption]

Square Enix

However, we wish there were a few more quality-of-life improvements[/caption]

We’ve seen a resurgence of classic games over the last few years, and the next to step up to the plate is Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake.

Originally released in 1988 in Japan, it’s likely older than a sizable chunk of the gaming population.

This makes it the perfect target for a remake, and an even better fit for the popular HD-2D art style popularised by games like Octopath Traveler.

The look is night and day compared to the original, but the lighting and detail don’t live up to other games in the same style.

While it’s releasing in 2024, it’s still built on a 36-year-old game, and that comes with its limitations.

I played around three hours of DQ3 to prepare for this preview, and while this is just a small portion of what it has to offer, it was pretty bare-bones.

There was very little story, and not much instruction on what to do, which is expected in a game of this age.

It does come with a number of quality-of-life changes, such as difficulty options, autosaves, objective markers, and the choice to speed up battles.

However, there were some other options we would have liked to have seen such as the ability to increase the text size and other accessibility features.

There have been a few new additions to the gameplay for the remake, including a new character class, but it mostly stays true to the original from what we’ve seen.

This will delight fans of the original, but more modern players might be left wanting a bit more.

Whether that’s more from the story, more variation in battles, or more direction, gamers’ expectations have changed over the last few decades.

There is a chest early on that breaks immersion and pushes you to buy the DLC and if this ‘modern twist’ could be added then I’m sure large text wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

As someone who was around when Dragon Quest 3 was, I’m excited to play more of this classic RPG.

Though the slower pace of battles, even on ‘Ultra-Fast’ coupled with the lack of story and explanation might be a tough sell for newer players.

If you want to read more about recent games, check out our Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered review.