In 1997, I used my brother’s PlayStation to boot up Final Fantasy 7, and my life was forever changed. It launched me into a campaign of devouring every single RPG I could get my hands on — all of those games were an escape from the troubles of my childhood. Now, Dragon Quest 3’s remake is one of the starkest reminders I’ve found of why I fell in love with games to begin with — a dazzling return to a world filled with wonder and childlike innocence; something people might just need right now.
It’s not hyperbolic to say that Dragon Quest 3 is one of the most important video games ever made. It was utterly foundational for the very idea of what we see as role-playing games — the “hero’s” quest, an overworld map to explore, the introduction of class and job systems, and a day/night cycle. It’s a game that quite literally wrote the blueprint and now, nearly 35 years later, things have come full circle. Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake is a dazzling re-creation of the RPG that keeps the “classic” heart of the game intact while making some smart modernizations to help newcomers. There are a few places where it feels like Square Enix could have gone a bit further, but just like the original was a blueprint for RPGs at large, this feels like it could be a blueprint on how to remake them.
