Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is retro elegance | Review

Erdrick's saga begins here 

For those less familiar with the franchise, Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake tells the events that precede the first two titles, bringing one of the most beloved games by its community, in which we will be able to witness and experience the transformation of the protagonist Erdrick into one of the most legendary heroes in the entire history of the franchise. 

With a very simple and objective plot, but no less interesting, Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake tells the saga of Erdrick, who at the age of 16 is summoned by King Aliahan and receives the mission to finish what his father, the great warrior Ortega, could not, which is to defeat the villainous Archdemon, Baramos, and save the world. 
 

 

Despite the simplicity of the story, Erdrick's journey is marked by many ancient mysteries, exploration of kingdoms and dungeons, as well as giant and powerful monsters. Exactly all the ingredients that a good turn-based RPG must have. 

It is worth noting that the original game was released in 1988, but despite that it was already very ahead of its time, bringing side quests and even plot twists to the main story. Of course, everything respecting the period in which the game was made. This is very important to be able to appreciate Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake. 

It costs nothing to say that the game is a tactical JRPG, in which the presence of dialogue interpretation is essential for the fluidity of the game to reach the level of immersion desired by the publisher, but the bad news is that the game does not have subtitles in PT-BR, which at this point is unacceptable. 

Call your friends for the adventure 

You never imagined that you would face so many dangers while exploring the vast world of the game alone, did you? Well, shortly after speaking with the king, we are instructed to look for the tavern so that we can recruit three noble helpers of various classes, such as warrior, mage, priest, among others. Unlike the original, we can customize the party characters. It is possible to modify some visual aspects, as well as the voice. 

Unfortunately, the companions do not have any parallel story with the game or any dark past with the villain Baramos, which could certainly add a lot, even sympathy with your friends. They are just characters to help in battles and walk in the best style of Indian file with Erdrick throughout the journey. 

Here, it is worth mentioning that when your companions reach level 20, it will be possible to change their classes, keeping the skills already acquired, but causing the level to return to zero. This is an interesting option to assemble more customized parties with distinct abilities. 
 

Unlike your faithful companions of wanderings, explorations and battles, the NPC's of the world of Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake can shine with a very peculiar humor, despite having short phrases, but that are enough to make a difference. Not only that, but in each visited city, you quickly notice a change in mood, making each explored village unique. 

Still about the regions visited, it is striking how they have unique elements, from each other. Taking advantage of the HD-2D, each object became more highlighted and detailed, in addition to receiving more enrichment of the area, leaving everything even richer and full of pixelated beauty at the highest level. 

Tactical and unexpected combat 

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake received a series of improvements in combat, starting with the animation of the enemies, which are much more animated. Not only that, but despite the camera remaining in first person, it shows the heroes when selecting the attack and if they will use any equipment. 

As a good turn-based JRPG requires, we are armed with melee attacks, as well as spells and special abilities. The latter, which must be used very wisely, since its recovery to use again is quite slow. 

As it is a remake, it wouldn't hurt either if the strengths and weaknesses were informed somewhere on the screen. Since this does not exist, you have to memorize and rely on luck to quickly discover the best way to defeat the enemy. Even more so when you find dungeons with high difficulties, where the healing factor is even rarer. 
 

 
If there is one point that bothered me in Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, it is the fact that some battles happen out of nowhere. That's right, you are exploring a certain region, when all of a sudden you are in a battle. One could say that this feature was one of the ones left as it was in the original that I would certainly change. 

The westernization and modernization of the franchise 

The Dragon Quest franchise is extremely well established in the east, and with the huge success that Dragon Quest 11 had in the west, Square Enix saw that it was the perfect time to consolidate this side of the globe as well. And the idea of relaunching one of the main games in the series, but revamped, was a great move. 

Undoubtedly there was no better time to launch this remake, so that more people would be enchanted by the simplicity and objectivity that the game offers, without many fancy resources or anything like that. Just a game with a beautiful retro visual with revamped features, bringing even more elegance. 

Although some features are more complicated to understand for people who have never played anything from the series, it is not something that requires a dictionary to understand how the combat mechanics work, for example. Although it is necessary to devise strategies, we are not talking about anything too fancy. It is worth mentioning that the game also has a great tutorial, which makes it much easier. 

With a series of improvements regarding graphics, soundtrack and audio (which I will talk about below), among others, we cannot say the same about the controls, especially when using the analog stick. The feeling is that it is not possible to make diagonal movements naturally, as if it were necessary to make the path of a directional. 

Almost impeccable sound 

Among so many deserved praises for the Dragon Quest III remake, I cannot fail to mention the great work done in relation to the game's audio, which before only had text dialogues. Not only that, but literally all the game's music was reworked and orchestrated. 

Despite the praise made above, since so many audios were inserted into the game, it wouldn't hurt to insert them in more dialogues, in order to bring greater depth.

The review of Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake was done on a Nintendo Switch, in which the performance was considered good, without any type of locking.