Dragon Quest 3 remake looks amazing and it has to when it’s such a slog

AS gaming hardware improves, it ultimately creates problems for game developers.

Games are expected to be bigger and better than ever before, with 4K graphics while running at 60fps.

This means that development becomes longer and more expensive, and ultimate games don’t make as much money as they used to.

Companies then try to find cheaper ways to produce games, including making remakes, remasters, ports, and re-releases.

Gamers often bemoan these full-price releases of older games, particularly with титлес like The Last of Us that are only a few years old.

This is why a game like Dragon Quest is the perfect target for a remake: at almost 40 years old it’s one of the oldest series that’s still going to this day.

Dragon Quest 3 is the first game in the series that Square Enix decided to remake in full HD-2D glory, similar to the style popularised by Octopath Traveler.

It doesn’t have the same lighting, sheen and polish as some of the other games in this style, such as Triangle Strategy, Live A Live, and the aforementioned Octopath, for example.

However, it’s a definite upgrade over the previous versions, and more than serviceable for the story.

When it comes to remakes, it’s all about the quality-of-life changes. Gamers’ tastes have changed over the last 40 years.

It’s all about respecting people’s time. With so many games on offer, they don’t want games to pad out their lengths.

This means saving wherever you want, tightening up load times, and making grinding for levels and items optional.

However, the Dragon Quest 3 remake fails on this front. There is a quick save feature but it takes you back to the title screen and is deleted when you boot it back up.

This will do in a pinch, but for those who want to try bosses over and over, it makes for an arduous experience.

Battles can now go at ‘Ultra Fast’ pace, but it feels like the speed most games are when they are set to normal.

There’s no cursor memory for attacks, and the level-up screens take around 10 seconds to load. All of these things waste the player’s time.

Then there are the new difficulty modes. Dragon Quest 3 is known for its grinding, and you need to spend hours doing so if you even want to repel enemy encounters.

Easy mode, called Dracky Quest, doesn’t adjust boss hp or player damage to negate grinding but rather prevents your characters from falling below 1hp.

This means that if you don’t grind, even on easy mode, you will constantly be bombarded by enemy encounters, and boss fights take forever to win.

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake has a shiny new coat of paint, but it hasn’t made the changes that gamers want from a retro remake.

The excellent story, heart-wrenching moments, and epic adventures are all still there, with sweet moments that subvert your expectations.

But without the quality of life changes, it’s still a slog to get through, and most people won’t be able to stomach the pace.

We hope Square Enix learns from this, and tightens everything up for the upcoming Dragon Quest 1 + 2 remake.

If you want to read more game reviews, check out our Pokémon TCG Pocket review.