Dragon Quest 12, and everything else announced at today's 35th anniversary celebration

News by Dom Peppiatt Editor-in-chief

Published on May 27, 2021

Dragon Quest is getting old; the seminal RPG franchise celebrated its 35th anniversary via a livestream in Japan this morning, and to commemorate the huge series milestone, Square Enix announced a suite of new games.

First and foremost was the announcement of Dragon Quest 12. Square Enix has revealed that the first mainline entry in the role-playing game series since 2017 is going to be much different in tone from its numerous predecessors.

Fully titled Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate, series creator Yuji Horii suggested that the title will make some changes to the traditional turn-based battle system and will be more directed at adults. Square Enix also noted its aiming for a simultaneous worldwide release for the project. No platforms, nor a release date, have been announced for the game yet.

Take a look at the trailer below – though it doesn't show off too much.

Next up, the celebration event revealed a remake of Dragon Quest 3. This retro-inspired remake is going to adopt the art style we've seen in games like Octopath Traveler and Project Triangle Strategy.

Square Enix likes to call that art style 'HD-2D', and it's an impressive aesthetic choice... even if the naming convention is a touch unwieldy. Once again, there are no platforms listed and the game hasn't got a release date – but you can take a look at what it's going to look like below.

Further to those big announcements, we've got a slew of other Dragon Quest games to look forward to arriving in the future, too. Here's a quick rundown of what to expect from Square Enix over the coming months and years:

Dragon Quest Treasures: An 'RPG treasure hunting adventure' starring characters from Dragon Quest 11, set before the events of the numbered title, that's also planning a simultaneous worldwide release.
Dragon Quest 10: An expansion to the MMO that's so far only received a release in Japan.
Dragon Quest 10 Offline: A top-down version of Dragon Quest 10 that will not require an internet connection to play.
Dragon Quest Keshi Keshi: A free-to-play mobile puzzle game for iOS and Android that will feature popular series characters, monsters and items as erasers which are used to erase graffiti in the game.

It's a good time to be a Dragon Quest fan, then.