Dragon Quest III is one of the most important video games to grace our history as a society of gamers. It pioneered many very important features still used in role-playing games to this day. As such, it was revolutionary from its genesis in 1989 even through today. As such, a remake for the Nintendo Switch is on the way, launching later this year. It will launch for all other major platforms as well in both digital and physical releases.
As luck would have it, this isn’t even the first time the game has been remade. Over the years, Dragon Quest III had remakes for the Game Boy Color, the Super Famicom, the Wii, the PS4, the Nintendo 3DS, and even cell phones. At this point, a Switch remake was all but inevitable, and oh-so welcomed.
Many fans have been clamoring for this remake of Dragon Quest III since it was officially announced a few years ago. Since then, a few issues have arisen to affect the release schedule, including the death of beloved Dragon Quest artist Akira Toriyama. You can watch the trailer for the HD-2D remake in all its glory below:
On Friday, July 12th, the gaming website Kotaku published an article about the HD-2D remake of Dragon Quest III. Published by Square Enix, the remake is one of a game created in 1989. Back then, it was called Dragon Warrior III in the West due to issues with licensing the franchise name Dragon Quest. However, fans of the Dragon Quest franchise discovered and noted a major flaw in the article:
The Story So Far
According to Kotaku’s article, Dragon Quest III‘s HD-2D remake uses a day/night cycle “taking inspiration from Octopath Traveler II“. The fact is that Dragon Quest III was the progenitor of all day/night cycles in any video game ever. And, as expected, fans of the Dragon Quest franchise were understandably upset by Kotaku’s blatant inaccuracy and disregard for journalistic integrity:
Here’s the day night cycle on the NES in 1989 – what kind of hack job gaming outlet doesn’t do even the bare minimum of research? https://t.co/93W2Ju18Mo pic.twitter.com/w04ghHPQ2R
— Davidvinc (@TheDavidVinc) July 13, 2024
Kotaku is run by people who don't care about videogames. They're sensationalistic and will neglect research and even spread blatant misinformation for the sake of a headline.
— Tohka @ 2024 Let's Play Slate 🐔 (@AtelierTohka) July 14, 2024
Kotaku are run by people who don't like games or gamers like us.
I know DQ3 came up with the day/night system that other games would later implement. In a way, Dragon Quest III was basically the foundation for what many RPGs would use years later.
— MegamanNG (@MegamanRA) July 13, 2024
Also why are they making it sound like octopath was the first JRPG to have a day/night cycle lol
— DreamLeaf 🌱🌻 🍉 (@DreamLeaf5) July 14, 2024
Some Twitter users went as far as to accuse Kotaku of using AI to write this article:
Probably an AI written article. Kotaku jumped the shark so long ago now.
— FuzzyDruid (@SirGametime) July 14, 2024
Dragon Quest Facts?
Amid the backlash, some Twitter users quickly gave Kotaku the benefit of the doubt. They claimed that the gaming website utilized information from another tweet (from user @DragonQuestFax) that stated that the day/night cycle of DQIII‘s HD-2D remake was a new feature. If Kotaku did do this, it proves they didn’t research the information themselves:
I don’t think that was Kotaku’s fault, it might be the press release in general lol another account reported it as a new feature as well. pic.twitter.com/6G2TNMZEcY
— Mdirtysoul (@MDirtysoul) July 14, 2024
As a fellow Dragon Quest fan, I too am abhorred by this false reporting on a feature that revolutionized the way we game today. I’ve played plenty of games in the franchise. I was always an outlier in my friend circles (many of whom would prefer other Square Enix game series like Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts). So to see the Western gaming press butcher a simple piece of game history like this hurt my soul. This is especially true because of Dragon Quest‘s still-limited appeal outside of Japan.
Truth be told, most Western audiences prefer Final Fantasy, much like my friends across various circles. Shame on Kotaku for perpetuating the continued ignorance of Western audiences. This is not something that Akira Toriyama would’ve wanted. It’s certainly not something that DQ franchise creator Yuji Horii wants, to be sure. Do better, not just for your numbers, but because of the years of hard work put into a game like this DQIII.
In any event, I’m waiting with bated breath for the game to release. In the meantime, I’m off to slay some Slimes in Dragon Quest VIII and see a showgirl about a Puff-Puff massage. Till next time!
