Square Enix’s Team Asano regrets announcing the Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake too early
The June 18 broadcast of Nintendo Direct revealed some news that Dragon Quest fans have been eagerly waiting for – the release date for Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake. The game will be coming to Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series S|X and PC (Steam/Windows) on November 14, 2024. The long-awaited remake was originally announced back on May 27, 2021 (Dragon Quest Day), and a recent tweet reveals that co-developer Team Asano regrets misjudging the right timing for the game’s initial announcement.
Team Asano is the informal name given to the game development team in Square Enix spearheaded by Tomoya Asano. They are known for RPG series like Bravely Default and Octopath Traveller. Co-developed by Artdink and Team Asano, the Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake’s memorable locations and characters have been brought back to life in a charming HD-2D art style, not dissimilar to that found in their previous collaboration, Triangle Strategy.
In a tweet made from the official Bravely Default 2 account, a spokesperson for Team Asano addressed the 3-year gap between Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake’s initial announcement and the launch date reveal.
However, the (initial) announcement was too early compared to others (We are reflecting on this).
So, thank you very much for waiting.
Dragon Quest fans have a lot to look forward to- not only is Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake coming out in November 2024 but the Dragon Quest 1 and 2 remakes are slated for 2025. This release order actually makes sense as Dragon Quest 3 is chronologically first in Dragon Quest’s so-called Erdrick Trilogy. In yesterday’s Nintendo Direct showcase, Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii said that “I think players will have fun seeing how things unfold if they play 3, 2 and 1 in that order.” and expressed hopes that everyone will enjoy experiencing the trilogy through these remakes.
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake is scheduled to be released for Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series S|X and PC (Windows) on November 14, 2024. Updated 2024/6/20: The Steam version will be released on November 15.
I do not blame Team Asano but Matsuda who was the former president of Square Enix who has made questionable decisions over the last decade until Kiryu took over this year and has had to reverse and fix the policies within Square Enix itself. Matsuda made tons of bad calls of announcing games far too early in development and catered to global mass market too much than to cater to global niche and wait until games were nearly finished.