Right now, Dragon Quest fans are eating well. The latest Dragon Quest Monsters title launched at the end of 2023 as Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, and the more experimental Dragon Quest Treasures was released a year before that. Dragon Quest 10 Offline has been rolling out in various Asian regions, and fueling theories that a more widespread release will come soon. Long-standing promises for Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate, as well as the gorgeous Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, have also given fans hope for Dragon Quest's future, and the wait for DQ3 HD-2D is about to pay off.
The June 2024 Nintendo Direct revealed that Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake will be 2024’s year-ending Dragon Quest title, and it's no longer alone. At some point in 2025, Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake will join its prequel to complete the original trilogy of influential Dragon Quest RPGs. This has been a welcome surprise for many fans, and it means that both they and series newcomers won't need to wait long to experience the definitive forms of these classic titles.
However, behind the celebrations before these announcements is growing concern that Dragon Quest 12 may be further off than anyone expected. Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate is being developed in Unreal Engine 5 which tells fans that the series is moving in a new direction. On May 27, 2021, Square Enix punctuated a livestream celebrating Dragon Quest's 35th anniversary with the announcement of Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate. Three years later, players have not heard a single new detail about the game, but its development seems to have been rocky. Despite continual messages from Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii that the game is coming along, leaks pointing to delays and Square Enix staff shuffling have made waiting for news on Dragon Quest 12’s release date an exercise in frustration.
Even with this game’s development likely being hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and the deaths of composer Koichi Sugiyama and artist Akira Toriyama, it feels like concrete news should have materialized by now. At least Dragon Quest fans have the remakes of DQ1, 2, and 3 to look forward to in the meantime. The downside to that, however, is that Square Enix may not want to launch these games and DQ12 near one another, as doing so could affect their sales. Some release disparity between Dragon Quest 3 and Dragon Quest 1 & 2 is puzzling yet potentially fair, but throwing Dragon Quest 12 into the mix could be a recipe for disaster. It should avoid competition, but that doesn't make the thought of Dragon Quest 12 releasing later than 2025 any more appealing. Even though its release quality should remain unaffected, and maybe even improve, having Dragon Quest 12 pushed back again after three years of silence doesn't feel good.
How far that is remains the biggest question, and several possibilities present themselves. The most charitable, but also the least likely, is that Dragon Quest 12 could make the first half of 2025, with Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake filling Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D's holiday slot. Rumors of the Nintendo Switch successor landing near the original Switch’s March window could support this, but fans shouldn't get their hopes up. More likely is that Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake will be saved for the Switch 2’s likely-stacked launch window, Nintendo Switch 2025 anniversary or not, while Dragon Quest 12 arrives at the end of 2025 or later. 2026 feels like a safe bet, as that will be the year of Dragon Quest’s 40th anniversary, and launching a new mainline title then would feel poetic.
It's bittersweet to have such exciting Dragon Quest HD-2D Remakes cover for the absence of the even higher-profile Dragon Quest 12, but if that's what needs to happen to maximize their sales and quality, then so be it. Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, Dragon Quest Treasures, and Dragon Quest 10 Offline rolling out in Asia are good signs for the series. Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake and Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake give fans something to look forward to in the coming year. However, the delay of Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate may disappoint fans, with the release possibly being pushed back to 2025 or 2026 due to the pandemic and staff changes.
