Dragons are supposed to be rare creatures of myth, but you wouldn’t know it with the rate at which Square-Enix is releasing Dragon Quest mobile ports. Not to say that’s a bad thing. Dragon Quest VIII and Dragon Quest IV are …
Dragons are supposed to be rare creatures of myth, but you wouldn’t know it with the rate at which Square-Enix is releasing Dragon Quest mobile ports. Not to say that’s a bad thing. Dragon Quest VIII and Dragon Quest IV are already on mobile, and they’re both pretty excellent.
The dragon-meat feast has hardly concluded, either. During an interview at PAX Prime, Square-Enix confirmed the original Dragon Quest, as well as Dragon Quest IIand Dragon Quest III, will be coming to mobile within a span of two or three months, starting with a revamped Dragon Quest in September.
“We are planning to release in the first part of September the first Dragon Quest,” Square-Enix mobile producer Noriyoshi Fujimoto said in a translated interview with Polygon. “We’re hoping to release [Dragon Quest] II and III in order in a period of two or three months, in a short span. We’re planning to release subsequent numbered [games] — whatever is left — we hope to release that in order as well.”
Dragon Quest III’s re-release is particularly notable: It introduced a changeable class system to the series that added a lot of depth to the typical turn-based RPG gameplay.
Series executive producer Yuu Miyake also explained why Square-Enix started with a port of Dragon Quest VIII before working its way backwards. Simply put, Dragon Quest VIII was the most difficult game to port because of its size and 3D graphics. A lot of testing was necessary to produce a workable control scheme.
So far, Square-Enix’s Dragon Quest ports have proved competent and well worth playing. Here’s to hoping the upcoming releases keeps up the happy trend. No word on whether the new ports will head to territories outside Japan, but given the arrival of Dragon Quest IV and VIII, it seems likely.
