Dragon Quest 12 takes the long-running RPG series down a darker path

Publish date: 2022-12-24

Dragon Quest celebrated its 35th anniversary in some style in the early hours of this morning, with a livestream from Japan heralding the announcement of a string of new entries and spin-offs for the much-loved RPG series.

Heading the lot was Dragon Quest 12, which will be the first mainline entry since 2017. Not much was shown beyond a brief trailer revealing a logo - though that logo did reveal a turn towards dark fantasy, and what series' creator dubbed a Dragon Quest 'for adults'. It's being primed for a simultaneous worldwide release - in what would be a first for a mainline entry - though the timing has yet to be revealed, while no platforms have been announced just yet.

Elsewhere, a remake of Dragon Quest 3 was announced, taking on the 2D/3D stylings of the likes of Octopath Traveler - and being ushered into existence by Octopath Traveler producer Masaaki Hayasaka. Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D, as it's somewhat clumsily called at present, again has no release date or confirmed platforms, though it is also slated for a worldwide simultaneous release and we were afforded a look at it in action.

There was more in the form of Dragon Quest Treasures - again slated for worldwide release - which is a spin-off starring Dragon Quest 11's Erik and Mia, as well as an offline version of MMO Dragon Quest 10 which is currently down for Japan only.

In short, there is a lot of Dragon Quest on the horizon.

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