Highly-Anticipated DRAGON QUEST XII, the Latest Entry to the Beloved Franchise Announced with a Global Simultaneous Release in the West.
In honor of the 35th anniversary of the beloved DRAGON QUEST® series, SQUARE ENIX® announced four new titles during a celebratory livestream event. Western fans can look forward to the newly announced DRAGON QUEST XII™, DRAGON QUEST III HD-2D Remake™, and DRAGON QUEST TREASURES™. Additionally, for the first time ever in DRAGON QUEST history, these three titles, which are all currently in the early stages of development, will have global simultaneous releases. For the mobile gamers, the livestream introduced a new mobile puzzle game titled DRAGON QUEST KESHI KESHI™ (Final Name TBC).
Following the massive hit of the critically acclaimed DRAGON QUEST XI®: Echoes of an Elusive Age™ and DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition, together the titles surpassed over 6.5 million copies worldwide, DRAGON QUEST XII is the newly announced mainline entry in the series.
Yuji Horii surprisingly revealed that Dragon Quest XII will not feature a turn-based battle system, only saying that “it won’t completely disappear, but it’ll be different. Those who played Dragon Quest until now will still feel at home”. Note that he did not say that it’ll be an Action RPG, and only said that “it’s not turn-based”.
Yuji Horii also explained during the live stream that Dragon Quest 12 will be darker than most games of the series, and will be aimed primarily for an adult audience. This is another surprise. I’d bet the game will ultimately still be rated Cero A (for everyone) in Japan though, as that’s always been the case no matter how dark the series got in the past.
Yuji Horii also said that Dragon Quest XII will focus on life choices, with its characters making hard decisions that will change their fates. But not like in a Dragon Quest 5 way, where you had to pick a character to marry.
I am really a bit leery about this turn based reimagining. I mean I get it, most gamers these days seem to hate it but I guess we will see. I just hope it’s nothing like Final Fantasy VII or XV’s “turn based” system. Oh well. It is what it is I guess.
Totally agree with you. Hopefully they won’t distort this series too 🙁