Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake – the new old-fashioned way (Square Enix) Square Enix's HD-2D technology breathes new life into one of the most influential classics in the JRPG genre. While 1988's Dragon Quest 3 was an undoubted classic, that went a long way towards cementing the format of the Japanese role-playing game as we know it, I wouldn't fancy playing it these days. Originally released on the NES (but only in the US and Japan), its wispy sprites on blocky, pixellated backgrounds would feel unacceptably basic today.
However, Square Enix has a solution for that, in the form of its clever HD-2D technology, which gives ancient games modern visuals, retaining an overhead view and a pixel art feel but adding solid 3D backgrounds. Graphically speaking, I found Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake to be more than acceptable when viewed as a 21st century game. Unlike in the original, I no longer had to use my imagination to decipher textures like stone, sand or water, or effects like flames.
Square Enix has also endowed it with a vibrant colour palette, with greens, reds, and purples that sometimes verge on the fluorescent, so it looks every bit as cheery and upbeat as its general underlying vibe. So, thanks to that HD-2D technology, which was pioneered in retro homage Octopath Traveler and 2022's remake of Live A Live (as well as Dragon Quest 1 and 2 – this one is coming out first because it's chronologically the first entry in the series) this can now be viewed in terms of its gaming.