Famed publisher Square Enix has officially announced Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate, as well as five other new Dragon Quest titles. The announcements came pouring in during the Dragon Quest 35th anniversary livestream, much to the delight of fans.
The Dragon Quest series has long been one of most popular franchises in Japan - and possibly the region's most popular JRPG series - and that love has not waned in recent times. Considering how well Dragon Quest XI was received globally, it makes all the sense in the world that Square Enix would have several more Dragon Quest titles ready to give fans. Even knowing that, a total of six Dragon Quest reveals still feels like a welcome surprise, to put it mildly.
The Square Enix stream was chock full of announcements, but perhaps the biggest of which was a 50-second teaser that announced Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate. Being a brief teaser, not much was said about the upcoming sequel itself. However, series creator Yuji Horii gave some hints regarding the direction Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate would be taking, such as having a darker, more mature tone than Dragon Quest XI and that it will tweak the series' traditional turn-based combat system towards a more action RPG style, a direction that is also being further taken with Final Fantasy XVI's gameplay.
As for the other titles announced during the 1.5 hour stream, those include Dragon Quest Treasures, a non-traditional RPG featuring characters from Dragon Quest XI, a HD remake of Dragon Quest III (in a similar style to Octopath Traveler), Dragon Quest X Offline, a top-down version of Dragon Quest X that can be played well...offline (although a release outside of Japan has not been confirmed at this time), and Dragon Quest Keshikeshi, a free-to-play mobile puzzle game. However, it is important to note that only Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate and Dragon Quest Treasures are currently confirmed for worldwide releases.
Dragon Quest X has been out for several years, but has only been available in Japan. Fans were hoping that Dragon Quest X Offline could finally come to the West, but sadly that does not appear to be the case at this time. But outside of that, the rest of the announcement was packed with good news, particularly the Dragon Quest III remake, as Dragon Quest III was the series' breakthrough entry.
Between Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate, Dragon Quest Treasures, and the Dragon Quest III remake, fans of the franchise will have well over 100 hours of content coming their way very soon. And for those who maybe want to get into the series, Dragon Quest XI is discounted on Nintendo Switch, which is definitely a good point of entry.
Source: Square Enix/Youtube