Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake may have "never happened" if its devs didn't have access to the art style Square Enix used to freshen up other beloved JRPGs

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake may have "never happened" if it wasn't for the popular art style.

Since Octopath Traveler launched in 2018, the fresh spin on pixel art has been used in several Square Enix games, proving quite handy when bringing old properties back to life specifically, as seen in Live A Live and Star Ocean The Second Story R.

Dragon Quest 3 is the latest JRPG banger from yesteryear to get some HD-2D TLC. Speaking at a Gamescom group interview through an interpreter, producer Masaaki Hayasaka says approaching the remake with that specific art style was so important that it might not have happened at all if the team didn't have access to it.

"They are quite retro games, and we just thought that this HD-2D style was the perfect style to represent them graphically in a remake," Hayasaka says. "I think pretty much everyone in the company was in agreement about that.

"There wasn't ever a question, so in terms of how important it is, I think it would be fair to say that if we didn't have this HD-2D art style accessible to us, then maybe this remake would have never happened."

Series creator Yuji Horii adds: "And I think that rather than 3D, being able to explore this space in 2D is really what was part of the enjoyment of the original. So we wanted to keep what made the original so special and so fun and bring it into the modern era, which is why this HD-2D style just works so well."

We're certainly not here to argue. After playing Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake for 30 minutes , we can see how the art style brings a fresh sense of charm to a beloved gem, just like it did with Live A Live and Star Ocean. Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D releases November 14, 2024, and HD-2D remakes of Dragon Quest 1 and 2 are on the way next year, too.

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake devs want players to have the "same feeling" exploring the JRPG's open world as they'd have in Zelda: Breath of the Wild.