After what felt like an eternity, we have finally received our first proper look at Dragon Quest 12, the next mainline entry in the legendary Dragon Quest franchise.
As revealed in a new trailer shown during a developer livestream hosted by Square Enix, Dragon Quest 12 will no longer be called "Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate" but instead "Dragon Quest 12: Beyond Dreams".
The game's premise will center around a young man traveling the world trying to solve the mystery behind strange visions he's been having for a long time.
Along the way, our hero will encounter a cast of colorful characters like a desert-dwelling girl with advanced tech and a lizardman knight, and battle iconic Dragon Quest monsters like Slimes and Dragons.
Speaking of monsters, Dragon Quest 12's first trailer wasn't the only announcement Square Enix had prepared for Dragon Quest's 40th anniversary.
It also revealed that a new entry for Dragon Quest's monster-tamer spin-off series, Dragon Quest Monsters, is in development for Xbox Series X|S, PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 1, and Nintendo Switch 2.
All we know so far is that the game will be called Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World and that it will star what seems to be younger versions of Bianca and Nera, two main characters from Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride.
Windows Central's take
For the longest time, people were starting to get scared that Dragon Quest 12 had been cancelled despite the series' creator, Yuri Horii, assuring fans that the game was still in development last year.
And to be fair, that's kind of what happened as Square Enix confirms that the original version of Dragon Quest 12, "Flames of Fate", faced way too many hurdles during development and decided to redo the whole game from scratch for its betterment.
Judging from its first trailer, it was a well-made decision because Dragon Quest 12 looks absolutely stunning. The environments and art direction look so crisp and detailed, the characters look charming and interesting, and the player's movements look more fluid than ever.
If this is just a teaser, then I can't imagine what the rest of the game's going to look like, especially the gameplay, which I hope retains turn-based combat as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 proves it still has a place in JRPGs.
As for Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World, I'll admit I haven't had the chance to play Dragon Quest's Pokémon-like spin-off series, as I preferred the mainline games.
However, since it is going to include characters from Dragon Quest 5 (which is one of my favorite entries in the series) and it's coming to Xbox and PC, I'll give it a chance when it comes out.
Overall, this was a short but very sweet developer update and I can't wait to see more of Dragon Quest 12: Beyond Dreams and Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World in the future.
🗨️ Over to you
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