It’s been a busy 40 years for Dragon Quest, and Square Enix made sure to mark the milestone properly. The 40th anniversary livestream aired earlier today, and as expected, it was packed: a development restart for Dragon Quest XII, a new Dragon Quest Monsters announcement, a Switch 2 port for one of the best JRPGs of the past decade, and a sales milestone for the HD-2D remakes. As I flagged in yesterday’s preview, the big expectation going in was an update on Dragon Quest XII. Square Enix delivered. Just not quite the way most fans expected.
Dragon Quest XII: Beyond Dreams
Square Enix announced that Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate has been retitled Dragon Quest XII: Beyond Dreams, with the game restarting development under a new structure. The logo got a refresh to match. The announcement came alongside messages from series creator and game designer Yuji Horii and executive producer Yosuke Saito, plus the first in-development gameplay footage we’ve seen since the original 2021 teaser.
Square Enix hasn’t shared a release window, platform list, or specifics about what changed under the new development structure. The practical answer to “what’s actually different now” remains a bit of a black box. What we do know is that the five-year stretch of near-silence around Dragon Quest XII has been one of the longest gaps between mainline series updates in recent memory, and the fact that this DQ Day update arrives with a full restart rather than a release date reveal explains a lot about why. What we can tell is that the tone and style looks to be very different than what the team originally intended with Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate. We can’t help but wonder if Akira Toriyama’s unexpected death in 2024 impacted development.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World
The next major reveal was Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World, the newest entry in the long-running spinoff series. It’s coming to PlayStation 5, XBOX Series X|S, Switch, Switch 2, and PC via Steam and Windows, with no release window shared. What we do know is the playable cast: dual protagonists Bianca and Nera, both of whom are famously from Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride.
For those unfamiliar, Bianca and Nera are tied to one of the most agonizing choices in the entire franchise. In Dragon Quest V, players are asked to pick one of them as the protagonist’s wife, with both characters built up through hours of playtime and player attachment. The choice has been debated by fans for over 30 years, and Square Enix making both of them protagonists in a Monsters spinoff will surely bring that debate back whenever the game releases.
Dragon Quest XI S Coming to Switch 2
Square Enix also confirmed that Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age is heading to Switch 2 on September 24, with preorders open today. The Switch 2 release carries over everything from the previous Switch version, plus a new feature that lets players choose between two display modes that prioritize either graphics or frame rate.
For those who somehow missed it the first time around, Dragon Quest XI S is the definitive version of one of the best JRPGs in recent memory, with extra content, voice acting, and a 2D mode that wasn’t in the original PlayStation 4 and PC release. The Switch 2’s added horsepower means the display mode toggle is the only real new addition here, but the core game has held up incredibly well, and a more capable handheld is a great way to revisit it, or play it for the first time.
HD-2D Remakes Cross Four Million
Square Enix also shared that Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake and Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake have now sold a combined four million copies worldwide. That’s the full Erdrick Trilogy, which Square Enix has rebuilt in the HD-2D style over the past two years. For context, Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake passed two million on its own in late 2024, which means the two HD-2D releases have been pulling steady numbers since.
Rounding out DQ Day, the mobile game Dragon Quest Smash/Grow is running a limited-time anniversary event with a co-op battle called “Drive Back the Dragonlord’s Army,” Princess Gwaelin equipment, and a login bonus offering up to 1,000 free Gems. Square Enix also released a new 40th anniversary illustration paying homage to the series’ iconic characters. And earlier this month, the original Dragon Quest was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame.
Forty years in, Dragon Quest is still putting out new mainline games, new spinoffs, new remakes, and new mobile entries simultaneously. Not many franchises can pull that off, and even fewer can do it while still feeling cohesive. The Beyond Dreams restart is the curveball of the day, but everything else around it suggests Square Enix is in no danger of running out of road for this series. I’ll take that, even if I have to wait a little longer for XII.
