Square Enix’s Dragon Quest I & II 2D-HD Remake is coming out this October, so I decided to pick up Dragon Quest III 2D-HD Remake as a way to get ready. This might seem like a weird release strategy, but fans of the series know that the third game’s story takes place before the first two games, so it makes sense.
Because this is a modern release, I expected this game to be a solid JRPG that’s easier than the original title. While there are definitely modern quality of life improvements made to make this easier to play, this title’s difficulty surprised me. It might not be Dark Souls, but the high cost of weapons and armor, alongside the challenging enemies, made this a hard experience.
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And I’m loving every minute of it.
Can’t Beat the Classics
Since this is my first time playing this game, I decided to go with a basic party lineup for Dragon Quest 3 2D-HD. This is a game where you can choose your teammates from a mercenary shop, so I opted for a warrior, priest, and mage. Overall, this has been a pretty safe team for me so far, but they are lacking in speed.
The warrior is great at dealing out damage and taking some for weaker party members. Even though he’s relegated to being a healer, the Priest is sort of a jack-of-all-trades and has decent melee damage. As expected, the mage is something of a glass cannon but can shoot out some pretty strong spells.
It’s an incredibly basic JRPG lineup, and that’s how I like it.
Can’t Beat These Enemies
When starting Dragon Quest 3 2D-HD Remake, I started thinking this game was too easy. Earlier enemies are easy to beat, and I barely used any items on my teammates. A part of me even wondered if the game was too easy, not matching the grindy experience that the eighth game gave me.
It turns out that I spoke too soon…
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+ 2As the game goes on, various enemies can have multiple attacks per turn. This meant that my teammates and I were receiving more damage than ever, making each fight almost feel like a boss battle. My priest still hasn’t learned multi-heal, making individual healing in between these beatings feel like hell.
Stat Boosts Are King
Like the ridiculously difficult Shin Megami Tensei series, Dragon Quest 3 2D-HD Remake is a bit easier if you use stat-boosting spells. Accelerate can increase the speed of your party, while buff can increase defenses. We can also use sap to make enemy defenses weaker, though this can be difficult because enemies are often paired with groups of their kind.
Honestly, having to use these stat-boosting spells has made battles more exciting. Will Accelerate activate before this sand worm uses fire breath? Should I use ka-clang to turn everyone into statues and save them from damage? Really good stuff that makes these turn-based battles more exciting.
click to enlarge+ 2I hope these difficult battles from Dragon Quest 3 2D-HD Remake are in the next collection from Square Enix. This will be interesting for the first game, which has the player try to save the world by themselves, because the party system hadn’t been invented yet. Sign me up for that.
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