Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake: Difference between revisions

*There is now a cutscene showing the [[Jipang|Jipangese]] citizens discussing [[Yayoi]]'s disappearance and dreading that [[Pimiko]] will punish them severely for allowing another sacrifice to [[Orochi]] to escape. One also mentions the [[The Jipangese swordsmith|swordsmith]] who fled with his wife when she was selected to be the sacrifice just before Yayoi

*The movement speed when travelling by boat or using Ramia has been increased

*A feature has been added whereby pressing the menu button while flying with Ramia allows the player to switch between automatic and manual flight modes

*Ramia's low altitude flight now moves more quickly, similar to the Super Famicom version

*Critical hit rates for the Hero and Martial Artist have been doubled

*[[Monster Pile-On]] has been nerfed, only dealing full damage when all 121 rescue monsters have been found. It also now performs 3~5 strikes per use instead of being fixed at 4

*[[Wild Side]] now costs 30 MP to use

*A limit has been placed on the number of times that some monsters can perform certain actions within one turn

*Some monsters have been adjusted so that they no longer use [[Defending Champion]] in the next turn after they become the last remaining monster

*The status-ailment resistance of boss monsters has been increased for Draconian Quest difficulty.

*Adjustments have been made to make it more difficult for both enemies and party members to be successively afflicted with the same status ailments

*Defence has been lowered for all monsters except for [[Metal slime family|metal slimes]]

*Once the Mini Medal Manor in the Aliahan well has been visited, it will be added to the list of Zoom destinations

*In the Temple of Trials, the number of [[Elfin Elixir]]s required to advance has been lowered from 25 to 10

*A treasure chest has been added to the Temple of Trials, allowing players to acquire one more [[Gringham Whip]]

*Fixed a bug whereby levelling up after using the [[Seed of Life]] or [[Seed of Magic]] items would cause the status increase value to be calculated twice

*The gold golem has been renamed to [[gold digger]] to distinguish it from the recurring monster of the same name, in preparation of the latter's appearance in ''[[Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake]]''.

Remaking ''Dragon Quest III'' was proposed by producer Masaaki Hayasaka, who noted that while the title was available for smart phones, the Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4 etc, these were just ports of the Super Famicom remake made back in 1996 and did not take advantage of modern hardware. The first remake proposal was to develop the game entirely in 3D, but this approach was canned due to the many difficulties of adapting a 2D game into the third dimension; the countless adjustments that would have to be made would have led to the remake feeling too detached from the original. Concurrent to this snag in development was the break out success of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopath_Traveler Octopath Traveler], which pioneered what is now known as the HD-2D style. Hayasaka then proposed remaking ''Dragon Quest III'' in the same style, to which Horii readily agreed<ref>早坂: HD-2D版が登場する前も Nintendo SwitchやPS4、スマホなどで『DQIII』を遊べましたが、それらは1996年に発売されたスーパーファミコン(以下SFC)酸の移植作でした。つまり、 最新技術によるリメイクが長らく行なわれていなかったんです。そんななかで、『オクトパストラベラー』(※1)でHD-2Dの手法が生まれて、「これを活用すれば、映像をアップデートした『DQIII』を作れるのでは」ということで企画が立ち上がりました。

With the presentation decided upon the goal of the project was to respect the original while still adding new elements to enrich the play experience. One example of this was changing the look of each town and castle now that they were not bound to the same tile sprites as they were in the Famicom and Super Famicom versions. As the world of ''Dragon Quest III'' is based on the real world, Hayasaka placed emphasis on reflecting the real life cultures each locale was derived from without altering the classic feeling too much. When Horii compared the HD remake and the Famicom version side by side, he noted the two had a similar atmosphere despite the latter's more primitive graphics, which Hayasaka took as a great personal success<ref>早坂: FC版では、どの町も同じマップチップ (マップを構成するパーツ) が使われているため雰囲気が似ていましたが、HD-2Dになったおかげで間ごとにヨーロッパらしさや日本らしさ、アジアらしさといったちがいを表現できました。『DQIII』のワールドマップは現実世界をモチーフにしているので、実際のイメージを再現できたのは大きな魅になったと思います。

早坂: 改めて「こんなにちがうの!?」と驚きました。ただ、そんなふうに感じるということは、FC版を遊んだ当時に脳内に思い浮かべたイメージとHD-2Dの映像がそんなにズレていないとも言えるので、制作者としては大成功です。ドラゴンクエストIII そして伝説へ… レジェンダリーガイドブック ISNB 978-4-08-779822-7 page 394</ref>. This attention to detail extended to the overworld representations of each town and castle as well, something that actually caused a dispute during development. Each locale was given a unique, miniaturized representation on the world map instead of sharing the same sprite tiles as in prior versions, and Hayasaka wanted the player to be able to enter each from any side. The planner contested this and insisted it wasn't realistic enough for a modern game, to which Hayasaka countered that such a feature would be better for difficulty balance as a party in a critical state wouldn't run the risk of being wiped out by monsters when walking towards an entrance on the opposite side of the town. Neither would compromise and Horii settled things by agreeing with Hayasaka<ref>早坂: その仕様は、プランナーと結構もめまして・・・・・・。もし特定の出入口からしか入れなかったら、ボロボロの状態はんたいがわ いりぐちでフィールドを歩いて帰ってきたときに、反対側の入口までまわりこむ途中で敵と遭遇して全滅してしまうかもしれない。そうならないように、町のシンボルのどこかに触れればすぐに入れるようにしてほしい、とプランナーに頼んだのですが、「いえ、最新のゲームとして、これくらいのディテールは必要です!」と説得されまして・・・・・・。

As the original game was known for having a high degree of customization at the time of it's release through the vocations system, this feature was embellished by granting players the ability to personalize the appearances of their characters directly. These specifications will also persist when a character changes vocations, something Hayasaka proposed due to the awkwardness of a male Warrior suddenly becoming an old man once he changed vocations into a Mage and vice-versa. Voice acting for the party was also deemed a necessity in the modern era, with Horii supervising the proper intonations for spells when their names are shouted in battle.

Scenario-wise, Horii deemed that the original ''Dragon Quest III'' had a complete story and thus the new additions would focus on Ortega instead of the protagonist. As one of the core elements of the title was the Hero following their in father's footsteps and slowly catching up with him as the adventure progresses, these new scenario additions would strengthen that theme in a way that didn't disrupt the flow of the overarching story. Particular emphasis was given to scene of Ortega fighting an unknown monster at the volcanic rim of [[Mt. Necrogond]], added in the Super Famicom version, with several of the new scenes showing Ortega's journey leading up to that moment and the unknown monster being fleshed out into the [[Garbgoyle]] villain.

To further emphasis the theme of familial legacy was the creation of the [[Auroral Helm]] item, the upgraded form of [[Ortega's Helm]]. While the Super Famicom remake had included Ortega's Helm as a durable piece of head protection, it was outclassed by the [[mythril helm]] and [[great helm]] items available later in the game, both of which could be equipped by the Hero. The [[GameBoy Color]] port released in 2000 addressed this by giving Ortega's Helm resistances to status ailments, but it was still a sub-optimal choice by the end of the game. Horii noted that many players held a sentimental attachment to the helmet regardless of it's comparative weakness and would equip it even into the confrontation against the final boss despite being a handicap. As it was revealed in the 25th anniversary expo that Ortega's Helm would become [[Erdrick's Helmet]] it was decided to incorporate this into the HD remake. As a bonus, Ortega's dialogue will change if the player wears the Auroral helm while speaking to him in the depths of [[Zoma's Citadel]]<ref>早坂: オルテガのかぶとを今作のかぶとのなかで一番強くしたい、との思いから追加しました。 SFC版ではもっと強いかぶとがあるので、それを装備して最終決戦に向かうプレイヤーも多かったのですが、やはり最後は父親から受け継いだ品を身に着けてほしくて。 「DQ」シリーズ25周年記念で開催された「ドラゴンクエスト展」にて、「オルテガのかぶとが、のちにロトのかぶとになった」という設定を明かしていたので、それを取り入れました。

When it came to modernizing the battle system it was decided from the beginning to include skills, which had become a staple of the series since their inclusion in ''[[Dragon Quest V]]'' in 1992. The inclusion of skills required a rebalancing of the monsters' capabilities in battle to establish a good difficulty curve, as well as raising the amount of monsters that could appear in a single battle from 4~5 to 8. The implementation of AI-controlled party members was a carryover from the smart phone port of the Super Famicom remake, but was further refined to be more intelligent. Humorously this new intelligence lead to the AI characters casting [[Whack]] and [[Thwack]] over and over even on enemies who were immune to instant death before the programming was altered, inadvertently recreating [[Kiryl]]'s infamous blunders from the Famicom version of ''[[Dragon Quest IV]]''<ref>早坂: すでにAIが搭載されていたスマホ版をベースにしていますが、さらに賢くなっています。なんなら人間よりも最適な行動を選んでくれるかもしれません。

The addition of the Monster Wrangler vocation came about due to the age ratings boards of overseas nations being stricter than in Japan. This meant that the traditional mini-game of betting on monster fights to win money needed to be axed due to resembling real life gambling, and it was decided to replace the system with a [[Monster Arena]] styled like the one seen in ''[[Dragon Quest VIII]]'' where the player's team of monsters compete for prizes. This decision was also based on play-tester feedback, who requested that the larger village/castle/dungeon maps of the HD version be given more features to fill in the new space. As such recruitable monsters were deposited in various areas, thus addressing both issues at simultaneously. The Monster Wrangler was added to further enrich the system, rewarding the player in a practical way with the vocation reaching greater potential the more monsters the player recruits<ref>早坂: まず、 海外のレーティング(対象年齢制限)の関係で、原作にあったモンスター格闘場のオッズシステム(魔物同士の戦いにゴールドをベットする仕組み)が使用でき なくなり、そのかわりとして過去の「DQ」シリーズからモンスター・バトルロードを取り入れることになりました。また、HD-2D化によってマップが広くなったため、新しい遊びを追加したい、という要望もあったんです。このふたつを解決するために、新職業でまもの使いを採用すれば「広い世界でモンスターを集めてバトルロードで戦わせる」という形でうまくまとまるのでは、と考えて追加が決まりました。フィールドの隠しエリア (ひみつの場所)も、当初はどのように活用するか決まっていませんでしたが、まもの使いやバトルロードが採用されたことを受けて、はぐれモンスターの隠れ場所になったんです。まもの使いによって、いろいろな要素がうまくはまっていった感覚でした。

The inclusion of the [[Grand Dragon]], the superboss who was added to the GameBoy Color version of ''Dragon Quest III'' in 2000, was a response to feedback from players that noted his absence from the ports of the Super Famicom version and desired to fight him once more. The abode of the Grand Dragon, the [[Temple of Trials]], was created as a means to satisfy players that wanted to continue playing after the credits rolled and those seeking a considerable challenge. As the [[Monster Medal|monster medals]] feature from the GameBoy Color version was decided to not be brought forward for the HD remake, the [[Ice Cave]] bonus dungeon that originally housed the Grand Dragon was replaced with the heavenly Temple of Trials <ref>早坂: クリア後のやりこみ要素として何を入れようかと考えたときに、ゲームボーイカラー(以下GBC)版の隠しボスであるグランドラゴーンが候補にあがりました。この敵はGBC版にしか登場しておらず、「ほかの移植版でも戦いたい」との声が以前から多く寄せられていたんです。そこで、今回のリメイクではグランドラゴーンを登場させることになり、せっかくだからダンジョンのデザインも一新して、 試練の神殿という荘厳な場所になりました。こういったやりこみ要素は「DQ」シリーズではおなじみですから、みなさんに楽しんでもらえるのではないでしょうか。

''Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake'' was formally announced during the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfmOWgfYVjY| series 35th anniversary livestream] on May 26, 2021. Beta footage that dirfers from the final product was shown, along with a debriefing from producer Masaaki Hayasaka. In his typical mischievous fashion Yuji Horii also let it slip that [[Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake|remakes of the first two games]] and that there would be surprises in store for those who played the trio in chronological order, much to the chagrin of his co-host and live English translator.

On September 28, an interview between [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP_tD58w6io Denfamico Gamer]'s NAZ CHRIS and Yuji Horii and [[Kazuhiko Torishima]] would be held commemorating the 2024 Tokyo Game Show, with Horii and Torishima representing [https://www.j-wave.co.jp/original/maadspin/ radio station Tokyo M.A.A.D. SPIN] through their radio program "Yubo & Mashirito 's Koso Koso station". The interview pretained to the HD2D remake of ''III'', the ongoing scandal regarding the game's censorship prompting NAZ CHRIS to ask Yuji Horii about the changes directly, specifically for the female Warrior. Horii revealed that the changes were due to the strict age ratings regulations, stating that even just showing too much skin would raise the game's rating and prevent the game from being sold as an all-ages product as ''Dragon Quest'' had been in the past. NAZ CHRIS replied by saying the game is simply a work of fiction for the players to immerse themselves into, to which Horii agreed and stated that he doesn't understand what the problem is either<ref>NAZ CHRIS: あとすごい話題になってた。そのコスチュームとか、当時とそのままなのかどうなのかみたいなのがありましたよね。 また...

鳥嶋: ルールがやっぱなんか各国違ったりするんでね。広くろうと思うと、一番厳しいところに合わせざるを得ないとか。でも,</ref>. Torishima followed Horii's statement up by pointing out that ratings regulations vary greatly between different nations. Torishima strongly criticized the forced compliance to these regulations to conduct international business in American and the UK, going so far as to call them an "evil disguised as good", and pointed out that it is simply impossible for there to be content that offends no one due to everyone having different perspectives; Torishima asserts that so long as certain absolute taboos are not broken then creative freedom should be unfettered<ref>NAZ: 当時そんなこと思わなかったですね。

Torishima drew comparisons between the narrow-mindedness of modern-day age regulations to the religious zealotry of the Puritanical mindset of the past, and highlighted the difficulties of selling Jump magazine in America as an example. The content that was deemed perfectly suitable for eight year old children in Japan was mandated to be marketed as strictly for teenagers and older in America or legal action would be applied<ref>鳥嶋:その宗教的な概念からくるその清教徒の考え方って、アメリカにあるじゃない？彼らのコンプラの考え方って本当ない。狭いうんでだから、向こうでコミックスだけに、全部その年齢で。 あの, 区切ってやらなきゃいけない少年ジャンプの漫画だったらサーティーンアップ13歳以上じゃないと出せない。それは全部見てくれなきゃいけないで、それを訴訟が起きる。そのために保険も入らなきゃいけない。もうこんなね、バカな国とねやるの。</ref> Torishima declared that doing business with America was infuriating and even damaging to Japan itself by forcing the smaller nation to comply to such ridiculous laws, which Horii explained as being the reason for the removal of gendered language during the character creation process. Foreign meddling mandated the censoring of the words men and women and forced Horii to utilize the awkward workaround of appearance A/B, despite everything else in the game acknowledging the common sense differences between the two sexes. Horii wondered aloud who on Earth would ever complain about the use of such common words in the first place<ref>堀井: 主人公もね、男女選べるんだけど、男を女選ぶって書いていけないのねタイプ一タイプ二なのねねえそう男女誰が一体文句言うんだろうと思うんだよね。

*[https://dragonquest.square-enix-games.com/games/en-us/dragon-quest-3-hd2d-remake/ Official website]