Speculations Arise as 'Dragon Quest XII' Might Be Connected to Erdrick; Remakes of 1-3 Announced with Yuji Horii Saying, "A Surprising Development Awaits"
New information about the popular game series "Dragon Quest" has been announced, revealing that "HD-2D Version Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation" will be released on November 14, and "HD-2D Version Dragon Quest I & II" will be released in 2025. While these are remakes of the original Dragon Quest 1-3 games, there is growing speculation online that the upcoming entirely new "Dragon Quest XII" might be set in the same world as these games.
The "Dragon Quest" series is a role-playing game where players take on the role of the protagonist to confront a demon lord aiming to conquer the world. The first "Dragon Quest" game, developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix, was released in 1986 and has since become one of Japan's most popular game titles.
The development of the new "Dragon Quest XII" was announced in May 2021. Yuji Horii, the creator and game designer of Dragon Quest, described it as "a darker, more mature Dragon Quest." In May 2024, he further mentioned, "I know there's concern about Dragon Quest XII, but I was just in a meeting about it. I can't reveal much yet."
Amidst this, it was announced as a surprise that the remakes "HD-2D Version Dragon Quest I & II" would be released. The original Dragon Quest 1-3 series is known as the Erdrick Trilogy, with the timeline connecting 3→1→2. In the Nintendo Direct broadcast on the 18th, Horii mentioned, "If you play in the order of 3→1→2, there will be surprising developments."
Currently, it is expected that "Dragon Quest XII" will be released after "HD-2D Version Dragon Quest I & II" in 2025. Horii's statement about "a surprising development" has sparked speculation online, with comments like, "Will it connect to XII?" "Dragon Quest XII is related to Dragon Quest III. The flame line in XII being unnaturally skewed to the left aligns with the order of 3→1→2," "After the ending of II, there will be a scene saying 'many years later...' and then the Dragon Quest XII logo will appear, right?" "Releasing Dragon Quest I & II later must be connected to Dragon Quest XII," and "It feels like Dragon Quest XII will tie up loose ends from the previous games."
Source : ORICON NEWS