During the massive Nintendo Direct two days ago, we were shown an assortment of games and updates on the Nintendo Switch that the company was preparing to launch our way for the remainder of 2019 and into 2020. What lot of people were unaware of though, is that Nintendo also held a special Direct in their native Japan, showing them certain titles that weren’t going to be brought over to the West. One of those games, or rather three, were the RPG classics Dragon Quest I, II, and III in a special re-release compilation.
However, the more intriguing aspect that was just discovered is that the games will have English as language option when it releases in their region. This isn’t the first time that they’ve received different language choices for their games, but it usually means that at some point those titles will be released in other regions. As of this writing, neither Nintendo or Square Enix have commented on this. It’s probably to early to tell if the Dragon Quest Trilogy will make it’s way out of Japan, but there are a number of reasons why we should keep an eye out for an announcement.
The Switch itself isn’t region locked, and you can easily play Japanese only titles by making a second account set to that region, giving you instant access to them. Another factor is that the Dragon Quest series has seen a spike in popularity recently, especially in the West. Titles such as Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King on the 3DS, the spin-off Heroes series, and the upcoming Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age: Definite Edition which launches later this month have all been lauded in terms of gameplay and storytelling.
On top of all that, many iterations of the main protagonist from the franchise were recently made into a single DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, simply called Hero. Despite being around since the 1980’s, the series has been mostly contained within the Asian region, with sparse releases here and there for the others. Only in the past few years has Dragon Quest begun to break through into the Western market and finally establish itself as an international powerhouse.
As for the three aforementioned titles, they’re re-releases of the original NES games with a graphical face lift. Playing them for the sake of nostalgia is fine, but expect the difficulty to be much higher than most RPG’s today, especially since they’re from the 8-bit era. The Dragon Quest I, II, and III bundle will launch in Japan on September 27 for the Nintendo Switch, the same release day as Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition.
You can check out the Japanese trailer here: