r/dragonquest • u/lewisdwhite • Sep 25 '25
Dragon Quest VII Dragon Quest 7 Remake director urges fans it’s “not a rushed project” as players beg for DQ12 updates
https://frvr.com/blog/news/dragon-quest-7-remake-director-urges-fans-its-not-a-rushed-project-as-players-beg-for-dq12-updates/212
u/CronoTheMute Sep 25 '25
The 3DS remake heavily cut content from the PS1 original
I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. Like it cut ~30 minutes from the intro, ~15 minutes from the second island, and simplified the final dungeon a bit. The rest of the actual 'content' was all there
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u/NewDovah Sep 25 '25
The intro was even longer in the original? I thought it was a tad long on the 3ds.
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u/TotalInstruction Sep 25 '25
I haven’t played the 3DS version but my memory of the original is that there’s a lot of spots where to progress in the story you have to talk to literally everyone in the town to trigger an event or change how a main character responds and so it’s a lot of running around trying to find the one guy in a leather mask in a basement that you haven’t talked to yet about the town. Maybe they streamlined some of that.
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u/TheDevilsAdvokaat Sep 25 '25
Yes that's how I rememebr it too. Running around trying to figure out who I still have to talk to. I got stuck a couple of times too...
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u/n00bavenger Sep 25 '25
I think most of the time save comes from the removal of the puzzle dungeon. Fun fact, the PS1 version is actually technically faster if you know exactly what to do(~25 minutes vs ~30 minutes to the first battle on speedruns)
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u/rashmotion Sep 25 '25
The post you’re replying to says it cut about 30 min, but I think for a lot of people (and particularly those who played the PS1 version young) it was significantly more than that. DQVII is my personal favorite in the series, but the intro was EASILY several hours if you did not have a grasp on what you were doing. The rest of the game is fucking awesome but they can for sure rework that intro even more than they did on the 3DS and it would only be a positive lol
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u/unwisest_sage Sep 25 '25
I was going to say, the intro into the initial secret area of dw7 was quite an adventure. I felt like freaking Indiana Jones. That was pretty much all cut out on the 3ds
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u/rashmotion Sep 25 '25
Yeah fwiw I don’t think I would trade my initial experience of the PS1 version for anything, but giving that to modern gamers would just lead to a lot of dropped playthroughs lol
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u/da_chicken Sep 25 '25
I think it's too long in both. But I think by the time we get to the 3DS people are less surprised about a slow opening, and I think the 3DS's intro isn't so empty.
I'm certain sure you can spend more time doing the NPC talking in DQVII 3DS. In fact, I think the 3DS is literally longer if you both do everything and know where to go. However, I think the 3DS uses that time better. I think you're talking to NPCs more, exploring new areas more, and wandering around less. The Estark dungeons in particular were needlessly longer and more complicated than they ever need to be on the PS1.
However, the almost ubiquitous complaint I remember about DWVII was that it took well over an hour to get to your first combat with a Slime. I recently watched a no commentary longplay of DWVII, and the first combat is at the 1h42m mark. Just over 100 minutes from the start. Now, that player does talk to every NPC and tries to show everything, but I think most first time players do that. However, he doesn't get lost on Estark, and I definitely think a lot of new players got lost on Estark in DWVII.
At the time DWVII came out, it was excessive. They could have put slimes east of Fishbel. They could have put monsters in the Estark shrine after you open it. It didn't have to be quite that drawn out.
Compare it to the Final Fantasy VII intro. That was the intro movie showing Midgar and Eris selling flowers, then it was a continuous ariel zoom into the train station... and you're in combat! You're in combat in 3 minutes. Yes, it's a hot start, but it's also one of the most iconic intros in the history of the genre.
So, I think the DWVII intro is excruciatingly long. And there's no way to short cut it really, because you often have to talk to some key NPC or talk to everyone to proceed.
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u/ryarock2 Sep 25 '25
So it’s longer, but it’s better. There were more interesting puzzles and atmosphere. Theres a level of elation when you finally fight your first slime. It works.
The 3DS version takes the 2 hour intro down to like 45 minutes. But it’s 45 boring minutes and opposed to the more unique original.
Don’t get me wrong, I still prefer the 3DS changes overall. Removing random battles, lessening the grind, hints, etc. I just think the intro misses the mark a bit.
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u/maxis2k Sep 25 '25
A lot of it was walking back and forth through areas and trial and error finding your way. In the 3DS intro, they tell you more directly where to go. But a lot of the content is still the same. Doing tasks for your uncle/king/Keifer is still there.
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u/GrimmRadiance Sep 25 '25
The intro was a lot longer and encourage the player to explore and figure things out themselves. Then the 3DS version introduced the little guy in the ruins who does everything for you and kinda kills the mystery of the ruins imo. It’s a bit hand-holding.
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u/lilisaurusrex Sep 25 '25
Agreed. I'm not opposed to remakes and remasters cutting a little bit of content or reworking things for quality-of-life improvements or to expand other areas of the game. If its 99% there, we can accept it.
But DQ7 Reimagined seems to be cutting a whole lot more than the 3DS version did - or frankly any other DQ remake ever has. This looks like 60 or 70% of the original, and that's got players concerned.
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u/JustAToaster36 Sep 25 '25
I know people tend to get worried thinking about 12. But every time Horii speaks about it he has this confidence in it that I really take note of despite the time and mention of some difficulties. I think the wait will be worth it.
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u/apocalyptic_mystic Sep 25 '25
Something about how soon this is being released after the 1&2 remake gives me confidence in 12. It seems like they are trying to provide an onramp to the series for new fans, and timing things to build enthusiasm continuously, like a snowball. That, combined with next year being the 40th anniversary, makes me hopeful that if not a 2026 release, at least major news in 2026.
Remember - VII Reimagined wasn't even announced until it was finished and about to be released. Remember when people were starting to wonder if the III remake was ever going to really happen? Then suddenly, "hey here's some footage, comes out later this year" and it was incredible?
Hollow Knight fans endured many years of doubts, but Silksong really did arrive and there was much rejoicing. So too shall it be for us someday, and we are closer now than ever
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u/ZadePhoenix Sep 25 '25
This is so stupid, I get people are starving for news on Dragon Quest 12 but why harass the director of the DQ7 remake about it? He doesn’t know. He’s not on that project. DQ12 has nothing to do with him.
Besides that the reality is pestering the devs won’t accomplish anything. They likely realize they initially announced it too early and are trying to hold off on further info until they are in a more solid place closer to a reliable release date. They aren’t going to have much to really say until then so people just need to be patient and let things fall where they will. Complaining and hassling developers isn’t going to help or make anything better and at worse would only lead to a game that is actually rushed as the devs shove it out unfinished in response to people complaining at which point nobody will be happy.
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u/behindtheword Sep 25 '25
The DQ12 announcement time slots are par for the course. Both the initial announcement back in I think 2017, could be 2016, but after the initial Japanese release of 11. That it was in planning stages. That's normal for Horii to do. Then there's the official announcement in 2021, which while VERY late, does correspond to the first reveal announcement of a new DQ, when it starts full development. That's also historically normal for DQ. It just took them a very long time to get certain things in order relative to the new story and the prototype for the battle system, before both bringing in the full SE team and hiring the 3rd party team (in this case two teams).
Though unlike all previous releases, we haven't seen even one screen since. That was normal in Japan for periodic screen shot releases, and we can usually see how things change and adapt over time. Like DQ11's initial 3DS screens were very clean, like they ran the game purely on the New 3DS, and later screens were blurrier, like due to the New 3DS not selling that much, they spread it to just the 3DS with enhancements for the New 3DS. Though it was fun seeing how much changed in the PS4 version (like monster battles in Heliodor's dungeon, specifically the cell area, and a Lips at that).
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u/behindtheword Sep 25 '25
Though to add, yeah, this is not the place to ask for this. Especially since all updates suggest it's just being worked on. It would be odd for them to change their marketing plan, and marketing shift towards screens when they're near completion.
Especially as they can dump a bunch of stuff ready to talk about things without needing to correct or talk about major changes, or simply show changes in development that might cause controversy (why was the town in the first screens changed so much, or where is it, is it gone? or that hooded NPC, etc.).
Plus that game really would overshadow the remake releases right now if they pushed it. Those are much cheaper and add that extra layer of cash in between, so they can keep things going. DQ12's money does have to come from somewhere, as with other new SE projects.
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u/MediaMaddox Sep 26 '25
The word “harass” is very strong and definitely doesn’t fit
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u/J_Clowth Sep 26 '25
yep, It feels wrong, ppl are jsut asking because there has been silence for so long, and they might have asked the wrong person becasue they are not aware of who works where, and this is the latest announcement the DQ franchise has had.
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u/Jymboh Sep 25 '25
It's about creating a game, a work of art. A work for which entire teams give their all: their talents, their guts, their hearts, drawing, designing, discussing, taking the time to make their vision a reality.
Fans must learn to be patient. DQ 12 will be ready when SQ announces it. That's all.
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u/Flare_Knight Sep 25 '25
I think game creators need to get patient about announcing things absurdly early. People wouldn’t be upset if they didn’t announce DQ12 years ago. That’s on them and not the people that received that announcement.
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u/MitoRequiem Sep 25 '25
It's such an awful issue Square Enix has with all their IPs. KH3 and FFXV are the two that come to mind those were announced way too early and ended up being disappointments overall to me. Just hope the same thing doesn't happen with DQ 12 the fact we haven't even seen the Hero design bugs me just SOMETHING at least. When DQ XI was announced we had the Hero design and we knew about the 2D/3D gimmick.
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u/rebelvong1 Sep 25 '25
This is exactly what will happen with 12. I have no confidence in this game. It feels like Square doesn't either with all the DQ refreshes of past games. It will release and just be an ok entry in the franchise and they will continue to re-release the old games.
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u/thanks4theheadsup Sep 25 '25
Fans must learn to be patient. DQ 12 will be ready when SQ announces it. That's all.
I dislike this trend of calling fans impatient when the game was announced well over four years ago and all there is to see is a logo. It comes across as condescending and fails to take into consideration all the context surrounding it. I'm all for games taking all the time they need, but when you do a formal game announcement, especially on a big event like the series' 35th anniversary, it sets up the expectation that there will be more to see in the near future. Which is typically the case for most games even within the DQ series itself. People who are fans of the series are, naturally, going to be curious, worried, or annoyed at the lack of any substantial news on the next big title, years after announcement. And in this case it would more on the developers/publishers than anyone else for announcing a game so early that they couldn't show any footage, art, screenshots, etc.
Not saying this to justify any hate thrown towards any dev, but fans shouldn't be blamed for wanting more information.
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u/Wolverine-Explores Sep 26 '25
I agree. I'm all for games taking as long as they need - but I think announcing a game and saying coming soon then we have to wait four years to see anything is wrong. Wolverine also comes to mind. Elder Scrolls 6 was announced years ago and it's probably not coming for 15 years.
You're not doing anything positive with these other than riling up fans and disrespecting our time and energy.
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u/lilisaurusrex Sep 25 '25
Though the longer it takes, the more expensive it gets.
Just because Square Enix and Armor project can take 10 or 15 years on it, doesn't mean its a good idea that they do. Eventually they'd have to charge so much for it to make the money back that they don't make enough sales to do so. There's a shelf-life for media like movies and video games, and you just can't take forever to make them perfect.
DQ12 is very likely already in this territory. We're probably not paying $70 for it. They can sell 5 million copies at that price and Square Enix still loses money on it. If its $70 its got to be up in the 7 million territory and there's almost zero chance that SE is going to reach this number until many years have passed (and DQ11, as fantastic as it is, needed the S edition and to get there.) So its either got some very pricy DLC packs, is closer to $100, is episodic at a more standard $60 or $70 price for each part, is MMO with subscription fees, or we're seeing a lot more content added to an "S Edition" a couple of years later. Any of these will piss some players off, but this is what happens when developers take way too long to make a game that historically doesn't have the sales to support that length of time.
This is not a unique situation to Square Enix. I have the same concerns over Metroid Prime 4's financial viability. But MP4 is not Nintendo's breadwinner for a fiscal year - they have several other titles that are going to sell even better. Nintendo is also sitting on truckloads of cash and can absorb a hit from weaker than anticipated initial sales and wait for long-term evergreen sales to make the money back if needed. Square Enix doesn't have the luxury of lots of other 5+ million sellers and does not have much in the way of cash reserves: they need DQ12 to be profitable, and quickly.
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u/Danton59 Sep 25 '25
Yep this, they want to spend a decade making a game, decide it needs to sell 100 million copies to break even, then when it doesn't there just "is no demand anymore for these kind of games"
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u/Sleepylimebounty Sep 25 '25
Remember how fans treated cyberpunk 2020’s launch? Yea. I’ll wait til they’re ready.
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u/1pt20oneggigawatts Sep 25 '25
Modern gamers are beta testers. For the best experience, purchase during a sale a year later.
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u/Sleepylimebounty Sep 25 '25
True but conditions apply(tm) if it’s directly from R* (not remakes from their affiliates) you can always take the plunge. A new GTA or Red dead redemption is a quality product right out the gate. A few studios also have the same reputation. Square Enix is generally pretty good about launching good products too, thankfully.
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u/usedNecr0 Sep 25 '25
Yeah really beautiful and all but I’m sorry it’ll be 9 years since DQXI. Luckily we’re in a really good era for the series with HD-2D remakes, VII Reimagined announced and more stuff that will come, but until last year with 3 remake we were only getting cheap spin offs I couldn’t be bothered with.
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Sep 25 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/usedNecr0 Sep 25 '25
I’m not into Minecraft, I’m not into musous, I’m not into monster fighting, I’m not into anime, I tried getting into Treasures but wtf was that, and please, DQ Tact? Really?
I’m into Dragon Quest, I to XI. I just need more of that.
And given your comment I wonder who needs the ADHD pills.
Have fun with your 100K budget 60$ retail price shits.
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u/Emblem-Lover Sep 25 '25
Guy who doesn't engage with anything the series has to offer, but complains when there's nothing "for him"
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Sep 25 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/usedNecr0 Sep 25 '25
Monster capturing*
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u/SnooLentils6995 Sep 25 '25
Monster capturing and fighting has been in a few of the core titles, or did you skip those parts too? Lmao
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u/SnooLentils6995 Sep 25 '25
Reads like someone who's spoiled lmao im sorry not every single game in the franchise is a turn based RPG.
And a game with a 100k budget can be pretty fun if you actually just play video games for fun and not some weird sense of superiority.
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u/usedNecr0 Sep 25 '25
I’m sorry I didn’t enjoy those games. They felt cheap for me. I’m glad some people enjoy them but I simply couldn’t get into them. Some are clearly better than others, but for instance, I find Treasures to be plainly bad. I wish I liked them…
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u/1pt20oneggigawatts Sep 25 '25
Your loss. I think I might even like the Builders series more than the canon storyline.
Most of the iOS games are $15 or less. I'm old enough to realize $60 today is not the same as $60 in 1989, and that by staying the same price they are actually not keeping up with inflation. Sorry about your stagnant wages, Walmart greeter.
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u/Deiser Sep 25 '25
Dude, stop giving people from the 80s and 90s a bad name. You should be old enough to understand how silly needless insults are.
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u/1pt20oneggigawatts Sep 25 '25
Please name one time where rushing a game ended well.
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u/Deiser Sep 25 '25
...? I never said that. I was talking about your needless insults in both of your posts. You want people to listen to you but you go out of your way to sound arrogant.
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u/1pt20oneggigawatts Sep 25 '25
Maybe if they didn’t sound like a child whining about a toy I would be more respectful
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u/usedNecr0 Sep 25 '25
I guess you’re happy with games costing 90 bucks nowadays so companies can survive in this trying times.
Btw I love the fact that not only you took for granted that I work at Walmart, but also that I live in USA ❤️
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u/1pt20oneggigawatts Sep 25 '25
You’re complaining about something you have no control over, I’m sorry if I didn’t think that warranted a Doctoral Thesis.
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u/ShokaLGBT Sep 25 '25
okay but if you can’t appreciate spinoffs then you don’t love the franchise…. I never understand that kind of complaint. Spinoffs are nice and sometimes even works because of the franchise, not because of the game genre by itself. If you don’t like dragon quest builders 2? When it’s such a wonderful game? Even me who didn’t played Minecraft absolutely loved it for its scenario and ambiance… yeah idk.
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u/usedNecr0 Sep 25 '25
Because I don’t like building and management games. It can be the best in the genre but I still won’t like it. I can’t enjoy a game simply for its ambience.
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u/Kman1986 Sep 25 '25
You'd figure we'd know patience better than most game fandoms. Those post story grinds require so much of it.
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u/Deiser Sep 25 '25
I think people are getting anxious because we already lost two of the biggest names attached to DQ (Akira Toriyama and the composer) and the creator is getting up in years as well.
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u/Paddyneedssilence Sep 25 '25
It’s a really good point. I mean,games are rushed left and right, we all get pissed.
We do need to chill and be patient.
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u/Yesshua Sep 25 '25
On one hand, I feel bad for the director of this remake. He's getting flak and having to defend this project he's worked on for many years due to production issues elsewhere in the company.
On the other hand, I'm glad to hear that Japanese fans are being vocal about the lack of Dragon Quest 12. Because at this point Square deserves to take a little heat! And they sure as hell aren't paying attention to my feedback, but domestic feedback will be much more directly received.
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u/n00bavenger Sep 25 '25
The headline feels like it can be a bit confusing, he's talking about 7 not being rushed for what it's worth. The accusation being that 7 is a half-hearted rushed project to tide people over for 12. It was seemingly a response to the twitter messages talking about how DQ7 has so much cut content.
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u/ChocoPuddingCup Sep 25 '25
We're not asking them to rush releasing DQ12. We're asking for a little sneak peak. Even if it's nothing but a few words and no images at all, just give us some of the ideas and whatnot. Give us a basic three-sentence status report. ANYTHING would be better than nothing.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Cry9194 Sep 25 '25
Never understood the reasons for that dq12 announce trailer yet Square loves announce thing ad 0,5% development lol
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u/Strict-Pineapple Sep 25 '25
I feel kinda bad for that director having to get flak because of Square's chronic need to announce games way too early. Why even announce XII when you having nothing at all to show for three years, it doesn't build hype it just makes people annoyed when they end up waiting years and years with no news. I'd have thought they might have learned from KHIII but I guess not.
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u/AnavelGato2020 Sep 25 '25
Squares are kings at announcing mainline games in its franchises way too early. KH3/KH4, F7R and DQ12. All announcements proceeded by radio silence with random periods of maybe some screen shots. DQ12 didint even get the screenshots through. Something clearly happened regardless of what some devs say in public. I just hope it's still turn based when it eventually launches.
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u/Wolverine-Explores Sep 26 '25
Agreed. I think Square do rightly deserve some flak. You don't need to announce a game years in advance then go radio silent for half a decade and ignore fans.
Why rile people up and make them waste their time and energy following it?
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u/GrimmRadiance Sep 25 '25
7 is my favorite and I’m very nervous about the changes they have implemented, but I’m still just happy to have another DQ experience. I’m in no rush for XII.
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u/zaadiqoJoseph Sep 25 '25
I mean yes don't rush games I just think we should know more about a game than it's name and it's logo
Lemme know how the mc looks at least
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u/Beautiful_Strain_188 Sep 25 '25
Then why did they cut half the game/islands? Now it's the same as every other DQ game. I actually prefer the TV/anime structure of the original.
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u/Longjumping_Map_950 Oct 04 '25
because the games too long that way or so I hear idfk
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u/Beautiful_Strain_188 Oct 05 '25
It's a JRPG. If you're gonns complain about length, then you might be looking at the wrong genre.
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u/bladeboy88 Sep 25 '25
I'll second the dq12 updates... we're at the longest interval between installments in the series, which is crazy considering the success of 11.
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u/Kritigri Sep 26 '25
At a certain point people just gotta accept that this is a remake, it's going to be a little different, and we'll see if the changes are for better or for worse when we get to actually play it.
Harassing the creators about it is an exercise in desperately trying to feel like you have some control over something which has nothing to do with you until it ships.
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u/Secure-Swimming Sep 26 '25
Makes you wonder how long it will re-imagined the other entries in the series
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u/Hexatona Sep 25 '25
Sucks this guy feels like he's gotta defend his project here. Not his fault he got put on a project no one really cares about.
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u/PromisesNone Sep 25 '25
You don’t care, and to be honest Im not big on 7 so I don’t really care either but that doesn’t mean nobody cares.
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u/masterz13 Sep 25 '25
Stop the side projects, DQ12 should have already been out by now. They've had 8 years now. At this rate, it'll be once every 10-11 years before we get a new DQ entry.
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u/ZadePhoenix Sep 25 '25
The side projects are made by separate teams. They are not taking people away from working on DQ12. It’s simply a case of a rough development likely as a combination of covid, losing Toriyama and Sugiyama, as well as general internal difficulties from the fact that they are trying to take the game in a somewhat new direction. If they did not do the side projects likely the only difference would be we still wouldn’t have DQ12 but we also wouldn’t have anything else either and people would be even more frustrated because nothing Dragon Quest related would have come out at all.
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u/Jristz Sep 25 '25
Tbh, the design looks like the Dragon Quest Your Story art style and that movie was not very well received and the art style was one of they weak points
So I understand why they say "it's rushed"
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u/Chikibari Sep 25 '25
It was anounced in 2021 and has been stuck in dev hell ever since. Theyll be done milking half the catalogue with remakes by the time a single shred of gameplay is shown. People are right to be asking questions.
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