Dragon Quest trilogy coming to DS

By Oli Welsh Published 22 May, 2008

Remakes to hit Europe in September.

Square Enix has announced that it's bringing a trilogy of DS remakes of classic games in the Dragon Quest series to Europe and other PAL territories.

The first will be Dragon Quest: The Chapters of the Chosen - a remake of the NES classic Dragon Quest IV. It comes out in September this year, around the same time as the US release, after appearing in Japan back in November.

Remakes of numbers V and VI in the massively popular Japanese RPG series are scheduled to follow - subtitled The Hand of the Heavenly Bride and Realms of Reverie, respectively. Collectively, the three games are known as the Zenithia Trilogy, after a sky castle that appears in all three. It's the first time these games have been officially released in Europe.

They aren't simple ports - all three games get a full overhaul for the DS. Expect 3D graphics, dual screen presentation, an orchestral score, a wireless feature that adds characters to your game based on other players met in the real world, and monsters that have actual animation routines. You can't stop progress.

"I hope that game players throughout Europe will enjoy the humour and excitement and look forward to future adventures," said Square Enix president John Yamamoto.

Square Enix is betting big on the DS for the future of the Dragon Quest series: the next all-new instalment, Dragon Quest IX, is in development by Level 5 exclusively for Nintendo's handheld.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (14) Latest comment 4 years ago

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  • systems #1 4 years ago

    Guaranteed purchase. September can't come soon enough.

  • locus2k1 #2 4 years ago

    Happy Days! :D

  • Fernando #3 4 years ago

    Cant wait

  • Meho #4 4 years ago

    Holy... I really wonder how I will find the time to play all these games. DS is still a bit deficient in the JRPG department so I guess getting all these remakes goes some way towards remedying that...

  • Killerbee #5 4 years ago

    Sounds great.

    I'm actually really looking forward to some of these old-school JRPGs being released over here. I'm playing the GBA remake of Final Fantasy VI on my DS at the moment and it's utterly brilliant. Whoever said random, turn-based battles needed to be axed in favour of FFXII's tedious battle system needs a smack on the back of the head.

  • Cid #6 4 years ago

    Excellent. :D

  • TriggerHippie #7 4 years ago

    /grin
    /grin
    /grin

  • TriggerHippie #8 4 years ago

    @Killerbee

    "Whoever said random, turn-based battles needed to be axed in favour of FFXII's tedious battle system needs a smack on the back of the head."

    I totally agree. Its the first FF game I've not managed to finish and it was purely because I just didnt connect with the characters at all in the battles.

  • Mr_Brown #9 4 years ago

    Finally! This is great news, being able to play this games is good enough, nevermind in updated 3d form!

  • Gaol #10 4 years ago

    I actually thought FFXII's combat was a huge improvement. Pity about the plot/characters.

  • silke #11 4 years ago

    Happiness.

  • The_Inquisitor #12 4 years ago

    DQ VIII was the first I'd played but it was good enough to make me a fan of the series. I'll definetly be getting (at least one of) these when they're released.

  • Nikanoru #13 4 years ago

    I'm playing the GBA remake of Final Fantasy VI on my DS at the moment and it's utterly brilliant.

    Port. It's a port. FF3 on the DS is a remake. I am personally anxiously awaiting the same treatment of FF6.


    "Whoever said random, turn-based battles needed to be axed in favour of FFXII's tedious battle system needs a smack on the back of the head."

    I totally agree. Its the first FF game I've not managed to finish and it was purely because I just didnt connect with the characters at all in the battles.

    Seconded on the not connecting with the characters. Battles were just so uninvolved. That said, I could go either way with the battle system, but the problem was the endless, endless grinding. For all the streamlining of the new system, they crammed in so many consecutive fights in so many endless repetitive grey hallways that it turned out even more frustrating than random encounters in the old FF1.

  • bionutz #14 4 years ago

    aye!