5 tips when starting Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is Square Enix’s grand attempt to revive a classic RPG that originally released on the NES 36 years ago. The result is a beautiful modernization, but some esoteric elements of the original have been preserved and may sooner or later be best understood. Here are five tips to keep in mind when starting Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake.

Most of these tips explain the quirks in the game’s combat and leveling system, but there’s also some general advice to set yourself up for success. Like many other RPGs, Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake focuses on building a small band of adventurers so they become strong enough to take on stronger enemies. It’s just the way the game works that takes some understanding.

Finally, the original game may be over thirty years old, but it has some complex mechanics and random coincidences that can ruin your plans if you don’t fully understand what it’s doing. Learn these five tips quickly so you can get back to focusing on the lush graphics and beautiful soundtrack (created by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra) that make this game a nostalgic treat with plenty of challenge.

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What is Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake?

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake revives the classic Dragon Quest III with all-new graphics, a new orchestral arrangement of the original music, a new class and more. The game is available for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch for $60.

How to Create Characters in Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake

After starting the game, your hero will be encouraged to organize a party of his own. On the west side of the starting town of Aliahan you’ll find Patty’s Party Planning – a tavern where you can swap companions to form a party for four.

The first thing you should think about is class. Beginners would be wise to stick to the traditional Warrior, Cleric, and Mage options, which offer tank-like defense, healing and status magic, and group-oriented spells, respectively. In these classes from Patty, you can pick up a trio of pre-made characters and just go about your day. Otherwise, go upstairs and talk to the person at the counter to create your new adventurers from scratch.

More adventurous party makers can opt for other classes, such as the Martial Artist and Monster Wrangler, for single-target and group damage respectively. Merchant and Thief are more special choices with abilities that can be used outside of battle, while Gadabout is a healing wildcard. (The final class, the hybrid Sage, the fighter-magic-user, is not an option until later in the game.)

Pro tip: Mid-game you can change the class of your party members. The price is high: the character goes all the way back to level 1 and halves his stats, but retains all his spells and skills. Make sure you aren’t stuck with the class you chose at the beginning.

You can also choose your character’s starting stats. As in the original, Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake uses replaceable seeds (one for each statistical category) to increase character attributes, although whether they are increased by 1, 2, or 3 is random. You’re given a handful of seeds that you can spend as you see fit for your character’s starting stats – but it has so little impact on their growth that you’re fine with letting the game auto-select.

Now that the big choices are out of the way, you can focus on a range of cosmetic looks, but the final option – the character’s voice – affects their basic personality. Personality affects which stats increase the fastest when characters level up, and it’s absolutely crucial to check your party’s personalities in the in-game menu attachments (Miscellaneous > Traveler tips) to understand in which areas they will grow faster. Not long after starting the game, you’ll be given single-use books and personality-altering wearable accessories, so don’t worry if your character doesn’t have the best growth at this point.

Learn how combat works in Dragon Quest HD-2D Remake

Another way the game is different from other RPGs is the combat, which was a little less strange when it debuted in the original than compared to how conventions have evolved into today’s games.

First, understand how the ‘tactics’ system works. When you enter your first battle, you will notice that all your characters attack on their own. You can change this in the ‘tactics’ menu, directing your party members to operate autonomously with guidelines such as attacking all-out, playing defensively, focusing on healing, or using no mana. Or you can give direct orders to everyone, which is honestly recommended; your party members are not the most efficient fighters.

There’s still some randomness in their targeting, though, due to the game’s other major combat quirk. Enemies are bundled into “groups” from which group members must choose when attacking or casting spells. For example, if there are three slimes and two ravens, you can tell your party member to target one group or the other, but it depends on the air which specific enemies they hit. This results in some inefficiency, as your team can spread the damage too thinly rather than focusing an enemy on elimination, but the added randomness is just part of the game’s charm.

Pro tip: As your party levels up, they’ll gain spells and weapons with attack area effects. Most of these target groups, such as the fire spell Sizz or the weapon Thorn Whip. Beware of the Boomerang-type weapons, which attack every enemy on the screen. Give this to your top attack fighters.

Annoyingly, monsters of the same type can later be split into an enemy lineup, meaning you have to attack them separately. These group-oriented spells will treat each enemy as its own ‘group’.

Look in every jar, drawer and bag. Explore every spur for chests

Most RPGs hide items for players to find in their own signature box or barrel, and Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is no exception. When in towns and dungeons, keep an eye out for gray pots, wooden barrels, and yellow pouches hanging on the walls, as they often contain gold or even rare and expensive items. Just walk up to them and tap the right button when the “inspect” prompt appears.

You’ll also find overland items; they sparkle to give you an idea. The best rewards are found in the more remote parts of the map, so if you spot a strange peninsula, chances are there’s a pretty good item tucked away there at the end.

This also applies in dungeons: if you see an offshoot or tunnel that doesn’t lead deeper in, it will quite reliably have a treasure chest or item in a jar that makes the adventure worth it. Predictably, this makes them harder to ignore and more dangerous. Be careful when looking for loot.

Search every corner for mini medals and redeem them at each gift level

As you search for the aforementioned items, you’ll often come across mini-medals: a collectible in-game currency that you can exchange for items. To find the mini medal shop, travel to the eastern part of the starting city of Aliahan and enter the pit, where you can easily find the underground medal shop.

Since the medals are more like collectibles, the merchant inside will simply reward you once you collect enough to reach certain thresholds. For example, you get items with medals 2, 5, 8, 12 and 15, and from then on the steps between the reward levels increase.

More often than not, these items are game-changers or expensive equipment that you essentially get for free. One (the 8 medal reward, if I remember correctly) is the Boomerang, which attacks all enemies at once, giving players a huge advantage in a crucial part of the early game when AoE spells and weapons are limited.

Run, don’t walk, back to Aliahan once you reach each medal threshold. It’s worth using a chimera wing item to zip back and forth (and soon you’ll get a spell that does this for free).

Plan your level-ups for when you need MP most

As expected for an RPG, the first few levels each character earns require minimum experience points (XP), but those thresholds quickly increase as the party members level up. When a character ‘pings’ a level, their hit points and magic points are refreshed to full (or higher, as their capacity will likely increase as stats increase). This is a crucial boon that can save your life in a long dungeon.

Depending on your class, some party members have different healing abilities, including ultimately your main hero character. Assuming you have a Claric, they may have a healing job to keep the party alive, while monsters and traps drain health. Increasing their health will also reduce your Cleric’s MP. Likewise, leaning on your Mage for group targeting spells depletes their respective MP.

That’s where it comes in handy to keep track of how much XP your party members need to level up. Deep in a dungeon, renewing a magic user’s MP can save your ailing party. If you’re keeping an eye on them and a character is about to level up, use his MP to replenish the rest of the party or use an expensive spell in the next battle. Remember that spending MP on damage spells to kill enemies faster saves HP.