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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Via Genki

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake sold 821k physical copies across Switch and PS5 at launch in Japan!

- Instantly becomes the #1 best selling game in Japan for the whole of 2024!
- Biggest launch in Japan since Zelda TOTK
- Biggest launch for Square Enix in Japan since DQ11 in 2017!

Switch: 641,195
PS5: 180,575

Total: 821,770​

 

[Sooner]

I remember reading about this game before it's original Famicom launch. First time I realized how huge Dragon Quest was in Japan. It was basically a national holiday.

 

[Diseased Yak]

It deserves it, such an amazing game!

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Wonder what the total is with digital

Great results though

 

[Kacho]

2D is the place to be if it got turned based to rock the mic

 

[adamsapple]

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

It's the bestest.

 

[Madflavor]

2D is the place to be if it got turned based to rock the mic

Current wish list is FFVI 2D-HD and FFXVII in 2D-HD. But I know that's some hard cope.

 

[SkylineRKR]

Yeah since SO2 I prefer HD 2D remakes for these games. They don't alter or fuck up things too much, on the contrary.

I'd be more down for a FFVII HD 2D than for Part 3.

 

[Davevil]

that switch numbers

 

[GinSama]

Honestly don't remember at all when I played back in the day the old game.....but Im really enjoy it on my switch. Well deserve, the game is so charming. I love it.

Pretty much my switch became my jrpg console

 

[Holammer]

I remember reading about this game before it's original Famicom launch. First time I realized how huge Dragon Quest was in Japan. It was basically a national holiday.

It's a bit of a cultural phenomenon. In Yakuza 0 there's a side-quest involving the launch of a DQ3 parody called Arakure Quest 3.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Yeah since SO2 I prefer HD 2D remakes for these games. They don't alter or fuck up things too much, on the contrary.

I'd be more down for a FFVII HD 2D than for Part 3.

Is SO2 recommended? I’ve never played a SO game

 

[SmokedMeat]

I remember reading about the launch in Nintendo Power. We never got the game, because Nintendo was so stupid back then. Definitely going to be picking this up as I love that classic DQ style.

 

[amigastar]

Yep, japanese are surely crazy about Dragon Quest.

 

[Shubh_C63]

Am I reading it wrong ?

How come a game that sold 0.8M become the most sold game in Japan, doesn't Nintendo game exists.
Or are they saying best selling Dragon Quest game ?

edit - Physical only count. OK

 

[Oberstein]

The addition of types A and B made this possible.

 

[BennyBlanco]

I wish I had time for all these JRPGs this year. Still never installed Metaphor.

 

[Zacfoldor]

We should have gotten a FFVII, VIII, and IX HD 2D remake.

 

[ByWatterson]

Hell yeah. Japan success Square is best Square.

 

[Celcius]

I wish there was a demo for this on Steam (or any system). It looks amazing but I've never played DQ before.

 

[Woopah]

Am I reading it wrong ?

How come a game that sold 0.8M become the most sold game in Japan, doesn't Nintendo game exists.
Or are they saying best selling Dragon Quest game ?

edit - Physical only count. OK

Biggest physical week 1 launch in Japan in 2024. Its been a pretty poor year in Japan software wise, but 2025 will be wayyyy better.

 

[jshackles]

I wish there was a demo for this on Steam (or any system). It looks amazing but I've never played DQ before.

The demo can be found on various rom sites throughout the internet

This is an extremely faithful remake to the original NES version

 

[Kataploom]

That's great, I'd think on getting it if I want playing DQ11 right now, which is also my first DQ game

 

[StereoVsn]

Is SO2 recommended? I’ve never played a SO game

Yes, absolutely play it. It’s a great game, by far the best in the series and an amazingly well done remake. I think there is a demo too.

 

[StereoVsn]

Biggest physical week 1 launch in Japan in 2024. It’s been a pretty poor year in Japan software wise, but 2025 will be wayyyy better.

Unfortunately the big RPGs skipped the Switch for the most part this year. I can see Metaphor, P3R, new Yakuzas all releasing on Switch 2 unless SEGA is crazy.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

Factor in digital and Steam sales not counted here, as well as it being undershipped looks like S-E finally got themselves a being earner in the HD games sector. Budget was probably tiny as well considering the visual style chosen.

 

[onQ123]

Just imagine if Square never shot themselves in the foot this could have sold 3 million in the 1st week

 

[Arsic]

Is SO2 recommended? I’ve never played a SO game

Top 10 JRPGs ever made.

Star ocean the second story is peak. Varying story points based off who you select as main character, and changes who you can recruit from that choice too.

Very challenging end game dungeons, and giga chad hard modes. Well done crafting system. At its time real time with turn based mix combat, and while still fun, can be abused haha. Stellar soundtrack and this new version has good voice acting too minus Claude.

Has over 200+ endings as well based off relationships with characters.

Master fucking piece. Peak star ocean game. The franchise never came close to the highs here.

 

[vagabond-]

as always horii + toriyama

 

[SkylineRKR]

Is SO2 recommended? I’ve never played a SO game

I played it on PSX soon after it came out and I thought it was one of the best JRPG on that system. The Remaster is better in every way possible. In terms of accessibility, gameplay, graphics, music. To get to max level is not even a long grind with the new additions. For the first time I beat everything you can do in this game.

Its the best SO for sure, and probably my number one JRPG this gen. If you like PSX style RPG such as Tales of you can give this a whirl.

 

[Chuck Berry]

I need to play this

 

[Mr Hyde]

Dragon Quest is turning out to be Square Enix number one franchise. Final Fantasy is diminishing in cultural relevancy.

 

[Jinxed]

Good, it deserves it. Such a good game

 

[Danjin44]

 

[GateofD]

Top 10 JRPGs ever made.

Star ocean the second story is peak. Varying story points based off who you select as main character, and changes who you can recruit from that choice too.

Very challenging end game dungeons, and giga chad hard modes. Well done crafting system. At its time real time with turn based mix combat, and while still fun, can be abused haha. Stellar soundtrack and this new version has good voice acting too minus Claude.

Has over 200+ endings as well based off relationships with characters.

Master fucking piece. Peak star ocean game. The franchise never came close to the highs here.

I tried SO: The Divine Force, but lost interest, felt like a much weaker Tales game in Space

 

[Saber]

Wow that incredibly impressive. I don't remember DQ having such strong presence, that feat makes me happy for DQ series in general. Hope they continue to give more love to DQ games, and hopefully port the DQ Monsters to consoles as well.

 

[Jinxed]

Wow that incredibly impressive. I don't remember DQ having such strong presence, that feat makes me happy for DQ series in general. Hope they continue to give more love to DQ games, and hopefully port the DQ Monsters to consoles as well.

DQ5 sold 1.3 millions copies within a day in Japan. DQ was always a powerhouse there so I'm not surprised but I'm happy for it, it deserves it

 

[Sooner]

Dragon Quest is turning out to be Square Enix number one franchise. Final Fantasy is diminishing in cultural relevancy.

It's always been that way in Japan. Not in the rest of the world, and that has not changed.

 

[Arsic]

I tried SO: The Divine Force, but lost interest, felt like a much weaker Tales game in Space

The second story IMO is the only good one.

The rest are shit. An argument can be made for the third one, space in time… but nah. They ruined the entire universe lore with the shit ending there. So every game before it and after is retconned and it destroys all journeys to be meaningless.

I pretend only SO2 ever came out and the rest doesn’t exist.

 

[Saber]

DQ5 sold 1.5 millions copies in a single day in Japan. DQ was always a powerhouse there so I'm not surprised but I'm happy for it, it deserves it

Not talking about there, I'm talking about outside there. I know the distaste and disgrace some people outside there, specially the west, give to them. I love DQ series, while DQ Monsters is one my favorite monster games of all time, but they sometimes gets disinterested into to move outside of Japan because of people praising Pokemon over dominance with stupid silly excuses like calling "clones" and such. Not to mention west favorite phrase of calling Jrpgs terrible.

 

[Jinxed]

Not talking about there, I'm talking about outside there. I know the distaste and disgrace some people outside there, specially the west, give to them. I love DQ series, while DQ Monsters is one my favorite monster games of all time, but they sometimes gets disinterested into to move outside of Japan because of people praising Pokemon over dominance with stupid silly excuses like calling "clones" and such. Not to mention west favorite phrase of calling Jrpgs terrible.

Ah I get it, I haven't seen how it did elsewhere so far. I hope it'll do well so we can have more of these 2d HD games

 

[GateofD]

FF has been losing its roots. Yea Rebirth was good, but FF16 even though was a decent cinematic movie isn't what I see in a FF game, DQ seems one of the few old franchises that still are staying strong in their roots that made them popular in the first place.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Such a great game. Really enjoying it so far, about 15 hours in. Runs and looks amazing at 60fps on Series X.

 

[Oberstein]

The second story IMO is the only good one.

The rest are shit. An argument can be made for the third one, space in time… but nah. They ruined the entire universe lore with the shit ending there. So every game before it and after is retconned and it destroys all journeys to be meaningless.

I pretend only SO2 ever came out and the rest doesn’t exist.

I remember the excitement surrounding the release of Star Ocean 3.

The intro sequence is still etched in my memory:

After this stellar second opus (hehe), we thought we had the crème de la crème of JRPGs. After that, it wasn't a huge disappointment either, but it was very polarizing. The series only declined dramatically after this episode. Such a shame.

In fact, it reminds me a little of Phantasy Star in another way. After IV and the transition to mmo, this license disappeared. So much potential in these two IPs, and it's all been wasted.

Anyway, that's not the point. Dragon Quest is a winner here.

 

[Dorago]

They do seem to love this damn game.

800K sales being "amazing" is pathetic though, and shows why so little effort is put into Japanese games.

No knock on them, but if you can only expect a $35 million return on your blockbuster game then the budget is going to be a quarter of that or less.

This explains well why the Nipponese are bending over for the ESG crap. They need US and Euro sales to keep them competitive.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

They do seem to love this damn game.

800K sales being "amazing" is pathetic though, and shows why so little effort is put into Japanese games.

No knock on them, but if you can only expect a $35 million return on your blockbuster game then the budget is going to be a quarter of that or less.

This explains well why the Nipponese are bending over for the ESG crap. They need US and Euro sales to keep them competitive.

These are JAPAN retail sales only and they're very good for a DQ remake.

It's currently the biggest retail launch of 2024 in Japan, the second biggest third-party launch on Nintendo Switch, and the third biggest launch on PlayStation 5 so far.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Arsic when it comes to SO2, what is best? Original or remake?

Some remakes fuck up stuff like translations, music or atmosphere. Would you say the remake is well done? Or nah?

 

[mèx]

DQ has always been a beast in Japan. Apparently they shipped less copies than the demand, it could have been more even.

 

[Arsic]

Arsic when it comes to SO2, what is best? Original or remake?

Some remakes fuck up stuff like translations, music or atmosphere. Would you say the remake is well done? Or nah?

remake is the best way now to play. It gives options for different voice acting etc.

My only beef with the remake is that it uses more modern anime portraits and Claude’s voice IMO is horrendous.

The new portraits are quality but the original was that 90s era of anime so someone like Rena used to look more mature and now is more cutesie.