Now thatDragonQuest 12: The Flames of Fatehas finally been announced, fans everywhere can finally look forward to a new mainlineDragon Questgame. On May 27, the officialDragon QuestTwitter account revealed thatDragon Quest 12is under development in Unreal Engine 5, the updated version ofDragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age’s Unreal Engine 4.
The reveal was contained within a career recruitment notice announcing that Square Enix is interested in hiring new development staff to work on the newDragon Questgame. While both the tweet in question and the linked Career Recruitment page on Square Enix’s site are in Japanese, players can draw some conclusions about the upcoming title from the information that has been made available sinceDragon Quest 12was announced during theDragon Quest35th Anniversary Live Stream.
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AsDragon Quest 12was revealed with a simple and surprisingly ominous trailer, fans aren’t currently aware of who the main characters are, what the story will revolve around, or what kind of setting the game will take place in. However, Square Enix and Yuji Horii have made it clear that they are trying something new with this entry.Dragon Quest 12is aiming to be a much more mature game than its predecessors, which may also make it a verynon-traditionalDragon Questgameas a whole. Fortunately, Unreal Engine 5 supports Nintendo Switch, so the new game will probably still be accessible to Switch owners.
On the Career Recruitment page, Horii reveals two pieces of new information: that the story ofDragon Quest 12has already been completed and that he intends to overhaul the turn-based battle system for this game. He does not give any specific details, but reportedly, he’s already made a prototype to show off his new ideas and the current staff think it could be interesting. This may indicate thatDragon Quest 12will follow inFinal Fantasy 16’s footstepsin terms of mechanics as well overall tone. Horii also states that while the story is finished, the game is so large that it will probably take quite a while to fully implement.
WhileDragon Quest 12will certainly be a change to the series' direction, game director Takeshi Uchikawa–who also directed the much lighter and more traditionalDragon Quest 11and its remake,Dragon Quest 11 S–makes it clear that the intent is not to spit in the face of the franchise’s 35 years of history. Rather, he wishes to useDragon Quest 12to bringDragon Questto players around the world, creating a change that still supports previous entries in the series. The resulting game will lay the path for the next 35 years ofDragon Quest.
