Dragon Quest III might be slightly more expensive than its two younger brothers on the Switch eShop, but it stands tall as a great way to explore the world of Dragon Quest for the first time. Even when compared to modern JRPGs, Dragon Quest III still stands tall as one of the best in the genre. If you had to pick just one of the three rereleased Dragon Quest games, pick Dragon Quest III – we can promise that you won’t be disappointed.
With regards to story and direction, the third Dragon Quest game definitely shows its age, but it also introduced a lot of elements that have gone on to become staples of the series. If you can look past some of its flaws, you’ll find a rewarding experience that enables you to experiment with some interesting gameplay systems. You will have to grind, you could get frustrated, and you may need to consult a walkthrough, but traditional JRPG fans will find an enjoyable adventure that hides a surprising amount of content. Yes, Dragon Quest III on Switch may be ugly, but if that’s the worst sin it commits, don’t let that stop you from trying out this classic of yore.
Dragon Quest I, II and III on the Switch are great picks, especially if you enjoyed the recent eleventh entry and wanted to experience the origins of this great series. However, these are ports of the mobile versions with some audio and visual enhancements. So if you have them on your mobile phone already, there is little point in picking them up on the Switch again, unless you really want to play them on your TV in full glory.
I love the classic Dragon Quest titles with a passion, but there is nothing that redeems these poor ports. They fail as an archive of classics, since the redesign fundamentally changes them. They fail as pieces of entertainment, because they're so ugly and poorly made. Finally, they fail as Dragon Quest, because Dragon Quest fans will be insulted by this trash being passed off as their memories.