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Square Enix announced Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate during a stream today celebrating the franchise’s 35th anniversary. It does not have a release date, although Square Enix did note that it is aiming for simultaneous worldwide release. We also do not know which platforms it is heading for.
This will be the first entry in the main Dragon Quest series since Dragon Quest XI released in 2017. That game became a hit, selling over 6 million copies on multiple platforms, including Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
We didn’t see much. The trailer did reveal the game’s logo, which you can see below.
Above: Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate.
Image Credit: Square Enix
The stream noted that game will include a good amount of player choice, which may make it stand out from Dragon Quest XI’s more linear storytelling. It will also feature a revamped battle system.
“Not getting rid of commands,” series creator Yuji Horii said through a translator. “It’s going to be interesting.”
The first Dragon Quest debuted in 1986, predating even the original Final Fantasy. It became the father of the Japanese RPG genre, and its sequels have mostly stayed true to basic JRPG fundamentals like turn-based combat and world maps.
Dragon Quest has always been more popular in Japan than in the U.S., but Dragon Quest XI attracted a lot of new fans (including myself) thanks to its strong critical reception and wide availability across multiple platforms. Dragon Quest XII can build off of that momentum.
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