Latest news with #DragonQuest
SoraNews24
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- SoraNews24
Dragon Quest's Slime is now a geisha (and delicious)
Dragon Quest Walk's Kyoto strolls inspire collaboration with local confectioner that's been in business for more than 300 years. Like a lot of long-running role-playing video game series, Dragon Quest brings in a new cast of heroes and villains for pretty much every installment. From the very beginning, though, Slimes have been a constant in the Dragon Quest creature cast. Over the past four decades, Slimes have appeared in dozens of Dragon Quest games, and have evolved into an even greater number of subspecies. Starting with the original trio of the standard Slime, Red Slime, and Metal Slime, we've also seen such unique variations as the jellyfish-like Healslime and regal King Slime, but we've just encountered what might be the most surprising Slime of all: the geisha Slime. Much like how the Slime has become the face of Dragon Quest, geisha, and apprentice-level geisha called maiko, are seen as representatives of Kyoto, which is where the Maiko Slime hails from. Another symbol of Kyoto is nama yatsuhashi, a traditional Japanese confectionary made of a folded triangle of soft, chewy mochi with a dollop of anko (sweet red bean jam) inside. ▼ Nama yatsuhashi Nama yatsuhashi are one of the top souvenirs for travelers to Kyoto, and they're also an in-game item that players can win in mobile geolocation game Dragon Quest Walk by completing missions within the city. Naturally, though, the in-game sweets aren't just any nama yatsuhashi, they're Slime nama yatsuhashi. Dragon Quest Walk periodically partners with local companies to bring its in-game foodstuffs into the real world, and for the Slime nama yatsuhashi they're working with Shogoin Yatsuhashi, a Kyoto-based confectioner that's been in business since 1689 and remains one of the most popular nama yatsuhashi brands more than 300 years later. The Slime Nama Yatsuhashi went on sale in mid-May and immediately sold out, but thankfully new supplies are now in stock and you can get them either at Shogoin's shops in Kyoto or through their online store, like we did. The Slime Nama Yatsuhashi come as a double-pack with 10 pieces total. With Japan in general prizing hospitality and Kyoto in particular seeing it as a virtue, Shogoin places the Maiko Slime inside an extra layer of protective bubble wrap, ensuring that it arrives with its beauty unmarred. The contents are an even split of five nama yatsuhashi dusted with cinnamon (the most traditional flavor) and five wrapped in matcha-infused mochi (the most popular alternative version). The way they're arranged, it really does look like a bunch of slimes are nestled together inside the packs. However, this is a good time to mention that the 'nama' part of nama yatsuhashi means 'raw,' referring to the soft texture of the mochi. It's actually too soft for searing or branding, and so those adorable Slime facial features… …are actually on the wrapper, not the sweets themselves. ▼ Though on the plus side, this does mean that you can turn whatever you want into a Slime but putting it inside the wrapper after you take the nama yatsuhashi out. And how do they taste? Fantastic. You don't stay in business for more than three centuries without a satisfying product, and Shogoin's sweet but not sugary recipe, combined with an invitingly pillowy texture, makes their nama yatsuhashi one of the best examples of why it's become Kyoto's representative dessert. Slightly bigger than bite-sized, they pair especially well with green tea, and aren't bad with coffee either. ▼ And, of course, any beverage is a suitable choice is you pour it into a Slime glass, like we did. The Slime Nama Yatsuhashi is priced at 1,080 yen (US$7.50), will be available until July 15, and can be ordered online here. Dragon Quest Walk illustration: Square Enix Photos ©SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! [ Read in Japanese ]
Forbes
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake' Will Be Released This October
The upcoming Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake has finally been given a release date for this October, and it will also include a Switch 2 version. Following the amazing Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake from the end of last year, the other two parts of the Erdrick Trilogy are being combined into one game. There is a logic to this, because not only was Dragon Quest III the narrative starting point of the trilogy, it was also a much bigger game than the preceding two. That's why the first two games are being bundled like this, because otherwise, they would be very short in terms of overall playtime compared to the third game. For instance, in the first Dragon Quest, you only have one playable character (shown above), and the overall progression is a lot more straightforward. There's also an Easter Egg at the end of Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake about Hargon, and I have a feeling that's also going to be fleshed out more than it was in the original games. Either way, Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake has certainly piqued my curiosity about how the two games will be handled as one package. The other neat bit of news is that Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake is also coming to Switch 2. Considering the origins of the Dragon Quest series on Nintendo hardware, this Switch 2 support makes a lot of sense, and I'm curious to see how it will play on the new console. Don't forget to also check out my interviews with Kazuhiko Torishima and Yuji Horii on the origins of the Dragon Quest series. Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake will be released on October 30 for Switch 2, Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Follow me on X, Facebook and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and am currently featured in the Giant Robots exhibition currently touring Japan.
The Verge
27-05-2025
- Business
- The Verge
Remakes of the first two Dragon Quest games launch in October
More upgraded blue slimes are on the way: Square Enix just announced that remakes of Dragon Quest 1 and its sequel are launching on October 3oth. The two games will be bundled together under the name Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake and will be available on the PS5, Xbox, PC, and both the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. This is good news if you're a fan of the series, given that the remake of DQIII turned out excellent, marrying the classic RPG gameplay with incredible visuals and sound, along with some welcome quality-of-life tweaks. For the new remakes, Square Enix says that 'in addition to beautiful HD-2D graphics, a refined battle system, numerous quality-of-life updates, and major story additions, both remakes will feature a variety of new content.' As for what that new content is, details 'will be revealed at a later date.' And if you're wondering why this remake series kicked off with the third entry in the franchise, it's because that's how the storylines play out chronologically. DQIII is set years before its predecessors, and in DQI and II players take control of the descendants of the hero from the third game. It's a little complicated, but in October newcomers will finally be able to complete the story. To that end, Square Enix will also be launching a digital-only collection with all three games, called Dragon Quest HD-2D Erdrick Trilogy Collection. It'll be available for $99.99.
Digital Trends
27-05-2025
- Business
- Digital Trends
Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake is another RPG tightwire act
It was almost exactly one year ago when I first played Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake. At the time, I wasn't quite sure how players were going to react. I knew that RPG historians would be happy to see it, but the remake straddled a line between modern and retro. Would new players be thrown off by playing a game that looked new but still felt mechanically old school? The answer was no, as it turned out. The remake was a success for Square Enix, garnering high critical praise and impressive sales. That was the easy part in retrospect. Now it's time for the remake project's second death-defying trick. Recommended Videos On October 30, Square Enix will dip back even further in time with Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake (which has now added Nintendo Switch 2 to its list of launch platforms). The project looks to modernize the long-running series' first two installments, a pair of RPGs that are ancient relics compared to Dragon Quest 3. During a hands-on demo with both parts of the remake, I was once again left to wonder how much new audiences would show up for two games that are much lighter on story than their sequel. Only this time, I'm more confident that fans will be down for that careful tightwire act. Remaking the classics, again My demo was split into two parts, showing me a glimpse of each game in the remake package. As you can probably guess by the fact that the two are being bundled together, there's not too much of a difference between them — at least not in the slices I played. Both games follow the Dragon Quest 3 remake's lead by translating old overworlds into detailed HD-2D pixel art. Modernizations like sprinting and combat speed increases are shared across both making everything go by a little quicker. There should be no surprises here as far as the brass tacks of it all go. The main difference is more in the original games being remade here. The original Dragon Quest 3 was the installment that really figured out the series' formula, turning two relatively short games that were light on story into a full-blown 30+ hour RPG. I can feel the step backwards when I try out Dragon Quest 1. When I'm dropped in, I'm simply left to wander to a mini-dungeon and fight some monsters with little set-up. It's minimalistic, as I'm largely walking around a maze-like set of corridors and grabbing treasure chests along the way. My time with Dragon Quest 2 is somewhat identical, as I start in another town and walk out into another overworld that looks about the same. I walk to a marked spot on the map, talk to some guys, and then make my way to another spot. The only difference is that I have more party members to start, who unleash hell on wandering bats and slimes with their spells. To be frank, there's not too much to say about any of it that I didn't say about Dragon Quest 3's remake one year ago. Both of these play like more minimalistic versions of that game. That's not to say that Square Enix hasn't expanded Dragon Quest 1 and 2 for this project, though. Both slices I played featured cutscenes and new dialogue, showing that these aren't just 1:1 recreations of their counterparts. It's very clear that these are meant to continue the story introduced in the Dragon Quest 3 remake and expand it. Whereas 3 was a faithful remake, these feel more like reimaginings meant to rewrite the series' origins. I'm not quite sure just how far that will go, but it doesn't seem like Dragon Quest 1 is an RPG that you will speed through in five hours anymore. I can still understand why Square Enix began its remake project with 3 instead of this duo. It's not just because that's where the story really begins chronologically; it's because the latter would have been a tough onramp for new fans jumping in for the first time. They would have been treated to what seem to be fairly light and compact games overall. Maybe it makes more sense to start with something that feels closer to what today's best RPGs are like to lock people's interest in place. From there, it's easier to sell them on two games whose age shows through a bit more. You'll want to approach these remakes with the interest of a historian to get the most out of them. Granted, I barely scratched the surface of either game. I get the sense that they've been even more heavily reworked than Square Enix is letting on. Maybe some detailed dungeons and new story twists await. I'm not really sure what to expect and that makes this package a little more exciting to me than the more straightforward 3. Let's see what a completely new spin on two classics really looks like. I dare Square Enix to surprise me. Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake launches on October 30 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
Metro
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Original Chrono Trigger supervisor wants to ‘look into' a remake
Square Enix isn't remaking Chrono Trigger right now, but the game's original supervisor has been turned onto the idea by fans. Last weekend, fans of retro Japanese role-playing games were whipped into a frenzy when word spread of Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii inadvertently confirming that a remake of 1995 classic Chrono Trigger was in development, during a panel at Napoli Comicon in Italy. However, this was soon followed by claims that Horii's comments were mistranslated and eventually it turned out that he never even mentioned Chrono Trigger at all. In an unexpected plot twist though, Horii was so taken by fan interest in the concept that he's now convinced it could be a thing that's actually worth doing. For context, Yuji Horii was part of the 'dream team' responsible for Chrono Trigger's creation, alongside Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and the late Akira Toriyama, Dragon Quest's character designer and creator of Dragon Ball. Horii served as a supervisor on the project and with the game celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, the fan interest in a remake has convinced him to start looking into it. 'It's been a long time. Yeah, I want to do something,' said Horii when asked about the anniversary in an interview with Spanish outlet Gamereactor, which spoke with him directly at the Napoli Comicon event. 'I'm getting a lot of requests for a Chrono Trigger remake as well, so I'm starting to look into it,' Horii added, while also mentioning how Dragon Quest 3 saw a remake last year, with similar remakes for the first two games coming later this year. Although Gamereactor states that any Chrono Trigger remake would likely sport the HD-2D style visuals seen in those Dragon Quest remakes, this seems to be their own assumption and not necessarily something Horii himself said. It's a safe assumption to make though, considering how popular the HD-2D style is. Recreating the game in 3D would be hugely expensive and probably not something that would happen, which is presumably why Square Enix only remastered the considerably less well known PS1 sequel Chrono Cross. Chrono Trigger remains one of the best Japanese role-players of all time and an HD-2D remake would strike a good balance between modernising it and retaining its old school charms, at least in terms of visuals. There was some hope that a remake had already entered development when, back in March, Square Enix marked Chrono Trigger's anniversary by saying it would be launching 'various projects that go beyond the world of the game over the next year.' More Trending If we take Horii's words at face value, it sounds like work never began, so it's still a mystery what these projects actually were. At the very least, Chrono Trigger is overdue an updated re-release. While you can easily acquire the game on PC and mobile devices, it is unavailable on modern consoles. Despite the reverence with which it is held today the original SNES game was never originally released in Europe. The first time it was available outside Japan and North America was a DS version, with a small amount of new content, in 2008. It was re-released through the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console and the PlayStation Network, but the former has long since been shut down and the game was delisted from the latter after a few years. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Possible Final Fantasy 9 remake announcement linked to Switch 2 reveal MORE: Sea Of Stars review – Chrono Triggered MORE: This video game saved me after my family kicked me out for being gay
