Dragon Quest is one of the most famous video game franchises in Japan, and Dragon Quest III holds a further distinction as the most famous entry in the country. A couple of companies across the country have announced plans to hold new events following the reveal of Dragon Quest III‘s HD-2D remake at the June 2024 Nintendo Direct.
Square Enix—the video game series publisher—will hold the Dragon Quest Carnival in Minatomirai, Yokohama from July 20, 2024, until August 18, 2024. The company will set up a special exhibit to celebrate the announcement of the Dragon Quest III remake at the Sky Garden on the 69th floor of Yokohama Landmark Tower. The venue will also include a photo spot featuring famous monsters like the Slimes.
Meanwhile, the Nijigen no Mori amusement park on Awaji Island is celebrating the third anniversary of the Dragon Quest Island attraction zone, which launched in May 2021. The anniversary event was originally slated to run from April 26, 2024, until June 30, 2024. But after Square Enix revealed the Dragon Quest III remake, the theme park’s company decided to extend the event’s duration for a whole month until July 31, 2024.
Even though Square Enix also revealed new HD-2D remakes of the first two Dragon Quest entries at the Nintendo Direct, these Japanese events will focus on Dragon Quest III as it is the most popular mainline entry in Japan.
ITMedia NetLab held a Japan-exclusive popularity poll covering the eleven mainline Dragon Quest entries available as of March 2024, and Dragon Quest III topped the ranking with 392 out of 1683 votes. Meanwhile, Dragon Quest II ranked in seventh place, while the first game could only get tenth place out of the eleven games.
The HD-2D remake of Dragon Quest III will be available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC simultaneously worldwide on November 14, 2024.
