It has been quite a year for Dragon Quest, kind of, not really. Back in May they announced two really awesome projects and a bunch of stuff nobody cares about. Dragon Quest XII is coming out, I still can't believe it. A new, darker Dragon Quest going in a brand new direction, it's so exciting to see. It was a huge announcement for me personally, the biggest one is whole year as a matter of fact. Which is why it's kind of surprising that the year is just about over and we haven't seen or heard anything about the game since. Now you would think that they would have shown us a little more by now, but the game probably isn't that far along its development cycle. They are literally still hiring staff for the game. This will most likely be the longest amount of time we've ever waited for a new Dragon Quest game and that's understandable. The game will clearly be utilizing crazy new technology including the Unreal Engine V to deliver us an expansive new world to explore. Many people foolishly thought that we would see gameplay for Dragon Quest XII and E3 and those people seem to have forgotten that Square Enix ignores the Dragon Quest brand in the West and acts like it doesn't exist. You want to see Dragon Quest, a franchise that needs all the exposure and get an E3, the biggest video game trade show in the world, nah, screw you, have half an hour of Guardians of the Galaxy footage instead. They seem to want to promote more ambitious projects like the critically acclaimed Balan Wonderworld rather than the new Dragon Quest games because, let's be real, that's where the real money is at. But really, while it may seem like there's not much DQ news, that's only because they are so early into the game's development. So it makes sense. They most likely just have the basic scenario done and not much else. When Dragon Quest XII does eventually show up again, hopefully we'll see some actual gameplay this time rather than a logo. I want to see what the world looks like, what the main character looks like, how the gameplay has changed. I don't think that's too much to ask for. I'm personally expecting a really huge jump from XI. Considering the long wait time and all the fan feedback, my expectations are through the roof right now. I'm talking a bigger world with more things to do. I want Dragon Quest XII to be open world and non-linear like the original Dragon Quest games. That would be really cool. So yeah, I'm actually keeping my expectations in check obviously. This is Dragon Quest's big moment, the chance for it to be really successful so depending on how crazy the first gameplay reveal is, we might be seeing a new era for Dragon Quest. My guess is that we'll see Dragon Quest XII's gameplay premiere sometime next year and that's a big maybe. As of now, it's been in production for a while so hopefully they will have something of substance to show us by then. In the meantime, what exciting DQ releases do we have this year to make the way easier? Well, Square Unexplored DQ 11 to Stadia. We definitely wanted that didn't we? Another port of Dragon Quest XI for a Cloudstream platform. I mean, they could have ported over some of the older DQ games to steam like Dragon Quest VIII or the Zenithian trilogy, but I think what we all really wanted was another re-release of Dragon Quest XI for the fifth year in a row. Definitely not tired of that game yet. Not at all. Oh, and everyone's most anticipated Dragon Quest game that was announced back in May, Dragon Quest Keshi Keshi finally got a release in Japan, letting you sort erasers out. But more importantly, Square Unex has started selling edible erasers to promote the game. That's right. If you remember, as soon as Keshi Keshi got announced, Western Dragon Quest fans from far and wide were begging Square Unex to let us eat the erasers in the game and they actually listened to us. Out of all the things DQ fans asked for this year, this was the one thing we got, edible erasers, truly a company that listens to the fans. The only thing that could make this year better for Dragon Quest would of course be more news on the upcoming HD2D remake of the beloved Dragon Quest III that we're all looking forward to so much. The game that'll hopefully be known as the Good Dragon Quest III on Switch in the near future is a game that I've already played a million times and I'm ready to play it again and start talking about it with a new audience who's never experienced it before. The game is really a timeless masterpiece and it's super exciting that it's getting a remake. But of course, we haven't heard anything from that game either. All the press conferences and the showcases go by with no mention of Dragon Quest III remake. And right when I was beginning to lose hope, recently the official Dragon Quest account dropped this bombshell on us, the trailer that we've been waiting for, the Dragon Quest game to define a generation. Prepare yourself because this is going to be intense.