by SmashPad StaffDragon Quest XII was announced on May 27th, 2026 during the Dragon Quest 40th anniversary stream.
Wait, that’s not right. Dragon Quest XII was announced on May 27th 2021, during the Dragon Quest 35th anniversary stream.
But today is May 27th, 2026 and Dragon Quest XII did get announced during the Dragon Quest 40th anniversary stream. Time really is a flat circle.
During the 2021 stream, the only thing we were shown was the DQXII logo, which was pretty ominous, with the Roman numerals XII etched in flames. The subtitle for the 12th entry in the long-running JRPG franchise was “The Flames of Fate.” Series creator Yuji Hori described the title as “darker” and said that the game would focus more on player choices. Beyond that, we’ve been pretty much in the dark about what’s been going on with DQXII ever since.
Fast forward to today, and we get the news that development was scrapped and restarted on DQXII, which is now called Dragon Quest XII: Beyond Dreams. The game’s logo looks much more traditional, and we got glimpses of the characters and the world of DQXII, including the protagonist, who looks like someone who has been awake for at least 96 hours.
The world looks gorgeous, and Hori specifically says during the stream, “What lies beyond dreams? Surely not a world of darkness, but a bright and exciting future”. One has to wonder whether part of the change in direction here is not only due to current events, but also a reflection on Hori’s part following the loss of Akira Toriyama (series artist and character designer) and Koichi Sugiyama (DQ‘s composer and music director). Dragon Quest, for a lot of people, is the comfort food of JRPGs. It’s the game series you go to when you want something that isn’t going to make you feel like shit. The idea of a “darker” DQ never sat right with me. There are literally hundreds of other games out there that can wax poetic and navel-gaze about why the world sucks. DQ can definitely be dark, don’t get me wrong, but the core of every DQ is always that of hope for a brighter day. So this change of direction for DQXII is a welcome one here.
The stream also gave us a preview of a new Dragon Quest Monsters game, which is something else that I’ll keep my eyes on. What they didn’t announce on stream and instead sent out via press release was the re-release of Dragon Quest XI S on Switch 2, with some enhancements to hit 60 fps. The only drawback here is the lack of an upgrade path, and the physical edition is a game keycard. Because of course it is.
I would have loved to have seen a remake announcement of V, IX, or even IV, which I think is the most criminally underrated of the Dragon Quest series. FIGHT ME.
At the end of the day, it’s hard not to be excited about a new Dragon Quest, but I can’t shake the feeling that we may be waiting another five years just to play this game. Here’s hoping we get it in our hands before the 45th anniversary stream.
Danreb’s Thoughts
It’s not quite to Leigh’s level, but as a Dragon Quest sicko I can’t help but feel disappointed, and I actually feel terrible about that.
I don’t quite remember the hype level for Dragon Quest XI back in 2018, but I don’t think it compares to the anticipation we have for Dragon Quest Day today. Granted, I don’t think any fan could’ve told you what was going to be shown today — I personally expected DQXII to be a no-show and instead get news of remakes for IV, V, or IX, but we actually got a sizable update on what’s happening with XII.
They started over from scratch. I think we expected as much, but see them stray away from the darkness left me in a bit of a cringe. I totally understand Leigh’s acceptance of the direction change, but I think outside of what we’ve seen from Monsters and Builders, this was one way to make Dragon Quest feel thematically different. I was also a bit dismayed to see that the footage shown today did everything it could to prevent us from seeing what the combat system looks like. Leigh said it. DQ is comfort food to all sorts of people, it’s without a shadow of a doubt that a move to an action-based combat system will definitely divide fans, and I don’t know if that’s something the series needs right now. At the same time, it could use an injection of new fans, and this would be one way to do it.
I already sort of hear Pat’s eyes roll, and then quickly reminding us that he can leave the medium at anytime and pretty much has. All Square Enix has to do aside from that is make DQXII a Switch 2 key-card.
So why do I feel terrible? I don’t feel like I should be asking for much. Sure, it’s been five years since any talk of DQXII last transpired, but the fact of the matter is we got the HD-2D Eldrick trilogy in 11 months, in addition to Dragon Quest VII Reimagined four months after that. That’s three quality DQ remakes in less than two and a half years. We’ve been eating.
It’s just a matter of how much more we can eat, and it shouldn’t take a scientist to know I typically have a big appetite.
That said, we’re all firm believers of voting with our wallets. The last few DQ games I bought were on Switch 1 (despite me reviewing the Switch 2 versions, because review copies). I don’t want this to turn into yet another argument against Switch 2 game key-cards, so I’ll stop here. I love Dragon Quest, and I don’t want to see it fade, but I’ll rest by my laurels and spend my money the way I think it should be spent, and right now, there isn’t enough information for me to consider a pre-order.
All that aside, I woke up at 5:50 AM and downed a nitro cold brew for a 10-minute presentation, only to be told DQ12 got delayed, and there aren’t any remakes coming in the near future. That stings.
Happy 40th, Dragon Quest.
