Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation

Dragon Quest III might be slightly more expensive than its two younger brothers on the Switch eShop, but it stands tall as a great way to explore the world of Dragon Quest for the first time. Even when compared to modern JRPGs, Dragon Quest III still stands tall as one of the best in the genre. If you had to pick just one of the three rereleased Dragon Quest games, pick Dragon Quest III – we can promise that you won’t be disappointed.

Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation shows its age even with the modernization but it also holds up very well. The game mechanics and story progression are echoes of a forgotten past which will invoke nostalgia in older gamers but may just seem archaic to the younger crowd. This one holds up the best out of the three Switch titles. The first two games are mainly worth playing for historical interest or nostalgia but this one should be played by any JRPG fan for its own merits. While this title does a nice job of concluding the Erdrick trilogy, it’s a great title in its own right and still enjoyable over thirty years after its release. It would be great if the subsequent Zenithian trilogy found its way onto Switch.

Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation wraps up the Erdrick trilogy beautifully and it's simply a must-play for any retro RPG fan.

Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation is a classic RPG adventure that inspires a whole new appreciation for the early days of video games.

With regards to story and direction, the third Dragon Quest game definitely shows its age, but it also introduced a lot of elements that have gone on to become staples of the series. If you can look past some of its flaws, you’ll find a rewarding experience that enables you to experiment with some interesting gameplay systems. You will have to grind, you could get frustrated, and you may need to consult a walkthrough, but traditional JRPG fans will find an enjoyable adventure that hides a surprising amount of content. Yes, Dragon Quest III on Switch may be ugly, but if that’s the worst sin it commits, don’t let that stop you from trying out this classic of yore.

Dragon Quest III laid the groundwork for a lot of modern Dragon Quest norms, such as class changing, spell and weapon variety, and world building. It’s also a clear product of game development of the era, where game length is inflated by mandatory leveling up paired with little story direction. Leaving it up to the player to figure out where to go and what to do next, as well as how much time to spend beating up foes to acquire all-important spells, is an artifact of NES-era development; whether this is attractive or repulsive is highly subjective and makes the game a problematic recommend. Still, I have no regrets about having gone back and finally having the chance to play, and for Dragon Quest fans who haven’t yet done so, it’s worth a look.

Dragon Quest I, II and III on the Switch are great picks, especially if you enjoyed the recent eleventh entry and wanted to experience the origins of this great series. However, these are ports of the mobile versions with some audio and visual enhancements. So if you have them on your mobile phone already, there is little point in picking them up on the Switch again, unless you really want to play them on your TV in full glory.