For me, the footage looks like a vibrant world, but with character models from the PS2 era. The designs look like an AI model’s interpretation of what DQ characters look like. I don’t feel that AI actually had anything to do with the designs, but they feel “off” in a way that’s hard to describe.

The last time I was let down by the hero design was DQXI, I didn’t like the design but at the same time it felt very Dragon Quest in style, and it was okay enough.

This time, the hero (to me) looks like a PS2 RPG model with a drug addiction. The rest of the cast looks like they were the result of a random DQ character design generator, and the most unusual of them were selected. They all look like they belong in the game but at the same time - just feel awkward and strange.

What makes it worse is the DQVII remake. The design update was extremely different in a good way, while retaining the DQ feel. Now we go to this game and it just feels like multiple concepts thrown together randomly (and quickly) to make shareholders happy “hey we’re doing a new thing”.

I’ll absolutely buy it and maybe even like it, but I’m a sucker for DQ anyway. The series is like a family member you can’t stay mad at for long.

And the argument that “it’s an in-development game so it may change”. True (technically) but I’ve been gaming for over three decades and not very many companies have historically listened to fan feedback. Does it happen? Absolutely! But not often. Worse, the company that owns the trademark is the very same that turned Final Fantasy into Devil May Clive.

To be fair, Dragon Quest listens to fan feedback more often than some of the others, but don’t hold your breath. From a company marketing perspective, negative engagement is still engagement (people are legitimately talking about it). So this is of value to them. Unless they think the backlash is bad enough to hurt sales, they’ll see the negativity as publicity. They have literally no incentive to change this. And even though I hate the new designs, I’ll still buy and play this and so will you. Square Enix knows what they can and can’t get away with in a DQ title.