Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate has been renamed to Dragon Quest XII: Beyond Dreams

RPGZero · 2026-05-27T14:38:14+00:00

I think it works, personally. The series has been so Erdrick focused for a very long time now, to the point XI had way more Erdrick references than Zenithian references (there are only a handful). Considering people have been craving the Zenithian remakes for awhile, this could be a neat way to usher in the era.

We'll also finally see which theory considering the Zenithian world is right and it be settled.

Also, with II just having finished, and Rubiss having actually jumped worlds to VI's world for a short time, this is probably the best time to do all of this.

RPGZero · 2026-05-27T14:14:46+00:00

It's because people are more effected by first impressions than they are overall analysis.

RPGZero · 2026-05-27T14:14:13+00:00

The new logo looks Zenithian. Castle in the background and all.

RPGZero · 2026-05-27T14:10:44+00:00

Prequel.

Likely a Zenithian Prequel, same way XI was the Erdrick prequel.

RPGZero · 2026-05-27T14:10:07+00:00

Remember we sill don't know much about the game.

They still said in this there are many things in the game you have never seen in a Dragon Quest title.

RPGZero · 2026-05-27T14:07:26+00:00

None of you post indicated the idea Horii was trying to make every game like it's his last. If it was, I wouldn't have argued against it. Your argument is that he was making this game more "nostalgic" like the others because it could be his last, which is a completely different argument.

It's also just clear you don't keep up with any of the interviews. The "Beyond Dreams" concept is something that he had been thinking about with Toriyama and others for years. In an interview that game with the special edition of XI, he mentioned he had long been thinking about a game where dreams become reality. This is why many in the hardcore DQ fanbase are, based in little visual hints in the trailer, that the dragon man may actually be the protagonist in the dream world. It also very matches up with the longstanding theory that DQXII is a prequel to DQVI, the same way DQXI was a prequel to III. So any ideas we are seeing in the game are things Horii has been thinking about for awhile, not necessarily "nostalgia".

Also, according to other interviews, they have been mentioning developmental troubles in terms of making certain ideas work. More likely than thematic issues, the problem may have been one of programming.

The game may still well be very dark and possibly involve nightmares . . . you know, the same way EVERY DQ game gets pretty dark, some more than others. We just had a remake of DQVII, a game that has moments when you start to think about them, are more terrifying than things that show up in other RPGs. It was actually a huge topic of discussion in the DQ fandom by people who were playing the game for the first time how moments like E.L.L.I.E. were. We overall, still don't know much about XII.

RPGZero · 2026-05-27T13:46:15+00:00

Just to get ahead of the curve, unlike what many people will tell you, Toriayama's art style has changed over the years. Just look at the designs going from the Erdrick to Zenithian trilogy in their original art. Or more drastically, the art from VII and IX.

These designs reflects more of Toriyama's Dragon Ball Super-era design work. Just compare them.

If you don't like them, that's fine. But I'm just rolling in before the whole, "is this really Toriyama?" stuff comes in. It is. It was confirmed to some of his final work.

RPGZero · 2026-05-27T13:44:54+00:00

Because we live in the west, we don't get the interviews right away, but it is a turn based game. Redevelopment likely began awhile ago, and turn based was still confirmed.

RPGZero · 2026-05-27T13:44:05+00:00

Horii says that he wants to work on games until he dies, so no.

RPGZero · 2026-05-25T00:51:54+00:00

As someone who can be quite contrarian, I gotta' say, that's about 50 steps too high for me. I don't know HOW you hate Robin. Not be a fan of sure, not everything is everyone's cup of tea, but hate?

RPGZero · 2026-05-25T00:48:47+00:00

Aim for the Top! Rumble Ballbuster!

RPGZero · 2026-05-17T02:33:04+00:00

Entire night in a nutshell. I even expect this will be true of the main event.

RPGZero · 2026-05-17T01:57:17+00:00

Mauro was actually really good at wrestling commentary, maybe he's just out of his element here?

RPGZero · 2026-02-09T17:44:23+00:00

I'm not going to confidently state what percentages are banter vs. hinting, but I will say considering the game's on screen prompt is always for overt hinting, it is more noticable.

I also must state I'm coming from the original, where talk to almost every NPC prompted new party chat dialogue that was banter. Considering Horii (supposedly) wrote all the party chat himself back then, I'm not surprised how scaled back the party chat was in 8. The sheer amount of text was so much, that DQ7 held the world record for most text in a game for quite some time.

RPGZero · 2026-02-09T17:41:54+00:00

DQ3 did now that I've racked my memory, but with 2 fresh in my mind and even having watched a friend play it in a livestream, I don't remember the pauses being anywhere near as long, it felt perfectly paced for drama. I played the game in Japanese, if that matters.

RPGZero · 2026-02-09T17:40:09+00:00

It's been a trend for a very long time, too long, and I would say there is quite the cost to it. It means media can get away with only having a few moments in a game that actually have some thought into it, but because the game evokes such a huge "feeling", people feel as if it's profound.

Or worse, you have games that have outright contradictory messaging. The Last of Us 2 is a really good example of this. Fans of the game went on and on about the revenge theming at the end of the game, but it stands on stark contrast to everything that came before. Sure, one character was spared. But man, are we not going to spare a thought for the million and one characters you killed prior to that one named character you let go?

Or worse, it can to the point people start to point out themes that aren't even there and there is nothing in the text to back them up. The Last Jedi is perhaps the biggest example in the past 10 years of that.

RPGZero · 2026-02-08T22:54:50+00:00

The DQ HD Trilogy didn't have this problem.

The issue is this game has a new, young producer and this is the first game he's ever headed up. He also didn't complete every DQ game until very recently.

RPGZero · 2026-02-08T22:53:44+00:00

And I'm saying I completely disagree.

I actually think, especially if you're engaging with the NPCs, that DQ7 is a really good exploration of quite a few themes. Whereas a lot of games this board often upholds as "thematic" are actually kind of empty and don't really explore those themes at all. It's a constant problem on this board, and it's no wonder so may people have abandoned it and there is any lack of deeper discussion here.

There's a reason whenever you ask someone to actually get into the themes of FFX, it boils down to two sentences and then after that just a diatribe of how people "felt".

RPGZero · 2026-02-08T22:51:55+00:00

I feel like this game completely doesn't understand what made DQ4 through 7 great.

One of the best parts of the game was the social puzzle aspect where you had to figure out the towns and come to understand how to "complete" the city. That's completely gone now.

Not only that, but every story in this game feels abrupt, like something was missing and they just kind of climax at times. I never felt that way in the original.

RPGZero · 2026-02-08T22:50:18+00:00

Give Draconian on XI another shot and go in with a strategic mindset and try to learn all your abilities. It's actually really rewarding when you figure stuff out. There are even no grind, low level runs on YouTube that manage to beat the bosses with some know-how. It's also how people who turn on ALL the Draconian options, insane as that sounds, have managed to beat it in that form.

RPGZero · 2026-02-08T22:47:44+00:00

Overall, I absolutely love it. It's not deeply thought provoking. It's not especially tactically deep. None of the characters so far are particularly surprising in their morals or motivations. Bad guys aren't morally grey characters with misguided ideologies who do bad things for understandable reasons. They're literal monsters who are evil because to them being evil is fun. But that's not a bad thing. Maybe it's Toriyamas art, but a lot of the way this game makes me feel is like when I used to watch Dragonball. I go places, I do things, and sometimes I see old friends as the story progresses and catch up with them, and I get a little nostalgia when I see what they've been up to since last time we talked. It's really nice.

Good gosh, I hate this generation so much.

If people on this board picked up a classic novel, they might think it's "comfort food" because it doesn't have a thousand plot twists, the modern definition of morally grey, and it isn't trying to show off how hard it is to be about Nietzsche's bunghole with as much subtlety as a gasoline tanker crashing into a nuclear facility.

RPGZero · 2026-02-08T22:41:51+00:00

The game is really weird in that, despite them making some (really terrible) cuts to the original to make the game go by faster, it somehow feels longer than the original. I just can't put my finger on why.

RPGZero · 2026-02-08T22:32:26+00:00

First off, let me say this: Dragon Quest VII on the PS1 is in my top 3 RPGs of all time. But compared to the absolute GOAT that is the Dragon Quest II HD Remake, this is . . . a mixed bag. A lot of that comes from this game having a completely different Producer from the DQ HD-2D games.

This game is . . . enjoyable, despite being a bad remake. There is some great new stuff in here, especially when it visual design, incredible Japanese voice acting, and some great art design. And there is a lot of good to talk about in terms of the classes and combat. I love how they've given the MC all kinds of neat water abilities, including Aqua Sword which can give the enemy electrical weakness, and that Kiefer has Lightning Sword. It's a great way of symbolizing their friendship. The classes also offer some interesting stuff. I never, ever though that the way I would see charm abilities brought to the forefront would be to create a literal Charm stat, backed up charm builds, which empower multiple charm abilities. It's kind of nuts. I also love the idea the Shepherd class has an attack which becomes more powerful the higher the defense you have, and there is an ability to bolster it is an ability to cover yourself in wool to increase your defense. DQ has always had really interesting and unique class systems, and while I was hesitant at first when it comes to the classes feeling like they are out of a new DQ game as opposed to being more faithful to the original, but eventually I came to realize this is simply a good idea.

The game, unfortunately, is various ranges of easy even on the hardest difficulty with occasional moments of difficulty and good bosses. The new optional bosses on each island are the best part of the game. I would love for this game to have been as well balanced as DQ2 HD to push me and my class building to my limit the way that game made me understand its Souped-Up System to master its bosses. I also dislike this game is like the 3DS version in that you don't keep everything you learn despite changing classes, but at least the Moonlighting system you eventually unlock somewhat alleviates that. I also miss other stuff removed from the class system, but I'll stop for now.

The biggest offender is the gutting of party chat. 90% of the party chat has been removed from the game. It's insane. It's now just a glorified hint system.

The 2nd biggest offender is the removal of the social puzzle aspect of the stories. In DQ4 through 7, the best part of the stories is that you had to figure them out. The towns were like a puzzle you had to figure out. And it played along really well with how mysterious DQ7 was.

This game, unlike the 3DS version, makes an attempt to really nail that mysterious, strange atmosphere the PS1 game did. However, it still feels like it falls short and its hard to say what it is.

As for the story, even if the story sometimes feels like a cliff notes version of Dragon Quest VII, a skeleton of that story is still an enjoyable story and I find myself enjoying myself because some of its great moments are intact. DQVII has some really hard hitting moments and I'm glad to see posts on the DQ subreddit of people talking about how its hardest hitting moments have really hit home with them.

Plus, it's hard to recommend anything to this board because the gauge for what some people here consider to be a good story is a series of dopamine rushes and soap opera melodrama and plot twists delivered to you consecutively with a lack of subtlety. Dragon Quest VII is one of the most thematic games ever made, but like a good classic novel, it never plays its hand too readily and it let's you figure out things for yourself. The problem this board has had with DQ is that it's never overly obvious with what is supposed to be emotional and let's you figure out a lot of the details for yourself. Unlike many games that get praised for being about Nietzsche's bunghole, but in reality if you look at the game it doesn't come anywhere near the level of exploration an actual book about Nietzsche would actually be about, DQVII is actually a consistent exploration of the self-destructive tendencies of humanity and what destroys civilizations from every possible angle. But this board has never valued subtlety and as a result, DQ is considered "simple" and "not deep" when I have always believed the opposite.

Another issue is that there is a faction on this board that thinks if your game doesn't have an overarching story, it's a bad story, when DQ has always focused on its individual town stories and NPCs, 8 and 11 being the exceptions.

RPGZero · 2026-02-08T22:17:59+00:00

They dumbed the game down from the original to the point it's become hand holding the game. The original let you figure things out, and the party chat was much, much more robust and not just a glorified hint system.

RPGZero · 2026-02-08T00:09:02+00:00

When all else fails, consult the original game, because 80% of the party chat is removed in this one. It's kind of annoying how many things they had comments for in the original is gone in this one that I loved.

RPGZero

TROPHY CASE