Yuji Horii says that Dragon Quest 12 is still in development

The popular series, Dragon Quest, is still going strong after all these years. Yuji Horii says that Dragon Quest 12 will be a bit different. PC players have had the chance to experience the epic adventure crafted by Yuju Horii lately. Dragon Quest is known for being one of the first turn based titles that still remain the same to this day. It is great to see the team behind these games being always so respectful to the core player base. We at Infinite Start will cover more news regarding the development of Dragon Quest 12.

New or Old Audience?

Dragon Quest 12 was announced back in 2021 and it will be the new mainline entry to the series. It is promised that this entry will be darker than the average Dragon Quest game, and that there will be an overhaul to the battle system too. The overhaul part is very concerning, since Dragon Quest is meant to be a series about remaining the same as it was in the 80s. Decisions like this can influence the sales of the title and the majority of people who buy into the series are veterans who wish for more of the same ilk.

Risking your core audience like this can lead to ruin. After all, trying to appeal to an audience that does not care about your games is very risky. Dragon Quest is way more popular in Japan, and any possible westernization attempt can destroy the quality it once had. It is also important to keep into account that many creatives behind the franchise have left this world. Sugiyama, the composer, was a very talented person who did amazing compositions for the game. But one of the most important departures was Akira Toriyama, the artist behind all designs.

His unfortunate death was mourned by many fans of the series, and by everyone in the art community too. It is not known if the series will remain the same after the most relevant creators have left us, and Yuji did mention before that he does not have much hopes of DQ12 doing that well in sales due to these changes and unfortunate departures.