Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation, titled Dragon Warrior III when initially localized to North America, is a 1988 role-playing video game developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix. It is the third installment in the Dragon Quest series and was first released for the Family Computer (Famicom) in Japan and later for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in North America. The game saw an enhanced remake for the Super Famicom (the Japanese release of the Super NES) in 1996 and the Game Boy Color in 2001, and a port to mobile phones and the Wii in 2009 and 2011. A version of the game for Android and iOS was released in Japan on September 25, 2014, and worldwide as Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation on December 4, 2014. It was the first time the game was given an official English subtitle. Later in 2021, another remake of the game titled Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, based on the graphical style introduced with Octopath Traveler (2018), was announced to coincide with the franchise's 35th anniversary. The remake was released worldwide on November 14th, 2024 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series consoles.

The first three Dragon Quest games are all part of the same overarching story, collectively known as the "Erdrick trilogy". However, Dragon Quest III is a distant prequel to the previous two games, taking place long before the events of the first game. It follows the Hero destined to earn the title of "Erdrick," who must take up his father's quest to save the world from the villainous archfiend Baramos. Gathering a group of companions into a party, the Hero must travel the world, stopping at various towns and locations, and gather the strength needed to take the archfiend down.

Gameplay

Dragon Quest III is noted for greatly expanding upon the gameplay of the original Dragon Quest and Dragon Quest II. The game uses basic role-playing video game conventions such as leveling up by gaining experience points and equipping items. The remake was released on November 14, 2024. A new class, the Monster Wrangler, was added to this remake.

Music

Koichi Sugiyama composed and directed the music for the game. Dragon Quest IIIs music is featured on Dragon Quest Game Music Super Collection Vol. 1, Dragon Quest Game Music Super Collection Vol. 2, and Dragon Quest Game Music Super Collection Vol. 3, each album a compilation of music from the first six Dragon Quest games. It set sales records by selling game cartridges in Japan within a day and in a week, and grossing ( at the time, or adjusted for inflation) within a month. It topped the Japanese sales charts from February, through March and April, to May 1988. It became the best-selling game of 1988 in Japan, with 3.8 million units sold, and the best-selling game in Japan between 1986 and 1989, grossing at the time. The original game sold a worldwide total of copies, including in Japan and 95,000 in the United States, ( adjusted for inflation).

It is often mistakenly thought that in 1988 the game's success caused the Japanese government to outlaw further releases of Dragon Quest games on school days. In truth, Enix themselves decided to hold off the release of future Dragon Quest games until weekends. Together with the sales of the remakes, Dragon Quest III is the most successful title in the series and one of the best-selling role-playing games in Japan. And by the time of the franchise's 40th anniversary, the Erdrick Trilogy HD-2D remakes had sold a combined 4 million copies worldwide.

Reviews and accolades

  • Official website