Dragon Quest 12 Development Restarted from Scratch, Now Named Beyond Dreams

The first Dragon Quest was released on May 27, 1986, which is nowadays known as Dragon Quest Day. While the celebration is usually quite low-key most years, every so often (mainly on multiples of five), there is a dedicated livestream to reveal fresh news about the franchise. The 40th anniversary of the Dragon Quest series didn't receive a massive celebration per se, but as the video title gave away, we got an update from the Dragon Quest Team that revealed two updates for the franchise — chief among them, more information regarding Dragon Quest 12.

Dragon Quest 12 was originally revealed back in 2021 during the Dragon Quest 35th Anniversary livestream. At the time, the twelfth mainline installment received a brief teaser, revealing its title as Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate. Yuji Horii, the creator of the franchise, said it would be a title with a darker theme and that there would be changes to the command battle system, leading many to believe Dragon Quest would abandon its turn-based roots.

That statement was taken out of context, overanalyzed, revisited, and most importantly, caused utter panic among the series' most nostalgic fans. Well, after five long years, we still don't have an answer to the biggest mystery in the JRPG world, because, while Dragon Quest 12 just received a brand-new teaser, showcasing some scenes and its synopsis, there hasn't been any gameplay preview.

Dragon Quest 12 Development Was Completely Restarted

The new teaser for Dragon Quest 12 sheds more light on the protagonist, who we still don't know if it's a silent protagonist or not, despite everything Yuji Horii has said about silent protagonists looking like idiots in more realistic graphics. It was revealed that the game will tell the story of a young hero beset by a strange vision in their sleep. Yuji Horii says that what lies beyond dreams is not a world of darkness but a bright, exciting future, suggesting that the darker, more mature tone mentioned five years ago is no longer present.

The most crucial information in the new trailer, however, was that the entire game's development was restarted from scratch due to some issues, and that changed the original direction of Dragon Quest 12. Even the game's logo and subtitle were altered, going from Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate to Dragon Quest 12: Beyond Dreams. The executive producer, Yosuke Saito, said that "due to a reshuffle of the team and a restart of the development, it's going to be a bit longer till it's in your hands. Work on the original Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate hit a lot of hurdles along the way."

That's certainly not something fans would love to hear, especially since it's been 9 years since Dragon Quest 11 was released. However, a new Dragon Quest mainline is often a celebration in and of itself, so we don't mind if Square Enix takes their sweet time bringing us a marvelous new entry. Then, Yuji Horii added that the game will still feature Akira Toriyama's characters and Koji Sugiyama's music, to the joy of fans worldwide.

If I may editorialize a bit, I believe there's a silver lining in all this development restart. It feels like Dragon Quest 12: Beyond Dreams will closely follow the blueprint that made Dragon Quest the world-renowned JRPG series it is. Which means that all the command-based changes Yuji Horii promised may no longer happen, so I believe it's highly possible that Dragon Quest 12 may still feature traditional turn-based combat.

Square Enix still seems to view Final Fantasy as the chameleon series that completely changes its style, theme, and gameplay with every single new entry (preserving only the mythology that makes it a Final Fantasy), while Dragon Quest remains more classic, firmly rooted in its origins, and delivering a comforting dose of nostalgia. Ultimately, I don't have strong feelings about this delay. As long as Dragon Quest 12 turns out good, I welcome whatever adjustments they make.

New Dragon Quest Monsters Announced

Nevertheless, regardless of how the public will digest the news, the team's update celebrating Dragon Quest's 40th anniversary was better than nothing, offering some much-needed transparency into the development of Dragon Quest 12. Plus, monster-collector fans can also look forward to recently announced Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World, a new entry in the spinoff series.

When Takashi Kiryu took over as CEO of Square Enix in 2023, it didn't take him long to roll out new strategies. In 2024, he unveiled a medium-term business plan titled "Square Enix Reboots and Awakens: 3 Years of Foundation-Laying for Long-Term Growth." The plan outlined several distinct goals, such as focusing on multiplatform releases, improving consumer touchpoints, and prioritizing quality over quantity. For that last part, the goal was to put the spotlight on the established IPs in Square Enix's portfolio, namely Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.

We are currently in the second year since the plan was put into action, and it already seems to be bearing fruit. In Square's latest financial report, it was revealed that, despite lower game sales volume, its revenue was higher, proving that the quality-over-quantity approach is working well.

The Dragon Quest franchise has enjoyed a special spotlight in this strategy, receiving three games over the last three years: the HD-2D remake of the original trilogy and Dragon Quest VII Reimagined. While many people aren't big fans of remakes, this loop keeps the series alive, expands the ecosystem, and guarantees that a brand-new mainline title gets a much wider reception. Now we just have to wait for an official Dragon Quest 12 release date to see if the strategy is really paying off just as Takashi Kiryu envisioned, even if it's beyond 2028.