Dragon Quest 40th anniversary: All news and game reveals

Some good news, some bad news

To mark the 40th anniversary of Dragon Quest, Square Enix hosted a brief video presentation on YouTube on Wednesday that revealed where the series is headed next. Even though the event was only about 10 minutes in length, it had all the fun and thrills of a top-tier puff-puff session.

While there were exciting new Dragon Quest game announcements, there was also a sobering update on the development of Dragon Quest 12, which is, to put it mildly, nowhere near close to being in your hands any time soon.

If you're looking for the key takeaways from the event, here's everything revealed at the Dragon Quest 40th anniversary livestream.

Dragon Quest 12: Beyond Dreams

First revealed all the way back in 2021 at the Dragon Quest 35th anniversary presentation, the game once known as Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate has emerged from the shadows after five long years with a new title: Dragon Quest 12: Beyond Dreams.

According to Dragon Quest 12 producer Yosuke Saito, it sounds like the wait for the fantasy RPG will be even longer than previously expected. "We’re hard at work on 12, but due to a reshuffle of the team and a restart of development, it’s going to be a bit longer till it’s in your hands," Saito said, explaining that the game's development was restarted from scratch. "I believe it was the right [decision] to ensure the next Dragon Quest game will be one that all you fans of the series will really love," Yosuke added.

You can watch a new trailer for Dragon Quest 12: Beyond Dreams above, which shows off its drowsy-eyed protagonist and gives strong open-world game vibes. Square Enix did not announce a release date or platforms for Dragon Quest 12: Beyond Dreams.

Dragon Quest 11 S: Definitive Edition for Nintendo Switch 2

Dragon Quest 11 was an all-time banger when it released back in 2018, and nearly a decade later, it still holds up. The tale follows the prophecied Luminary on his journey to save the world from impending disaster. With a jaw-dropping mid-game twist and an unforgettable cast of characters, DQ11 wholeheartedly embraces every RPG trope in the book and imbues them with vivid new life. It's deeply familiar and wildly ambitious all at once.

Released a couple of years after the original game, Dragon Quest 11 S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition adds dedicated story chapters for each of your party members and a full 2D mode for lovers of the classic 16-bit aesthetic. It also adds quality of life improvements like increased combat speed, easier crafting, and greater freedom to summon your horse. The Definitive Edition also adds Japanese voice acting, photo mode, and a fully orchestrated soundtrack.

The Switch 2 version of Dragon Quest 11 S doesn't appear to add much in the way of new features. In a bit of bad news, Square Enix confirms that save data from the original Switch version of the game will not carry over to the Switch 2 release.

Dragon Quest 11 S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition launches on Switch 2 on Sept. 24.

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World

Square Enix and the Dragon Quest team hope that one thing will tide you over until the eventual release of Dragon Quest 12: a new Dragon Quest Monsters game. Dragon Quest designer Yuji Horii and producer Yosuke Saito revealed Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World with an adorable new trailer that reveals its dual protagonists — Bianca and Nera from Dragon Quest 5: Hand of the Heavenly Bride — and a swarm of classic, cute DQ enemies to capture.

Not much is known about Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World, but the spinoff series is the closest thing to Pokémon the Dragon Quest series has. Players capture, breed, and battle with collectible monsters. The most recent entry in the franchise, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, was released for Nintendo Switch in 2023.

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World is "coming soon" to Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows PC (via Steam), and Xbox Series X.

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If you missed the live broadcast, you can check out the whole thing on the Dragon Quest YouTube channel.