Dragon Quest I, II And III Inbound For PS4, DQ Builders 2 Coming To Nintendo Switch

During a Square Enix-hosted panel involving the developers of the Dragon Quest series, much was revealed about the series' upcoming plans, and if you're a PlayStation 4 owner in Japan, you happen to get the best of everything.

Dragon Warrior (AKA: Dragon Quest) for the NES

Compared to the games of today, the earliest Dragon Quest games (known as Dragon Warrior in North America) are as primitive as can be, but they still have enormous charm. After all, the original Dragon Quest came out at a time when most people didn't understand the concept of an RPG, so despite its simplicity, it captured the minds of gamers the world over. A mere 9 months after Dragon Quest hit the US, a little game called Final Fantasy followed. Today, both series enjoy a healthy game release cycle.

According to the marketing materials, the original Dragon Quest will sell for ¥600, which is equivalent to ~$5.40 USD. The second and third titles are priced at ~$7.70 USD and ~$13.6 USD, respectively. Why there's such a price disparity considering all three games are from the same era and were released for the same platform is anyone's guess. If you don't live in Japan (and chances are good that you don't), make your desires known to Square if you want to see these classic titles come to consoles on these shores.

On the more modern side of things, Square Enix also announced that Dragon Quest Builders 2 would be coming not just to the PlayStation 4, but also to Nintendo Switch - apropos given the fact that the entire series started on a Nintendo platform. This game acts as a follow-up to the hugely successful predecessor that came out just last fall to North America, a unique RPG that implements creative building elements, a la Minecraft.

If you haven't yet played the original, you may as well snatch it up now, as the sequel won't come out until sometime in 2018. Very little is known about this game right now (it may be easier if you understand Japanese while watching the video above), but we do know that characters will be able to swim, build waterfalls, and work with sloped platforms.

All of this news follows the release of Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age in Japan for the PS4, which like Builders 2, will also become available for the Nintendo Switch at some point. Sadly, this game is exclusive to Japan, but only for right now. It's expected to see a US release "sometime" in 2018.