Monster Wrangling Breathes New Life Into Dragon Quest 3

October 31, 2024

Key Takeaways

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D remake improves upon perfection with an orchestral soundtrack, HD visuals, and, most importantly, a monster recruitment diversion.
Monster Wrangling adds depth to gameplay by requiring exploration and letting you battle other wranglers.
The new Monster Wrangler class is a standout addition, offering versatile abilities and new blood to the game’s classic class system.

It may be blasphemous to say so in light of the universal acclaim piled upon the eleventh entry a few short years ago, but Dragon Quest 3 has stood resolute as my favourite in the series since time immemorial (read: since I first played it). It is the classic RPG, something my Final Fantasy-loving heart cannot deny. Intricate class systems, lethal joke characters, stupendous plot twists, a burgeoning version of the open world we all know and love: it all started here, baby.

Arus talking to the sky at the beginning of the Dragon Quest 3 remake.

Dragon Quest 3 Remaster Preview: Prepare To Be Insulted

Wonder how being a raging narcissist will help me on my quest…

So, how do you improve upon perfection? Square Enix poses a few methods. A philharmonic orchestral soundtrack, a gorgeous lick of HD-2D paint, and a whole host of quality-of-life improvements that smooth over the cracks that start to show when you play a game from 1988. I’ve played a good few hours of the remake now, and while everything I’ve mentioned here has landed brilliantly and charmed my pants off, the thing I’m most enthused and enthralled by is a wonderful mechanic plucked from the series’ very best spin-offs.

The Monsters Steal The Spotlight…

I’m speaking, of course, about Monsters. Capital ‘M’ there, because the influence from the Dragon Quest Monsters series cannot be denied. While you can’t travel around the world with pet monsters in your party in this remake, you can meet friendly beasties, recruit them to your very own personal menagerie, and enter them into arena fights where you have limited control over their actions. It’s something we’ve seen before, sure, but it slots so well into DQ3 that I found myself second-guessing whether or not it was truly a new feature.

This is only the first of three Dragon Quest HD-2D remakes planned by Square Enix. 3 is first on the docket because, in terms of narrative chronology, it leads the charge.

Monster Wrangling, to give it its official title, is a great new diversion. In a gaming ecosystem where quest markers and obvious objectives are a requirement, adding a new and rewarding system that forces careful and methodical exploration is a very clever move. To recruit monsters, you must first find them, which often requires interrogating NPCs for clues and scouring the corners of every new location you come across.

Without Monster Wrangling, I’d miss so many goofy characters hidden behind the allure of the quick satisfaction proffered by dashing directly to my next Mandated Quest Location. I have reason to explore towns at different times of day, experiencing the full richness of the stunning graphical overhaul and pepped-up script.

…But The New Class Is The Big Draw Here

The arena battles are fun enough – they don’t offer the mechanical complexity of the arena battles from the Dragon Quest Monster games, but they’re another layer to the diversion that gives you even more reason to hunt down the monsters scattered throughout the land. The prizes you get for completing these battles are nothing to sniff at, but I wouldn’t call them the highlight of my time.

Far more interesting is the Monster Wrangler class itself. A newcomer to DQ3 that, in my mind, threatened to throw off the keenly calculated balance of the precious class system, actually manages to be the standout addition to the game for a veteran such as myself.

Like the Hero, Monster Wranglers are true jacks of all trades, able to dish out the damage, heal the party, and even provide some out-of-battle boons. They gain a skill that can be cast wherever you are, which tells you whether or not there’s a monster to be found in or close to your immediate surroundings. Add to this their roster of monster-themed abilities that expands when you reach certain amounts of monstrous recruits, and you have a perfect synergy of class and mechanic.

So far, Rhys the Monster Wrangler has been a team staple for me. He’s capable of dealing more damage than my Mage, better healing than my Priest, and has the versatile equipment options of my Thief. He’s probably overpowered and now more of a lynchpin to my strategy than the Hero himself. But I love him and all he represents: a sincerely fantastic twist to the formula that manages to remain thematic, appreciative of series tradition, and fun to engage with.