Dragon Quest 35th anniversary stream coming at the end of this May

The Dragon Quest franchise is turning 35 years old this year, and it looks like an anniversary stream is on the way with all sorts of news for the series.

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Dragon Quest is one of the most beloved and celebrated JRPGs of all time. With the original game having launched in Japan in 1986, there has been a treasure trove of amazing core games, spinoffs, and other media to come out of it, as well as merchandise of all kinds. Dragon Quest is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, and reportedly, there’s a stream coming that will have plenty of news to showcase regarding the immediate future of the franchise. What’s more, it’s coming at the end of this month.

The Dragon Quest 35th anniversary stream was announced on May 13, 2021, as reported by Famitsu. According to the announcement, on May 26, 2021 at 8:30 p.m. PT / 11:30 p.m. ET, the stream will go live on the Dragon Quest YouTube channel to introduce and showcase “the upcoming line-up in the Dragon Quest series.” It seems as though we can expect the tease or reveal of all-new projects in the Dragon Quest franchise.

Though the source is Japanese and the initial rollout of Dragon Quest products almost always launch in Japan before going worldwide, this stream promises that it will cater to international viewers and fans as well.

“For the first time in DRAGON QUEST history, the show will feature live interpretation from Japanese, so that our international fans can stay up-to-date with developments in the DRAGON QUEST series, too,” the announcement reads.

This should be incredibly exciting news for any Dragon Quest fan familiar with the usual business of Square Enix when it comes to the series. After all, Dragon Quest 11 eventually hit western markets and garnered six million units sold worldwide as of September 2020. It also came to Xbox Game Pass, giving more fans and newcomers the opportunity to enjoy what a proper DQ game has to offer. Fellow developer/publishers like Sega have made efforts over this previous year to expand their efforts in simultaneous global releases. Square Enix may fully realize that with such a fan base around the world for Dragon Quest, it’s well worth it to do the same.

Here’s hoping that means US Dragon Quest fans have something to look forward to when the 35th anniversary stream goes live on May 26, 2021. Stay tuned for news and reveals from the event when it goes live. We’ll be covering it all here at Shacknews.

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    May 13, 2021 9:45 AM

    TJ Denzer posted a new article, Dragon Quest 35th anniversary stream coming at the end of this May

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      May 13, 2021 6:41 AM

      Dude! Dragon Quest 35th anniversary stream is May 26th! They are going to be introducing the next games in the series!

      I'm excited, I am hoping to see DQ 12 and that it will be coming out next year, but more likely to be a few years. Maybe they will put out another side game in the meantime. I haven't played too many of them but enjoyed dragon quest heroes for what it was.

      What is the shack looking forward to? I know we have some DQ fans here!

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfmOWgfYVjY

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        May 13, 2021 7:08 AM

        I’m playing through DW1 on a nes emulator now,

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          May 13, 2021 9:58 AM

          I kind of want the NES cart but I haven't played it since then and I am not sure it will hold my attn now.

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            May 13, 2021 10:08 AM

            I have the NES cart, but it is not how you want to play the game now - there's a ton of annoyances like having to go into the menu to do literally everything - opening doors and descending stairs included.

            There is a SNES remake of DQ1&2 that has a really good english patch. DQ1 is perfect, and DQ2 has a single major bug - basically avoid staying at one specific inn - that you need to know about, but otherwise is fine.

            The GBC remakes, which were released here, are based on that SNES version.

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              May 13, 2021 10:14 AM

              This is true, if you are a huge fan its nice to have and play the carts, I did it once recently with DW 1 and 2, but if you just want to experience the game there are versions that work better.

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          May 13, 2021 11:09 AM

          This is the only one I've ever played. Loved that old one though.

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        May 13, 2021 7:47 AM

        I'd be surprised to see 12 already. The Builders games were fun; wouldn't mind more side stuff like that.

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          May 13, 2021 7:48 AM

          I'm not big on building games. I played the first one a bit, but didn't really like it. Maybe because I was playing it while traveling for work and equated it with that eventually? lol

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            May 13, 2021 7:58 AM

            If you don't like building games I could see it, but the series does actually integrate a lot of ideas from the first two games into its gameplay, and has a ton of nods for fans of the classic entries of DQ.

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              May 13, 2021 8:00 AM

              I think I should give them a try again and just not be so concerned about the building part.

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          May 13, 2021 8:31 AM

          I just read something that says DQ12 has been in development since 2019, so maybe we will see something!

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          May 13, 2021 9:10 AM

          Second one got way to hand holdy for my tastes. I liked the first, but the second repeated itself basically every single mission just the boss fights changed slightly.

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            May 13, 2021 9:13 AM

            I could see that but I can't say it really bothered me that much personally.

            I have complaints about both games, but not anything bad enough that I wouldn't recommend them.

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        May 13, 2021 7:56 AM

        Bump for other DQ fans! I am currently playing 7 and will be playing 3 after I finish that one. What are you guys playing?

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          May 13, 2021 8:02 AM

          So to make sure I’m on the same page..

          DQ = DW right?

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            May 13, 2021 8:05 AM

            Yes, it is Dragon Warrior in the US, I just got used to saying Dragon Quest because of the internet.

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        May 13, 2021 8:15 AM

        send me the new game with a copy of Nintendo Power please

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        May 13, 2021 8:37 AM

        I hope sugiyama finally quits doing music for dq for 12

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          May 13, 2021 8:44 AM

          My wife doesn't play at all and still knows the music from 11 by heart now because of how repetitive it was and how long I played, lol

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        May 13, 2021 8:41 AM

        seems to early to announce the next one. Hope we get more Rocket Slime games though...

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          May 13, 2021 8:46 AM

          I really need to play these, but haven't wanted to spend 50-75 bucks on a used copy haha.

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        May 13, 2021 8:52 AM

        I'd love to see DQ4-8 come out on Switch.

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          May 13, 2021 8:53 AM

          Just got 3 on switch since its the only one I haven't played. Will start it once I finish 7!

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          May 13, 2021 8:59 AM

          Yeah, I hear 8 is the best of the batch, with 11 being a close runner-up. I liked what I played of 11 but burned out on it after about 25 hours (didn't help hearing that it's about 100 hours to finish--game time is precious these days).

          I'd love to give 8 a shot. Also heard great things about 5.

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            May 13, 2021 9:02 AM

            Yea, 8 is really good too

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            May 13, 2021 9:12 AM

            4 is a personal favorite, but I enjoyed all of those.

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              May 13, 2021 9:56 AM

              4 was the chapter based one with Necrosaro?

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                May 13, 2021 10:07 AM

                Yep. "Chapters of the Chosen" is how they subtitled it later.

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          May 13, 2021 9:07 AM

          I need to complete my collection on iOS. I have DQ 1-3 and 8 installed on my phone now. For some reason after 3 I skipped to 8, but haven't completed that one yet.

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          May 13, 2021 9:11 AM

          I wish they'd remove the new sprites from the existing old school ports. They're no improvement.

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        May 13, 2021 9:09 AM

        Fun story.

        When I was a kid, my neighbor and I hooked a game genie to DW1 and something got screwed up and we started the game carrying the princess.

        I took a picture of it with my character at level 1 carrying the process, sent it to Nintendo Power and it was entered months later.

        Fast forward to adulthood, I realize the game genie caused the game to glitch and give me the princess sprite since it’s written into the programming.

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        May 13, 2021 10:12 AM

        wonder if we'll see DQ Builders 3

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          May 13, 2021 10:16 AM

          I kinda hope so, but I also hope they realize that having every single NPC dump their entire minute-to-minute life story the moment you meet them isn't the best way to ensure a streamlined experience.

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        May 13, 2021 3:15 PM

        My wish would be DQ 12 title drop, Zenithia trilogy ported to Switch, and a DQ9 remake. A guy can dream!

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          May 13, 2021 3:19 PM

          All of that would be awesome

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          May 13, 2021 3:26 PM

          I don't really want to play through DQ9. It was pretty disappointing compared to the others - too much grinding in procedural dungeons.

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      May 13, 2021 2:50 PM

      DQB2 is on PC gamepass now last I saw

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