Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fatehas already made history for the franchise, but not exactly in a positive way. The venerable RPG series has already seen several firsts throughout its long history, with several games having something that make them distinct from the rest. Despite not even coming out yet,Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fatealready has a record for the series that it can call its own, and it’s one that may be hard to surpass in the near future due to its nature. In fact, it only makes it easier to anticipate the game’s release.
Near the end of May 2021,Dragon Quest 12was officially announced, four years after the highly successfulDragon Quest 11. The game’s subtitle,The Flames of Fate, was also revealed, but even two years later, the game still does not have a release date known to the public. Even thoughDragon Quest 12has been a known quantity for some time now, an astonishing lack of information about the game since its announcement has made it fairly difficult to follow. There has to be some reason why more has not been revealed yet, but at the moment, all that fans can do is speculate on what may come.
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The Wait For Dragon Quest 12 Is The Longest In The Series
It should be noted that while thesilence surroundingDragon Quest 12continues, the game has already crossed a threshold for the series. The gap betweenDragon Quest 11andDragon Quest 12is already longer than the length of time between any two previous games in the mainDragon Questseries. Before this point, the five-year gap betweenDragon Quest 10andDragon Quest 11was the record, with the four and a half year gaps betweenDQ6andDQ7as well asDQ9andDQ10not far behind.Dragon Quest 12has already taken six years, with no release date in sight.
Looking at history, it’s possible thatDragon Quest 12will be a non-traditional entryin the series. Each of the previousDragon Questgames that had a long wait ended up being particularly notable.Dragon Quest 7was absolutely massive, potentially taking over a hundred hours to see all of its content.Dragon Quest 9gave players the ability to make their party from scratch, while also incorporating several multiplayer elements.Dragon Quest 11featured an interesting option to play in either a 2D or 3D format. With such a long development period, it remains to be seen what new featuresDragon Quest 12will offer.
One likely culprit for the wait could beDragon Quest 12’s new battle system. If the developers are redesigning the way the game handles combat, then the extended development time may make sense. Of course, to what degree the battle system is being reworked is worth speculating over.Dragon Quest’s combat is quite emblematic of the series, defined by a traditional turn-based RPG approach and quirky collection of spells. IfDragon Quest 12’s combat is being reworked from the ground up, that may explain the wait. If that is the case, hopefully the new system still capturesDragon Quest’s charm.
After such a long wait, one should hope thatDragon Quest 12’s darker storywill turn out to be just as enjoyable as past installments. Even with how many hours of gameplayDragon Quest 11provided, fans have certainly waited long enough for the next game in the series. By the timeDragon Quest 12finally comes out, it will have been the longest wait for aDragon Questtitle since the series began back in 1986. Hopefully,Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fatewill have been well worth the wait.
Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fateis in development.
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