2021 is the year for anniversaries, it seems. From The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Pokemon to Sonic, Resident Evil, and many more, quite a few notable gaming properties are celebrating major anniversaries this year. One more is Dragon Quest, and Square Enix seems to have a special stream planned.

A special anniversary celebration livestream has been announced for Wednesday, May 26, about two weeks from now, at 8:30 PM PDT / 11:30 PM EDT. May 27 is Dragon Quest Day, or the series’ anniversary, so expect something special. Sure enough, Square Enix says the stream will be “introducing the upcoming line-up in the Dragon Quest series,” with series co-creator Yuji Horii also confirmed to be attending. The stream will also feature live Japanese to English interpretations, which will be a first for Dragon Quest streams.

Dragon Quest 11 launched in Japan nearly four years ago, so the hope is that Dragon Quest 12 gets announced soon. Over a year ago, Horii said that the next game in the series was still a little while away, but here’s hoping it’s close enough for an announcement now. Meanwhile, the Dragon Quest Builders team also said over a year ago that they were working on something new, so it should be interesting to see what that is (or if it’s even related to Dragon Quest).

For what it’s worth, Horii said earlier this year that Square Enix would be making “all sorts of announcements” to celebrate Dragon Quest’s 35th anniversary, so hopefully, there’s good stuff headed our way on May 26. Stay tuned, and we’ll keep you updated.

While many fans are probably still riding the Dragon Quest 11 wave, especially with the recent Switch release, a sequel is in the works. It won’t be coming anytime soon though, as series creator Yuji Horii indicated in a new year’s message on Twitter. He did note that it was “still a little while ahead.”

In the full message (translation via Gematsu), Horii said, “Happy New Year. In addition to [what I said in the New Year’s card] below, there are some things I still cannot say, but as for [Dragon Quest] XII, it is still a little while ahead. However, there may be things we can release before that. Please give me your support again this year.”

He then outlined the various announcements that Dragon Quest had seen, including the Switch release, the movie Dragon Quest: Your Story, Dragon Quest Walk for mobile devices, and anime/game adaptations for Dragon Quest: The Adventures of Dai. “And now, 33 years after the first game, I am extremely happy to be able to challenge new things such as the production of [Dragon Quest] XII,” he continued. “To all the fans who have supported Dragon Quest thus far, as well as the many staff who have sustained it, thank you so much. While I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to keep this up, I want to work as hard as I can for a little while longer.”

Back in 2018, Horii echoed a similar sentiment, noting that the next Dragon Quest was “still many years away”. The real question is where the franchise can go from here. Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of An Elusive Age was praised for its RPG mechanics, story-telling, and characterization.

However, its gameplay was still very much in the vein of previous games. It’s safe to say that the sequel will follow the same formula, but what kinds of twists and turns can be expected?

Stay tuned for more details in the coming months. Meanwhile, Dragon Quest 11 continues to perform well for Square Enix, selling over 5.5 million units worldwide as of December 2019.

https://twitter.com/YujiHorii/status/1212384602397892615

Last year’s long-awaited Dragon Quest 11 was the first major instalment in the series in nearly a decade, but it looks like we won’t have to wait quite as long for the one after that.

At the Dragon Quest Walk event (via Gematsu), where Square Enix announced the mobile RPG, Dragon Quest series executive producer Yuu Miyake also briefly touched upon Dragon Quest 12. Acxording to Miyake, the Dragon Quest team, including series creator Yuji Horii, have already started “preparations” that will lead to Dragon Quest 12.

“By the way, about Dragon Quest XII, which I’m sure is on everyone’s mind,” he said, “Yuji Horii and I are currently making preparations on series developments that will connect to XII. I think it’s still too early, but we would like announce it in some form, so please wait a little while longer.”

Square Enix have confirmed that they will be making a Dragon Quest announcement on June 10, but it’s unlikely that it’ll be a new mainline entry. As Miyake puts it, it looks like Dragon Quest 12 is not even in proper pre-production yet, which means it’s still a few years away from release.

There’s plenty more Dragon Quest content coming soon though. Beyond the aforementioned mobile-only Dragon Quest Walk, Dragon Quest Builders 2 is out in a little over a month, while Dragon Quest 11 S will also soon be launching for the Switch.

Square Enix’s Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of An Elusive Age may have first released last year, but it came to the West this year in September. With full voice-acting, a compelling storyline, and excellent combat, the RPG was highly praised by critics. It even saw fairly strong sales numbers in the United States, according to The NPD Group’s Mat Piscatella.

So of course, the question now is: When can we expect Dragon Quest 12? Though it’s too early to say, game designer and series creator Yuji Horii did tease attendees at the CEDEC + KYUSHU 2018 conference last week about the same (as per Famitsu). During a panel, Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino actually asked about the sequel’s status.

Horii said, “I actually already came up with the keywords, but I can’t say anything here”, before laughing. He went on to note, “Since Dragon Quest 11‘s scenario was well-received, this time I want the same reception for the gameplay systems, but I could also surprise everyone and make it an epic. Now I just feel like teasing everyone.” He then laughed again.

In terms of a “theme”, Horii revealed, “I keep absentmindedly thinking about making the theme the feeling of ‘wanting to make dreams come true.’” That being said, he ended the talk by noting that Dragon Quest 12 is “still many years away”.

Check out Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of An Elusive Age in the meantime. It’s available for PS4 and PC – read GamingBolt’s official review of the console version here. It’s also coming to the Nintendo Switch.