Dragon Quest series creator Yuji Horii briefly updated the community about the upcoming Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate on Twitter today, saying that he wants the game to be worthy of the posthumous works of Akira Toriyama and Koichi Sugiyama.
Yuji Horii initially thanked fans for congratulating him on Dragon Quest Day, which is celebrated on May 27 in Pajan, before talking about the upcoming Dragon Quest title. He understood that there was some concern regarding Dragon Quest XII, but says that he had been in a meeting about the game recently and that he will do everything he can to make sure it is up to par.
Akira Toriyama is known as the creator of the iconic Dragon Ball series and worked as a character designer for the Dragon Quest series. He passed away on March 1 of this year, which devastated the manga and gaming community.
Meanwhile, Koichi Sugiyama worked as a composer for all 11 games in the series. He also passed away in September 2021 (the year Dragon Quest XII was announced).
It’s unclear exactly how much Toriyama and Sugiyama’s work was part of the game’s development before their deaths, but given Horii’s comments, we can expect at least something.
Although Horii couldn’t share any details of the game yet, it can be assumed that the development of Dragon Quest XII is going as planned at Square Enix. The game is said to have a darker tone than previous Dragon Quest games and will be aimed at adults.
Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate is expected to release later this year or in 2025.
For more information on Dragon Quest, check out All Dragon Quest Games in Release Order in Pro Gaming Guides.