Japanese Charts: Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake's Launch Sales Are Astronomical

Figured this would get off to a riproaring start! Wow!

the switch physical version even outsold super mario wonder by a few thousand.. insane.. even for a remake of game that has been released many times in japan over the years dragon quest still is king in japan.. no doubt square-enix is holding back dragon quest 12 for the switch 2 version that will surpass a million easily when it comes out...

@WiltonRoots i never expected these numbers they are double what i thought... good for square enix they needed a banger after disappointing sales for many of there games..

And these are only physical sales. I wonder how much the digital sales are.

My takes this week:
-No PS4 version for Dragon Quest III? I actually didn't know that. Impressive numbers, nonetheless.

-Luigi's Mansion 3 at #10 is the underdog of the week.

-FINALLY! 3000 SALES FOR XBOX IN JAPAN.

Wow those Dragon Quest III 2D HD numbers are wild, odd that this time the PS5 version of Romancing SaGa 2 are selling this week over the Switch version. My guess is that those who want one on Switch already got one and now they are all jumping on the DQIII 2D HD bandwagon this week. On the hardware side, it looks like the PS5 family of consoles are now put back on the same position they were before the PS5 Pro launch. Last week was a good start for the highly expensive minor update PS5 newest hardware member but with that awful price tag it doesn't surprise anyone that the thing would fall back and join the other losers in the chart.

@HammerGalladeBro It make sense why this new one won't be on PS4 cause the phone version of DQ1, 2, & 3 were already on PS4 so to release this one on the PS5 side would help distinguish the two versions to prevent confusion.

Selling almost one third of the original's first week sales is not bad for a remake I guess.

@Serpenterror The phone versions are also already on Switch so....

@Jhena That's without digital.

That's the Switch version of RS2, not the PS5.

Well, PS5 PRO and PS5 machines were making more than 22K units shipped.
Not bad. 😊
Keep stay on Top 3.

@michellelynn0976
Thanks, I know but I can only go by the numbers we were given.

I would not be surprised if they reached 1 million and more.

I only expected this to happen. Dragon Quest 3 was the game that made the series into the instant best seller, so I guess it's totally living up to expectations. Curious to see how the US sales are doing on that front because I would have to assume that by this point it totally surpassed 1 million copies

The two Sony fanboys here about to go quiet after they were loud last week…As the film Warriors say “Sony fanboys, come out to play.”

-Significant difference of Nintendo vs Sony for DQ. The funny part is the Switch version could have sold more because this was still understocked for Switch. I can’t take anyone here seriously entertaining that SE “skip out” on Nintendo for DQ12. Yeah skip out the most JAPAN RPG ever on the most JAPAN SYSTEM ever sounds smart just because spec people “don’t want to be held back” acting as if DQ should be like FF. At this point I’m convinced it’s gonna be for the next Nintendo system anyway so the “specs” complaint might not even matter.

-PS5 Pro as expected is already starting to level out. Couldn’t even hold #1 for two weeks in a row. Some people heavily overestimated their legs. Wouldn’t surprise me if by week 3 there is a further sharp drop due to most of the PS5 Pro “target audience” being exhausted.

-Combined Switch is 60k~ while combined Sony is 20k~. Hey at least Sony got out of 10k territory, but we will see if that holds true for next week which gives more accurate indicators on legs if PS5 Pro can hold well. I doubt though.

Edit: Forgot to add that physical won’t be dead anytime soon in Japan when you still see these numbers.

@michellelynn0976 Ah so Nintendolife was trying to make the PS5 look good.

@Haruki_NLI Then it would be confusing for the Nintendo customers. They'll just had to be smart about it.

I honestly expected more sales from this game, they should have sent more stock to the stores over there. But I also suppose it goes to show how the share of digital games has increased. I suggest to some of you to go and check the numbers when new DQ games have come out in Japan. The phenomenon of Dragon Quest in Japan is insane. Sure, this isn't a brand new game. But it's a very requested remake. I think it would even be fun for the editorial team to do an article on this!

And some people actually thought this was going to fail in Japan. Shows you how much they know.

I still won't buy it. I think it's a flawed and even disrespectful product.

@Cronodoug Not buying it is even more disrespectful especially if you are planning to pirate it anyways.

Glad to see this game be so successful!

There's only one thing bigger than Pokémon in Japan and that's Dragon Quest.

4-6 when??

words. words. thoughts. words.

Japan does love them some Dragon Quest. So I'm not surprised

@Serpenterror Bingo.

What? Japanese gamers don't care about 60fps for smooth gameplay?

@johnedwin cue SE statement on DQ 3 HD's disappointing sales.

Really hoping this will push to get Square-Enix to remake 4-6 and further ones. The base is done, they basically have to change the maps and it's done. Come on Square Enix, just a little more, you're getting there 😎
(By the way, DQ3 is awesome)

Nice. After dq 1-3, I’d still love to see 4-6 get the treatment, not to mention 7 and 8 are trapped on 3ds.

And there are so many other Square and Enix games, and other stuff they hold the IP rights to. So many would be great hd-2d remakes. (Or even just a budget remaster would be nice)

It is indeed sold out everywhere here. The upside of having to hunt for it is I found Super Mario RPG for 8 quid instead.

8 QUID.

@Olliemar28 Romancing Saga 2 is the Switch version, not the PS5 version in the charts here.

I'm thrilled that Square Enix is being so successful with the classics and remakes. I have also enjoyed Octopath Traveller I and II a lot (on Series X), much more than the Bravely Default games for some reason. Now that Square Enix has rejected any more PS exclusivity and has finally ported the Pixel Remaster collection to Xbox, we should expect the successor of Switch to host the games Switch missed because of technical limitations and contracts with Sony. It would be great if they remade more Dragon Quest games and what about Final Fantasy IX? The HD version looks so ugly. They could remake it like the excellent Trials of Mana (remake).

@Serpenterror he didn't mention pirating it. Don't jump on your guns.

On another note, it's not surprising considering DQ3 is, for a weird reason to me, still considered the best DQ and was a huge success at its time. I don't like what they did here with it, between the overly enlarged empty maps and the less charming 2D compared to, for example, Live a Live. But good if people like it!

@Banjo- I personally always thought the HD version of FF9 should get the Legend of Mana treatment: redrawn backgrounds, enhanced 3D models, ATB a bit faster. And nothing else. The original version of FF9 on a PS1 still looks more beautiful than their "remaster", even on a full HD TV!

@Dee123 Wrong. The most recent Pokémon remakes, BDSP, did 1.4 million in its first week.

Maybe the next dragon quest game should be in HD-2D rather than 3D so squareenix can save cost and focus on story and gameplay 😃

@Astropez Right. I haven't played the PS version of FF IX, but when I tried the "HD" version on Xbox it looked quite ugly. I read other comments like yours saying that it looks worse than the original version, but I don't know why.

The Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster collection and Trials of Mana (remake) were a commercial success, so I hope that they keep doing this. Well, then there's Octopath Traveller I and II that also did well and Dragon Quest III remake that has been received with open arms.

I tried Legend of Mana on Xbox, but honestly it didn't look right to me, that combination of sprites and backgrounds... Besides, I had no idea what to do. I didn't find the gameplay or story very good either.

@Dee123 Not a single Dragon Quest game came close to selling as much as Pokémon Scarlet/Violet's 8.3 million copies, Red/Green's 8.24 million copies or Gold/Silver's 7.3 million copies. Even Sword/Shield at over 6 million copies is higher than any Dragon Quest game in Japan.

The best selling Dragon Quest remake ever is Dragon Quest V on the PS2 that sold 1.71 million copies.
With Pokémon on the other hand the best selling remake, Heartgold/Soulsilver sold 3.97 million copies. And the lowest selling one is Let's Go at 2.2 million copies. BD/SP sold 3.87 million, OR/AS sold 3.47 million, FR/LG sold 3.18 million. All of them significantly more than any Dragon Quest remake ever managed to reach.

Only Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing: New Horizons have sold more than Scarlet/Violet in Japan.

@Banjo-

Yeah same here, octopath traveler (1&2) won me over with their style.
Games like this, i play on handheld. Only recently sold the switch version.

@Banjo-
Legend of Mana isn't for everyone. It's a very open-ended game and without a walkthrough you have to do a minimum of 3 playthrough to see everything. It's more like a collection of stories with 3 big storylines. It's very "SaGa"-like in it's philosophy (bit then again, same creator for SaGa games and LoM).
But for the remaster, they took the time to redraw every background so they actually look sharp and not messy like that ugly upscaling they did for most of their other remasters of PS1 games (FF7/8/9, Chrono Cross). God even the Pixel remasters, they only redid the character sprites, everything else is upscaled and you can tell without knowing anything about pixel art.

I understand why they did it: LoM is a very very VERY niche game; the others were sure to be sold en masse no matter what they were doing with them. But that's lazy quick cash grab, but hey, it's Square Enix, that's what they've been doing for almost 20y now.

@Astropez Right, but I think in Final Fantasy IX HD is more noticeable, for some reason. I wonder if it will be remade. I played Final Fantasy VIII on Xbox and it looked fine. The best thing about the Pixel Remaster collection is the orchestrated soundtrack and being able to play them on modern consoles.

@The-Chosen-one I loved Octopath Traveller I and II, especially everything related to the gameplay and the graphics (absolutely gorgeous on Series X). I like a well-made single story, but the different small stories are also nice. I prefer that over the bloated stories that are purposely long and complex to intrigue -or confuse- players.

Regarding playing on Switch, I play docked 99% of the time, so that and the technical limitations of Nintendo's hardware explains why I always choose the Xbox version if available, but I understand that some people enjoy playing in portable mode. After all, the small New Nintendo 3DS is one of my favourite consoles ever.

@Banjo-

Yeah same here, sold the switch version and really saw the difference. Glad its on gamepass.
The sound effects, the retro style graphics just hits every geek part in me lol.
With gamepass ultimate i play both on PC and sometimes on my phone trough cloud.
As for dragon quest, i think i will buy it on switch again.

I really hope with the switch 2 around the corner we get an upgrade so that its equal to the console versions.

@The-Chosen-one Me too, I tried the Switch version of Octopath Traveller because a friend has the physical version and I borrowed it, but when I played it on Series X it was much more beautiful and even more playable. I absolutely loved the graphics, sound and gameplay.

@Banjo- I dearly hope almost every Square Enix game gets a Switch 2 makeover, even if it's minor touchups to dial up basic effects and frame rates.

@Ulysses That would be nice, Switch 2 enhancements, as long as they are free!

@Banjo-
I think the issue is that FF9 is already originally a gorgeous game, so the differences jumps at you. FF8 and FF7 are less bad because the 3D is also more rudimentary than FF9, so the poor integration of the remodeled characters is a lot more visible in FF9. Chrono Cross has the same problem. It really is a shame how Square treat their legacy like garbage.

@Astropez That's a good explanation. Seeing how they are updating and remaking other classics, I hope that they do the same with Final Fantasy IX.