⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⡤⠒⠋⠉⠉⠉⠒⢤⡀
⠀⠀⢠⠖⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠳⡄
⠀⣰⠃⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠘⢆
⢠⠃⠀⠀⠀⠀⣴⠀⠀⠀⠀⣶⠀⠀⠀⠀⠘⡄
⢸⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠦⠴⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡇
⠈⢇⡀⠀⠀⢀⠀⢀⠀⠀⡀⠀⠀⠀⢀⠀⡰⠁
⠀⠀⢹⠉⢹⡏⠙⠉⢹⢿⠉⢹⢹⠉⢫⠉
⠀⠀⠈⣇⠘⡇⢰⢀⡾⡎⠀⡾⠘⡄⢸⡀
⠀⠀⠀⢸⡀⡇⡎⢸⡇⢇⠀⡇⢰⢹⠀⡇
⠀⠀⠀⢸⢃⢷⣇⢸⡇⢸⡀⣇⡎⢸⢠⠇
⠀⠀⠀⣜⣼⢸⠘⢌⣇⡇⠱⣜⣇⣎⠞
⠀⠀⠀⠉⠈⡎⡆⠈⡏⢇⠀⢳⢹⠁
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠘⠾⠀⢱⣸⡀⠀⠣⠧
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠳⠇

This is the best gaming experience that I have ever had. Like others here, I played the NES release of "Dragon Warrior" when I was growing up in the 1980s. I remember how acutely joyful I was when I found a copy of Dragon Warrior II at a store in Vail, and succeeded in convincing my parents to buy it. That was more than 35 years ago. Now, in 2025, I was apprehensive when I downloaded DQ3HD2DRM because everything about these Dragon Quest games -- the characters, the visuals, the story, the music -- is so entangled with my childhood emotions and impressions. I was not open to having a disappointing experience. I needed this to be amazing. And it was! I found the experience of playing this game to be totally immersive on every level. In an essay published many years ago, SF author Michael Swanwick writes that Samwise Gamgee's comment, "‘Well, I’m back," at the end of Return of the King is the saddest moment in English literature. The adventure is over. Quotidian duties beckon. This is how I felt when I finished playing DQ3HD2DRM.

So many games right now go for a bleak, doom-ridden aesthetic -- I am thinking of Skyrim but you can doubtless adduce further examples. In Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, the cities and villages are beautiful; the dungeons are often beautiful; the characters are beautiful; many items are beautiful; the music is beautiful; and the story itself is morally beautiful. J.R.R. Tolkien argued that "consolation" is a constitutive aspect of fairy stories. We have drifted away from that approach to fantasy, perhaps out of a misguided sense that we are too mature to be consoled. Dragon Quest is closer to Tolkien's view, and offers a welcome respite from the prevailing grimdark found in many contemporary games.

This finally scratched that Dragon Quest itch. Now I'm waiting for DQ8 to be remade for PC...