Dragon Quest XII remains a mystery in many ways, as we still don’t know much about the game itself.

We know from the announcement that there will be some changes to the combat system and possibly a darker tone, and that the story is already complete.

And now we know that those changes, whatever they turn out to be, might be around for a long time.

According to a new interview with Square Enix’s CEO Yosuke Matsuda, translated here by Gematsu, Dragon Quest XII’s development is “taking into account the next 10 to 20 years of the Dragon Quest series.”

He went on to say that, “There are parts that remain consistent with the traditional image of Dragon Quest, but new elements are also necessary. After all, as a brand we always need to innovate.”

Of course, some people are interpreting “new elements” to mean that the series is going to feature action combat from now on, but we still haven’t gotten any clear information about how the combat system is changing. There’s no reason to assume it will be something extreme.

It does sound like they’re planning a notable shift for the series in general, though, or it wouldn’t be necessary to mention that they’re thinking ahead to the next 10-20 years. Here’s hoping it will be a good move, not a disappointment!

How do you feel about the fact that Dragon Quest XII might set the tone for the next decade of Dragon Quest and beyond? What do you think the changes will be like?

Dragon Quest XII has been a minefield of overreactions and misinterpretations ever since it was announced the other night, but we have a handful of new concrete details to look at!

On a recruitment page for Dragon Quest XII, Yuji Horii states that the story is complete and just needs to be implemented.

However, since Dragon Quest XII is a big game, it will still take time before it’s finished.

The page also includes a message from the game’s director, Takeshi Uchikawa. He was the director of Dragon Quest XI, so if you enjoyed XI, it should be reassuring to know that XII is in good hands.

Meanwhile, both my use of Google Translate to read the page and the translation here from Twisted Voxel show that Horii once again said the command battles will be “renewed” but that they won’t reveal how just yet.

This really doesn’t sound to me like it’s going to be an action game. “Renew” isn’t the word I would use if I was taking out turn-based combat to replace it with something else. There are sites out there reporting that Horii said during the live stream that it’s “not turn-based,” but I don’t know where they’re getting that translation from.

It’s also been revealed that Dragon Quest XII will use Unreal Engine 5.

So while we don’t know much at all about Dragon Quest XII, at least we have a few more details. I find it especially interesting that the story is already complete. Maybe that means they’ll reveal some story details soon and give a better indication of what the tone will be like.

How are you feeling about Dragon Quest XII so far, and when do you think we’ll learn more?