It's been a while since Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate appeared in public. Announced during the franchise's 35th-anniversary celebration in 2021, the game was early in development but still looking to rock the boat. Fans learned that Dragon Quest 12 will use Unreal Engine 5, its story is finished, and new battle systems were prototyped for it. The game is also expected to take a darker turn than the normally chipper Dragon Quest is used to, which has many fans anxiously waiting to see just how different it will be.
Among the oldest JRPG franchises, Dragon Quest has probably adhered the closest to its traditions. Music, visuals, and turn-based combat have remained similar in each mainline entry, even through a shift to full 3D in Dragon Quest 8 and a real-time MMO format in DQ10. In the modern RPG climate, Dragon Quest 11's quests and mechanics were so old-school that it could've been seen as refreshing. However, Square Enix has decided that it's time to shake things up. There's a lot of trepidation about how this shift in Dragon Quest 12 will go, but if it follows the example of Square Enix's other JRPG giant, it could work out great.
Action Combat Would Be A Major Shift For Dragon Quest
Ever since Final Fantasy 10, the mainline FF entries have strayed further from their turn-based roots. Final Fantasy had been using a more action-heavy take on turn-based gameplay for years, but that still didn't prepare anyone for the introduction of FF11's real-time MMO combat. Things were closer to normal in Final Fantasy 12 and 13, but FF14 was another MMO and 15 was a full-blown action RPG. It was a rough first pass, but with improvements made in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, the franchise has begun to prove itself capable of a brand-new direction.
The jury is still out on Final Fantasy 16, but it's the closest the franchise has gotten to a true hack-and-slash title. Drawing on the Devil May Cry school of design, FF16 is a few progression changes away from being an action game outright, which doesn't sit well with the whole fanbase. Even so, a gradual transition to action since the '90s is more palatable than the potential changes Dragon Quest 12 could bring about. Turn-based battles are at the core of Dragon Quest, so Square Enix will have to replace them with something just as good.
How Final Fantasy 16's Combat Could Work In Dragon Quest 12
The vital part of introducing action gameplay to Dragon Quest 12 is ensuring that RPG veterans can play around with it. Final Fantasy 16 offers fully customizable accessibility features that can, at their peak, almost totally automate combat. This won't persuade everyone to give Dragon Quest's new gameplay a shot, but it will help people who aren't used to action games get the full experience. Something that integrates menus more like Final Fantasy 7 Remake might be a better fit for Dragon Quest, but after spending so long without action gameplay, Dragon Quest needs to use it or lose it.
Dragon Quest 12 needs to go all the way with its action combat if it follows Final Fantasy 16. It must display confidence in its identity, as doing so will improve the player's experience as a whole. An accessible but highly-customizable combat system that adapts Dragon Quest's best hero abilities is all that DQ12 needs to match FF16's own system. If Dragon Quest 12 can manage that, then it should be able to forge its own identity while leaving the door open for more traditional entries in the future.
Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate is currently in development.