Cognition Dissemination: Remaster 3D Dot Game Heroes

The newest streaming choice for this blog’s Drew Young was the original NES The Legend of Zelda, which he started playing on Saturday with friend-of-the-blog Magnus_Surtsson commentating. It’s a game I’m familiar with. As a confession: I’ve only personally played 40 minutes of it, with the version on the Legend of Zelda: Collector’s Edition disc included with the GameCube bundle I purcahsed in late 2003. I’ve had opportunities to play it, and could do so now through the Switch Online program, but I just… haven’t. 20-year-old me thought it was too impenetrable without a guide, despite knowing how important it was for the history of the franchise and video games overall.

My mind works in mysterious ways, so here’s where it drifted as I watched the stream: What the heck ever happened to 3D Dot Game Heroes? It’s not that FromSoftware’s reportedly superlative attempt at a game that blended old school Zelda-style design and maps with semi-modern blocky polygons never released, something that indeed happened when it arrived on PlayStation 3 in 2009 (and 2010 outside Japan). It was, in fact, a niche software release that hit the market mere months after Demon’s Souls redefined FromSoftware’s development pipeline. 3D Dot Game Heroes should not be forgotten, and deserves a remaster.

I wish I could say that as someone who played the game and remembers it fondly. A theme of this particular post appears to be personal confessions, so for another one: I haven’t played 3D Dot Game Heroes either. It was one I always wanted to get around to but never did. Plenty of other adults have games that qualify as such, and I won’t believe anyone who says they don’t. I remember watching the trailers and posting about it on this blog while it was still in its infancy. I’d like to rectify that sin, though, which is why the game shouldn’t remain stuck on PS3.

The game has often been compared to the older 2D Zelda games, as I did in this blog, to no surprise considering how popular points of references are used to sell people on the concepts specific video games utilize. But it aesthetically bears a stronger resemblance to Zelda-style Master System title Golden Axe Warrior, a spinoff of the Golden Axe beat ‘em up series. Both games have blue-armored protagonists in their default appearances and hold their swords and shields in similar fashions. I mentioned this in a previous post about it (this blog is, in fact, on the first page of the Google search when both titles are searched together), which stuck out to me after playing Warrior on the Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection. It wasn’t frequently mentioned because only five other people have played it, and it’s likely the semi-resemblance is pure coincidence on FromSoftware’s part.

The number of PS3 titles stuck on the system is lower in number compared to older hardware, less the result of publishers willing to preserve their titles and more them having the opportunity to release remasters, thanks to the PlayStation 4 not having backwards compatibility. But the games stuck on the system shouldn’t go forgotten, and should be ported in the fairly-high chance that the PS3 Store will either be taken down or rendered too difficult to access to continue bothering with in the near future. Sony was convinced to back off their original plan to shut the store down last year, but it’s unlikely to remain that way forever.

FormSoftware’s library is loaded with unpolished quality titles, types of games more esoteric than the Souls titles that faithful fans might find difficult to crack. Several of those games were on the cusp of greatness, too, like the Otogi titles. Other titles turned out mediocre despite being interesting experiments, like Evergrace and sequel Forever Kingdom, Enchanted Arms, and Ninja Blade, the last two of which also arrived just before the company essentially rebooted itself after the Souls games put the company on the map for more mainstream audiences. I could name more, but I believe that I’ve more than demonstrated enough how I knew about FromSoftware before it was cool.

(I’m being sarcastic about that “before it was cool” stuff by the way. I’m not enough of a jerk to say that unironically.)

3D Dot Game Heroes is the most polished title outside the Souls games, a small number of Armored Core games, and the already-remastered Metal Wolf Chaos that would only require a remaster for current systems rather than a remake, and hopefully they’ll give it the treatment soon.

FromSoftware, if you’re listening: I hope you’ll consider remastering 3D Dot Game Heroes and a bunch of other remasters. Don’t stop with Metal Wolf Chaos. The success of the Souls games and recent such titles like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Elden Ring shows how you absolutely have the resources to go through with it. So, I hope it happens in a short time.

P.S. Remaster the Otogi games too.