The Hero
The player-created protagonist and Ortega’s child, who sets out to defeat the archfiend threatening the world.
Documented for this version
D-pad | Move the character or select a menu option. |
|---|---|
A | Confirm choices, talk, inspect, and open the command menu. |
B | Cancel a choice or return to the previous menu. |
Start | Open the status or game menu where applicable. |
How it plays
The player views the world from an overhead perspective and guides a party through towns, fields, caves, towers, and other dungeons. The main objective is to gather information, obtain key items, defeat powerful enemies, and ultimately stop Baramos and the greater threat behind him.
Battles are turn-based and menu-driven. Players choose commands such as attack, spells, abilities, items, defense, and retreat, while party members grow through experience and equipment. The party can be customized through vocations, and later progression allows characters to change vocation while retaining some learned abilities. Ships and other travel options open additional regions.
Plan your run
Build a balanced party with dependable healing, damage, and support options. The Hero is required, while the other party members can be selected and developed through vocations.
Explore towns thoroughly, speak with residents, and keep multiple save files before major story events. Upgrade equipment regularly, carry healing items, and use spells or abilities that exploit enemy weaknesses. After completing the main story, continue exploring for the optional post-game content.
Meet the cast
The player-created protagonist and Ortega’s child, who sets out to defeat the archfiend threatening the world.
The Hero’s legendary father, whose unfinished quest becomes an important part of the story.
A powerful guardian associated with Alefgard and the wider history of the Dragon Quest world.
The principal archfiend pursued during the main adventure.
A greater evil whose role is revealed as the story reaches its final stages.
Before you begin
Use the wagon and party-management options to adjust your active group when available.
Changing vocation can improve long-term growth, but plan around the abilities you want to retain.
Search suspicious walls, floors, and containers; important items are sometimes found away from the obvious path.
Dragon Warrior III is a traditional Japanese role-playing game developed by Heartbeat and published by Enix for Game Boy Color. It follows a young hero who leaves home on the hero Ortega’s birthday, eventually gathering allies and confronting the archfiend Baramos. The adventure combines overhead exploration, menu-driven turn-based battles, towns, dungeons, vehicles, and class-based party building. This handheld version is an expanded remake of the 1988 Dragon Quest III. It preserves the series’ foundational world structure while adding visual improvements, extra areas, personality-based development, and a substantial post-game challenge. Critics and players generally regard it as one of the strongest role-playing games on the Game Boy Color, although its text-heavy presentation and random encounters require patience.
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