Dragon Quest XII: Beyond Dreams

Main series games
Dragon Quest XII: Beyond Dreams
Developer(s)	Square Enix; Orca; HexaDrive
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Designer(s)	Yuji Horii
Artist(s)	Akira Toriyama
Composer(s)	Kōichi Sugiyama
Series	Dragon Quest
Platform(s)	PC; TBA
Release date(s)	TBA
Genre(s)	Role-playing

Dragon Quest XII: Beyond Dreams (ドラゴンクエストXII　夢の彼方へ, Doragon Kuesuto Toerubu Yume no Kanata e^?) is the twelfth main Dragon Quest series game. It is planned to have a simultaneous worldwide release, though no specific release date or platforms were given.

Dragon Quest XII will be the final mainline entry to involve the franchise's music composer Kōichi Sugiyama and character/monster designer Akira Toriyama, who passed away in September 30th, 2021 and March 1st, 2024 respectively.

Premise

The story follows a young hero who is beset by strange visions in their sleep.

Development

Dragon Quest XII was announced on May 27, 2021 with the full title Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate (ドラゴンクエストXII 選ばれし運命の炎, Doragon Kuesuto Toerubu Erabareshi Unmei no Honoo^?). Yuji Horii stated XII would be "darker" and adult-themed, with a greater focus on decision-making and a revamped combat system. In September 2021, an exploit in NVIDIA's GeForce Now service revealed a PC release to be in development. Aside from a 2023 update to the logo^[1]^[2], no concrete updates were given and no gameplay footage was shown publicly for The Flames of Fate.

Development on The Flames of Fate hit several difficulties since 2021, including a reshuffling of the staff and a total change of concept, which caused development to restart completely at an unspecified point. The game's new logo, subtitle, and first footage were revealed on the 2026 Dragon Quest Day (May 27, 2026). The new direction of the project is intended as an evolution of the series, according to producer Yosuke Saito.