Imported to the Switch in 2019, Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation has all the charm as the original did back when it was first released in 1988. If you have a healthy appreciation for nostalgia, there is plenty to enjoy about this game, even if you didn’t play it the first time around or aren’t familiar with the prequels. It’s a game that has the kind of charms it’s easy to fall for the first time or for the fiftieth time.

Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation is a classic hero quest tale. It has a rich fantasy atmosphere that, despite the simple graphics of its day, really immerses you in the story.

The game begins with a series of questions that test your character that feel genuinely introspective in a way that those all too common internet quizzes often don’t. It then drops you into the desert where you become the arbiter of life-or-death moral decisions. This encourages you to think about the choices you make in the game, even if some of the options you have don’t seem like ethical decisions.

For instance, once you find the thief’s key, you can get through almost any locked door. Whether you choose to use it to free all the prisoners from their cells isn’t presented to you as part of the narrative, but it’s there. The thought you put into the beginning of the game turns those cogs for you.

You play as an adventurer, following in your missing father’s footsteps. On the day of your sixteenth birthday, you are granted permission from the King to go on your own quest. You gather a party, which you can customise however you see fit or select from existing characters and set off on your journey.

Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation gives you a lot of freedom to explore the world at your own pace and to do your own thing. There is a narrative and tasks to complete, but they’re not handed to you. You’re invited to ask around and decide on the story you want to play.

Different towns are given their own nuances, which creates a sense of a diverse world. Subtle details you learn talking to strangers paints a rich history of the game world. There are clues about the kind of events and enemies you’ll encounter on your adventure. For all its simplicity, Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation is a very well built world.

Obviously, this game is not going to have the complexity of one written today. But it holds up incredibly well in terms of plot and engagement. Whether you’re familiar with the original or not, it’s a fun nostalgic game that preserves one of the most popular RPGs of its day.