Dragon Quest RPG Is a New Mobile Adventure Built Like a Mainline Game
Slimes in your pocket, on your commute, during meetings you swear you were paying attention in.
Square Enix just revealed a brand new Dragon Quest game for your phone. It's called Dragon Quest RPG: The Cursed Tree and the Chosen Isle, and it's coming to iOS and Android in 2027, according to Square Enix's official announcement.
The official trailer runs a little over two minutes, and it looks a lot more like a classic Dragon Quest adventure than a quick mobile spinoff. According to Pocket Gamer, series creator Yuji Horii says the "Dragon Quest RPG" name is there to set it apart from the other mobile games.
What is The Cursed Tree and the Chosen Isle about?
The story starts on Monbelusha, a floating island that is in the middle of celebrating its yearly Ringing Feast. During the celebration, a fiend named Zaahl corrupts Yggdrasil, the World Tree, and transforms it into a cursed tree called Grimvein. As the island starts to crumble apart, a young boy falls toward the world below.
Before he lands, the Goddess Belusha hands him a branch and names him the Warden of the World Tree. From there, he travels the land on the chosen isle and tries to undo Grimvein's curse, according to the game's official website.
How does Dragon Quest RPG play?
It sticks pretty closely to the traditional series formula. You explore open fields and dungeons and fight monsters in turn-based battles, with Fast Strike skills and pep powers adding some extra strategy to each encounter. You also bring loot back home to expand your base, which makes your allies stronger and gradually opens up new adventures. Pocket Gamer describes the home hub as an upgradable town with different shops to unlock as it grows.
According to the official site, the game will be free to play with optional in-app purchases, and it will support English, Japanese, Korean and Traditional Chinese.
When is the Dragon Quest RPG closed beta?
The closed beta runs from December 8 to December 15, 2026, and Square Enix says it has room for 25,000 players. You can apply on the official site until November 23. If more people apply than there are available spots, Square Enix will choose the testers through a lottery.
My read is that this is the most promising Dragon Quest mobile game in years, mostly because the trailer looks like a real adventure game from top to bottom. A full turn-based adventure with a growing home base is exactly what this series does best. The big question is how hard the in-app purchases will push. (If the slimes start charging rent for the base, we riot.)
Will you be applying for the Dragon Quest RPG beta? Tell us in the comments.
