Dragon Quest Heroes: Torneko's Mystery Dungeon-Classic HD- Review

First Released September 9, 2026 Systems Leave a Review Overview Score Published Sep 16, 2026, 1:35 PM EDT Dragon Quest Heroes: Torneko's Mystery Dungeon -Classic HD- brings a classic game onto modern consoles, but it also brings the original's problems. Dragon Quest Heroes: Torneko's Mystery Dungeon - Classic HD has officially (and finally) arrived in English. It's a day many of us Dragon Quest fans never expected, considering it's been over 30 years since the original game arrived on the Super Famicom. Even if you aren't traditionally a Dragon Quest fan, gaming historians may want to check it out, since it was the first-ever Mystery Dungeon game. The premise is pretty simple: The lovable merchant from Dragon Quest 4, Torneko Taloon, tries to make his fortune for his family by delving into the Mystery Dungeon. The gameplay loop is equally simple: Torneko heads into the dungeon with a certain amount of gold in mind. If you reach your goal and find the right scroll, you can leave the dungeon and return to your budding town, which you can name at the beginning of the game. The amount of gold you need increases in each chapter, and you can expect to spend a lot of time in the titular Mystery Dungeon. Are You Up To The Challenge In Torneko's Mystery Dungeon? If the gameplay loop I just described sounds repetitive, that's because it is. The floors are randomized, however, which add variety to the kinds of spells, weapons, shields, and other items you can acquire. No two playthroughs are exactly alike, and you'll often be at the mercy of the RNG gods, both in what you find on the floor and the monsters you encounter. Even with difficulty settings that can be altered to increase EXP and gold and decrease things like enemy spawn rates, Dragon Quest Heroes: Torneko's Mystery Dungeon -Classic HD- is still pretty darn tough. You'll die. A lot. If the frustration doesn't make you quit, then what's left is a fairly simple rougelike featuring one of Dragon Quest's most memorable characters. You can collect weapons and shields as you progress, as well as helpful items like medicinal herbs to restore health and spell scrolls to aid in combat and exploration. You'll also need to keep an eye on your hunger meter. Various kinds of bread can be found within the Mystery Dungeon to feed Torneko's appetite and add to the challenge. Torneko's Mystery Dungeon Shows Its Age, Even With New Bells & Whistles This version of Torneko's Mystery Dungeon includes helpful upgrades, likedifficulty customization options. You can also stream the game and let viewers vote on what you do, which is a fun idea on paper. And, yes, the game's retro graphics look vibrant and wonderful in HD. Otherwise, you're basically playing a game from 1993, for good or ill. Dragon Quest Heroes: Torneko's Mystery Dungeon - Classic HD - still shows its age in many ways. The combat and movement are clunky, and this is a game that relies heavily on just how much you love running through randomized dungeons, fighting enemies, and collecting gold. It's simple. It's sometimes relaxing and often frustrating. Sometimes you get a great weapon at the beginning of a dungeon run. Sometimes you fall into a Monster Den. The end result is a game that most people will play out of historical curiosity rather than for fun. This isn't a bad game by any means, but are there are plenty of better Dragon Quest spin-offs out there that are still waiting for official English releases. Torneko's First Adventure Is A Relic Of Its Time This game's blood runs with 1993 mechanics. The controls are clunky, the combat is overly simple (and also clunky), and pretty much everything about the game feels outdated. Other than playing this for historical or preservationist reasons, there's no real incentive to give this Torneko game a try, unless you just want the sheer challenge of it all. While I'm absolutely thrilled we have the first Torneko's Mystery Dungeon in English after all these years, I'm mostly just hopeful this will lead to other, better Dragon Quest titles being released on modern consoles. Spin-offs like Rocket Slime certainly deserve it, and so do some of the older Dragon Quest Monsters games. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of even more long-lost Dragon Quest releases in the West.