Dragon Warrior 3 (NES) | guide and review

Dragon Warrior 3 is a Role-playing Rpg game developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix (currently Square Enix), being released in Japan in 1988 and in the US the following year. This game is known in other regions as Dragon Quest although some time later in USA territory it was called Dragon Quest. This title has different adaptations for the SNES, the Game Boy Color and for the WII.

The game is a continuation of the two previous titles maintaining the mechanics of the game while maintaining turn-based battles, as a novelty we have that the game takes place in a non-linear open world as well as a day-night cycle and the change of classes.

Starting the game

On the home screen after pressing Start, if it is the first time we have played the game, only the option “ Begin a new quest ” appears, now if we have already played and saved the game correctly we will have more options:

Continues Quest: lets you continue a saved quest on the adventure log.

Begin a New Quest: lets you start a new adventure log.

Copy a Quest: lets you copy an existing adventure log to a blank adventure log.

Erase a Quest: lets you erase an existing adventure log.

Change Message Speed: lets you change the text display speed during play. 

In case of starting a new adventure we put the name, our sex and the speed in which we want the messages to be displayed.

Beginning your quest

Our adventure begins on the day of our sixteenth birthday, our Mother wakes us up reminding us that we must go to the castle for the first time to meet the king of Aliahan, we follow her and she will show us the way to the castle of Aliahan.

Once where the King is, he will tell us that our Father Ortega died in the fight with our enemy "the Archfiend Baramos” we must defeat him and avenge the death of our father and bring peace to the world, after this he will give us 50 gold and tells us that we must recruit allies for our quest. 

Leaving the castle in the village we find the Luisa's place here we can recruit friends who accompany us during the quest in this place we find a soldier, a wizard and a pilgrim we talk to Luisa and select Add Member to add the available characters. 

In this and in all the towns we will find stores and other facilities we have Item Stores here we can buy medical herbs and other items, Weapon Stores sell different types of weapons and armor, Inns here we and our allies recover HP and MP, House of Healings provides services for our team members who are poisoned, cursed or deceased. 

In the item stores we buy medical herbs before leaving. We go out to the left and in the field we face various enemies until we reach level 3. 

If we follow the path from Aliahan we cross the bridge we continue to the left then up we will arrive at The Village of Reeve, in this village we find all the stores, we make the necessary adjustments in our equipment. If we talk to the guy next to the Item Store will ask us if we already have the Thief's Key, since we don't have it, we will have to find it. Before leaving it is recommended to buy a Wing Of Wyvern in the Item Store we must also go up to level 4. 

From the Village of Reeve we move down until we find a cave. This is the Cave of Promontory in this cave we find several chests we explore them with the command screen “ Search ” We explore the cave until we reach a ladder that takes us to the Tower of Najima. 

This cave has four levels in the 1F we find an Inn where we can recharge our batteries if necessary. In this tower we find several chests, in 4F we finally find the Thief's key we use it to open the doors of a level. In the Cave of Promontory we find a door that we can open using the Thief's key we will do this from the items menu. 

At this point we can use the Wing of Wyvern or if we prefer we go back the way we entered in order to level up. Now we go to the Village of Reeve here with the help of the key we open the doors, they tell us that our next mission is to the east and we receive the magic ball. 

We raise the hero to level 8. We go to the east of the Village of Reeve towards the mountains, we go down and go up to a lake there inside we find a hole we get into it and we will reach the Cave of Enticement we meet an NPC who tells us that the stairway is sealed by a stone wall, we use the magic ball and break the wall. 

We must pay attention to where you walk in this cave if you fall through one of the holes you will have to climb and repeat the path. In this cave we must look for the Travel Door that leads us to the Castle of Romaly. We cross the door when we are at level 10. 

When we are in the Castle of Romaly we must visit the king who will tell us that his crown was stolen by a thief named Kandar, later we will have information from the NPCs that Kandar is in the Shampane tower. Inside this citadel, under Weapon Stores is a place where we can hopefully win some money, or lose it.

When we reach level 11 we go north to the Village of Kanave. In this town at night we entered the back of the store with the Thief's key and we reach two chests, one of them contains the poison needle this weapon is special for the magician. To the east of this village we find a good place to level up. 

When we reach level 12 to the west of the Village of Kanave we find the Village of Noaniels in this village the inhabitants are asleep in the lower left corner we find a house where they tell us that we must go to the Village of the Elves to look for a stolen item " the dreams Ruby ”. 

The Village of The Elves is located to the west of the Village of Noaniels when we arrive we find that the elves do not deal with humans, they do not even sell them in the store, we must find a way to recover the “ dream Ruby ”. 

When we reach level 13 we go to the Cave West of Noaniels, this is below the Villa de los Elves. In this cave we find the Healing Spring in this place we can recover our HP and MP we will use it as many times as necessary. At the end we find the Dream Ruby and we find a message telling what happened to Anne. 

Once we obtain the Dream Ruby and return it to Anne 's mother in the Villa de los Elves as a reward we receive the Wake-Up Powder with this we wake up the inhabitants of the Village of Noaniels. Now we can go to the Tower of Shanpane when we reach level 14. 

In this tower we must defeat the enemies and climb the floors in 4F we use the Thief's Key to open the door we meet the Kandar's cronie in 5F we go up and we meet Kandar who will run away we continue launching him we will fall in 4F there we will have a fight, once we have defeated them he will give us the crown in exchange for letting him go. 

Once we have the Golden Crown we go to the Castle of Romaly, there we take the crown to the king who will ask us to be the new King, we have no choice but to accept it in this way we take the role of king of Romaly. To continue with our quest we must look for the king this is under the Weapon Store we talk to him and we refund his charge. 

Now we go southeast to The Town of Assaram here we will talk to all the inhabitants to ask for information about the Magic Key.

When we reach level 15 we go to The Castle Town of Isis is located south of the great desert, there we get information that the Magic Key is in the Pyramid north of this town, we talk to the characters and we can even visit the queen to save the game. In this town we also find a special item the Meteorite This Armband is found in a passageway under the castle to the west of the entrance, this item doubles our ability, we use it especially with a Pilgrim. 

Once we reach level 16 we can go north of The Castle Town of Isis to The Pyramid here we find the Magic Key, in this pyramid we find invisible pitfall as well as fake chests that are actually enemies. We explore the place until we reach 3F here we have a Stone Wall that with the Magic Ball doesn't work, however there is a way to break down this wall, for this we must press buttons but if we press the wrong one a pitfall is activated, when we press the correct combination we knock down the Stone Wall and get the Magic Key. We return to Town of Isis, we open the doors with the Magic Key, at night we can talk to the queen who will give us a special item that restores MP. If you want you can go back to the pyramid and in the basement look for the Golden Claw we can negotiate this for 11 250 Gold. 

When we reach level 17 we go to The Castle Town of Portoga there we go to the king to give us a ship, he will give it to us when we take him black pepper, the king will give us a Royal Scroll that we must present to Norud the dwarf. 

We use the Wing of Wyvern to the Town of Assaram there a little higher we find a cave we enter we use the Magic Key to open the big door we follow the path until we find Norud the Dwarf we use the Royal Scroll and this will open a secret passageway that takes us to the eastern lands. 

Once we have left the cave we move to the south and when we have level 18 we can enter The Town of Baharata here we can buy the black pepper, once we arrive and ask the NPCs for the black pepper these will tell us that the NPC that sells us the black pepper is not selling since he has been kidnapped just like his daughter, we must go find them in order to get the black pepper. 

We head east and then north when we reach level 18 we can enter The Cave East of Baharata this cave is a labyrinth if we have the x-ray spell we can use it, if we don't have it we should try it with magic key. Once we got through the maze, we went down to B2 where we rescued the daughter of the NPC we talked to, Tania, and Galia, the black seller. pepper, we meet an old enemy Kandar we will fight against him and after defeating him we can free the captives, we return to Baharata and buy the black pepper then we go to the King of Portoga and talk to the king who will give us the ship. 

We took the boat and headed south to The Shrine South of Portoga there we talk to an NPC who will tell us that we need six orbs scattered throughout the world we must explore the world with the help of the ship to find the orbs. 

Far south of Portoga when we reach level 19 we visit The Village of Tedanki, if we arrive during the day we find the Village totally empty, only a skeleton gives us the information that he had the GREEN Orb. In a chest we find the Lamp of Darkness this item turns day into night. 

If we enter the Village of Tedanki will be completely different we find NPCs and shops open and even the skeleton that we had previously talked to will be guarded in jail, when we have the final key we talk to him and he will give us the GREEN Orb. 

East of Tendaki we reach a small continent where is The Village of Lancel in this villa we find an invisible herb, this item gives us invisibility for a few seconds. Going up to the right of the Inn we will arrive at the shrine we will return to this place later. 

From Portoga we sail north to The Castle of Eginbear as soon as we enter the guard will block our access to enter we must use invisibility herb, now we can enter the castle. 

If we go down to B1 we find a puzzle that we must solve when we have solved it we will obtain the Vase of Drought with this item we can to dry up the ocean. 

We visit the king at night to meet his advisor, he will tell us the location of our next destination, a land to the west of our location (we are supposed to be in London, we must go to New York) 

Once we make the trip we arrive at The Field in this place here we find an old man who will ask us for our help to found a new town for this he needs a Merchant, we must go to Aliahan and go to Luisa's place in 2F we register a Merchant and then we add him to our Party, done this we return to the Field and we leave our Merchant here, the old man will give us the location of our next target. 

To the west of our location we find The Village of Soo there we talk to all the NPCs here we can find the Staff of Thunder this item is very useful during battles. Here we will also have information on where to find the final key. 

If we sail east of The Field we will arrive at The Shoals here we use the Vase of Drought and a small island will emerge we enter and here we will find the Final Key. 

Starting from Baharata we go east along the river then north until we reach The Shrime of Dhama in this place we can change the class of our characters by combining the different skills they have, for this we talk to the NPC, who in addition to giving us information and saving the birth, also allows us to change classes. 

If we move north we will arrive at The Tower of Garuma in this tower we find the Book of Satori this item allows us to make a class change and become a sage, to find this book we climb we launch ourselves through the pitfall that is in 4F and we will fall in 2F and there we will take the book. If we want, we can change the class of a character. 

From Dhama we navigate the river to the ocean from there we move east and reach Jipang in this town we discover that there is a beast called Orochi that takes humans to devour them also the NPCs will tell us that there is a man named Himiko who is vexed by Orochi. 

We leave Jipang and enter the Cave of Jipang, this cave will not represent greater difficulty, it is quite small, in B2 we will find Orochi after fighting him and defeating him, he will flee through a portal, we will also go through the portal and we will arrive at Himiko's room. 

We must recover the HP of each member in the party and talk to him, apparently Himiko is Orochi, when he asks us we answer NO and we will fight with Orochi true form after defeating him we will get the PURPLE Orb.

From Jipang we sail north until we reach the Village of Muor, in this village the most remarkable thing we will find will be the Water Blaster for this we must identify the old man in the big building then go out through the big building to the left and then up then to the right until where we find the access to the old man, we climb the stairs we talk to the boy who will give us the Water blaster. 

From this location we cross the ocean heading east we will arrive at The Tower of Arp in this tower is the Echoing Flute, in 3F we find four chests that we can access if we launch from 5F crossing the ropes, if we launch in the right place we will fall into the chests and in one of them we find the Echoing Flute, this item gives us the location of an orb in case an echo is heard when using it. 

From the Tower of Arp we head south almost at the end we find The House of Pirates this town has activity at night we will talk to the NPCs that will give us valuable information for later in the game. Leaving the edge on the right we find a small area where there is a rock, we move it and use the SEARCH command where the rock was and some stairs will open, we go down and in a chest we find the RED Orb. 

From The House of Pirates we sail a little to the south-west until we find the small island of Luzami on this island we will not find anything special only information from the Sword of Gaia. 

We return to the Village of Lancel to the north, we find a shrine, we open it with the final key, there we talk to an NPC who offers us a challenge to pass The Navel of the Earth only with the Hero we access and in the cave we must avoid the infinite loop, we go down to B2 and discover that it is huge, we go up and in one of the chests we find the BLUE Orb, we leave the cave. 

Sometimes we must visit The New Town this is the city that we founded with our help, when the town is complete we will find our Merchant who is now regent, we talk to the NPCs and if we like we enjoy the show in the theater; after leaving the theater we will be charged a huge amount of money but our merchant will take care of it. 

Apparently this action caused problems because if we visit the town again we discover that our merchant has been overthrown and is in jail using the final key and we talk to him, he will tell us that the YELOW Orb is in the back of the armchair. Merchant's house there we use the SEARCH command and get the Orb. 

To get to our next destination we sail to the shrine that is northwest of New Town there we take the path to the right, once we reach our destination we go up then we head west and then south we will arrive at The Castle Town of Samanao as soon as we arrive we find that they are burying a man who was executed by the king's orders, we talk to the NPCs and they will tell us that the king has become evil. 

We go to the Castle and the guards will not let us enter, for this we go to the east of the Castle and use the final key, we enter the Castle and we go to talk to the king, he will call his guards and they will lead us to jail. 

Inside the jail we use the final key to get out of the cell and explore the place to meet the real king who is in one of the cells, to get out we must open the cell that is in front of the king and through a secret passage we will achieve escape. 

Through the mountains we head southeast until we reach The Cave Southeast of Samanao in this cave we find a large number of treasures but we are especially interested in the Mirror of Ra. 

When we get to B2 we move down we find a pitfal we launch and we will find the Mirror of Ra after completing the cave we go to where the false king of Samanao at night we climb the tower and we launch we reach the back of the king's chambers and we use the mirror and a giant troll is reflected as a reward we receive the Staff of Change. 

After this we go to Greenland to the north of the shrine that we visited previously, we will notice that the place is apparently empty but if we walk north we will reach a house there we change the Staff of Change for the Sailor's thigh Bone, every time we use this item it will give us a location at the end we will arrive at The Phantom Ship. 

We board the ship and we will find several treasures but we are interested in the Locket of Love after taking the item we go to the Shrine of Olivia the best way to get there is from Noaniel. 

We sail along the coast until we reach the river where we can navigate following the path of the river we reach the Promontory of Olivia if we try to navigate the channel we will be returned we use the Locket of Love and the curse will be annulled. 

We'll get to the Shrine Jail here we just walk south and then to the right we find Simon 's body and find the Sword of Gaia. 

Now we head to Assaram from there we sail south then west at the junction and then south to the crater there we use the Sword of Gaia the path will open up we head south then west to The Cave of Necrogond. 

We simply have to cross this cave in this cave we find the Thunder Sword after crossing the cave we go to the shrine of Necrogrond there we will receive the SILVER Orb. 

When we have all six orbs we head south from Tedan to Liamland There we will place the six orbs and Ramia will be released, the bird in which we can transport ourselves, we use the A button and we will go up with the control pad we move. 

We will equip ourselves with the best weapons and go with the help of Ramia to the north of the Cave of Necrogrond until we reach The Castle of Baramos there we skip the main entrance if we go east then north and then west we find the entrance to the castle. 

We will explore the castle in search of items, especially the Demon Axe, without a doubt the best soldier weapon in the game. After exploring the castle we will finally reach Baramos, this enemy has 900 HP and has a double attack, his attacks are quite damaging so we must watch the life of our characters. 

After the battle our party will be fully healed and the only place we can go to is the Castle of Aliahan we talk to the NPCs who will congratulate us for destroying Baramos after this we will talk to the king, during the celebration we will hear the voice of the king demon Zoma, apparently this is not over. 

After leaving with the help of Ramia we headed to The Castle of the Dragon Queen this symmetrical castle we find the queen in the center through a secret passage after talking to her she will give us the Sphere of Light this item will be useful during the fight with Zoma, the queen will lock herself in a hole; we go out and now we go towards The Great Pit of Giaga we enter and we throw ourselves by a hole that formed after the battle against Baramos. 

After launching, we will arrive at The World of Darknes, the first place we will visit will be Tangetel, we will speak with the NPCs who will inform you of the Stones of Sunlight, and we will visit the castle and speak with the king. 

In the castle we explore and in the kitchen we find a long table where we will find a secret passage where we find a small room there we find the Stones of Sunlight. 

From here we can navigate south and find The Cave of Southwest of Tangetel in this Cave we find special items but especially we find the Armor of Hades, sailing east we reach The Village of Kol. 

Here we talk to the NPC and they will tell us that counting four steps south from the well we will find the Fairy Flute we return to Tangetel. 

From Tangetel we sail south into the desert we find The Town of Haukness here we will talk to all the NPCs they will give us important information. 

In the southern part of the town we find a stable in the part of the grass in the middle we find Orochi this item to use it we return to Kol at the top we find an inhabitant of Jipang we sell him the Orochi and later we can buy the Sword of Kings, yes we can. 

After this we sail to the south and then to the west we will arrive at The Town of Cantlin we will find the town completely empty the inhabitants fled for fear of Zoma. 

We find an NPC who will tell us that we need three items to access Zoma's castle the Stones of Sunlight, we already have it, we need the Staff of Rain and the Sacred Amulet. 

We return to Tangetel and sail south and then east to The Town of Rimuldar here we will talk to the NPCs who will give us useful information about the Sacred Amulet, in this town we can get the Ring of Life. 

We return to Tangetel and head north and then east until we reach The Cave Northwest of Tantegel. This cave is quite simple. We follow the single path and take the items, especially the Shield of Heroes. 

To the northwest of Kol we find The Tower West of Kol in this tower we find items useful, after entering we quickly open the doors since the ice hurts us after checking the two chests we go to the left and then to the south we climb the stairs, in 2F we move up and then to the right we find some strange titles, these are move in different directions we must carefully identify the movement that is variable. 

After crossing we will reach the ladder that takes us to 3F we move south to the stairs we go up to 4F in this level we can get the Armor of Radiance from the ladder we move west and then north then east there intentionally we fall we will reach the 1F we return and enter the tower with the final key, we move to the left and we will go up to 5F. 

In the central room we find a statue we use the Fairy Flute and the statue will come back to life we talk to her and we will receive the Sacred Amulet. 

We return and now we go south of Cantlin here we will find a shrine we will talk to the woman who is there and she will give us the Staff of Rain. 

Once we have gathered the three items from the shrine we sail east there we will find a shine where we can exchange the three items for The Rainbow drop. 

Now we head northwest in the direction of Zoma castle when we reach the ledge we use the Rainbow Drop and build The Rainbow Bridge. 

We will equip our best weapons and armor and arrive at The castle of Zoma we take any path we open the doors we will arrive at the central room here we open and we will fight with the enemies to the north we find a hidden staircase we go down. 

We follow the possible path when we reach B5 we find our father fighting with an enemy but he defeats him now we will avenge his death after defeating the enemy we continue along the only possible path until we reach Zoma. 

First we will fight with King Hydra, then with Baramos Bonus and then with the final form of Baramos, after defeating them we recharge HP and MP to face the final boss Zoma, use your best spells, heal the party members and resist until defeating him. 

After defeating everything, it will begin to destroy, we will leave there immediately, we will leave through the cave south of Tangetel. 

Now we talk to the NPCs, they will congratulate us for defeating the master archfiend Zoma, now we go and talk to the king of Tangetel, who, in addition to congratulating us, will give us a new name Erdrick. Thus the legend was born. 

With this we finish this guide, I hope it has been useful to you, I would like you to leave me your opinion in the comments section, if you have any questions, a comment or any suggestion you can leave it in the comments section. Thanks for your time and see you next time.