Dragon Quest: The Mark of Erdrick – Volume 3
Dragon Quest: The Mark of Erdrick follows Arus, a descendant of Erdrick (the lead character in DQIII) as he travels across the land assembling a group of heroes to take on the Dark Lord Imagine, his top men and their respective armies. It’s a simple enough affair and one very in keeping with a story set specifically after Dragon Quest III, one of the most iconic games in the franchise back when RPGs were far more cookie-cutter. When we last left Arus he had found out that it was his destiny to unite the descendants of the four heroes who freed the land generations ago and together they’ll defeat Imagine, and he managed to not only find the “Fistlord” in Yao but also found out that is childhood friend Kira was actually the “Swordlord” all along, which was handy. That just left the “Magelord” but beyond a dream telling him vaguely where he/she was without an actual location, he’s stuck, and to make matter worse, their travelling companion Lunafrea lost her life in the previous battle and Kira has gone off to do some soul-searching, leaving the party somewhat fractured. With no big leads, the group decides to head back to the town of Arus’ birth, the place he was taken away from as a newborn in Chapter 1 of this story.
When they get there, they find the knight Bolgoy, who was seemingly killed in the battle that was happening as Arus was rescued but was actually just injured and lost his sight. His side eventually won the day … well, sort of, his fellow knights actually died but came back as ghosts that can still cast magic spells, which was, um, lucky I guess. Sadly, Imagine’s “Deathlord” is instructed to attack the group next and he decides to use his magic to resurrect Baramos, the sub-boss (originally framed as the overall boss) of Dragon Quest III, though he intentionally only resurrects him partially, giving Baramos a body that’s a mix of exposed bone and nerve endings, causing him agony every second he’s “alive”. The idea is that the Deathlord won’t let him find peace until he defeats Arus, the descendant of the one who defeated him long ago, as a means to control him. This leads to a showdown between Arus, Mao, their veteran guide Tarkin and Bolgoy (and his ghosts) against “The Bones of Baramos”. It’s good fun and well drawn, as the whole manga is (also surprisingly graphic as well, as I’ve mentioned in the reviews of the past two volumes)
That takes up a good half of the book, with the second half dealing with Arus and those that survive the previous conflict arriving in a nearby town that our hero soon recognises as the one from his vision and therefore the Sagelord must be here and sure enough they find… his grave, and his grieving grandfather. The boy’s name was Norop, but it seems the hero’s quest has come to an end if he can’t reunite the descendants of the four heroes. I will also mention (as he’s on the front cover!) that a mysterious boy who claims to be the world’s best Gadabout (a class in the games that are based around entertainers that can mostly give passive effects to the party) and whose name is … ahem… Poron, which might just have spoiled a plot twist by being a little too on-the-nose, forces his way into the party, despite seemingly not being all that talented. Unbeknownst to the group, a deadly creature known as Leviathan has been unleashed and is heading for them in the next volume.
So Dragon Quest: The Mark of Erdrick (translated by Christina Rose for Square Enix Manga) continues to be a really fun, if not pretty predictable, read, with great Toriyama-inspired artwork on every page. The story may be slight and the characters’ personalities paper-thin, but if something claims to be in the same realm as the original Dragon Quest games, anything else wouldn’t feel right. Volume 4 is due out in June.
Read a free extract at the publisher’s website here.
Our review copy from Square Enix Manga was supplied by Turnaround Comics (Turnaround Publisher Services).
