For the past four decades, Dragon Quest has been a name synonymous with the RPG/adventure genre. From its 1986 Famicom debut to the currently developing Dragon Quest XII, Square Enix's iconic franchise has become an indelible, almost comforting franchise for generations of digital sword-and-sorcery fans. And Slime. Slime fans.

This week, Square Enix announced that Dragon Quest has surpassed 100 million total shipments and digital sales over the series four-decade timeline. The news was accompanied by a video featuring series creator Yuji Horii - still hard at work at his studio, Armor Project, at an incredible 72 years of age. Look at that cake!

Horii has been a part of Dragon Quest's lineage since first conceiving the project, retaining an unstoppable passion and dedication for his world and its characters.

With a series that has spanned so many generations, and on so many distinct platforms, it can be tough for dedicated fans to nail down their franchise favourites. Dragon Quest titles have appeared on early platforms such as the Famicom and MSX, through 1990s stalwarts like the SNES, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance, through millennial hardware Wii, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and mobile platforms, not to mention every iteration of the PlayStation.

To be fair, not every release has been a smash success - sometimes critically, sometimes financially - but with the instantly recognisable art of artist and Dragon Ball creator, Akira Toriyama, along with the music of composer Koichi Sugiyama, Dragon Quest remains nonetheless an indelible part of the RPG genre.

The next release in the series will be the spin-off Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World, which arrives on PlayStation and Switch December 3. Meanwhile, work continues on the next mainline entry, Dragon Quest XII: Beyond Dreams. This will be the first mainline entry developed since the passing of both Toriyama and Sugiyama, both of whose absences will be notable.

Still, adventures must continue, timeless as they are, and hopefully Beyond Dreams will be a sequel to make all Dragon Quest alumni - and its devoted fanbase - proud.

May the light shine upon thee...