Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake bundles two classic JRPGs together that, somewhat confusingly, are linked to but set chronologically after Square Enix's 2024 revival, Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake. Together, they comprise the Erdrick trilogy and continue the series' consistently high quality, offering traditional turn-based gameplay that is as tried-and-true as it is nostalgic.
Both entries (released in 1986 and 1987, respectively) are straightforward games at their core, but have been given new life and look stunning in the HD-2D conversion. Cutscenes have been revamped across the board, and characters and monsters have been overhauled.
New story content has been added, along with multiple difficulty options, allowing players to ease or increase the old-school challenge as desired. In addition to a new and updated soundtrack, there is some much-appreciated voice acting in both English and Japanese.
Dragon Quest I is a bit of a strange beast, but quite interesting in its own right. Much shorter, it lacks the party mechanics most would associate with the genre. With just a single character, players must face the Dragonlord alone across a 15-hour adventure.
However, this version introduces the ability to battle multiple enemies at once (for consistency with the rest of the series), rather than just one at a time. For balance, attacks capable of hitting multiple enemies have been added, too.
Dragon Quest II, meanwhile, is the real meat-and-potatoes of this classical roleplaying feast. With a new playable character, additional events, areas, and items (not to mention secret locations), it's an expansive adventure that offers close to 40 hours of gameplay, and longer for true completionists.
DQII is a globe-spanning romp in which the various royal descendants of Erdrick band together to face an apocalyptic demonic threat, and is well worth the price of admission in its own right.
That said, unlike say, Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age, there is little here that would convert someone who was not already a fan of that venerable JRPG series. Its offerings are traditional perhaps to a fault, and while modern conveniences have smoothed away some of its rougher edges, Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake does require a certain old-school mindset to be properly appreciated.
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Can’t wait for tomorrow! The negatives kind of make me laugh since these are old school games at their heart and grinding has always been a big part of Dragon Quest. Still, looks like it’s going to be fun.
Are the random battles as overly intrusive as on III? That was my only gripe with that otherwise excellent game.
Seeing as Dragon Warrior was my very first JRPG, I've waited for this to be my first HD-2D RPG. I love the look but just hadn't gotten around to trying Octopath or any of the others yet. Tomorrow can't get here soon enough.
Negatives are positives for me.
Are you able to increase/decrease the amount of gold/XP/random encounters like in the FF Pixel Remasters?
These do look good, but hopefully they aren't censored too much. I enjoyed the HD-2D Remake of 3 when I played it, but I heard they censored that one a bit compared to the original.
Wait how does a remake look dated? Lol
@ShieldHero I wish the ports of the originals on Switch weren’t so stuttery, those ones aren’t censored (or at least not as much).
Having just started my first playthrough of Dragon Quest: The First One, I kinda like how it's this simplistic, no-frills adventure game. No party, no elaborate story, nothing subversive — it's just you, and a linear set of things to do in an open-world. Very The Legend of Zelda...but worse. But since I still think OG Zelda is one of the greatest games of all time, being reminiscent of it is high praise in its own right.
I hope this version gets rid of the Renaissance vernacular bulls*** of the Switch localization, though. I actively dislike talking to NPCs.
Looking forward to this one. Dragon Warrior on NES was my first RPG. Like a lot of people I got it free from Nintendo Power.
I’m glad these classics are in good shape, but it doesn’t matter what kind of treatment they’ve received — paying $60 plus tax for a game that’s nearly 40 years old is just ridiculous. It’s obvious they’re playing on the nostalgia factor. This should cost no more than $30. And that’s coming from a huge DQ fan. So yes its a huge “wait for a sale” statement for me.
@Qu1n0n3z completely agree. The fact the industry, for some games, has been including in deluxe edition preorders that you can play a game a week early is absurd knowing the game will be 25-30% off in 2-3 months. There's so much to play out there, I don't understand the urgency to play games at release.
Well youre in luck. They are $30. Each. Dragon Quest 1&2.
@ButterySmooth30FPS You mean those 8-bit game ports are stuttery???? 8-bit games???
@John_Deacon I think these were the mobile versions, but yes, all of them have constant stuttering when the camera moves. Square has never addressed it…
@Moonvalley2006 Great minds think alike.
the problem with the dragon quest series is that all the entires are just so similar to eachother... same character design traits, same music, same enemies, same stylistic tropes, same scenarios... same staff working on the series for 30 years... same thing over and over again. if you want to experience this series, play dq 8 (arguably the best game in the series) and 11 and you are good.
The sprites look amazing. I wish square did this with all their remakes instead of low polygon/texture models.
DiddyWahDiddy wrote:
This has become an absolute must for me in these games. I've played them before but I don't have the time, or will, to fight the same enemies endlessly. It is neither a challenge nor fun, I just want to streamline the story with a little fighting.
Hey, some of these games are gonna feel old if they do it right! Those games are 40 years old! Haha I can’t wait to play em.
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