Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake Review - Where Nostalgia Meets HD
As a well documented adorer of JRPGs, it was something of a black mark against my name to be so disconnected from the early days of the Dragon Quest IP. I jumped on board during the PS2, with Dragon Quest VIII: Journey Of The Cursed King, but due to a myriad of old localisation issues and inconsistencies, and a difficulties in obtaining the games in my early childhood, that pillar of the JRPG genre remained a mystery for too long. Fortuitously, Square-Enix have been puting their best foot forward, to allow players to experience the classic, earliest acts in the Dragon Quest experience, and following on from the exceptional Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake of 2024, comes the follow up, Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake, which, while earlier in the timeline of game releases, are in fact follow-ups to the events of Dragon Quest III. With the Erdrick Trilogy now revitalised and available to all, players can experience the origins of their beloved franchise, in the best way yet.
For the uninitiated. The conclusion of Dragon Quest III brings peace to the land, and it wouldn’t be for several decades before evil begins to stir in the land of Alefgard once more. Dragon Quest I follows one of Erdrick’s descendants, as they come to learn of the influence of the Dragonlord, an evil entity bringing death and despair to the land. The job is yours, and yours alone, to restore the land of Alefgard to its former glory, but in doing so, the narrative of Dragon Quest II is set up. With the hero departing Alefgard, only to found three new kingdoms Midenhall, Cannock, and Moonbrooke, new threats emerge, and when suddenly an onslaught of monsters appears in Moonbrooke, killing many, and decimating the kingdom, further descendants of Erdrick unite to bring down the threat posed by the evil high preist Hargon, and the looming hands pulling the strings from an even greater level.
The core narratives of both games remain unchanged, with additional elements introduced to enhance the emotional weight of the storytelling, as well as provide some nice new elements for players to explore. Dragon Quest II in particular has seen some substantial additions made to the core plot that take players to new, previously unexplored regions of the map that are bound to fascinate. The writing can still be a bit heavy-handed at times, especially with the heavy Old English influence being more present than ever due to some admittedly excellent voice-acting that consequently highlights the sometimes excessive style of dialogue.
Of course, what is a good JRPG without a large world, quests, side-quests, and monsters to best? Dragon Quest is likely to run players through 10-15 hours of their time, while Dragon Quest II is likely to push players north of 40 hours, and that will mean that there is a lot of turn-based encounters to work your way through, level-grinding, and sub-plots to navigate. For anyone privy to the classic JRPG experience seen through the lens of Final Fantasy, Star Ocean, and other JRPG classics, let alone 2024’s HD-2D remake of the third game, you’re going to feel quite at home with the experience, but there are several quality of life systems added to the game to assist players to feel like progress is coming faster. Chief among these options is the game’s difficulty modes, which allow for you to dial up the difficulty, or even activate “Dracky Quest” mode, which stops the party from being wiped out, and keeps the action flowing a bit more.
In Dragon Quest I, players will only have one character (the hero) in their party, something that is very uncommon in modern JRPGs but made narrative sense in the original title. Back in 1986, the game was critiqued for its difficulty, and bland combat due to every encounter being one-on-one, but the HD-2D Remake allows players to tackle multiple enemies, with your various spells now being capable of being directed at multiple opponents simultaneously. No such issue arose with the second game, and with a larger party at your disposal, and the skills shared amongst each member of the team.
Let’s be quite honest, returning to the original versions of Dragon Quest I and Dragon Quest II is an enlightening experience, because nostalgia make lead you to think that the game’s look visually better than what they really were. Both titles looked pretty rough on the NES; however, this HD-2D remake shines incredibly brightly in its presentation. Much like Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake before it, the duo of titles look so much better than they once did. Towns are full of live, the buildings actually resemble buildings, and the detailing present in enemies, NPCs, and the world itself is super impressive. The soundtracks of the games have been revitalised, and sound incredible, some of the franchise’s most iconic tunes dominating your ears, while the voice-acting, as previously touched on, is superb across both games.
Countless millions of players never had the chance to play the two Dragon Quest games that kicked off the franchise, either due to the inaccessibility of the games or because you were, like me, still a twinkle in your parents’ eyes. With Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake, the barriers between the titles and the fans have now been completely eroded, leaving you to bask in the warm glow of classic JRPG brilliance – and if you’re a returning fan, this experience is the definitive way to enjoy the two games. While the age of the titles will still be apparent in elements like the games’ writing and size of the world to explore, there’s so much to love about both games, so toss a warm blanket over yourself, snuggle up, and enjoy.
Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake was reviewed on PS5 with a code kindly provided by Square-Enix and Bandai-Namco Australia.
