May 27 isDragon QuestDay, which is a good indicator of how massive this series has become worldwide. With over 40 games spanning five decades, Yuji Horii’s seminal RPG series has outsoldMortal Kombat,Halo, and evenSuper Smash Bros. On October 30, the series is going back to where it all started with the release of Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake.
Earlier this month, I got a chance to go hands-on with both titles in the remake to see what the HD-2D treatment has done for these nearly 40 year old games. It’s impossible not to feel some nostalgia for these classics and the era they came from, even if you never played the original Dragon Quests. That nostalgia has to do a lot of heavy lifting though, as even with a fresh coat of paint and some modern features, these ‘80s RPGs are definitely showing their age.
A Hero Is Reborn
Square Enix struck gold with the HD-2D aesthetic. It brought new life to the turn-based genre with games like Octopath Traveler and revitalized forgotten gems like 2022’s Live a Live. HD-2D is also a perfect fit for Dragon Quest. The blending of character sprites with HD environments makes Dragon Quest’s open world feel vast and explorable. I’m often unimpressed by remakes that replace stylish pixel art with bland 3D (looking at you, Super Mario RPG) but this is an update that honors the original’s style while adding a lot of depth and character to the world.
The revamped art style is the biggest hook here, and you’ll find lots of interesting new details and beautiful environments in both games. The subtle use of tilt shift, which blurs the foreground in background, also adds to the sense of scale to the world. Lighting, shadows, and reflections continue to be HD-2D’s weakness though, and I worry that this style will get stale if it isn’t frequently updated for new games. That being said, these Dragon Quest remakes are the best showcase of the aesthetic we’ve seen yet.
Considering how much time you’ll spend in them, the battle screens are where HD-2D really shines. Light and shadow are better utilized to set the tone in these scenes, presumably because a static camera allows the artist more freedom to create dynamic battlefields. This is where the blending of sprites with 3D environments is most apparent, and it works incredibly well. Sometimes it feels like the characters and enemies are much smaller than they ought to be (especially considering they’re so much bigger than they should be in the overworld), but I would not have preferred to see new 3D models. The pixel art gives the remake much of its character, and artistically connects it to its origins.
Keeping It Old School
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake launched in November 2024, nearly a year before the launch of Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D. During the preview, Square Enix told me this was because Dragon Quest 3 is chronologically the start of the Erdrick Trilogy, and it wanted players to experience the story in a linear timeline.
That may be one reason, but it’s also hard to ignore how much of an upgrade 3 is over 1 and 2. It’s bigger and more fleshed out, with deeper systems, a more complex narrative, and meatier combat. Launching 3 before 1 and 2 is a good way to get new players hooked on the best of the three before trying to sell them the less interesting entries. If this collection had been released first, I imagine some people wouldn’t have stuck around for Dragon Quest 3.
That’s not to say 1 and 2 are bad games, but these are RPGs that came out on the NES from 1986-87, and they definitely feel like it. Square Enix has added the same modernization features we saw in Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D, like quest markers and the ability to speed up combat, but there’s only so much you can do to update a grindy turn-based RPG like the Original Dragon Quest. Their short run time (ten hours for the first, 16-20 for the second) will likely work in their favor.
Square Enix has found the perfect formula for these classic remakes, and Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake has all of the charm and polish that Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D had last year. While the wait for October may be longer than fans had hoped, the addition of a Switch 2 release was a nice Dragon Quest Day surprise. Now if only Chrono Trigger could get the HD-2D update…
