About 11 months ago, I had the opportunity to play Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake for review, and I had a blast with it. Today, it’s time to continue that journey with Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake, which is set to conclude the HD-2D Erdrick Trilogy. This game aims to bring two classic experiences to a modern format, just as last year’s Dragon Quest III remake did.
Can this remake provide an enjoyable experience for both Dragon Quest veterans and those who are still fairly new to the series? Spoiler alert: Yes, it very much can. I’m getting ahead of myself, though. Welcome to the definitive version of Dragon Quest I and Dragon Quest II.
Choose Your Adventure
When you first start up the game, you’ll be immediately asked to choose whether you wish to play Dragon Quest I or Dragon Quest II. For those coming from Dragon Quest III‘s HD-2D remake, it is recommended to start with the former if you wish to follow the narrative’s chronological order.
Dragon Quest I‘s story begins with a descendant of Erdrick. Though the legendary hero did manage to vanquish the evil monsters that plagued the land, the Dragonlord has returned, and with it, he has taken the Sphere of Light. It is up to you, the descendant of Erdrick, to set out on this journey to save the princess and vanquish the forces of evil before they lay waste to the world.
Something that quite surprised me in Dragon Quest I was that for the entirety of that game, you’re completely on your own. There are absolutely no party members, and you also do not have any Classes. And not to mention, you’re up against multiple enemies, which makes battles significantly more difficult, especially if you’re not prepared.
Still, in a similar vein to Dragon Quest III‘s HD-2D remake, all the quality-of-life improvements that were made there are also present here. These include the Assist feature that tells you where to go next, as well as a mini-map, and the Recall feature, allowing you to save important clues you’ve gathered from NPCs and replay them whenever you’d like. This remake also adds two new features that you can enable.
First, we have the Special Spots display, which will show every single Special Spot on your world map. The second will display diamond icons on where chests are located, and they’re even color-coded too, allowing you to discern their locations at a glance. This feature does not show hidden spots that require the player to inspect with the A button, though, so you still have stuff to find, even with this active.
A Greatly Expanded Story
Furthermore, the story has been greatly expanded upon, adding several new cutscenes, and much of it has been reworked. These new and reworked scenes add so much depth, and I was a huge fan of it. Though I have not played the original game, I do think that if you’re a beginner or a veteran, you’ll still have an amazing time. Despite this, the story of Dragon Quest I is incredibly short. I personally took roughly 10 hours to see credits.
Now, I have a confession to make. Because of how battles are you against groups of enemies, I will admit that I found it quite difficult. Luckily, you have the same three difficulties to choose from as they were introduced in Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake. Dracky Quest is your Easy Mode, where enemies are weaker, and your character will always survive with 1 HP, no matter what. Then, you have Dragon Quest and Draconian Quest. You can think of those as Normal and Hard, respectively.
May this aging Famicom soul be blessed, but if there’s one thing I am not a fan of from this era of games, it is, without a doubt, the grinding. If you look at old walkthroughs of the Famicom original, you’ll notice entire sections are dedicated to just grinding. Luckily, Dracky Quest alleviated that a lot for me, and actually allowed me to enjoy the story stress-free.
Dragon Quest II: Onwards, Scions of Erdrick!
Now, let’s move on to Dragon Quest II, the direct sequel title, and the final one in the Erdrick trilogy. This time, our story takes place many years after Dragon Quest I. You’ll be following the journey of the three heroes that are known as the Scions of Erdrick, after the High Priest Hargon and his fiends laid havoc to the Kingdom of Moonbrook.
This time, you’re allowed to name several of the characters, but for my playthrough, I decided to search for the “canonical” names. After looking at the promotional trailers for the HD-2D remake, the hero has the name Loran (ロラン) in Japanese and Gawain in English. I decided to go with the latter, and the game already pre-filled the other names for me. This doesn’t change how characters refer to you, but I always prefer using the canon names whenever given the option.
Something that had me slightly disappointed is that Dragon Quest II does not take into consideration your Adventure Log from Dragon Quest I. There is a save data bonus for Dragon Quest III, and while that’s just a silly cosmetic, it did make me a bit sad. This may be a small issue in the grand scheme of things, but I still think it would’ve been nice if this had been acknowledged in any meaningful way.
Just like Dragon Quest I, the story here was completely expanded upon, with new areas, dungeons. As such, you can expect to take three to four times as the amount of hours as the previous game. Indeed, we’re talking about 35 to 40 hours, which makes the previous game look like a side appetizer. However, that also means you’ll be positively spoiled, and I love it. I somehow enjoyed the story a lot more in Dragon Quest II than I did with Dragon Quest I. It introduces so many new mechanics, and it definitely feels like it received the biggest addition of content in this package. The party members’ personalities and the entire journey were key in leaving me smiling all the way through.
Something that has to be said is how the newly revamped battle system seems to work much better here than in Dragon Quest I. Each of the party members has their strengths and weaknesses. For example, Gawain cannot use spells at all, but he does have a decent arsenal of Abilities. (Which makes it all the more amusing when an enemy uses Fizzle on him.) And then you have Caradoc and Peronel, who have a lot of spells in their arsenal. This kind of strategizing was very fun to do.
One trend I’ve noticed across both games is the fact that when Square Enix decided to expand upon the story, it made many items that were seemingly optional from the originals into mandatory progression items. For example, in the original Dragon Quest II, Erdrick’s Sword was an optional item you could find. This has drastically changed in the remake; the development team has made it so you will absolutely find it one way or another for story purposes.
Smooth Performance on Nintendo Switch 2
When the Nintendo Switch 2 was released, Square Enix was quick to release a free patch for Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, allowing the game to run at the smooth 60 FPS as opposed to the 30 FPS on Nintendo Switch. And I must tell you, if it wasn’t for the button layout, if you told me this was the PS5 version, I would certainly believe you. On Nintendo Switch 2, you can choose between Performance and Graphics mode. The former will ensure a consistent 60 FPS at a lower resolution, while the latter will increase it to 4K, with the caveat of limiting it to 30 FPS.
Still, I feel Square Enix properly understood the assignment when it came to using the Switch 2’s added capabilities, as I’ve had no frame drops at all when playing in both docked and handheld modes. Yes, the LCD screen on the Nintendo Switch 2 may not be as color-accurate as the beautiful Nintendo Switch OLED, but it’s reassuring to know that if I want to lay down in bed and play this game, I won’t have to worry about frame pacing issues or drops.
On a more personal note, I’m not a fan of how Square Enix is handling the versions of this game on Nintendo Switch. If you buy the Nintendo Switch version of Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake, there simply isn’t an Upgrade Pack that you can purchase for a reduced price in the event you end up getting a Nintendo Switch 2 down the line. This also goes both ways, since the Virtual Game Card for the Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game will only show up as “Unsupported” on a Nintendo Switch. This isn’t an issue exclusive to Square Enix, as some other companies, like SEGA, also do not sell Upgrade Packs. I just wish there were an upgrade option, especially with the ever-growing prices of games nowadays.
Still a Great Game for Aspiring Japanese Learners
In my review of Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, I mentioned how the game was a nice way for aspiring learners of the Japanese language to try out. After completing Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake, I’m happy to report that this has not changed at all. Similar to its predecessor, when you set the text language to Japanese, two new options show up in the system settings: One of them will toggle the furigana, which are the hiragana characters that display on top of the kanji for easier reading, and the other one does away with all Kanji and instead displays the whole text in Hiragana. Naturally, I do recommend the former option, unless you feel you’re not quite ready to tackle kanji just yet.
One thing that is worth noting is that the localization does completely change some names, such as Erdrick being called Roto, and the Kingdoms of Dragon Quest II having completely different names. Unfortunately, there is one shortcoming I encountered regarding Japanese. If you set the voices to Japanese, characters will occasionally comment after a boss battle, and that part does not have subtitles. That wasn’t too much of an issue for me, as I understood what was being spoken, but it’s still worth mentioning.
I absolutely loved the Japanese voice acting, especially in Dragon Quest II. There’s one scene where I loved the way Caradoc’s Japanese voice actor chose to express the character’s personality, and that scene will be a core memory for me forever. I’ve always enjoyed Japanese voice acting, and I think it’s safe to say both games have superb voice acting.
The Definitive Way to Play these Timeless Classics
Once again, Square Enix has shown us how much care and effort it has truly put into making fantastic HD-2D experiences of old titles. There are so many changes, but even so, the development team has made an incredible effort to maintain the identity that made these titles so appealing. The performance on Nintendo Switch 2 is also an amazing step-up, allowing you to play through the Erdrick Trilogy anytime, anywhere.
Playing through the Erdrick trilogy for the first time was quite a marvel. Honestly, if you want to experience the game that basically solidified the term “JRPG”, then look no further than these HD-2D remakes. You will certainly not be disappointed, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, the entire trilogy is a must-play for both newcomers and veterans of the Dragon Quest franchise. I cannot wait for Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined releases next year.
Disclaimer: Square Enix provided a Nintendo Switch 2 copy of Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake for review purposes.
