Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake Launches October 30th; We Played It and You Should Too

Dragon Quest, back when it was still Dragon Warrior in the US, was the first RPG I played. My younger self never finished it, but it introduced me to what an RPG was, with its stats, towns, world map, and more. But this October, my current, now-much-older self will get a chance at redemption when Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake launches. Hilary, Scott, and I played an early version of the two-game collection recently, and we all had a great time. We have no doubt this new edition will be good for old and new fans alike.

The most obviously visible change in these remakes are the visuals. The HD-2D style debuted in Octopath Traveler, but Square Enix refines it more and more with each remake. Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake is simply beautiful, with detailed pixel art characters rendered with depth and lighting that makes them fit perfectly in their semi-3D spaces. We love the look of the world map, with its sparkling oceans and effective use of depth of field that doesn’t make any scene feel too blurry. The lighting is also worth noting — everything from a lantern’s glow to rays of sun streaming into a building from outside establishes the scenes well. If you played last year’s Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, you know what to expect! The look and feel of the graphics and UI align with those of DQIII, making them a cohesive trio, but DQI&II appear even more refined in places.

Our demo time gave us enough time to get a general feel for both games, but not enough time to dig deep into them. But such is the nature of demo versions of RPGs! In both Dragon Quest I & II, we explored an early town where we could shop, talk to NPCs, and explore some of the menus. Dragon Quest’s excellent and playful localization is in full force here, as all the townsfolk were a delight to chat with. Hilary even surprised our tour guide by finding a piece of equipment in town that changed the look of the hero and, at least in the demo, offered a shockingly potent stat boost. Apparently, she was one of the few people who found it, and it was the talk of our side of the table. I won’t say what it was, but I encourage you to explore your environments fully!

A rival band of explorers in one dungeon was also a fun bunch. You know the type — the not-really-bad guys and girls who talk tough and are definitely going to beat you to that treasure. Until you start finding them along the way, confused or scared to proceed. It may not be the most original concept these days, but there’s a charm to them, owing in no small part to snappy and entertaining writing, that made these scenes enjoyable.

Going out to explore the world let us wander on the aforementioned world map. Honestly, I don’t always miss world maps, as many modern RPGs are designed without a need for them, but that doesn’t diminish my fondness and nostalgia for older RPGs with world maps that can be full of secrets. That excitement when you see a cluster of trees in a shape just odd enough that you know it’s hiding something, or the thrill of “I wonder if I can snake around this way and get somewhere I shouldn’t be” are things I enjoy, and look forward to doing again in Dragon Quest I & II.

Combat in Dragon Quest I & II is similar overall between games, with the exception of the second game letting you play with a full party. Selecting commands in the classic Dragon Quest (and Phantasy Star) perspective with your team on the bottom and enemies above is familiar, but the clean UI and easy shoulder button access to adjust battle speed on the fly make every battle feel great. Sometimes, I don’t want to go back to random battles, but if playing remakes or other RPGs with efficient battle systems has taught me anything, it’s that the battle frequency isn’t always what makes a game drag compared to how long each battle can take. So I always appreciate well-thought-out menus and the ability to shift battle speed, especially if I want to grind out some levels.

I mentioned early on that the first Dragon Quest may have been a little beyond me as a kid, and my family never bought the other three NES games. But what I have sunk hundreds of hours into are the Dragon Quest Builders games, especially the second one. Each Builders game’s story is based on the first two games in the series, respectively, and during our demo time on Dragon Quest II, we explored an area that was a personal favorite in DQ Builders 2. That… is probably approaching these games from the opposite direction of many RPG fans. Still, I look forward to comparing and contrasting areas and characters from those games to their source material. It will be great to see what inspired the Builders versions and to give more backstory to those at the same time.

But moving back to Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake, I don’t think we could say enough good things about it. This remake feels like precisely the right way to give such pivotal and essential RPGs a glow-up and to make them available to modern audiences. When the DQIII remake was announced several years ago, it was met with excitement, and given that game’s place in RPG history, it made sense to start there. But getting the first three in the same cohesive style — especially since they are interconnected — is welcome, and it’s hard not to hope they are successful enough for Square Enix to keep the trend going. Maybe one day, we will have a whole six-game set of remakes of the NES/SNES games.

But in the meantime, get ready for this fall! Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake is coming to PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Switch 2 on October 30th, 2025. Learn all about the pre-order details for each platform and the various editions that will be available in our earlier coverage. Keep an eye on RPGFan for more coverage in the meantime, as well as the official series website!