Preview of Dragon Quest I + II HD-2D

Man, I finally got around to diving into Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake on my Switch this month. Never touched the original, so coming at it fresh, I had a couple of thoughts. First off, the sprite work? Absolutely wild. Seriously, some of the best I’ve ever laid eyes on. Then there’s the grind. Oh boy, the grind. It’s like, do I stick it out or flip over to the “Dracky Mode” where you basically can’t lose? Yeah, I wimped out and went with the latter.

So, this was all after a quick 25-minute demo of the Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake on the PS5 at PAX East 2025. Wanted some context before jotting down this piece. Just a heads up, this write-up’s gonna wander a bit because, you know, there’s not a ton on the mechanical side to dig into. But the ideas they’re weaving? Way more interesting, if you ask me.

Anyway, I’ll try to make sense of it. In the Dragon Quest I part of the demo, I roamed from the town into the wild and eventually a cave. Did the usual fighty stuff. Honestly, didn’t notice much of the newer elements. But man, it looked spectacular. The tweaks I caught — like battling a bunch of monsters at once — neat touch for upping the game’s complexity.

Dragon Quest II? Just as stunning. Felt sorta similar to the III remake with the low camera overworld and voiced scenes. Which is a relief ’cause, let’s face it, that game wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea back in the day. Kind of stuck awkwardly between being frustratingly grindy and wanting to be big like Dragon Quest III.

In terms of new things you get from a short demo? Not much, but if Square Enix put the same care into II as they did III, it should be a neat way to revisit this tricky part of the series.

What really caught my brain, though, is how they’ve worked to make I & II feel like they naturally follow after the III remake. You know, since III’s about Erdrick, and I & II follow his descendants. Visual and style connections to III are obvious, with extra storyline and gameplay elements to make the trilogy play as one big saga.

I chatted with a Square Enix rep who mentioned playing both remakes together is about as long as last year’s Dragon Quest III – which is 30-40 hours on the normal setting, I guess. They got pretty animated when I suggested the new remake might make Dragon Quest II, well, less harsh. They basically said the focus was on making II better and cooler.

Oh, and today is Dragon Quest Day. Square Enix dropped the news that Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake lands on October 30, including on the Switch 2. My first thought? Well, looks like they nailed it with this one as they did with III! But dig a little deeper and it’s clear Square Enix is dreaming big with this, and that’s something to keep an eye on.