Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake

Developer: Square Enix, Artdink
Publisher: Square Enix
Platforms: Switch, PC, Playstation 5 (Reviewed), Xbox Series X|S
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $59.99 – Available Here

Overview

Last year, Square Enix released Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake upon the world and redefined perfection with a wonderful experience that really went above and beyond to pay tribute to one of the greatest RPGs of all time. In order to stay in the chronological order of the canon, we have now been treated to Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake, which is the first and second games with that exact same treatment. The thing is, those are very different games with a lot less structure to work with than the third installment. Do these two still hold their weight, or are these only beautiful on the surface? Let’s find out.

Story

Most of you know the stories for both of these titles, but there are plenty of new things to pad out each with narrative. In the first game, players take the role of a hero who is the descendant of Erdrick, the legendary warrior from the third installment who managed to save the world from darkness. After a princess is captured and the Dragonlord rises, it’s your job to save the world. Honestly, the story is a bit basic as we are still dealing with a very simple premise for the first installment, but it works well enough to carry the weight of progression. Just don’t go in thinking it is going to be the same epic as 3.

Dragon Quest 2 then takes things further into the future, with our character taking a party to fight Hargon, a new antagonist bent on bringing about an evil entity that could destroy the world. Since the first journey, the descendants of the last hero have populated three cities. When one is destroyed, the characters all have to come together and attempt to solve simple problems that build to the demise of evil once again. While the second game is still not as strong as III, it is longer and has a lot more fleshed out moments than Dragon Quest 1. The characters have more personality, and the game formula just works better with a party system in order to stay engaging. 

This is Dragon Quest through and through, however. The story may not be as good, but that doesn’t mean that either game is bad in any way. Both titles are rich with lore and history, and this set of remakes does well to bring just enough freshness to feel new and exciting to anyone. They had a lot to work with when it comes to the first title, and in some ways – I feel we could have gotten a lot more creative to add some elements to the story, but the tale is still told fine and works with the premise of there being two titles in one package. It’s fine, and Dragon Quest fans will love what is here.

Gameplay

At the core, these games stick to that Dragon Quest formula. Go from town to town, take down monsters. Level your character with some grinding. Fight a boss. Then move to the next area and repeat, with minor changes and quest variation found along the way. That is what I expected, and I am pleased to say that is what is in this duo of titles. That said, the first game does play a lot different from the second, so I will start with what might be my greatest critique of the experience by saying Dragon Quest 1 is a bit too archaic at times for its own good. 

I am aware that this near 40 year old game is not going to be innovative, but I don’t want Dragon Quest to be innovative. At its best, this game and all games after are adventures that span an entire continent. I think however by remaking the experience, the flaws in the first journey are just more evident. Maybe not flaws, exactly, but instead a predictable approach that overstays its welcome as the game progresses forward. You go to a town, you fight a boss, you lose. You grind, you get better. Then, you go to the next area expecting to see more, and instead its another boss. More grinding. Then yet again, the same formula, over and over. Later games learned to mask this better with class systems and side quests. The first title doesn’t really have that.

I think all early RPGs have these tropes and that is why I love Dragon Quest, but here, without a party and much to do in-between, the pacing just feels a bit tedious. There is a quest to find all the sigils and gain special powers that assist in these boss battles, but those really are not paced well. Side quests are a necessary breather that allow you to level up, and here everything progression-wise is linear because you just have one major focus and not much else. Sure, the narrative feels broader, but for the first time, I kind of grew tired of grinding to beat a boss, only because the only rewards that came after was simply repeating the process time and time again, without exploration really being challenged. I want to go visit towns, and do all of the things for the townsfolk. I want to go look for armor, and go do random quests just to follow along. I don’t want spend an hour building to fight the first big boss, only to have four more big bosses to take out right after with the same process being used for each. 

I still love the strategizing and the game runs beautifully when it comes to those combat mechanics. I just think it needed a little something to modernize it in a more engaging way. Dragon Quest 2 by default is the better of the two as it fixes this. You have a party to take care of. You have more combat strategies. The towns have more to do within. Its a better game because it upped the content and broadened the focus. Both play the same, but the second is far richer in content and structure, making it more of an interesting world to explore. The minor updates to the mechanics do well to bring both games forward.

There are now mapping options for hotkeys, which does well for grinding. Zooming is easy for fast travel, and players are sure to love the exploration in both games when they are free to just walk around and explore. Despite the aging flaws of the mechanics, these are two very special titles and I don’t want to downplay how great either are, I just think that coming with memories after the third title, these two don’t exactly carry the same mystique and wonder by comparison, and bundling them both into one package may have been an odd choice in retrospect, considering how much more depth the second title brings to the experience over the first game. 

Audio

The soundtracks are wonderful. The first game has a completely different aura and mood than the second, and the soundtrack sets it apart and makes it feel truly special. The second game has music I preferred, but its hard not to love these tunes that really carried the franchise forward. The voice acting is excellent. Just like Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, this set has a voiced cast and I loved hearing a lot of these characters for the first time. Its a great audio sampling of familiar effects after that which bring the remakes full circle, giving the player that comfortable atmosphere that these titles so famously are known for.

Visuals

Both titles are absolutely stunning visually. The massive amount of new animation and scenery to behold is breathtaking at times, and that is putting it lightly. I thought maybe I would be a little less interested this time around as this art style was already in 3’s remake, but no – seeing each title fully realized visually is a sight to behold. The menus are sleek and easy to use, and honestly-  its hard not to enjoy even the repetitive animations (such as our hero moving his hand in agreement during dialogue sequences), as there is a lot of charm to be found with such a lovely design.

Overall

I feel like I had a lot of critique during my time with Dragon Quest I & II HD-Remake, but that doesn’t mean that either title are “bad” games. The pacing in Dragon Quest 1 is just not very good, but even at that – I still found myself fully captivated and ready to move forward because there still is a wonderful RPG here, despite those pacing issues. I found it very hard by comparison to find those same flaws with Dragon Quest 2 as it’s truly outstanding and while it also is not on the same level of latter entries, a lot of fans will probably find a lot to appreciate even if they are not fond of the prior entry. I do have to stop and wonder if releasing the third installment before the first two was the right move, as it just felt like so much more. Regardless, this is a piece of history, and one that was retold authentically – so I respect that. If you want to finally complete the Erdrick trilogy, there is no better way as this set of titles are packaged to please fans new and old.

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