As Y2K vogue tendencies dominate Tik Tok, Stranger Issues and the 2010s rush to capitalize on the ‘80s feels like a distant reminiscence – with noughties nostalgia now Hollywood’s sizzling new ticket. A return journey to Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake makes it appear as if somebody forgot to ship Sq. Enix the memo. Whereas nu metallic bands as soon as once more fill arenas and indie devs swap sprite-based sidescrollers for PS1-style polygons, Sq. Enix is popping the clock again to the place the Japanese RPG started – 1989’s Dragon Warrior.
Sure, Dragon Warrior. Launched again on Nintendo’s very first console, the Nintendo Leisure System (NES), in the USA the common-or-garden Dragon Quest glided by a distinct identify. Europe, on the opposite hand, did not get a single style of the Dragon Quest fruit till 2004’s Dragon Quest 8 on PS2. Overworlds, turn-based battles, stats – in Japan, these early NES titles that make up Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake popularized the RPG conventions which can be very important to the style now, laying the groundwork for the all-conquering Closing Fantasy.
Quest log
Key data
Developer: Artdink, Staff Asano
Writer: Sq. Enix
Platform(s): PC, PS5, Xbox Collection X/S, Nintendo Change 2, Nintendo Change
Launch date: October 30, 2025
Now, in a bid to reintroduce Dragon Quest to the world, Sq. Enix is ending what it began final November with Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake. Taking a confusingly Star Wars-like strategy to storytelling, Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake picks up the place final yr’s luscious prequel left off. Telling the story of King Erdrick, these first two titles truly conclude the excessive fantasy trilogy’s storyline, lovingly preserving and repackaging these pioneering pixel RPGs by blowing the mud off and imbuing them with some much-needed spit and polish.
Put into the sharp leather-based sneakers of the unimaginatively named Hero, this double pack is as soon as once more developed by the creators of Bravely Default and Octopath Traveler, Staff Asano. Because the charmingly rendered sprites designed by Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama shuffle throughout sharply rendered backgrounds, it’s unattainable to not smile – even seven years after Octopath Traveler first wowed us with its eye-catching HD-2D artwork fashion.
Should you’ve ever performed a sprite-based RPG, you possibly can’t resist the charms of this cozy little remake. These expressive little sprites and comfortingly easy story seize that feeling of getting your head buried in a Recreation Boy throughout lengthy childhood automobile rides – and as I dive into Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake at Sq. Enix HQ, I’m instantly transported to an easier age. The place Closing Fantasy 7 Remake essentially modifications the feel of the unique – for higher and for worse – taking part in these shiny Dragon Quest remakes right this moment feels like a platonic splendid of an RPG, the rose-tinted reminiscence of 8-bit and 16-bit epics in your head.
Like the very best remakes, this double pack captures the attraction of a bygone period whereas imbuing it with all the trendy gaming luxuries that we now take without any consideration. All the things on your journey now exists to make the core adventuring as fulfilling as potential, giving gamers the choices to take away the style’s arcane annoyances or to choose to play with them sadistically intact. The obvious high quality of life enhancements are to the battle system, as soon as once more reworking the archaic grind of NES flip primarily based battling right into a furiously quick frenzy or perhaps a skippable afterthought, letting gamers toggle auto battle and change between 4 completely different battle speeds.
Demise is much less of a hair-pulling frustration this time round, too. In case your complete occasion falls on the battlefield, you possibly can depend on the trendy magic of autosave to immediately allow you to replay the struggle once more, skipping a irritating retracing of footsteps. The place these traditional RPGs usually had your goal uttered as soon as by an NPC after which instantly forgotten, right here, any time you communicate to somebody, you possibly can select to commit the very last thing you heard to reminiscence, guaranteeing that you just all the time know what your goal is, even for those who’ve booted your 20 hour save file once more after a 4 month absence.
Church buildings nonetheless mean you can save manually in traditional vogue, in addition to letting you buff your occasion. But every occasion member’s particular person loss of life stays refreshingly old skool. Slain occasion members can solely be resurrected by visiting your native church, their corpse following you in a comically rendered coffin sprite till they’ve been revived. In true Catholic vogue, although, you could cough up gold to be able to obtain this divine blessing, after all.
“Grass sways within the wind behind a military of slime.”
The battlefields are bursting with newfound character. In a pleasant contact, backdrops to show primarily based battles match the background of wherever you’re standing within the overworld map. Grass sways within the wind behind a military of slime, casting a sizz spell scorches a homicide of stark ravens with a vibrant flame.
But like with final yr’s Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, it’s the lavish absolutely orchestrated soundtrack that actually seals the deal. Carried out by the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, these as soon as distorted 8 bit bleeps and warbles have been totally remodeled into cinema-worthy scores, with battles and exploration remodeled into rousing jaunts, every hovering string part placing a spring in your step. In a pleasant contact, the luxurious trendy orchestra is damaged up with authentically distorted bitcrushed battle noises, with these traditional stage up and door opening noises left pleasingly intact.
Voice of cause
Like with the third sport’s overhaul, pivotal story moments throughout these two video games additionally get the absolutely voice acted therapy, with gamers capable of expertise the pleasant melodrama in English or Japanese. Non-voiced dialogue continues to be charming sufficient, combined together with your traditional ye olde textual content crawl, and even dropped at life between essential characters with expressive anime fashion animations showing above their head with a Golden Solar-esque attraction.
The place many video games have turn out to be more and more advanced, Sq. Enix have well opted to make the core adventuring so simple as potential. Tutorials pop up explaining what gadgets do, and these optionally available high quality of life enhancements take away the irritating quirk that makes it a ache to return to these early RPGs right this moment, ironing out the kinks and turning these classics right into a breezy good time. The map system is a lifesaver, too, permitting you to all the time see your goal on the map, saving hours of frustration by eliminating aimless wandering.
I solely get twenty minutes with every sport, with Dragon Quest 2 being party-focused like the NES authentic. But throughout my time with the primary sport, as I save a villager from a monster-ridden city, he enthusiastically encourages me to seize any monsters I see roaming the overworld – a nod to Dragon Quest 5 and the Dragon Quest Monsters video games. Whether or not these monsters are purely collectable and stay in an area on the town (as is the case in Dragon Quest 3), or are partymon friends that struggle alongside you a-la Dragon Quest 5, nevertheless, nonetheless stays to be seen.
Whereas video games like Sea of Stars present quirky love letters to their style forefathers, Sq. Enix has as a substitute opted to simply allow you to replay the classics with minimal meddling, sprucing their rust soaked code right into a pleasingly accessible new package deal. Whether or not you are slaying your first slimes in Alefgard or the considered taking part in Dragon Warrior on a CRT makes you embarrassingly misty eyed, it is laborious to not be charmed by this loving ode to gaming previous.
The playable equal of sipping a steaming sizzling chocolate on a frosty winter night, I feel a wave of warm, fuzzy nostalgia wash over me all through my demo – regardless of not even being born when the unique hit cabinets. It’s the proper mixture of 8-bit attraction with trendy sheen, and as soon as once more leaves me crying out for Recreation Freak to remake these traditional Pokemon video games on this beautiful artwork fashion. Whereas Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake are largely a continuation of what Sq. did with the third sport, these lovingly made refreshes are shaping as much as be a splendidly accessible approach to expertise a vital piece of gaming historical past.
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