Created by Yuji Horii and boasting artwork from the late great Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball, Dr. Slump), DRAGON QUEST is as legendary a JRPG franchise as they come. However, few fans have actually played through all of the eleven mainline titles released as of the time of writing. Instead, most tend to become devout fans of the first DRAGON QUEST game that they had the pleasure of playing. In my case, that was 2004’s DRAGON QUEST VIII.
This being said, I’ve personally always wanted to run the series back and experience it right from the beginning. The perfect opportunity finally came last year, with the release of DRAGON QUEST III HD-2D Remake, which, despite what the name would suggest, is chronologically the starting point of it all and a prequel to the very first DRAGON QUEST game released.
The commercial and critical success of DRAGON QUEST III HD-2D Remake prompted parent company SQUARE ENIX to push forward with two more similar remakes, bundled under a single package: DRAGON QUEST I&II HD-2D Remake. During gamescom 2025, I had the chance to get 30 minutes of hands-on time with each of the two games, and what I found was, in equal measure, surprising and expected.
As expected, the two DRAGON QUEST games, no matter the coat of fresh paint, are still old-school JRPGs at their core, which means turn-based combat, random encounters, a sprawling world map — the lot. Nevertheless, DRAGON QUEST I&II HD-2D Remake is at its most interesting when it strays away from being a straight-cut remake. For example, although the story of DRAGON QUEST I is largely unchanged here, work has been put into filling in some gaps in meaningful ways.
“DRAGON QUEST I&II HD-2D Remake seems like it’ll be the best possible remake…”
Similarly, DRAGON QUEST II, which originally only featured a party of three characters at a time, was revamped to make it so that players can now put together a party of four characters instead. From what I’ve seen so far, then, DRAGON QUEST I&II HD-2D Remake seems like it’ll be the best possible remake and one that might just achieve the nigh impossible task of feeling both faithful and modern at the same time.
Hot off being impressed by the demo I played of DRAGON QUEST I&II HD-2D, I also got the chance to ask producer Masaaki Hayasaka, who responded via an interpreter, about how newcomers should approach the franchise, the new additions featured in these two remakes and more:
Would you say that DRAGON QUEST III HD-2D Remake is the best place for newcomers to start playing the series? Even though the original release order would suggest otherwise?
Masaaki Hayasaka: I would definitely say that the best way of doing it is to start with III and then play through I+II. The remakes were designed to be played in that order, and that’s the way you’ll get the most enjoyment out of the storyline.
How do new additions, like having The Princess of Cannock playable, enhance playing DRAGON QUEST I&II HD-2D Remake?
Masaaki Hayasaka: The biggest thing is the strategic element of the battles: an RPG going from a three-person party to a four-person party really changes the tactics that you can use.
As the battle system’s seen a revamp, how has DRAGON QUEST I&II HD-2D Remake been balanced?
Masaaki Hayasaka: In terms of rebalancing, yes, we did do a lot of that, but we had to get the OK from Horii-san on any new changes. So, even the first part of the game, we played that over and over again with him and kept tweaking until we got the OK from him. Because he was overseeing all of that, it means that all the balancing is in line with how the game should be.
Are there any plans to remake other DRAGON QUEST games? Especially V and VI?
Masaaki Hayasaka: Ultimately, that’s up to our upper management to decide — I’m just a line trooper, so I don’t really get to say whether they’re made or not. But we’re definitely looking at it. III sold very well, so if I&II sell well also, there’s definitely a chance we could see future remakes — if that’s what the fans want!
Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak with you and to play DRAGON QUEST I&II HD-2D. I never got to play either game as they were never released in Europe, so this was so fun and interesting for me to experience!
Masaaki Hayasaka: I’m so happy to hear that! We really want to make these remakes for people just like yourself, so you can go back and experience and learn about the history of the series while having fun doing it.
DRAGON QUEST I&II HD-2D Remake releases on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and PC on October 30th, 2025.
