Video summary
The upcoming HD-2D remakes of Dragon Quest I and II represent a significant evolution for the franchise, offering far more than simple graphical upgrades or menu improvements found in previous versions. Unlike the Dragon Quest III remake, which felt like an iterative refinement of an already complete experience, these new titles appear to be fundamentally reimagining the originals into fresh adventures. The developers are focusing on bridging long-standing inconsistencies between the games, particularly by expanding the lore and connecting the narrative threads of the trilogy more tightly than ever before. This approach ensures that both longtime fans and newcomers will encounter a version of these classics that respects their original identity while introducing substantial new content and mechanics.
Dragon Quest I is being transformed into a solitary adventure where players control only the descendant of Erdrich, maintaining the iconic "one man against the world" feel of the original. However, the battle system has been completely overhauled to allow for multiple enemies on the field simultaneously, adding abilities like Giga Slash and introducing new foes that debuted in later entries. The story itself is heavily expanded with new cutscenes and dialogue, most notably revolving around Princess Guan and the inclusion of fairies, creatures previously exclusive to Dragon Quest III. Additionally, the game features Robin Hood as a boss, further weaving the narrative together and resolving plot holes that have existed between the first two games for decades.
The remake of Dragon Quest II addresses the title's troubled development history by fulfilling the ambitious plans that were originally scrapped due to memory limitations and tight deadlines. A major addition is the inclusion of Princess Kanok as a full-fledged party member from the start, providing essential support during the game's notoriously difficult opening hours. The battle system receives similar updates with new spells and abilities, while the sense of discovery is enhanced by making the five sigils more prominent on grand pedestals rather than hiding them in obscure locations. Furthermore, the world map has been significantly restored to include towns like Cantalin that were absent in the original release, allowing players to revisit Alfgard as a much larger and more detailed region.
Ultimately, these remakes are capitalizing on the series' strongest element: its characters. For the first time, the Scions of Erdrich will feature voice acting and deeper characterization, moving away from the blank slate approach seen in Dragon Quest III. By restoring cut content, adding new monsters like the Gorggoy and Luna Griffin, and expanding the story with connections to both Dragon Quest I and III, the developers are delivering the complete experience that was always intended. This comprehensive overhaul not only fixes the technical and design shortcomings of the past but also creates a cohesive trilogy that feels more connected and immersive than the original releases ever were.
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All right, that's coming out. Dragon
Quest 1 and 2 HD 2D remake. This
collection is finally on the horizon,
and there's already a lot to unpack
here. You know, it's funny. I'm actually
more excited for these games than I was
for last year's Dragon Quest 3 HD2D
remake. Mostly because it seems like
they're adding a whole lot more to the
experience this time around. You see,
Dragon Quest 1 and 2 never really got a
remake. Sure, there's the Super Famicom
version and the Game Boy version and the
terrible Switch version that we don't
talk about, but these so-called remakes
never really added that much to the
experience aside from improved menu
navigation and some balancing changes.
They're more like remasters rather than
remakes with just graphical and
mechanical upgrades, but no new
features. Up until now, if you wanted to
play Dragon Quest 1 and 2, it really
didn't matter which version you played
because they were all pretty much the
same. The remakes of Dragon Quest 3, on
the other hand, always seemed to have
way more care put into them. Each one
sort of built off of the last one. So,
comparatively, DQ3 HD2D remake didn't
feel like that big of a jump from
previous versions. If you've already
played Dragon Quest 3 before, the new
one kind of felt like more of the same.
But from what I've seen of the upcoming
Dragon Quest 1 and 2 H2D remakes, there
are a ton of differences that
fundamentally change the experience. so
many that this almost looks like a new
Dragon Quest game, a fresh adventure for
both longtime fans and newcomers alike.
So, I want to start by talking about
Dragon Quest 1, the first game in the
series, and one of the most influential
games of all time. This is one of those
rare classic games that just got so much
right the first time that it's still fun
to play even today, despite its age. And
this new remake seems to be maintaining
all the unique aspects that gave the
original its identity while also
introducing some very welcome
improvements from later games. First of
all, it is confirmed that this remake is
still a solitary adventure. You control
only one character in this game, the
descendant of Erdrich, complete with his
iconic horny design. And honestly, I
wouldn't have it any other way. It was
always so cool how here you play as one
man against the world. And I'm glad
they're keeping that aspect of the
original. And to go even further with
this idea, the battle system of DQ1 is
getting some major overhauls. The
biggest change being that you're no
longer fighting only one enemy at a time
like in the original. Now, Dragon Quest
1 features multiple enemies on the field
at once, just like the rest of the
series. And this is huge because now it
really seems like you were one dude
against an entire army. The battle
system is being expanded much like DQ3
by adding abilities to the main
character, which will clearly come in
handy as we see him using Giga Slash on
a bunch of monsters, several of which do
not appear in the original Dragon Quest.
These ones actually made their debut in
later games, meaning we've not only got
new abilities, but also new foes to
face. It seems like they are completely
revamping this game to feel like a brand
new adventure. And they aren't just
stopping at the combat. You see, the
story of Dragon Quest 1 is also being
heavily expanded upon. We see a lot of
new cutscenes and dialogue not seen in
the original game. Most of which revolve
around Princess Guan, the original
game's damsel in distress, who you could
notably choose not to save, which was
hilarious, and I'm very curious to see
how they'll handle that in this one. But
more importantly, there are entire story
elements not seen in the original games
that are present here. For example, we
have confirmation that fairies will
appear in Dragon Quest 1. Fairies are
not present in the original DQ1 at all.
They first appear in DQ3, so it looks
like they're adding way more connections
between Dragon Quest 1 and its prequel,
Dragon Quest 3. We also see the
appearance of a new boss, Robin Udd, a
well-known Dragon Quest 3 character who
notably winds up in the land of Alfgart
at the end of that game. This kind of
thing is really exciting to me because
even though DQ3 is a prequel to DQ1,
there's always been so many little
inconsistencies between the two that
didn't really make sense. And now it
looks like they're going back and trying
to bridge things together and make
everything more consistent, which is
exactly what a remake like this should
be doing. It just makes the whole
trilogy feel a lot more connected than
before. So, obviously, Dragon Quest 1 is
adding a whole lot to the experience,
but what I'm really looking forward to
is the remake of Dragon Quest 2, which
to me represents a remake with just tons
of potential. You see, the original
Dragon Quest 2 is something of a black
sheep in the franchise. Yuji Hori and
his team had a crazy ambition for the
original Famicom game. However, due to
memory limitations, tight deadlines, and
multiple delays, we ended up with an
experience that didn't live up to its
full potential. They had so many crazy
plans for this game. There were new
features, entire plot points, and even
some monsters that had to be scrapped
before release. To say the game had a
troubled development cycle is putting it
lightly. And with this new remake, I
feel like they can finally give us the
Dragon Quest 2 we deserve. the Dragon
Quest 2 they always wanted to make. And
it seems like we're getting just that as
this remake appears to boast a ton of
new content. Starting with the big one.
There is now a fourth party member, the
princess of Kanok, the younger sister of
everyone's favorite punching bag. She
has been in every version of Dragon
Quest 2 since the beginning, and the
developers originally had way more plans
for her that were sadly scrapped,
leaving her to sit in her room begging
to go with you on your adventure
whenever you talk to her. Well, now
after all these years, her wish finally
comes true. She is now a full-fledged
member of the crew. And it makes a lot
of sense because she's a descendant of
Erdrich, just like the main cast, which
means she should be a powerful fighter
as well. So, in this remake, she's
actually the first party member you
recruit. She joins you early on in your
adventure to help you find her brother
as he leads you on a wild goose chase.
This is likely to mitigate the very high
difficulty of the original game's
opening hours where you only had one
character and would constantly get
jumped by multiple enemies having no
spells to heal yourself. Now you
actually have someone watching your
back. Her character is described as a
cross between a martial artist and a
mage with her having access to both
physical abilities and spells that will
prove useful in battle. And speaking of
battles, the remake of 2 seems to be
overhauling its battle system as well.
We see the introduction of abilities
much like the other two games, and we
also see some spells that weren't in the
original. So, there's clearly a lot of
changes going on here. But what I'm
really interested in is how many new
monsters appear that weren't in the
original. So far, I've seen several
monsters here that do not appear in the
original Dragon Quest 2, including two
boss monsters. The first one being the
Gorggoy, a flying helmeted monster
holding the Sword of Ruin, and the
second one being the Luna Griff, a
griffin boss that I'm guessing based on
the name will probably be guarding the
moon sigil. And since I brought up the
sigils, I should also mention that it
appears they're heavily changing the
game's sense of discovery when it comes
to collecting them. In the original
game, there are five sigils. They're
these really important things you need
to find hidden around the world in order
to face the final boss. And they really
hid them in some of the weirdest and
most mundane places you could think of.
Like the sun sigil you literally find
randomly on the floor somewhere. I'm not
even joking. Yeah, this legendary seal
is just lying around on the floor and
you only figure this out by talking to
an NPC who gives you a hint. The
original game heavily relied on players
talking to NPCs and getting hints of
where to go next. Really calling back to
Yuji's roots of mystery adventure games.
Well, in this remake, it seems to be a
lot clearer. The sigils appear to be on
these grand pedestals and are way more
prominent than before. So, it might
indicate that the game's overall sense
of investigation might be changed this
time around. And I'm very curious to see
how they handle this because I actually
did like that investigative aspect of
the original game. I should also mention
that it just overall seems like the
story is being expanded upon greatly
this time around. I already mentioned
the new party member earlier, but I
didn't mention that this time the scions
of Erdri all talk with actual voice
acting. And this kind of surprised me.
It's looking like the party members will
have way more characterization and
personality than Dragon Quest 3's blank
slates. And this is really capitalizing
on one of the game strongest elements,
its characters. Like in Dragon Quest 1,
it also looks like there's new scenes
and a bits of lore that connected to
Dragon Quest 3. For example, we see
groups of fairies being terrorized by
Hargon's forces. And again, fairies
never appeared in Dragon Quest 2. They
were introduced in Dragon Quest 3. So,
the game clearly has some newfound
connections to Dragon Quest 3. But what
I think is even more exciting are the
new connections to Dragon Quest 1. You
see, Dragon Quest 2's world is an
expanded version of Dragon Quest 1's
world. A while into the game, you can
actually go back to the Kingdom of
Alfgard from the first game. And this
seems super cool, at least until you
realize that it's now a quarter the size
of the original, and it features
literally no towns except for Tantagel.
Yeah. Due to what I could only assume
were memory limitations, Dragon Quest
2's Alfgard was severely scaled back,
only featuring one town and one dungeon.
This was always a huge disappointment to
me because going back to Alfgard was
supposed to be this huge trip down
memory lane. Yet, you couldn't even
visit your favorite locations from the
original. Well, I am happy to share with
you that they are now fixing this in the
remake. In Dragon Quest 2 HD 2D remake,
they have brought back the towns from
the original game. As we can see here,
the party visits Cantalin, a very
prominent town from the original game
that never appeared in Dragon Quest 2.
And I am so excited to visit these old
locations and see how things have
changed since the first game. So,
overall, I'm really excited for Dragon
Quest 1 and 2 H2D remake, maybe even
more than I was for DQ3. It really looks
like they're putting in a lot of work to
not only overhaul the game's mechanics
and presentation, but also to expand the
lore, making the trilogy feel more
connected than ever before. If you
enjoyed this look at Dragon Quest 1 and
2 HD2D remake, you should check out this
video, too. I think you'll definitely
enjoy it. I'll see you there.