It’s nearing the last stretch of 2025, and game publishers are showing no signs of slowing down on remakes—in fact, they’re doubling down for the coming years. With Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake already praised as one of the strongest remakes in the series, Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake seals the deal by elevating the entire Erdrick trilogy into a definitive experience. While each entry can be played in any sequence, Dragon Quest I and II follow the storyline of Erdrick’s descendants.
As one of the earliest JRPGs that helped define the genre in the late 1980s, Dragon Quest greatly benefits from a modern remake. The original versions—while iconic—can feel dated due to their slow-paced combat and minimal quality-of-life features. These remakes allow new players to experience the classics without the friction of old-school design.
Compared to the originals, Dragon Quest I and II follow a straightforward narrative. The kingdom of Alefgard is swallowed by darkness, and the hero Erdrick sets out to save the world using the Ball of Light. It’s as simple as rescuing the princess, defeating evil, and restoring peace. But the remakes elevate this simplicity into something far richer.
The developers expanded both games significantly, adding new difficulty options and extending the runtime to nearly 20 hours for the first game and 30 hours for the second. It feels like a completely new experience built on the foundation of the originals. The remakes introduce fully voiced cutscenes, enhanced storytelling, larger maps, and new regions to explore. Everything is scaled up to give the world depth and presence that simply wasn’t possible on the original hardware.
One notable gameplay change is that enemies can now perform multiple attacks per turn. This makes the game more challenging—sometimes questionably so—especially since Dragon Quest I features only one playable character. As a result, players may find themselves grinding more often to maintain balanced combat. However, this mechanic benefits Dragon Quest II far more, letting players take advantage of multiple party members, diverse classes, and extensive gear combinations. While grinding remains a part of the experience, it’s far more rewarding when you can overpower enemies through strategic builds.
Most of the quality-of-life improvements found in Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake return here as well. Combined with stunning HD-2D visuals and full voice acting for major story moments, the remakes breathe new life into these classics. The art direction is at its best, and considering the limited original source code the developers had to work with, they’ve done an impressive job rebuilding the games almost from the ground up. Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake isn’t just a simple remake—it’s a complete overhaul and reimagining of what the originals aimed to be, limited only by the technology of their era.
Overall, these remakes spark renewed excitement about what future reimaginings in the franchise may look like. With the success of the Erdrick trilogy remakes, fans are eagerly waiting to see what comes next.
Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake is available now on PC, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
Special thanks to Square Enix and Bandai Namco (Asia) for the review code.
