Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake is another RPG tightwire act
It was almost exactly one year ago when I first played Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake. At the time, I wasn't quite sure how players were going to react. I knew that RPG historians would be happy to see it, but the remake straddled a line between modern and retro. Would new players be thrown off by playing a game that looked new but still felt mechanically old school? The answer was no, as it turned out. The remake was a success for Square Enix, garnering high critical praise and impressive sales.
That was the easy part in retrospect. Now it's time for the remake project's second death-defying trick.
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On October 30, Square Enix will dip back even further in time with Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake (which has now added Nintendo Switch 2 to its list of launch platforms). The project looks to modernize the long-running series' first two installments, a pair of RPGs that are ancient relics compared to Dragon Quest 3. During a hands-on demo with both parts of the remake, I was once again left to wonder how much new audiences would show up for two games that are much lighter on story than their sequel. Only this time, I'm more confident that fans will be down for that careful tightwire act.
Remaking the classics, again
My demo was split into two parts, showing me a glimpse of each game in the remake package. As you can probably guess by the fact that the two are being bundled together, there's not too much of a difference between them — at least not in the slices I played. Both games follow the Dragon Quest 3 remake's lead by translating old overworlds into detailed HD-2D pixel art. Modernizations like sprinting and combat speed increases are shared across both making everything go by a little quicker. There should be no surprises here as far as the brass tacks of it all go.
The main difference is more in the original games being remade here. The original Dragon Quest 3 was the installment that really figured out the series' formula, turning two relatively short games that were light on story into a full-blown 30+ hour RPG. I can feel the step backwards when I try out Dragon Quest 1. When I'm dropped in, I'm simply left to wander to a mini-dungeon and fight some monsters with little set-up. It's minimalistic, as I'm largely walking around a maze-like set of corridors and grabbing treasure chests along the way.
My time with Dragon Quest 2 is somewhat identical, as I start in another town and walk out into another overworld that looks about the same. I walk to a marked spot on the map, talk to some guys, and then make my way to another spot. The only difference is that I have more party members to start, who unleash hell on wandering bats and slimes with their spells. To be frank, there's not too much to say about any of it that I didn't say about Dragon Quest 3's remake one year ago. Both of these play like more minimalistic versions of that game.
That's not to say that Square Enix hasn't expanded Dragon Quest 1 and 2 for this project, though. Both slices I played featured cutscenes and new dialogue, showing that these aren't just 1:1 recreations of their counterparts. It's very clear that these are meant to continue the story introduced in the Dragon Quest 3 remake and expand it. Whereas 3 was a faithful remake, these feel more like reimaginings meant to rewrite the series' origins. I'm not quite sure just how far that will go, but it doesn't seem like Dragon Quest 1 is an RPG that you will speed through in five hours anymore.
I can still understand why Square Enix began its remake project with 3 instead of this duo. It's not just because that's where the story really begins chronologically; it's because the latter would have been a tough onramp for new fans jumping in for the first time. They would have been treated to what seem to be fairly light and compact games overall. Maybe it makes more sense to start with something that feels closer to what today's best RPGs are like to lock people's interest in place. From there, it's easier to sell them on two games whose age shows through a bit more. You'll want to approach these remakes with the interest of a historian to get the most out of them.
Granted, I barely scratched the surface of either game. I get the sense that they've been even more heavily reworked than Square Enix is letting on. Maybe some detailed dungeons and new story twists await. I'm not really sure what to expect and that makes this package a little more exciting to me than the more straightforward 3. Let's see what a completely new spin on two classics really looks like. I dare Square Enix to surprise me.
Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake launches on October 30 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
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