Dragon Quest is among the most acclaimed and influential sequence in gaming. When you’ve ever performed a Japanese (or Japanese-inspired) RPG, it most likely owes a debt to this superb franchise.
And it began with Dragon Quest I and Dragon Quest II.
These video games captivated gamers by sending them on epic adventures throughout expansive worlds stuffed with imaginative locales, whereas battling all method of monsters. It was an expertise like few others.
New Gameplay Overview Trailer gives a take a look at exploration, fight, celebration lineup, and extra.
Now these video games are hitting PlayStation consoles for the primary time in Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake. These are not any easy retro revivals although – each video games have been totally remade and enhanced, with new options that make them really feel contemporary and trendy with out sacrificing their unique appeal.
They’ve been rebuilt within the beautiful HD-2D visible model made well-known by sequence like Octopath Traveler, and have further content material, gameplay enhancements, tons of quality-of-life options like goal markers and auto-battle options and far more.
It’s principally two of probably the most revered RPGs ever made, however made higher. When you’re a fan of the style, they’re a must-play.
However what went into the sport and their many enhancements? We spoke to Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake Producer Masaaki Hayasaka to seek out out:
Why did you resolve to remake Dragon Quest I and II?
There have been a number of ports and remasters of Dragon Quest I, II and III launched over time, however there hasn’t been a full remake in a really very long time. Octopath Traveler established the HD-2D graphical model, and with HD-2D graphics, the extra retro a sport is, the extra its true worth is revealed. Because the titles that make up the Erdrick trilogy are probably the most retro of all of the Dragon Quest titles, and the start line of the franchise as a complete, we realised that the HD-2D model could be an ideal match, and so we resolved to remake them.
Why did you resolve to incorporate each remakes in a single package deal?
The primary causes behind this had been to do with the practicalities of manufacturing. If we had determined to launch Dragon Quest I and II as separate titles, then there would have been rather a lot to think about: like how we worth the video games appropriately for the quantity of content material, how that pricing would have an effect on gamers’ perceptions of the video games, what to do about launch home windows and so forth. One other huge issue behind this determination was that releasing each video games as a single set would imply that we might current gamers with a package deal that wraps up the Erdrick Trilogy faster than having two separate releases. Making the whole lot individually would have taken far more time.
Why did you are feeling that HD-2D was the appropriate visible model to rebuild these video games?
As I discussed beforehand, the extra retro a sport is, the extra HD-2D actually exhibits its true worth. Having labored on HD-2D titles ever for the reason that launch of Octopath Traveler, I bought to see for myself how the HD-2D model got here into existence, and the way it was acquired by the world. Additionally, the Reside a Reside remake—additionally made by Sq. Enix’s Group Asano—was the primary occasion of a HD-2D remake title, and that was very effectively acquired, so it gave me confidence as I launched into this venture.
It’s a really lovely sport. How did you strategy the problem of turning 2D environments into visually spectacular 3D ones?
Probably the most troublesome factor about changing 2D into 3D was the environments. For this remake, we more-or-less adhered to the buildings of the environments from the unique sport, from the location of the buildings within the cities to the positioning and path making of the staircases within the dungeons (I might love for somebody to have a look at the environments from immediately above and evaluate them with the unique sport!).
So despite the fact that the sport’s visuals have been modified considerably, I needed individuals who performed the unique sport to nonetheless have the ability to depend on their recollections of it — to have the ability to say, “I appear to do not forget that if I’m going over right here, then I’ll discover this factor… Yep! There it’s!”. Taking elements of the unique sport that had been designed in 2D and recreating them in 3D whereas nonetheless preserving the construction of the unique actually places your level-design abilities to the take a look at, however the map crew and the planning crew did a implausible job, which meant that we had been capable of obtain simply what we got down to do.
Why did you resolve to launch this after Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake?
After I take into consideration I, II and III, I feel that Dragon Quest III was probably the most full title out of the three, together with by way of its sport mechanics. Dragon Quest III was additionally a cultural phenomenon in Japan, and I had some discussions with Yuji Horii through which he stated he’d wish to see the Erdrick Trilogy remade with Dragon Quest III popping out first as a form of entry level, in order that was how the Dragon Quest III remake bought began. So it was determined on the very starting of the venture that we needed the video games to be performed within the order III, I, II.
Do it’s essential to have performed Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake to get pleasure from these video games?
Dragon Quests I, II and III all inform standalone tales, so in fact gamers can get pleasure from these video games with out having performed Dragon Quest III. Nevertheless, these remakes provide a contemporary retelling of the story of Erdrick in chronological order beginning with Dragon Quest III, adopted by I and II, and there are particular twists and turns in retailer that can be significantly shocking when you play the video games in that order, so I would love for folks to play the HD-2D remakes within the order III, I, II, and from a developer standpoint as effectively, I like to recommend taking part in them in that order!
Why do you suppose Dragon Quest I and II nonetheless maintain up as nice video games, even so a few years later?
I feel an enormous a part of it may very well be that these titles maintain the excellence of being the start line of the Dragon Quest sequence, which has endured for round 40 years, in addition to the start line of JRPGs themselves. I feel that you might say this of different IPs as effectively, however once you discover a sequence that you simply like, you naturally attain a degree the place you need to play the primary title within the sequence. On prime of that, Dragon Quest was a pioneering title that influenced most of the JRPGs that got here after it. And so when folks really strive Dragon Quests I and II for themselves and get a way of all these parts which have appeared once more in all types of JRPGs, I feel they arrive to know why it’s such a masterpiece.
For many individuals, significantly areas exterior Japan and America, this can be their first time experiencing these video games. Why ought to RPG followers be excited to play these titles?
Just lately, a whole lot of RPGs have adopted extra motion gameplay parts, however this remake respects the unique, and it’s introduced in a traditional command-battle RPG model. The enemy encounters are random as effectively, slightly than being triggered by strolling as much as monsters on the map. So conversely, titles like this are literally uncommon these days, and it looks like we might have gone full circle, to the purpose that they’re now thought-about contemporary once more. As I discussed beforehand, these video games have influenced an enormous variety of JRPGs—it isn’t actually attainable to speak about JRPGs with out mentioning them—so I imagine that persons are going to seek out them actually fascinating to play, exactly due to once they’re popping out.
What had been your key priorities once you began growth of those video games?
After we had been engaged on the latest HD-2D remake of Dragon Quest III, our purpose was to keep away from tampering with the unique so far as attainable, and to solely add a bit embellishment. For this title, nevertheless, our strategy was that we might change as a lot as we needed to, so long as the core of the sport was nonetheless intact, and we positioned nice significance on the information that we might make adjustments. That being stated, if we had made too many adjustments, then we’d have reworked the sport into one thing fully completely different. But when we had restricted ourselves an excessive amount of on what we might change, then folks would have stated, “why not simply play the unique?”. So we had been significantly cautious about discovering that stability, and I feel that ultimately, we landed on one thing that’s actually good.
How have you ever made these video games extra handy for contemporary gamers?
After we had been engaged on the Dragon Quest III remake, we did a whole lot of work to enhance playability. We added an autosave function, a fast restart following a sport over, location guides, vacation spot markers, issue choices, enemy weak spot indicators, UI management enhancements and so forth., and so forth. And for this sport we have now additionally included the Quick-Minimize Instructions function, which permits gamers to set shortcuts for his or her favorite instructions to particular buttons, which ought to scratch the itch for many gamers. So I feel that this sport gives an applicable stage of user-friendliness for a contemporary title.
Each video games function further eventualities. Why did you need to add these into the video games?
The unique video games had been clearly launched within the order I, II, III, however as I stated earlier, we’re releasing them within the order III, I, II this time round. The revelation that the unique Dragon Quest III had a story reference to Dragon Quest I used to be massively impactful, however we couldn’t replicate that within the remakes. So as a substitute, we determined to launch them within the order that the occasions of the Erdrick Trilogy happen, beginning with III, adopted by I and II, and we determined to benefit from this by including some new story parts.
With out spoiling something, what further story parts do folks must look ahead to within the video games?
I feel the phrase, “epic conclusion” nearly sums it up. We added some parts of foreshadowing within the latest Dragon Quest III remake, together with some mysteries that don’t get tied up in that sport, and for this title, we have now included all kinds of content material: some issues that aren’t addressed in any respect within the unique sport, some issues that we expect followers of the unique can be curious to know extra about, and a few twists that I don’t suppose anyone will see coming. I feel that there are fairly a couple of surprises in retailer for anybody taking part in this sport. I can’t wait to listen to what everyone makes of this as soon as the sport is out.
How troublesome was it so as to add parts to those video games in order that they felt pure, however didn’t detract from the unique appeal?
Throughout growth, we needed to remember that we needed to strike the stability between making adjustments wherever we noticed match, with out undermining the unique sport, so this was one thing that was continually taking part in on our minds. Nevertheless, we additionally had Horii-san on our aspect, so we had been continually having discussions with him, and we had been capable of transfer forwards with growth one step at a time.
Why have you ever added the Princess of Cannock as a brand new playable character in Dragon Quest II?
We needed to give you one thing that will make this title stand out. There are a whole lot of examples of remakes of mainline Dragon Quest titles including new vocations or new celebration members, and we had been conscious that these had been very effectively acquired by followers. The latest remake of Dragon Quest III included the brand new monster wrangler vocation. Since this sport is a sequel to Dragon Quest III, we knew that we needed to give you a standout new function that measured as much as the monster wrangler, and so we got here up with this concept for the Princess of Cannock. She seems within the unique sport as effectively, and identical to the sport’s protagonist, she too is a descendant of Erdrick, so there was a whole lot of hypothesis amongst followers that she would possibly change into a celebration character sooner or later. I don’t suppose there’s anyone higher suited to the position than her.
What classes did you be taught from Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake and the way have they helped you develop this title?
Dragon Quest III taught me that everyone has their very own opinions on what they suppose a remake title ought to seem like. The extra well-known a sport is, the larger the number of folks’s opinions about what they anticipate to be included and what could be the perfect strategy. And this isn’t simply true of gamers; it’s true of builders as effectively. It’s bodily unimaginable to fulfill everybody’s needs for a remake, so you need to attempt to discover the perfect strategy that you simply suppose will please followers probably the most, whereas additionally considering time constraints and the constraints of the sport construction as effectively.
The scope for what we’re altering is way larger for this remake of Dragon Quest I and II than it was for the Dragon Quest III remake, so the decision-making course of for which of these opinions we undertake and which we disregard was significantly tougher. That being stated, our stance throughout growth was all the time to take the strategy that we knew would please the biggest variety of folks.
What have been probably the most difficult issues about growing Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake?
That must be the story. For RPGs, the story is the foundation out of which the whole lot else grows. The environments, character sprites and different elements of the sport are the branches and leaves that develop out of that root, so growth can’t transfer forwards till the story is determined upon. The extra you tweak the story, the tougher it’s to remake the sport, and for this sport we actually made some main enhancements to the story. We spent a whole lot of time on the story, together with discussions and tweaks with Horii-san, so I feel you might say that this was a reasonably main problem.
How did you overcome these challenges?
Plenty of very reliable workers joined the venture partway by, each internally and externally. Due to them we had been by some means capable of determine it out. If these folks hadn’t joined the venture, then I feel it will nonetheless be unfinished even now. I feel that that is true of any venture, and never simply video games, however finally all of it will depend on the skills of every particular person member of the crew. I’m really grateful to every member of this crew.
What are you most excited for followers to find once they play Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake?
I can’t reveal any particulars but, however I feel that the brand new story content material will actually resonate with a whole lot of Dragon Quest followers, no matter whether or not they’ve performed the unique or not. I hope followers will look ahead to this. Additionally, identical to with the Dragon Quest III remake, Dragon Quests I and II function a whole lot of well-known strains of dialogue, occasions and characters. Attempt to spot all of the completely different references as you play by the principle story!
I hope that folks will actually get pleasure from this title that serves as each the start line of the Dragon Quest franchise, and the start line of JRPGs basically! And I additionally hope that folks will get pleasure from seeing the story of Erdrick by to its conclusion!
Many due to Hayasaka-san for answering our many questions on the sport. Right here’s yet another you may need: when can I play it?!
Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake launches October 30, 2025 on PS5. It’s obtainable to preorder now – we are able to’t wait so that you can uncover what these two video games have in retailer!
