While there’s unbeatable nostalgia in going to play a game as it was originally intended, there’s undeniable excitement when it’s remade for everyone.

Take the original Dragon Quest games for example, they are heavy leaning into that 8-Bit NES era and with that comes a lot of design frustrations that were prominently present in those games.

No question, I still love going back to revisit those games as much as I did the first time I played them, but not everyone has those retro-tinted lenses anymore. As painful as it is to say, retro for the current generation is fast becoming the PS2 era, a full decade removed from the original DQ release.

Thankfully, however, Square Enix have now completed the remakes of the original Dragon Quest trilogy and following on from the absolutely brilliant take on Dragon Quest 3, it should be surprising to no one that DQ I & 2 HD-2D Remake are equally fantastic.

Chronologically, DQ 3 actually plays before these first two games, but of course, these games released first and so with them, comes the world’s first taste of Dragon Quest, a franchise that has grown in popularity in the last few years and finally seems to be coming out of the shadow of its bigger, older brother – Final Fantasy.

So with this release, players can choose the game they want from the initial menu and dive straight into the action, in the same beautifully presented HD-2D style that you’ve seen in games like Octopath Traveller and Live a Live.

Both games radiate and reverberate in the exact same ways, in stunning 4k, with beautiful dimensional shifting and pixel assets that take on 3D perspectives to stunning effect. Characters move freely, with individual animations and even facial reactions and are surrounded by a deeply colourful, vibrant beautiful world that just glows in every conceivable way.

There’s floating light particle effects as you move around, reflections on the ground through marble flooring, weather effects as trees sway and move, and even waterfalls that flow in the foreground, accompanied by beautiful cinematic surround sound.

More often than not, I stopped to admire the absolute majestic beauty of the game and often couldn’t believe just how beautiful it was. There’s a jetty very early on in DQ2 where I stopped and just stared at the glistening, moving water for a good few minutes, admiring all the riples and the way it moves against the rocks. Stunning.

It’s all superbly accompanied by an absolutely beautiful orchestral score that booms, blares and swells elegantly as you turn every corner and move freely throughout towns, caverns and the game’s open maps. There’s even some voice acting appropriately spliced in during key story moments and narrative sequences that just helps enhance the game even further.

When I say that sometimes it’s good and more than ok to remake these games from the ground up so more players can truly experience the game’s storytelling and mechanics, I genuinely mean it’s no bad thing. Just as it did for DQ3, it actually makes for a better experience.

Yet it still maintains the bare simplicity of those original RPGs, you move from one area to the next, listen to some dialogue, maybe spend some of the money you earned in battle, then move across the map to the next destination, fighting loads of random encounter battles along the way. And this game remains a brutal challenge, particularly on the higher difficulties. Fortunately, there is also a no-fail mode as well if you just want to experience the story.

There’s no complex, nuanced level up systems or intricate talent trees, no extensive choice-based dialogue, squad management or even job/class based systems, though you can at least keep learning new spells and moves, as well as growing in strength and stamina. And there’ll always be new monsters to fight.

This enables the player to really focus on the story, on the world, the monsters, and for me that was wholly refreshing in a bizarre way. I sometimes find today’s games are overly cluttered, busy and frankly, are trying to do too much. While these HD-2D remakes have, of course really taken advantage of modern hardware and transformed the original games magnificently, they don’t lose the essence of what these games were.

I guess what I’m saying is, they haven’t gone the Final Fantasy 7 Remake route, a game which has often proved to be divsive amongst its core fans. That said, there’s more available to you than before, for instance, the line-up of characters you put out, your tactics – whether AI follow orders or do their own thing – item use and even short-cut commands. But inherantly, the games play in much the same way.

The thing is, though the remakes are also quite different in the sense that there is new content, there’s quality of life improvements, there’s more storytelling and world-building and as a result, this remade trilogy now feels intricately interconnected more than it ever has before. In the case of DQ1 for instance, you can now recruit party members where it was just a solo hero adventure before. As such, it really makes it easier for players to fully feel brought into this franchise.

The original trilogy, as many may know or remember, is centered around the Erdrick family, both through his descendants and through the character himself in DQ 3. And with all the added quests, dialogue, characters and environments, it really does feel like one big story filled with twists, turns, laughs, and sadness. It’s Square at their absolute best.

But while the UI is polished and cleaner than before, there’s notable adjustments and improvements such as being able to heal all at the press of a button and even recalling key moments from the story if you forgot anything.

The thing that just continued to impress me about this game, though, is the camera angles. The way it pans across the scenery in a way that shows off the true scale and attention to detail that’s gone into painstakingly rebuilding these games, but also the assets themselves. As you move around the castle for example, seeing the archway tilt and change with your movements in a way that doesn’t feel jarring or offputting.

Everything feels smooth, you can watch characters move freely around, as butterflies float past and imposing outcrops obstruct your path. Frankly, it might be one of the most beautiful games I’ve had the priviledge of playing and I don’t say that lightly or hyperbolically. There’s something truly impressive in what’s been achieved here.

And even in moments of battle when the screen flashes with vibrant effects or when fire spells are cast, the game brilliantly manages to maintain the simplicity of the base game but add in effects to really enhance and modernise the experience.

Much like what was achieved with DQ3, this is the absolute perfect way to recreate these classic games and I can only hope the OG Final Fantasy games will get the same treatment in the future.

Of course, the simpicity may not be for everyone and they may be craving deeper systems they can find, even in games like Octopath Traveller, but to me that defeats the point and essence of what’s been done here. At that point, you may as well make a new game.

To me, this is how you perfectly restore a classic game. Don’t strip away what defines it, add meaningfully to it, brighten it up, update the sounds in a way that feels authentic, and make it feel like it belongs on current hardware. Because to me, this style also feels timeless and as much as I love those 8-bit classics, they are painfully dated and are getting harder and harder to play as time goes on.

Plus the value for money in this double pack, with the size of DQ 2 especially, makes this a must. I was absolutely blown away by the ambition, size, scale, but also care and devotion that has gone into these games. After recently playing the original games, you can both feel the closeness to the originals while at the same time recognising smart, logical and appreciated evolutions made to make the games last but also enhance them in meaningful ways.

Just brilliant!

Verdict

Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake is an absolute masterclass in how to reimagine and remake a classic game, maintaining the authenticity of the original while successfully adapting it for a modern audience. It is beautiful, artistic, sounds beautiful and feels timeless and elegant. Two great adventures now interconnect to the excellent Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake that released last year, make this trilogy not only feel complete but absolutely better than ever.

Pros

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Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake is out now on PC, Switch 1/2, PS and Xbox 

Played on Nintendo Switch 2

Code Kindly Provided by Square Enix for review purposes