Ugh, so I finally get around to Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake on my Switch this month. Never tried the original, so here’s what hit me: One, the sprites? Mind-blowing. Like, seriously, eye-candy level. But, two, and no shock here, right? It’s a grind fest. Feels like those retro games loved making you work for it, unless you flip to that “Dracky Mode”—yeah, I totally bailed into that.
So I played this after peeking at a Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake demo on a PS5 at PAX East 2025 (yeah, just this month). Wanted some context before spilling everything in this preview. It’s different, short on the mechanics chat, because they’re doing something kinda cool conceptually.
Get this: in Dragon Quest I’s demo part, I wander from town to field to cave. Fight stuff, nothing groundbreaking, but wow, it’s gorgeous. They tweaked it a bit so you can fight more monsters at once, got to admit, that adds a nice little twist on the old vibe.
Then there’s II. Gorgeous again, and, funny enough, it felt more like the III remake—low camera angles, voiced cutscenes, the works. Which is perfect, because the original II? Let’s just say opinions are split. It’s like this awkward middle child, stuck between grind-heavy Dragon Quest and the grander Dragon Quest III.
Now, in just a few demo minutes, not a ton to say. BUT if they’ve bumped up II like they did with III—speedy battles, different difficulty settings, making it comfy all around—then fans who sorta love-hate II might find this the way to go.
Anyway, concept stuff, what hit me was how they’re making I & II feel like proper sequels to III. In this trilogy, III has Erdrick, serving as a prequel to I and II, led by his descendants. So it’s all about visual vibes and new bits of story/gameplay to tie them together, making the III to I to II journey feel, I dunno, cohesive?
Had a chat with someone from Square Enix—I’ll paraphrase a bit—playing both remakes feels like Dragon Quest III, length-wise, if you roll on normal difficulty (30-40 hours, give or take). And that rep? Super pumped over making Dragon Quest II more chill to play, focusing hard on those updates.
Today’s Dragon Quest Day, by the way. Square Enix just dropped the news that I & II HD-2D Remake’s heading out (even on Switch 2!), October 30. My quick take? Looks like they nailed it just like with III! But, dig a little deeper, and you see Square Enix aiming big here—definitely something to keep tabs on.
