Dragon Quest I and II HD, the return to the origins of a classic!
by Simon Larocca·August 25, 2025
My first taste of the multifaceted world of Dragon Quest did not come through a NES controller, but rather in the schoolroom. It was a classmate of mine who passed me the first issue of the manga Dai-The Great Adventure, a classic that opened my eyes to how to write a story capable of intriguing readers from the very first pages.
The adventures of Dai are part of the epic Dragon Quest saga, a JRPG video game series that, together with its “cousins” Final Fantasy, defined a generation of role-playing gamers, laying the foundations for any RPG released in the years that followed.
Il 30 ottobre 2025, Square Enix will return to its origins by bringing back the first two seminal chapters of the franchise created by his majesty Yuji Horii, which represents for the world of RPGs and video games in general what Akira Toriyama symbolizes for the shonen genre in the world. It is no coincidence that I mentioned the master of Dragon Ball: his style is unmistakable, and in fact it was he who worked on the character design of the monsters that invade the dungeons and forests of DQ!
Ma it is to Horii that we owe many of the components necessary for every JRPG (but not only those of strictly Eastern origin) that have reached us in modern times: a wannabe hero (‘from zero to hero’, from zero to hero, a basic narrative element in fantasy) and a global threat and… yes, there they are: random battles within the game map!
Being remastered in HD and faithful in every respect to their original counterparts, released in 1986 and 1987 respectively, we will find all the strengths and weaknesses that are part of the saga, plus a nice batch of new features for the occasion that will surely, I am as sure of this as a save point placed right next to a boss fight, spark controversy between old and new school.
Fermo restando che, let me say, buying a role-playing game and not appreciating random encounters at all is like walking into a pizzeria and ordering only a little salad.
But the real highlight of every respectable story is, precisely, the story itself, the plot that springs from the brilliant guys at Chunsoft, a development studio full of talented game designers, and the one that gave me Shiren The Wanderer, a title that may not be brand new but that I would recommend to anyone.
Dragon Quest and Dragon Quest II make up the two parts of a trilogy dedicated to Erdrick, a very important character in DQ mythology because he was the one who anciently freed the kingdom of Alufgard and who, at the time of the events of the first chapter of the series, is in fact a figure venerated by the people and a role model for every little boy who wants to aspire to greatness while playing with wooden swords and imaginary battles against slimes and vampbats, among the most iconic monsters in the vast bestiary that the series offers.
As a descendant of his, we will in effect retrace the footsteps and deeds of the illustrious predecessor, with the aim of restoring peace to the world.
If you think it’s too old-school, well, you’re right: this title and the second one, which will also be re-released on Switch 2, as already mentioned, laid the groundwork for any RPG to come; DQ is, in a sense, the template used by other legendary series like Grandia, Xenogears, and the more recent Octopath Traveler and even Persona (I really wanted to keep the pun).
The question we all ask ourselves, though, is this: will a complete restyling of the game backgrounds, the pixel art graphics revamped in HD, and the remastered soundtrack be enough to give us back that sense of epicness that was sewn into our skin when we played it at the time of its release?
We will be the ones to answer, playing and immersing ourselves once again in the world of Dragon Quest.
Simon Larocca
Mi chiamo Simon Larocca, e sono un videogiocatore, collezionista e amante della cultura pop in tutte le sue forme. Vado al cinema ogni volta che posso, leggo da quando porto gli occhiali, quindi da sempre, e ho la passione per lo storytelling in tutte le sue forme, così dirompente da farla diventare una professione. Ma come direbbe Doc di Ritorno al Futuro, non ci sarebbe presente se non si guardasse al passato con rispetto e ammirazione, ed è il Simon bambino di più di trent’anni fa, anno più anno meno.
Simon Larocca
Mi chiamo Simon Larocca, e sono un videogiocatore, collezionista e amante della cultura pop in tutte le sue forme. Vado al cinema ogni volta che posso, leggo da quando porto gli occhiali, quindi da sempre, e ho la passione per lo storytelling in tutte le sue forme, così dirompente da farla diventare una professione. Ma come direbbe Doc di Ritorno al Futuro, non ci sarebbe presente se non si guardasse al passato con rispetto e ammirazione, ed è il Simon bambino di più di trent’anni fa, anno più anno meno.
TGMGrading
Grade your titles
Inspection, sub-grades, seal and display case: every grade comes with the method behind it, written down in full.
