Dragon Quest I&II HD-2D Remake (2025)

[Julius]

WHAT?!

Horii the biggest industry insider confirmed? 

Edited June 18, 2024 by Julius

[Jonnas]

I really like DQ1, and I believe DQ2 has a lot of room for improvement. Looking forward to see what comes of this!

[Dcubed]

Weird that they're releasing these remakes in story order, rather than release order, but ok.

Excited to finally see these games get the quality remakes they deserve, and none of that mobile port junk!

[Julius]

The Steam Page for the game is already up, and with it comes a super clean and presentable image of the protagonists for the first two games with Erdrick nicely cropped out and the logos popped in, and it looks real good. 

For whatever reason that wasn't on the S-E press release page so I'm not sure if someone working on the Steam page jumped the gun or went the extra mile, but I'll take it! 

1 hour ago, Dcubed said:

Weird that they're releasing these remakes in story order, rather than release order, but ok.

Eh, Konami seem to be doing the same thing with how they're starting over with Snake Eater, too. 

I think it makes some sense when the story is known and has been for a few decades in the case of Snake Eater and the Erdrick trilogy, just to reorder things to make it approachable for newcomers. It does expose them to potential issues with story payoff if there's something in that later game that's now coming first, but I think there are other ways they could manage that, too. 

[Jonnas]

I personally feel like the original order (1, then 2, then 3) makes sense, and builds into the most satisfying climax... But Horii-san asked really nicely to play it in this new order, so I'm okay with it.

[Ike]

I think they did III first because of DQXI.

DQ1 is pretty short so they probably realised development won’t take too long and you may as well do DQII while you’re at it.

[Julius]

Seems like some details went under the radar from TGS this year which might go some way to explaining the released order of the HD-2D Erdrick Trilogy. 

Per Automaton, reporting based on Famitsu:

Quote

During Tokyo Game Show 2024, Dragon Quest series' creator Yuji Horii hinted that the upcoming Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake will include additional elements that will be a "new discovery" for players and come as a "bit of a surprise" (as reported by Famitsu).

Quote

The original Dragon Quest, Dragon Quest 2 and Dragon Quest 3 were released in 1986,1987 and 1988 respectively. However, Dragon Quest 3 was a prequel story, so in terms of chronology, the titles are ordered 3 → 1 → 2. Square Enix's upcoming HD-2D remake trilogy takes this into account, as the remake of Dragon Quest 3 is set to launch first, in November this year, while Dragon Quest 1 and 2 will follow in 2025.

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Horii mentions that he wanted the new playing order of the trilogy to contain a surprise for players, which led to some new elements being added. It seems that the end of the Dragon Quest 2 remake in particular will give players who are going in story-order some kind of unexpected revelation.

Very curious.

Like @Ike mentioned, the remake of III was teased in XI, so perhaps some sort of tie-in to the Zenithian Trilogy (or later games) in order to tease those games being revisited in a similar way? Or heck, maybe it's even setting up XII in some weird way? 

[Glen-i]

35 minutes ago, Julius said:

Yuji Horii hinted

Who let him out again? The guy just can't help himself!

Oh man, I wish this wasn't releasing a mere week after Mario & Luigi. Might not be able to play it straight away (I mean, I could, but generally, playing 2 RPG's at once isn't the wisest move).

[Julius]

Still just 2025, but today's teaser trailer from the Direct:

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Erdrick's legacy is passed down through the ages.

DRAGON QUEST & HD-2D Remake isa stunning reimagination of the first two legendary adventures in The Erdrick Trilogy, brought together in one package.

New adventures await the descendants of the hero, Erdrick!

Coming to Nintendo Switch", PlayStation®5, Xbox Series X|S, Steam®, Microsoft Store on Windows in 2025.

 

[Julius]

Firstly, think this looks incredible. Still waiting on that release date so I can figure out when I'm playing III HD-2D (though honestly I might just play it over the summer...if it gets a Switch 2 boost I might even play it on a handheld!)

My favourite touch from the trailer was at the end, with the 'III' splitting into the 'I' and 'II' in the logo – such a simple yet effective way to speak to those characters being descendants of Erdrick, and the games taking place after III.

Super classy. Reminiscent of that initial reveal for I & II following the latest trailer for III where they continued to pan from the art for Erdrick to unveil the heroes of I & II. 

[Ike]

So my theory is that the "new" character is the Princess of Cannock based on that they meet in the castle and the Hero is alone so it's probably when he's searching for the Prince. Plus is keeps it inline with the theme of the game. And they are both blonde.

She doesn't seem to appear in the cutscenes though so not sure if she's actually in the party properly or it's some new side quest. Plus it looks like she's standing apart from the main party in the key art which seems a bit sus.