Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake

I'm rather surprised it has taken so long to arrive, actually. I thought it may have shown up in Q1 2025, but we'll see. I'm happy its coming to PC via Steam at launch though. I remember reading that DQIII HD-2D (and the rest of the saga, with I and II) sales were a big deal to SQEX execs as far as what they'd bother making/localizing in the future (ie if DQ1-3 don't sell well, they won't bother with certain other projects or not bother to give them a global release), but of course nobody knows exactly how much weight to give something like that.

I wonder how much change they'll be willing to make to 1 and 2's HD-2D, especially 1. Much of the video, somewhat understandably showed DQ2's content because DQ2 involved multiple party members. DQ1 however, back in the Famicom/NES days (I still remember my original Dragon Warrior - the series Western name in the 80s and 90s - game pak granted for FREE, box, strategy guide, manual and all, via mail because I had a Nintendo Power subscription) did not, with the hero being the only member of the party. The game was also somewhat simple vs later offerings as one would expect, but has its own charm. This was the era when the "J" was being added to "RPG" especially bringing ideas from pen and paper roleplaying like Dungeons and Dragons, the hallowed early computer fantasy RPG series like Akalabeth / Ultima and Wizardry, into a Japanese console(and for that matter, PC) market. I don't expect some major overhaul vs previous versions of DQ1 lest hardcore fans lose their minds, but I am curious to see what they'll do to make the remake as engaging as possible

Those who may not be aware, Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake takes place as a prequel to 1 and 2 and is currently available.
View: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2701660/DRAGON_QUEST_III_HD2D_Remake/
 
Hoping for more info next week (Dragon Quest Day).

But yeah, outside of apparently the Princess of Cannock joining in DQII, I really don't see what they can do to really spruce up the games; they're basically what they are at this point. Outside of maybe rebalancing the monsters/zones (especially in DQI) there isn't much to be done. That being said, the III remake shows Square-Enix are at least willing to tinker, so we'll see.
 
Huh. Those bring me back. I remember playing those games as "Dragon Warrior" on the NES. I wasn't really familiar with how grinding levels worked, so I pretty much hit a wall near the end of the first game. A knight guarding some of Erdrick's shit killed me over and over until a friend of mine spent like 5 straight hours grinding levels when I loaned him the game. Pretty sure we coasted through the latter portions after that.
 
jbltecnicspro said:
Wow - I love the art style. Never played any of the games growing up.
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I've seen Squaresoft's HD-2D style described as "SNES games as you remember them, not as they really were," and I love that description. They really capture the feeling of the 16-bit pixel art era, but bring it to a new level with modern tech. I enjoyed the hell out of it in Octopath Traveler 1 and 2.
 
Sycraft said:
I've seen Squaresoft's HD-2D style described as "SNES games as you remember them, not as they really were," and I love that description. They really capture the feeling of the 16-bit pixel art era, but bring it to a new level with modern tech. I enjoyed the hell out of it in Octopath Traveler 1 and 2.
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That's actually a cool description. Too often you'll fire up an older title and it's like "Wow...this looks terrible. I don't remember this looking so rudimentary." It's cool that they're trying to capture the same vibe that you think you experienced way back when.
 
Domingo said:
Huh. Those bring me back. I remember playing those games as "Dragon Warrior" on the NES. I wasn't really familiar with how grinding levels worked, so I pretty much hit a wall near the end of the first game. A knight guarding some of Erdrick's shit killed me over and over until a friend of mine spent like 5 straight hours grinding levels when I loaned him the game. Pretty sure we coasted through the latter portions after that.
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The Axe Knight in Hauksness is a major roadblock, since it hits hard and knows Sleep. You can (slowly) whittle him down if equipped with the best equipment thus far (from Cantlin), but realistically that's the point where the game wants you level 17 (Healmore). After that you really only need two more levels to be 100% to beat the Dragonlord (assuming no MP usage through the dungeon).

Hurtmore also works, but you don't learn it until Level 20 so it's functionally useless for grinding in normal gameplay.

Can you tell I played the game a bit?
 
Domingo said:
That's actually a cool description. Too often you'll fire up an older title and it's like "Wow...this looks terrible. I don't remember this looking so rudimentary." It's cool that they're trying to capture the same vibe that you think you experienced way back when.
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Yep; in the DQIII HD-2D remake they showed very early on how using layered 3d backgrounds presented in a 2D style really lets the environment pop without distorting the original designs. I prefer the work done in the HD-2D releases to what was done for the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters.
 
gamerk2 said:
The Axe Knight in Hauksness is a major roadblock, since it hits hard and knows Sleep. You can (slowly) whittle him down if equipped with the best equipment thus far (from Cantlin), but realistically that's the point where the game wants you level 17 (Healmore). After that you really only need two more levels to be 100% to beat the Dragonlord (assuming no MP usage through the dungeon).

Hurtmore also works, but you don't learn it until Level 20 so it's functionally useless for grinding in normal gameplay.

Can you tell I played the game a bit?
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25% hit rate on Axe Knight's sleep, so if you know where you are in the RNG table you could avoid it easily.
 
Domingo said:
That's actually a cool description. Too often you'll fire up an older title and it's like "Wow...this looks terrible. I don't remember this looking so rudimentary." It's cool that they're trying to capture the same vibe that you think you experienced way back when.
Click to expand...
While partly the subjective memory of the experience of the time relative, there is also a real difference between playing on a 4:3 13-17 inch CRT and a modern 65 inch LCD (or other equivalent) 16:9 tv with black bar as well.

For exemple (by making the video small enough to be representative of the sprite during game play on a small monitor):

View: https://youtu.be/nO8sj-q_zQw?t=148

The analogue imprecision created a natural temporal anti-aliasing... people optimized for the quirk of CRT display tech quite a bit.
 
Domingo said:
That's actually a cool description. Too often you'll fire up an older title and it's like "Wow...this looks terrible. I don't remember this looking so rudimentary." It's cool that they're trying to capture the same vibe that you think you experienced way back when.
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Yep, the "rose colored glasses" of memory is very real. When we were young, and didn't have the context of what we have now, this shit seemed AMAZING. Now, not as much. This helps recapture that magic and I'm here for it.

I've had similar experience with soundtracks. I remember hearing a Roland SoundCanvas SC-55 back in the day and holy crap, it sounds TOTALLY REAL, just like a real orchestra was playing! ... Ya not so much. Hearing it these days it is amazing how rudimentary it sounds compared to good modern samples. But in my childhood mind, and on the cheap speakers that I was using, it sounded real.

LukeTbk said:
The analogue imprecision created a natural temporal anti-aliasing... people optimized for the quirk of CRT display tech quite a bit.
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True, but we can recreate that these days, either with a real CRT or good filters, and what you discover is that while it does smear over the details and thus create anti-aliasing which your brain fills in, it just looks low rez and blurry compared to what we are now used to.
 
LukeTbk said:
While partly the subjective memory of the experience of the time relative, there is also a real difference between playing on a 4:3 13-17 inch CRT and a modern 65 inch LCD (or other equivalent) 16:9 tv with black bar as well.

For exemple (by making the video small enough to be representative of the sprite during game play on a small monitor):

View: https://youtu.be/nO8sj-q_zQw?t=148

The analogue imprecision created a natural temporal anti-aliasing... people optimized for the quirk of CRT display tech quite a bit.
Click to expand...

I actually prefer the clean "pixel perfect" look. You want to talk about "rose colored" glasses, this obsession with how old games looked on CRT displays is peak. The only reason to use a CRT is for instantaneous input response. That video just reminds me of how much I don't miss the eyestrain of scanlines on a CRT.
 
Armenius said:
I actually prefer the clean "pixel perfect" look. You want to talk about "rose colored" glasses, this obsession with how old games looked on CRT displays is peak. The only reason to use a CRT is for instantaneous input response. That video just reminds me of how much I don't miss the eyestrain of scanlines on a CRT.
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Yes I was going to say, different does not mean better, but remember it was on a small tv that you look from a distance.
Sycraft said:
it just looks low rez and blurry compared to what we are now used to.
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That video show that quite well I think, looking at video filmed on a crt does not hide it.
 
October 30.

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Not a fan of the 3d artwork in these remakes.

Where octopath's combined beautifully with the 2d pixel aesthetics, I feel that the dragon quest remakes' can gratingly collide.
 
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LukeTbk said:
While partly the subjective memory of the experience of the time relative, there is also a real difference between playing on a 4:3 13-17 inch CRT and a modern 65 inch LCD (or other equivalent) 16:9 tv with black bar as well.

For exemple (by making the video small enough to be representative of the sprite during game play on a small monitor):

View: https://youtu.be/nO8sj-q_zQw?t=148

The analogue imprecision created a natural temporal anti-aliasing... people optimized for the quirk of CRT display tech quite a bit.
Click to expand...

I think the crt (old) look is way better. The devs knew CRTs would sorta boost or alter colors, dithering, edges and whatnot, so they designed around that. the clean pixel look version of those old games end up looking flat in comparison. very similar to how the color pallet in early GBA games were very designed to be brighter to compensate for the very dim screen of the handheld (example: Mario World SNES vs GBA )
 
Armenius said:

View: https://youtube.com/watch?v=7jxaj7yIUhA
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This is very promising they're taking the time to expand things, even DQ1 which has of course limited other characters since you play solo. DQ1 combat going up against multiple enemies is a nice overhaul. I am very pleased that your weapons visually change in combat - its a little thing but ever since I was playing on those consoles of my youth I've always liked seeing armor and weapons change so this is nice to see. I wonder if the armor will always look the same but the weapons (and shields?) will vary. DQ2 has a lot more added and so far so good. They did a nice job with DQIII, and with the news of the DQVII remake, I wonder if they'll now remake IV-VI which are a series related in the same way I-III are.
 
RanceJustice said:
This is very promising they're taking the time to expand things, even DQ1 which has of course limited other characters since you play solo. DQ1 combat going up against multiple enemies is a nice overhaul. I am very pleased that your weapons visually change in combat - its a little thing but ever since I was playing on those consoles of my youth I've always liked seeing armor and weapons change so this is nice to see. I wonder if the armor will always look the same but the weapons (and shields?) will vary. DQ2 has a lot more added and so far so good. They did a nice job with DQIII, and with the news of the DQVII remake, I wonder if they'll now remake IV-VI which are a series related in the same way I-III are.
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They probably will if these two are a success.
 
RanceJustice said:
This is very promising they're taking the time to expand things, even DQ1 which has of course limited other characters since you play solo. DQ1 combat going up against multiple enemies is a nice overhaul. I am very pleased that your weapons visually change in combat - its a little thing but ever since I was playing on those consoles of my youth I've always liked seeing armor and weapons change so this is nice to see. I wonder if the armor will always look the same but the weapons (and shields?) will vary. DQ2 has a lot more added and so far so good. They did a nice job with DQIII, and with the news of the DQVII remake, I wonder if they'll now remake IV-VI which are a series related in the same way I-III are.
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I'd expect yes; Hori already stated that a number of projects were ongoing, and the VII remake was the next one that finished. I fully expect remakes for IV-VI and IX eventually.
 
I hope to see X Offline get a North American release. There is a fan translation of it, though.
 
Finished I and halfway through II. Some initial thoughts about I in particular:

  • I may as well be a whole new game
  • I has become BY FAR the hardest in the series, to the point where I feel a rebalance patch is needed in the future
  • I's boss fights are a lot more tactical, and difficult. Major difficulty spike after the Green Dragon fight
  • The added story bits do what they need to do, but really aren't that vital in the grand scheme of things
Withholding judgment until I finish II.
 
I am liking I a lot so far. Started playing last night and got up to getting the Thief Key. Got to that just when I was asking where magic keys are in this version.
 
gamerk2 said:
Finished I and halfway through II. Some initial thoughts about I in particular:

  • I may as well be a whole new game
  • I has become BY FAR the hardest in the series, to the point where I feel a rebalance patch is needed in the future
  • I's boss fights are a lot more tactical, and difficult. Major difficulty spike after the Green Dragon fight
  • The added story bits do what they need to do, but really aren't that vital in the grand scheme of things
Withholding judgment until I finish II.
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Yeah, with the original games, never had too much of a problem.

With part 1 though, after a specific point, I found that I needed to spam Cop Out over and over on bosses. That is, get enough magical defense to avoid any non physical attacks, and spam cop out to reflect their physical attacks, and heal when you're starting to get injured. Otherwise, even with the best gear and over leveled, you just won't do nearly as much damage.
 
Nytegard said:
Yeah, with the original games, never had too much of a problem.

With part 1 though, after a specific point, I found that I needed to spam Cop Out over and over on bosses. That is, get enough magical defense to avoid any non physical attacks, and spam cop out to reflect their physical attacks, and heal when you're starting to get injured. Otherwise, even with the best gear and over leveled, you just won't do nearly as much damage.
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Throw in Defending Champion for a handful of bosses (Spiketail).

But yes, the game *really* forces you to play defensive, and I personally don't like it.
 
gamerk2 said:
Finished I and halfway through II. Some initial thoughts about I in particular:

  • I may as well be a whole new game
  • I has become BY FAR the hardest in the series, to the point where I feel a rebalance patch is needed in the future
  • I's boss fights are a lot more tactical, and difficult. Major difficulty spike after the Green Dragon fight
  • The added story bits do what they need to do, but really aren't that vital in the grand scheme of things
Withholding judgment until I finish II.
Click to expand...

i feel even the orginial had a difficulty spike after the green dragon.
 
Bigbacon said:
i feel even the orginial had a difficulty spike after the green dragon.
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There are only 3 bosses in the original Dragon Quest. The NES Dragon Lord (final boss) has 100 hp for the first form and 130 hp for the second form.

The NES Golem has 70 hp. In the remake, he has 2070 hp.

But your normal attacks will cap out at about 60-70 dps for melee, and maybe 100-130 for magic spells/abilities (except for Giga Slash). On the NES, you'd do about 10-20 damage to him. So, on the NES, it would take 5-7 hits, whereas here, it would take at least 3x as many. This is where you go for Cop Out, because Cop Out will do 200-300 damage to him.

And that's one of the major flaws with the game is that enemies can do significantly more damage to you than you can possibly do to them. (And by reflective damage, they can do significantly more damage to themselves as well).
 
The original boiled down to exchanging blows until one of you died. Dragonlord 2nd form was attack, healmore, ad nauseam, maybe get a second attack if he didn't use his breath attack. I like that there is more depth here.
 
Armenius said:
The original boiled down to exchanging blows until one of you died. Dragonlord 2nd form was attack, healmore, ad nauseam, maybe get a second attack if he didn't use his breath attack. I like that there is more depth here.
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I don't mind strategy.

Mainly I'm just saying there needs to be balance. My main form of damage shouldn't be reflecting enemy damage.
 
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