how Square Enix rebuilt two classic games for a new generation – PlayStation.Blog

Dragon Quest is one of the most acclaimed and influential series in gaming. If you’ve ever played a Japanese (or Japanese-inspired) RPG, it probably owes a debt to this amazing franchise.

And it all started with Dragon Quest I and Dragon Quest II.

These games captivated players by sending them on epic adventures across expansive worlds full of imaginative locales, while battling all manner of monsters. It was an experience like few others.

New Gameplay Overview Trailer offers a look at exploration, combat, party lineup, and more.

Now these games are hitting PlayStation consoles for the first time in Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake. These are no simple retro revivals though – both games have been fully remade and enhanced, with new features that make them feel fresh and modern without sacrificing their original charm.

They’ve been rebuilt in the stunning HD-2D visual style made famous by series like Octopath Traveler, and feature additional content, gameplay improvements, tons of quality-of-life features like objective markers and auto-battle features and much more.

It’s basically two of the most respected RPGs ever made, but made better. If you’re a fan of the genre, they’re a must-play.

But what went into the game and their many enhancements? We spoke to Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake Producer Masaaki Hayasaka to find out:

Why did you decide to remake Dragon Quest I and II?

There have been lots of ports and remasters of Dragon Quest I, II and III released over the years, but there hasn’t been a full remake in a very long time.  Octopath Traveler established the HD-2D graphical style, and with HD-2D graphics, the more retro a game is, the more its true value is revealed. Since the titles that make up the Erdrick trilogy are the most retro of all the Dragon Quest titles, and the starting point of the franchise as a whole, we realised that the HD-2D style would be a perfect fit, and so we resolved to remake them.

Why did you decide to include both remakes in one package?

The main reasons behind this were to do with the practicalities of production. If we had decided to release Dragon Quest I and II as separate titles, then there would have been a lot to consider: like how we price the games appropriately for the amount of content, how that pricing would affect players’ perceptions of the games, what to do about release windows etc. Another big factor behind this decision was that releasing both games as a single set would mean that we could present players with a package that wraps up the Erdrick Trilogy quicker than having two separate releases. Making everything separately would have taken much more time.

Why did you feel that HD-2D was the right visual style to rebuild these games?

As I mentioned previously, the more retro a game is, the more HD-2D really shows its true value. Having worked on HD-2D titles ever since the launch of  Octopath Traveler, I got to see for myself how the HD-2D style came into existence, and how it was received by the world. Also, the Live a Live remake—also made by Square Enix’s Team Asano—was the first instance of a HD-2D remake title, and that was very well received, so it gave me confidence as I embarked on this project.

It’s a very beautiful game. How did you approach the challenge of turning 2D environments into visually impressive 3D ones?

The most difficult thing about converting 2D into 3D was the environments. For this remake, we more-or-less adhered to the structures of the environments from the original game, from the placement of the buildings in the towns to the positioning and path making of the staircases in the dungeons (I would love for someone to look at the environments from directly above and compare them with the original game!). 

So even though the game’s visuals have been changed significantly, I wanted people who played the original game to still be able to rely on their memories of it — to be able to say, “I seem to remember that if I go over here, then I’ll find this thing… Yep! There it is!”. Taking aspects of the original game that were designed in 2D and recreating them in 3D while still preserving the structure of the original really puts your level-design skills to the test, but the map team and the planning team did a fantastic job, which meant that we were able to achieve just what we set out to do.

Why did you decide to release this after Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake?

When I think about I, II and III, I think that Dragon Quest III was the most complete title out of the three, including in terms of its game mechanics. Dragon Quest III was also a cultural phenomenon in Japan, and I had some discussions with Yuji Horii in which he said he’d like to see the Erdrick Trilogy remade with Dragon Quest III coming out first as a sort of entry point, so that was how the Dragon Quest III remake got started. So it was decided at the very beginning of the project that we wanted the games to be played in the order III, I, II.

Do you need to have played Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake to enjoy these games?

Dragon Quests I, II and III all tell standalone stories, so of course players can enjoy these games without having played Dragon Quest III. However, these remakes offer a fresh retelling of the story of Erdrick in chronological order starting with Dragon Quest III, followed by I and II, and there are certain twists and turns in store that will be particularly surprising if you play the games in that order, so I would like for people to play the HD-2D remakes in the order III, I, II, and from a developer standpoint as well, I recommend playing them in that order!

Why do you think Dragon Quest I and II still hold up as great games, even so many years later?

I think a big part of it could be that these titles hold the distinction of being the starting point of the Dragon Quest series, which has endured for around 40 years, as well as the starting point of JRPGs themselves. I think that you could say this of other IPs as well, but when you find a series that you like, you naturally reach a point where you want to play the first title in the series. On top of that, Dragon Quest was a pioneering title that influenced many of the JRPGs that came after it. And so when people actually try Dragon Quests I and II for themselves and get a sense of all these elements that have appeared again in all kinds of JRPGs, I think they come to understand why it’s such a masterpiece.

For many people, particularly regions outside Japan and America, this will be their first time experiencing these games. Why should RPG fans be excited to play these titles?

Recently, a lot of RPGs have adopted more action gameplay elements, but this remake respects the original, and it’s presented in a classic command-battle RPG style. The enemy encounters are random as well, rather than being triggered by walking up to monsters on the map. So conversely, titles like this are actually rare nowadays, and it feels like we may have gone full circle, to the point that they’re now considered fresh again. As I mentioned previously, these games have influenced a huge number of JRPGs—it isn’t really possible to talk about JRPGs without mentioning them—so I believe that people are going to find them really interesting to play, precisely because of when they’re coming out.

What were your key priorities when you started development of these games?

When we were working on the recent HD-2D remake of Dragon Quest III, our goal was to avoid tampering with the original as far as possible, and to only add a little embellishment. For this title, however, our approach was that we could change as much as we wanted to, as long as the core of the game was still intact, and we placed great importance on the knowledge that we could make changes. That being said, if we had made too many changes, then we would have transformed the game into something completely different. But if we had restricted ourselves too much on what we could change, then people would have said, “why not just play the original?”. So we were particularly careful about finding that balance, and I think that in the end, we landed on something that is really good.

How have you made these games more convenient for modern players?

When we were working on the Dragon Quest III remake, we did a lot of work to improve playability. We added an autosave feature, a quick restart following a game over, location guides, destination markers, difficulty options, enemy weakness indicators, UI control improvements etc., etc. And for this game we have also included the Short-Cut Commands feature, which allows players to set shortcuts for their favourite commands to specific buttons, which should scratch the itch for most players. So I think that this game offers an appropriate level of user-friendliness for a modern title.

Both games feature additional scenarios. Why did you want to add these into the games?

The original games were obviously released in the order I, II, III, but as I said earlier, we’re releasing them in the order III, I, II this time around. The revelation that the original Dragon Quest III had a narrative connection with Dragon Quest I was hugely impactful, but we couldn’t replicate that in the remakes. So instead, we decided to release them in the order that the events of the Erdrick Trilogy take place, starting with III, followed by I and II, and we decided to make the most of this by adding some new story elements.

Without spoiling anything, what additional story elements do people have to look forward to in the games?

I think the phrase, “epic conclusion” just about sums it up. We added some elements of foreshadowing in the recent Dragon Quest III remake, including some mysteries that don’t get tied up in that game, and for this title, we have incorporated all sorts of content: some things that aren’t addressed at all in the original game, some things that we think fans of the original will be curious to know more about, and some twists that I don’t think anybody will see coming. I think that there are quite a few surprises in store for anyone playing this game. I can’t wait to hear what everybody makes of this once the game is out.

How difficult was it to add elements to these games so that they felt natural, but didn’t detract from the original charm?

During development, we had to keep in mind that we wanted to strike the balance between making changes wherever we saw fit, without undermining the original game, so this was something that was constantly playing on our minds. However, we also had Horii-san on our side, so we were constantly having discussions with him, and we were able to move forwards with development one step at a time.

Why have you added the Princess of Cannock as a new playable character in Dragon Quest II?

We wanted to come up with something that would make this title stand out. There are a lot of examples of remakes of mainline Dragon Quest titles adding new vocations or new party members, and we were aware that these had been very well received by fans. The recent remake of Dragon Quest III included the new monster wrangler vocation. Since this game is a sequel to Dragon Quest III, we knew that we had to come up with a standout new feature that measured up to the monster wrangler, and so we came up with this idea for the Princess of Cannock. She appears in the original game as well, and just like the game’s protagonist, she too is a descendant of Erdrick, so there was a lot of speculation among fans that she might become a party character at some point. I don’t think there’s anybody better suited to the role than her.

What lessons did you learn from Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake and how have they helped you develop this title?

Dragon Quest III taught me that everybody has their own opinions on what they think a remake title should look like. The more famous a game is, the greater the variety of people’s opinions about what they expect to be included and what would be the best approach. And this isn’t just true of players; it’s true of developers as well. It’s physically impossible to satisfy everyone’s desires for a remake, so you have to try and find the best approach that you think will please fans the most, while also taking into account time constraints and the limitations of the game structure as well. 

The scope for what we’re changing is much bigger for this remake of Dragon Quest I and II than it was for the Dragon Quest III remake, so the decision-making process for which of those opinions we adopt and which we disregard was considerably more difficult. That being said, our stance during development was always to take the approach that we knew would please the largest number of people.

What have been the most challenging things about developing Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake?

That would have to be the story. For RPGs, the story is the root out of which everything else grows. The environments, character sprites and other aspects of the game are the branches and leaves that grow out of that root, so development can’t move forwards until the story is decided upon. The more you tweak the story, the more difficult it is to remake the game, and for this game we certainly made some major enhancements to the story. We spent a lot of time on the story, including discussions and tweaks with Horii-san, so I think you could say that this was a pretty major challenge.

How did you overcome these challenges?

A lot of very dependable staff joined the project partway through, both internally and externally. Thanks to them we were somehow able to figure it out. If those people hadn’t joined the project, then I think it would still be unfinished even now. I think that this is true of any project, and not just games, but ultimately it all depends on the talents of each individual member of the team. I am truly grateful to each and every member of this team.

What are you most excited for fans to discover when they play Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake?

I can’t reveal any details yet, but I think that the new story content will really resonate with a lot of Dragon Quest fans, regardless of whether they’ve played the original or not. I hope fans will look forward to this. Also, just like with the Dragon Quest III remake, Dragon Quests I and II feature a lot of famous lines of dialogue, events and characters. Try to spot all the different references as you play through the main story!

I hope that people will really enjoy this title that serves as both the starting point of the Dragon Quest franchise, and the starting point of JRPGs in general! And I also hope that people will enjoy seeing the story of Erdrick through to its conclusion! 

Many thanks to Hayasaka-san for answering our many questions about the game. Here’s one more you might have: when can I play it?!

Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake launches October 30, 2025 on PS5. It’s available to preorder now – we can’t wait for you to discover what these two games have in store!