Dragon Quest I, II, and III recommended play order — HD-2D Remakes and originals
Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake is now available following last year's release of Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake. There has been a lot of discussion around why Square Enix remade and released Dragon Quest III before I and II. In addition to being a chronological prequel within the trilogy, Dragon Quest III is also the most popular of the three.
Business decisions aside, Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake just released this week and when looking at the post-game content included in the remakes, Dragon Quest II HD-2D Remake is very much set up to be the final of the trilogy without getting into spoilers. The way Square Enix gives you a save data bonus in Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake for having Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake saves on the same platform is another reason why it is worth playing Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake first.
What order to play Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake and Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake?
In an interview with the PlayStation Blog, Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake Producer Masaaki Hayasaka even mentioned how he had discussions with Yuji Horii who wanted to see Dragon Quest III being remade as sort of an entry point. The developers then decided that they wanted the games to be played as III, I, and II last. Masaaki Hayasaka even said he recommends playing the games in that order.
What order to play Dragon Quest I, Dragon Quest II, and Dragon Quest III
It is worth noting that this applies to the remakes with the original Dragon Quest I, II, and III (all available in the West on mobile or Nintendo Switch) tell standalone stories so the originals for I and II can be enjoyed without playing III. You can read Masaaki Hayasaka's full quote from the interview below:
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!
Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC (Steam, Xbox on PC). You can find all our Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake guides here including our complete walkthroughs of Dragon Quest I and Dragon Quest II HD-2D Remake, all Mini Medals (DQ1 and DQ2), Scroll locations (DQ1 and DQ2), and much more.