Dragon Quest: let’s discover this exceptional, completely free amateur remake

The first Dragon Quest by Enix is ​​a very important title for the history of Japanese role-playing games, on par or perhaps more than the first Final Fantasy. Let’s say that it is the game that canonized the genre, making it a commercial success in Japan. Published in USA with the title of Dragon Warriorin the West it was not a great success, so much so that few people bought it, increasing the reluctance of Japanese publishers to bring other titles of the genre to our parts.

There is an official remastered edition of Dragon Quest for Nintendo Switch, but if you don’t own the Nintendo console you must necessarily turn to the world of fans to play it, either through emulation or through the excellent Dragon Quest+an amateur remake made by NightFly Studio for PC.

A great remake

According to what is reported on the official page, from which you can download it for free, Dragon Quest+ is a complete remake, with around 6-8 hours of additional content. It has been developed over the course of ten years and, last year, was launched to the delight of all enthusiasts. After launch it has been updated several times and has now reached version 1.07.

Given the nature of the project, it has not received much publicity, but slowly many are becoming aware of its existence, including us, and, above all, of its quality. Let’s hope Square Enix has nothing to say about this.

Dragon Quest+ offers the complete overhaul of some monsters, new weapons, new armor, an orchestrated soundtrack, new visitable locations inspired by Dragon Quest Monsters and Dragon Quest Monsters 2, new mini-dungeons in Alefgard and three new mini-games. Furthermore, the graphics have been improved in every possible aspect, appearing much more modern than the original, despite remaining pixel art.

Dragon Quest+ is currently compatible with Windows XP SP3, Windows 7 Pro, Windows 10 and Windows 11. It is also playable on Steam Decks, despite some small problems, fortunately in the process of being resolved. If you don’t want to risk it, wait for future updates.