Dragon Quest II

Dragon Quest II
Japan
Developer(s)	Chunsoft
Publisher(s)	Enix Square Enix (Current)
Release Date(s)
Nintendo Entertainment System	NA: September 1990 JP: January 26, 1987
Nintendo Entertainment System	NA: September 1990 JP: January 26, 1987
Super Famicom	JP: December 18, 1993
Super Famicom	JP: December 18, 1993
Game Boy Color	NA: September 2000 JP: September 23, 1999
Game Boy Color	NA: September 2000 JP: September 23, 1999
Nintendo Switch	NA: September 27, 2019 JP: September 27, 2019 EU: September 27, 2019 AU: September 27, 2019
Nintendo Switch	NA: September 27, 2019 JP: September 27, 2019 EU: September 27, 2019 AU: September 27, 2019
Platform(s)
Genre(s)	Role-Playing Game
Rating(s)
ESRB	05
PEGI	03
CERO	01
USK	02
ACB	02

Dragon Quest II is a RPG that was initially released for the NES in Japan on January 26, 1987. It is the second installment of the Dragon Quest series.

Gameplay

Dragon Quest II is a role-playing video game. It allows the player to control more than one character, each of whom has their own characteristics, and it is the first game in the Dragon Quest series to do so. The game introduced a party system where, instead of beginning the game with an entire party as was common in previous computer RPGs, the player begins the game with only one character and gradually recruits more party members during the course of the game. The player controls his or her characters as they move in the game world. They can search treasure chests, talk and trade with villagers, equip themselves with weapons and armor, and cast spells.

While wandering fields, towers, caves, seas, and dungeons, the player randomly encounters monsters, after which the game shifts to battle mode. The game's battle mode introduces groups of monsters, which is an upgrade from the one-on-one battles of Dragon Quest. In the battle mode, the player gives orders to the characters on how to fight the monsters. Once the player defeats all of the monsters, the characters gain experience points and gold. The experience points raise the characters' experience levels. This improves the characters' attributes, and they may also learn new spells.

To win, the player must fight monsters to improve the characters' experience levels and get gold to buy better weapons and armor. Eventually, the player's characters become strong enough to make it to the next town or dungeon. This repeats until the player reaches the final boss and defeats him. However, the gameplay is not necessarily linear, especially after the player gets the boat. Exploration is a key component of the game. The game offers a few spots to save the game. In most of the towns, talking to a king or minister saves the game. In the American version, which incorporated a battery for saved games rather than the password system of the original, talking to the king also allows for the deletion and moving of saved games.

Dragon Quest II is noted for greatly expanding upon the gameplay of the previous game, Dragon Quest. The game is the first in the series to feature multiple heroes and enemies in a battle, as well as a sailing ship. It also allowed the player to land the ship anywhere, making it possible to explore the entire game world in an open-ended manner. It included other new gameplay features such as weapons which cast spells when used in battles. Compared with its predecessor, Dragon Warrior II offers a wider array of spells and items and a much larger world. The game also expanded the inventory management system of its predecessor by giving each character an individual inventory that holds up to eight items, placing a greater emphasis on conservative item management between the characters.

Plot

Dragon Quest II is set 100 years after Dragon Quest. A century of peace is suddenly ended when the evil wizard Hargon destroys the country of Moonbrooke. One lone guard, an injured survivor of the attack, makes his way towards the kingdom of Lorasia. There with his dying breath he informs the king of the dire circumstances. The king then commands his son, the prince of Lorasia and a descendant of Erdrick (also known as Loto in the GBC English localization), to defeat Hargon.

The prince is not alone on his quest. He has two cousins, the prince of Cannock and the princess of Moonbrooke. However, he must find them first. The prince of Cannock already left on a similar journey, and the princess of Moonbrooke was in the castle of Moonbrooke when it was attacked. It is up to the prince of Lorasia to find them, join together, and defeat Hargon.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	GBC: 82%
Review scores
Publication	Score
Famitsu	FC: 38/40 SFC: 35/40 GBC: 30/40
GameSpot	9.6/10
IGN	8/10
Nintendo Power	8/10

The game had both critical and financial success upon release in Japan. However, the game was not nearly as popular in North America.

Sales

The original version on the Famicom sold about 2.4 million units in Japan. However, its NES counterpart sold about 150,000 units (for context, Earthbound sold about 140,000 units on the SNES). The Japan-only Super Famicom remake sold about 1.15 million units.[1]

Trivia

• Dragon Quest Builders 2 is a direct sequel to this title.