40
There’s a lot to be desired for Dragon Quest II, both as a game and as a port. Considering the final stretch of the game, it’s a difficult one to recommend and spend your time on when Dragon Quest III and Dragon Quest XI are on the same system. While it's great that Switch fans now have access to more Dragon Quest goodness than ever before, this one is a reminder that even the best franchises experience growing pains, and is only suitable for diehard Dragon Quest fans only.
70
Dragon Quest II is still a great improvement over its predecessor, but the game falls short when compared to what the current gaming market has to offer.
60
Upon revisiting the world of Dragon Quest II after a long hiatus, I still found it enjoyable, yet it no longer feels like the epic tale it was long ago. A world that felt so large in its day now feels both short and sweet and somehow also prolonged with unnecessary backtracking and excessive enemy encounters. Nonetheless, the Nintendo Switch version of Dragon Quest II is a fine-tuned port of an old game, with better graphics, music, and solid gameplay. Fans of the series and retro-enthusiasts may find enjoyment with this title, but newcomers to the series may find some of the story and gameplay elements archaic and outdated.
9
Best RPG on the NES. Balance achieved through playtesting with a fixed party is an absolute delight. World feels huge, and thoughtfully designed around sailing. Monster progression is amazing and rewarding. Dungeons, on the other hand, are not great, and are the one thing FF1 does better than DW2. *Review for OG NES version, which has no entry here.
6
Dragon Quest II definitely improves on the first one — bigger world, three party members, more variety overall. But honestly? I think I had more fun with the first **** graphics and sound are basically the same, and the command system hasn’t changed either. The big difference is that now you’ve got three characters, which adds a bit of strategy… but also slows everything down. Inputting commands outside of combat can be tedious, especially at first, though you get more used to it over **** world is bigger, which is cool, but also super easy to get lost in. The game gives you barely any hints, so you end up wandering around a lot, not knowing where to go. On the upside, you level up naturally just by exploring, so grinding isn’t as painful as in the first one. Still, it’s common to reach a dungeon, get your butt kicked, and have to backtrack to heal before trying again. Later areas also love throwing maze-like layouts at you.Story-wise, it’s still pretty basic. There’s a bit more going on than in the first game, but it’s still very simple — though it keeps that same old-school charm.
4
Easily the worst Dragon Quest game I've played, I don't recommend playing this game because it hates the player till the bitter end. A rough start of nothing but grinding to get to point A to B to a ridiculously ramp of becoming overpowered at the very for no real reason save for the fact just gives it to you.
Dragon Quest II
Released On:
Sep 27, 2019
Metascore
Mixed or Average
60
User score
Mixed or Average
6.0
My Score
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All Platforms
Metascore
Mixed or Average
60
22% Positive
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
56% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
22% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Oct 7, 2019
82
Dragon Quest II is a long game. Unlike Dragon Quest, it can’t be beaten in one sitting. The original was one of the few NES games that had a battery save for a reason. The Switch is a great console to experience this adventure because of its portability. You can visit towns and dungeons at home, while grinding your heart out on the go.
Sep 26, 2019
80
Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line was a huge step forward for the franchise and RPGs in general and it's still great fun.
User score
Mixed or Average
6.0
27% Positive
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
50% Mixed
15 Ratings
15 Ratings
23% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
Feb 13, 2026
9
Best RPG on the NES. Balance achieved through playtesting with a fixed party is an absolute delight. World feels huge, and thoughtfully designed around sailing. Monster progression is amazing and rewarding. Dungeons, on the other hand, are not great, and are the one thing FF1 does better than DW2. *Review for OG NES version, which has no entry here.
Apr 12, 2021
9
Dragon Quest 2 is a classic JRPG remade for mobile and ported to switch. It is an undoubted classic and the plot and the game play are as good or better than the original. The new graphics probably split opinions, I would have prefered more original style pixel art for nostalgia, this style seems to me a bit off like a clip art show from cheap asset pack, but it's still recognisable dragon quest characters. Other way to think of it, the graphical style is really similar to kemco's shovelware mobile jrpgs. The port is well-made and it's mostly nice to play with few quality of life improvements compared to the original, but few nes era annoyances are still there like having to faff about with the inventories and menus a lot. Since it's decently sold at budget title price and not full price like some other remakes on switch, it's definitely worth the money.
Oct 9, 2019
70
Dragon Quest I, II and III on the Switch are great picks, especially if you enjoyed the recent eleventh entry and wanted to experience the origins of this great series. However, these are ports of the mobile versions with some audio and visual enhancements. So if you have them on your mobile phone already, there is little point in picking them up on the Switch again, unless you really want to play them on your TV in full glory.
Oct 15, 2019
60
Upon revisiting the world of Dragon Quest II after a long hiatus, I still found it enjoyable, yet it no longer feels like the epic tale it was long ago. A world that felt so large in its day now feels both short and sweet and somehow also prolonged with unnecessary backtracking and excessive enemy encounters. Nonetheless, the Nintendo Switch version of Dragon Quest II is a fine-tuned port of an old game, with better graphics, music, and solid gameplay. Fans of the series and retro-enthusiasts may find enjoyment with this title, but newcomers to the series may find some of the story and gameplay elements archaic and outdated.
Oct 11, 2019
60
Dragon Quest II is a classic RPG and one of the first in this long-running series. It’s fun, despite its simplicity and some grinding, however it suffers from some choppy graphics due to being a port of a port.
Oct 20, 2019
40
There’s a lot to be desired for Dragon Quest II, both as a game and as a port. Considering the final stretch of the game, it’s a difficult one to recommend and spend your time on when Dragon Quest III and Dragon Quest XI are on the same system. While it's great that Switch fans now have access to more Dragon Quest goodness than ever before, this one is a reminder that even the best franchises experience growing pains, and is only suitable for diehard Dragon Quest fans only.
Sep 30, 2019
20
I love the classic Dragon Quest titles with a passion, but there is nothing that redeems these poor ports. They fail as an archive of classics, since the redesign fundamentally changes them. They fail as pieces of entertainment, because they're so ugly and poorly made. Finally, they fail as Dragon Quest, because Dragon Quest fans will be insulted by this trash being passed off as their memories.
Dec 17, 2023
7
I really enjoyed this game. The world was MASSIVE for its time. There was a story that made sense. This game was revolutionary for RPGs. It got a little tedious eventually. There was also an insane difficulty jump at the end that was just so unnecessary. Still a good game that was extremely rewarding once I beat it.
Jun 30, 2021
7
Dragon Quest II was kind of a slog-fest. A bit longer than 1, I had to use a guide almost the entire time. Not the best DQ to recommend by any means, but a necessary step in the series’ foundation. You play as the Prince of Midenhall and you need too seek out Prince Sigurd and Princess Peronel of the surrounding towns to take down an evil god manipulating his powers to wreak havoc on the great kingdom. Cool stuff like having 3 party members and facing multiple enemies were added, and the gameplay is smoother than the first, but I heard III is the best out of the first three games Pretty much the same as the first one, but still a good game nonetheless. I want the complete story, so I had to go back to the first ones, but it’s definitely not recommended to start with these since they’re so hard and easy to get lost without a guide. A pretty fun game with a guide though. 7/10
Jun 14, 2025
6
Dragon Quest II definitely improves on the first one — bigger world, three party members, more variety overall. But honestly? I think I had more fun with the first **** graphics and sound are basically the same, and the command system hasn’t changed either. The big difference is that now you’ve got three characters, which adds a bit of strategy… but also slows everything down. Inputting commands outside of combat can be tedious, especially at first, though you get more used to it over **** world is bigger, which is cool, but also super easy to get lost in. The game gives you barely any hints, so you end up wandering around a lot, not knowing where to go. On the upside, you level up naturally just by exploring, so grinding isn’t as painful as in the first one. Still, it’s common to reach a dungeon, get your butt kicked, and have to backtrack to heal before trying again. Later areas also love throwing maze-like layouts at you.Story-wise, it’s still pretty basic. There’s a bit more going on than in the first game, but it’s still very simple — though it keeps that same old-school charm.
Jan 6, 2023
6
I wasn't as a big fan of this one as I was of the first one. You will probably need a guide to play this game since pretty much nothing is explained. However, the game is not bad, it is a decent RPG that will give you content for a while.
Jan 7, 2024
4
Easily the worst Dragon Quest game I've played, I don't recommend playing this game because it hates the player till the bitter end. A rough start of nothing but grinding to get to point A to B to a ridiculously ramp of becoming overpowered at the very for no real reason save for the fact just gives it to you.
SummaryLong ago, a descendant of Erdrick the Great defeated the Dragonlord and recovered the mystical ball of light in Alefgard. Under the rule of his children and their descendants there was prosperity throughout the land for generations. One day, however, this peace was shattered by the wicked Sorcerer Hargon. Now it is time for you to claim ... Read More
Rated Tfor Teen
Platforms:
- 3DS
- PlayStation 4
- iOS (iPhone/iPad)
- Nintendo Switch
Initial Release Date:Sep 27, 2019
Developer:
Publisher:
