| DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined | |||
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| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
DRAGON QUEST 7 Reimagined is a remake of the seventh installment of the legendary JRPG franchise! Learn more about the game’s plot, gameplay, release date, and our first impressions.
Everything We Know About DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined
DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined Plot
"There's more to the world than this island... And we're going to prove it!"
DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined follows the tale of a fisherman’s son hoping to find more about the world aside from the island he lives on. Together with his childhood friends, they find a mysterious shrine that transports them to different lands across different eras. They discover that these islands were sealed away by an evil force, and now the fate of the world rests in their hands.
DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined Gameplay
DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined reintroduces the seventh installment of the historic JRPG franchise, featuring modern battle and progression systems, diorama-like visuals, and a streamlined story. It features the classic combat the series is known for, but now includes the quality-of-life improvements and features expected of modern standards. Lastly, the game expanded the progression system to make it more flexible and easier to grind.
DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined Release Date
DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined will be released on February 5, 2026 for PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2.
DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined Review
Third Time's the Charm
For the past few years, Square Enix has made a point of reintroducing the world to Dragon Quest (DQ). Since the release of the Erdrick Trilogy remakes, the franchise has been the focus of their "revival" project. And honestly, they’ve been spot on with how they’ve both modernized, streamlined, and reshaped the series to fit today’s audiences.
This time, however, we’re not looking at a remake, but a reimagining, as they call it.
DRAGON QUEST VII is no slouch when it comes to the best DQ titles of all time, but it is one of the more daunting titles in the series. While it’s still one of the series’ more successful titles, it’s infamous for its sheer length, atrocious pacing, and frustrating difficulty. Funnily enough, they’ve actually made a remake of the title for the 3DS, which addressed some of its pacing issues.
With an even greater focus on streamlining the story and modernizing the gameplay by applying what they’ve learned from their newer releases, calling it a reimagination of the original is definitely accurate. That being said, is the third re-release the charm for this particular title? Or, at the very least, how does it measure up against the original and their most recent remakes? That’s what I’d like to find out.
Less Waiting is Better Pacing
DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined takes you on a journey where you fill the shoes of a fisherman’s son, growing up on an isolated island. Dreaming of what could be out there, you and your fellow childhood friends discover a mysterious shrine that takes you to different islands.
It doesn’t take long for you and the gang to realize that you have actually been time-traveling to visit and potentially fix the problems those islands face. As the plot develops, it turns out that the islands in the present timeline are sealed away by the Demon King, and it’s up to you and your friends to stop him and save the world.
The overall narrative of DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined is more or less a collection of short stories that make up the overarching story related to the main plot. In a way, it feels episodic in its approach, since each of the unique scenarios that take place in the past doesn’t necessarily connect to the others.
That said, the game does a great job of trimming away more filler content, since they promised that the reimagined version will take you on its adventure much quicker than it originally did. For comparison, the original PlayStation release would have you play for hours until you get to your first battle, but in the remake, you’re already in a fight an hour in.
The core theme of the game’s narrative is still intact; you’re still the hero going around helping people and fixing whatever problem you come across. But this time, it’s done in a snappier fashion. I’ll save the verdict on the story once I’ve put more hours into the game, but one thing’s for sure: the faster pacing is felt as soon as you start the game, and that’s a very welcome change to see in both the story and the gameplay.
Masterclass in Presentation
I wasn’t a believer of the game’s diorama-like art style at first, and that’s coming from a huge Akira Toriyama fan. But seeing the game in motion really blew me away. The game just looks extremely appealing to watch and play, with buttery-smooth animations for each character and monster. Each combat encounter looks amazing, and it honestly feels like this is their best work yet in terms of their 3D graphics.
While the game did lose some of its charm by removing some things like the character outlines and the colors being much more muted in tone, it’s still one of the best-looking Dragon Quest remakes to date. I, for one, am excited to see how this art style and aesthetic hold up as they continue remaking more of the franchise’s older titles.
In terms of its audio design, this is probably their best foot forward as well. The addition of voice acting has always been felt in their recent remakes, and it’s more of the same here. It showcases each character's personality even more, and even the NPCs get their time to shine in both voiceover languages.
One standout is Maribel, who is known to be a snob, but her dialogue and voice acting superbly accentuate her identity. Lastly, the sound effects and mixing also need to be recognized, as they actually made a point to add an echo effect to the voices when you’re in closed areas like caves.
Older Problems Require Modern Solutions
Let’s move on to its gameplay. The reimagined version introduces numerous quality-of-life changes to create a more streamlined, modern experience.
For starters, the game allows you to choose not only a difficulty setting, but also ways to modify it to your liking. You can choose to face stronger monsters, resulting in tougher battles, but have your party heal after every battle. Or, you can choose to gain more experience points, proficiency points, and more gold after every battle, but deal less damage against monsters.
Exploration is also much simpler, as treasure chests and quest objectives are always labeled on the game’s maps. The addition of the Zoom spell as soon as the game starts also cuts most of the backtracking time since you can go back to visited areas without needing a Chimaera Wing. One significant addition that helps both its exploration and pacing is being able to skip combat entirely if your level is high enough, where you can outright defeat enemies on the field.
As for combat, it’s largely the same as with any DQ title, but it feels closest to Dragon Quest 11 because of the addition of the new Worked Up and Let Loose! vocation commands. These are special commands only accessible when the character has the Worked Up status, similar to how Pep Powers worked in the aforementioned title.
One of its biggest changes, however, is the Moonlighting system, which addresses one of the original game’s core pain points by allowing players to train two vocations at once. For context, proficiency points earned don’t change regardless of the strength of the monster you’re facing in the original, which made grinding vocations a huge challenge.
With this change, it not only quickens the process but also bolsters the game’s combat design by being able to mix and match two different vocations for stats and for the skills you learn. There’s also the addition of new Monster Heart accessories that create avenues for even stronger and specialized builds, which puts even more focus on how much they want vocation matching to be a thing.
They’ve done what I consider the best possible solution to modernize the gameplay, one that fits what they’ve been doing in their last few releases. The addition of other quality-of-life features like auto-battle, battle animation speeds, and more also contributes a lot to the game’s faster pace.
Already Looking Promising So Far
As I’m still piling on the hours to beat the game, it’s already showing signs of being a voyage worth signing up for. It’s already shown signs that the main objective of releasing this game is to create a definitive entry point for players looking to jump into the franchise. One that showcases everything the classics were known for while having that modern flair.
Certain aspects of the story and the streamlining are definitely things I’m keeping an eye on, especially since several elements were changed or cut from the original for the remake. The narrative is also one part I’ve yet to pass judgment on, as the episodic nature of the plot has left me with mixed feelings about the overall storytelling.
Last, but certainly not least, is the game’s overall difficulty. There has yet to be a challenge in the amount of time I’ve put in, and I’ve already noticed certain things that have directly affected the game’s easier journey. Regardless, it’s still something that I wanted to take my time on, as I expect it to spike in difficulty leading up to the game’s climax and finale.
Game8 Reviews
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DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined Product Information
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| Title | DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined |
|---|---|
| Release Date | February 5, 2026 |
| Developer | Square Enix, HEXADRIVE Inc. |
| Publisher | Square Enix |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2 |
| Genre | Adventure, RPG |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | E10+ |
| Official Website | DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined Official Website |
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