Video game remakes are nothing new for Square Enix, creating a number of them for the Dragon Quest franchise. The most recent example of this was the fantastic Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, but the series had other remakes and remasters over the years.
Alongside the upcoming Dragon Quest I-II HD-2D Remake, Square Enix announced Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined. After spending nearly an hour hands-on with the title, I have a lot to say about the beautifully reimagined adventure.
What is Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined?
Similar to other installments in the long-running series, Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined tells a stand-alone story about a band of heroes going on an adventure. The game’s official website goes into more detail about the game’s premise, saying the following:
Set sail on an adventure spanning past and present in DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined! As a bright-eyed young fisherman’s son, you’ve lived your entire life on the peaceful island of Estard. Your journey begins with a simple question: is there more to the world than this small island kingdom? On a quest for answers, you and your childhood friends discover the Shrine of Mysteries and are swept back in time. There, you uncover the shocking truth that entire lands have been sealed away by a malevolent force. The fate of the world now rests in your hands.
After playing nearly an hour of the title, I’m eager to see what story unfolds for this colorful band of heroes, more so from the charming dialogue and voice acting.
Demo Impressions
Playing the demo, my adventure began in the town of Wetlock. My band of heroes was greeted by the villagers enjoying a lovely tune from a bard. After settling and finding a place to sleep for the night, they notice the villagers entering a storage portal.
Giving chase, the party found themselves in a dungeon on the outskirts of the village. It all leads to a challenging battle against Gracos, a water monster that caused great hardship.
Into the Mines – Dungeon Crawling
Using a top-down perspective, I played with a party of four, each with unique job classes. The best way to describe my general gameplay experience with Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined is that the game felt like a classic JRPG, but with small touches to make the experience more streamlined.
Examples of this include snappy menus, changing battle speed after engaging with enemies, and seeing monsters on the map. These small touches enhance the game’s combat system, leveraging the iconic turn-based systems from prior Dragon Quest titles.
Classical Encounters – Combat System & Job System
Dragon Quest has always had a tried-and-true combat system. And what makes Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined special is the game’s unique two-job mechanic.
Each party member can freely equip two jobs at once and can change them out when outside of battle. The number of job options is plentiful. Beast Riders, Pirate Warriors, Dancers, and more were some of the available options to me.
This expands options during the game’s snappy battles, with familiar elemental weaknesses working together alongside the many unique job-exclusive skills on offer. Surprising me during my demo session were special moves. These triggered before some turns, giving me two options to pick from.
They ranged from a water shield to protect my party from a single hit, a magic buff eliminating the need for MP usage during a single turn, and even triggering a frenzy mode for my Beast Rider party member that had him use multiple attacks in a given turn.
All these wrinkles made Dragon Quest’s combat system something I wanted to continue engaging with, even after my demo session concluded.
Hand-Crafted Vibes – Presentation
When people think of Dragon Quest, a few things come to mind. And it’s striking, nostalgic art direction is something every installment masterfully pulls off. Dragon Quest VII used 3D environments and 16-bit sprites for the characters in the PlayStation 1 original. It looks good for the time period, and the 3DS remake fully adapted the game into 3D.
Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined, however, sets out to more faithfully honor Akira Toriyama’s art style. This is accomplished by beautifully animated characters scanned in from real sculptures. It creates a world where everything feels hand-crafted and pops off the screen.
Talking with the Square Enix PR after the demo session concluded, I was assured that honoring the series’ iconic art style was an important goal for the project.
Supporting the strong visuals is an equally effective score, using orchestral arrangements of the original DQVII themes.
The Performance of Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined
I played my demo on PlayStation 5, but also saw the game running on the Nintendo Switch 2. Both platforms ran the game beautifully, looking identical to one another.
Closing Thoughts on Dragon Quest VII Reimagined
It was a huge honor playing this small, but exciting slice of the full Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined experience. This classic reimagining of a PlayStation 1 classic retains the original’s spirit, all the while offering impressive visuals and expanding upon the original’s strong turn-based combat systems.
I can’t wait to set sail on this classic adventure when it releases on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S (Xbox Play Anywhere), and PC on February 5th, 2026.
Stay tuned for updates on Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined, here at Lords of Gaming!
