Feb 11, 2026
3 min read
Reimagined is an excellent adaptation of the series' black sheep entry, but its excellent character and structure make it one of the best Dragon Quest games.
RPG fans in the West are getting curious about Dragon Quest, thanks to Square Enix's many recent releases and remakes.The last two years alone have given us Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake on top of Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, updated versions of the three games that form the foundation of the Dragon Quest series.These releases were also confusing, as the Dragon Quest III version was released before Dragon Quest I & 2.
Square wanted to shake things up, giving us Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined before the expected Dragon Quest IV HD-2D Remake.In addition, Dragon Quest VII Reimagined uses glossy and animated 3D character models instead of the HD-2D pixel art style of the previous remakes.Fortunately, the models are well animated and particularly cool in battle.
However, Dragon Quest VII Reimagined's remake includes quality-of-life changes that make for a much more streamlined gameplay experience than the Nintendo 3DS version of Dragon Quest VII, which already improved the original PSX version of the game.Some changes make the game a good starting point for new Dragon Quest players who are worried that the game might be too difficult for them.But Dragon Quest VII will be Dragon Quest VII.It's going to be an imperfect RPG with pacing issues and a weird cast you'll never like.(Except for Ruff, of course.)
However, Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is still a lot of fun to play, and it's nice to see Dragon Quest pick up some speed here.As a long-suffering Dragon Quest fan who has seen the series' popularity rise steadily in recent years, it gives me great pleasure to say: Square Enix's Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is the last great entry in the series that we've - finally! - given Western Dragon Quest fans to choose from.
Oh, let me say that again: Dragon Quest fans are "spoilt for choice" these days.
But Dragon Quest VII Reimagined may give pause to newcomers and series veterans alike, as Dragon Quest VII isn't typically named among the beloved entries like Dragon Quest III, V, and XI.2000's Dragon Quest VII for the PSX got off to a slow start, killing hours before you get your first taste of combat.It's not even worth looking at, which is a superficial thing to say, But when it came to the West, we were deep in PS2-mania.However, Dragon Quest VII was ignored when it was released in North America.
Square Enix never gave up on trying to get Westerners to love Dragon Quest - not for more than ten years, anyway - and in 2016,a complete remake of Dragon Quest VII (subtitled Fragments of the Forgotten Past) for the Nintendo 3DS.At this point, Westerners have stopped trying to harm each other and savior for each other.Forgotten Fragments of the Past has greatly trimmed and scaled down the PSX gameplay.Long intros were ditched, random encounters were done in favor of on-screen enemies, and other changes made it easy to recommend Black Sheep to newcomers to the Dragon Quest series.
Well, go beyond the Nintendo 3DS, because the "Most Digestible Version of Dragon Quest VII" award now goes to Dragon Quest VII Reimagined for consoles and PC.The extra smoothness makes for a faster experience compared to previous releases, and the storybook-style environments and animations are stunning.All that remains is to evaluate Dragon Quest VII Reimagined against other games in the series.Dragon Quest VII has a story that involves you and your friends saving the world.It's a pretty linear game by design.It doesn't feel as open and free as Dragon Quest XI, or even older titles like VIII or III.It's still not a short game: you're looking at around 60 hours.But if you like attention-grabbing missions with as few distractions as possible, expect a good treat here.
While Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is the best version of Dragon Quest VII, Dragon Quest VII is still not my favorite Dragon Quest game.(At least I like it more than VI.) It doesn't matter much in the context of the series.Like pizza, a Dragon Quest game is never really bad.It doesn't have your favorite toppings.Exploration is one of my favorite things about Dragon Quest, but Dragon Quest VII Reimagined has you jumping from one small island to another, and most of them don't give you many opportunities to be diverted from your journey.You usually arrive just long enough to defeat the dark forces that have invaded the area.Then go back to the future and admire your holy handiwork when a new "rediscovered" island reappears on your map.
Dragon Quest VII reimaginat
"Dragon Quest VII, it's just better than the last time they made it better."
game type:
Impressive environments and creature designs, double-fisted tasks are fun, with much of the bloat removed from the 3DS version of DQ7.
Linear progression, so much character roster.
Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2 (giocato su), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X | S, PC
February 5, 2026
The credits rolled in about 60 hours, but the post-game stuff didn't.
Yes, Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is technically about time travel.You, as the Chosen One, quickly discover that life is more than just the island your family lives on, and you must go back in time to solve the problems that caused each individual island to be shrouded in darkness.make amends.You know what you have to do™.
Getting a job (take two!)
Dragon Quest VII Reimagined was also full of Dragon Quest VII characters, and they're not my favorite team.The hero is a standard, non-speaking "Dragon Quest" created by Toriyama homunculus that the player drives in the game.Maribel hesitates, even though she is determined as she searches.And there is something wrong with Kiefer's face.Every time I look at him, my brain screams what I can only describe as an old warning not to translate to him not to kiss me.
Perhaps Dragon Quest VII Reimagined's art style is better suited to the environments and monsters than the human characters.Unlike Kiefer, Wolf Boy Raph looks in his element.Something about his goofy permanent smile blends in so perfectly with the world and the creatures around him.Speaking of creatures, the late, great Akira Toriyama created new creatures for Dragon Quest VII.We've created a whole bunch, and they all translate perfectly into the 3D space of Dragon Quest VII Reimagined.Not only are the monster designs top notch (as always with Dragon Quest), they're also dynamically animated.Fur, scales, and metal are all textured and look fantastic.
I don't want to have clothes for each job like in Fragments of the Forgotten Past (Ruff wears sheep clothes and his wolf friend), but it's a compromise with the dual job system, which is one of the better examples of Reimagined's reimagined. You can learn more than one job at the same time. Yes, Dragon Quest VII has a job system, but if you're hoping to adjust the way Final Fantasy V can, you'll be disappointed.
You can acquire job skills as long as you're doing the job.The goal is to unlock as many jobs as possible by mastering other jobs until you eventually unlock the higher jobs you want to keep throughout the game."Learn" jobs are similar to haste in Dragon Quest VII Remake, but mixing and matching jobs means you can make some sick combinations of skills and spells that reinforce each other.at last.Every battle in the game starts out similar to a Dragon Ball Z mini-episode, with you and your enemies trading fire, ice, light, and metal.
Do Little Island-Hopping
The dual job system makes Dragon Quest VII Reimagined one of the more beginner-friendly Dragon Quest games.It's really not that easy and the bosses will still hit you if you're unprepared on a bad day.But it also lets you draw from a pool of items in battle (not something Dragon Quest games usually let you do) and HP/MP recovery points are plentiful.Random battles are still absent here, just as they were absent on the 3DS.but Reimagined gets you better by allowing you to attack and kill weaker enemies in the upper area.You don't get a lot of experience for these battles, but the rewards still add up and you level up very quickly compared to other Dragon Quest games.
This is the point where I get annoyed with people asking me, "But is this the Dragon Quest game I should start with if I'm new to the series?"Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is not a bad place to start thanks to the lower difficulty level and the simple to grind job system.But I personally wouldn't recommend it, especially if you prefer games that let you roam far.Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is a very good remake of Dragon Quest VII 2000, but as I said before, every Dragon Quest VII can be itself small islands, portals and a lot of walking back and forth to solve specific problems like calming an active volcano or helping the kingdom fight rampaging robots.I would more easily recommend Dragon Quest XI, which is a great entry point for anyone interested in 3D Dragon Quest.And of course, there's the trio of HD-2D games that laid the foundation for everything Dragon Quest.There's nothing wrong with choosing Dragon Quest VII Reimagined as your first Dragon Quest, but remember what I said earlier?We are spoiled Dragon Quest fans today.And with this last thought, celebrate and enjoy our good fortune.
