Dragon Quest VII Reimagined: The 'Black Sheep' Gets a Polished Wand, But Can It Cast a New Spell on Us?
AI Gaming News Author · kotaku ·
Square Enix's *Dragon Quest VII Reimagined* brings a beloved, if quirky, 'black sheep' entry back with stunning new 3D visuals and significant quality-of-life improvements, streamlining its notorious pacing for a smoother experience. While it doesn't quite shed its linear island-hopping nature or peculiar cast, it's a fantastic update for fans and another sign of Dragon Quest's well-deserved surge in Western popularity, even with Square Enix's chaotic release schedule.
Right, so Square Enix, bless their chaotic hearts, has been at it again, serving up another delightful dose of Dragon Quest, but with their usual flair for... let's call it 'creative' release scheduling. Just when you thought you'd figured out their HD-2D remake roadmap, with *Dragon Quest III* dropping before *I & II*, they pull a proper digital rabbit out of a hat and give us *Dragon Quest VII Reimagined* before the anticipated *IV*. Bloody hell, it's like they're trying to cast a spell of confusion on us, isn't it?
But here's the thing, mate: as a long-suffering Dragon Quest enthusiast who's watched this magnificent series slowly, *finally*, gain the traction it deserves in the West, I'm not complaining. Much. This latest 'Reimagined' entry isn't just a quick coat of paint; it's a deep dive into one of the series' more... shall we say, 'distinctive' entries, and it's making waves, even if the waves are a bit wonky.
Now, *Dragon Quest VII* has always been the quirky cousin at the family reunion. The one who turns up with a fascinating story but takes an absolute age to get to the point, and whose fashion choices are, well, unique. The original PSX version was notorious for its glacial pace – hours before your first scrap! – and its visual style wasn't exactly turning heads when it landed in the West during peak PS2-mania. It's the kind of game that had you wondering if you'd accidentally fallen into a time loop where the 'tutorial' never quite ended.
Square Enix, though, never truly gave up on this particular black sheep. They gave it a good old spruce-up for the Nintendo 3DS back in 2016, tidying up the intro, ditching random encounters for visible foes, and generally making it a much more digestible beast. And now, for consoles and PC, they've gone even further. This isn't just 'Reimagined' in name; it's got a whole new, bright, cartoony 3D aesthetic instead of the beloved HD-2D pixel art. And you know what? It actually works. The character models animate surprisingly well, especially in combat, looking particularly spiffy as they lob fireballs and whack slimes. It’s a curious shift, almost like they decided to blow a hole through the HD-2D reality and try something entirely different, but the results are genuinely appealing.
But beyond the shiny new visuals, the real magic here is the relentless drive for *streamlining*. This new version takes all the quality-of-life tweaks from the 3DS iteration and then adds more. The bloated introduction? Further nerfed. Random encounters? Still gone, replaced with visible baddies you can even smack on the overworld for quick, if less XP-rich, wins. It's like a wizard discovering a 'reduce bloat' spell and going absolutely wild with it. For newcomers, this is a boon. It genuinely makes *DQVII* a far friendlier entry point than its ancestors, which is a big deal when you're talking about a game that still clocks in at around 60 hours just to roll credits.
However, and here's where my gentle skepticism kicks in, a Dragon Quest VII, no matter how 'Reimagined' or 'streamlined,' is still *Dragon Quest VII*. Its core DNA remains. It's a linear, island-hopping affair where you dip into the past to solve problems on isolated landmasses before returning to the present to see them 'rediscovered.' You're not exactly sprawling out across an open world like in *DQXI*; it's more like a series of focused, intricate quests. If you're after that grand, sweeping adventure where you can wander off the beaten path for days, this might give you pause. It's a bit like being given a meticulously crafted treasure map where every X marks the spot perfectly, leaving little room for accidental discoveries. Still, for those who appreciate a tightly focused narrative without much distraction, there's a lot to 'eat' here, as the original review so aptly put it.
Then there's the cast. Oh, the cast! Our hero is the typical silent Toriyama-designed protagonist, but the companions... Maribel, bless her, is abrasive but softens up. And Kiefer? I'm with Kotaku's Nadia Oxford on this one: there's something about his face that just screams 'ancestral warning.' Every time I see it, I half expect him to pull a shiv on me mid-dialogue. It's an odd one, isn't it? Perhaps the new 3D art style is just better suited for the incredible monster designs, which, fair dinkum, are utterly brilliant. Akira Toriyama's creature work always translates beautifully, and in this new 3D space, their fur, scales, and metal textures look fantastic. Ruff the wolf boy, too, just fits the world perfectly with his goofy grin.
And let's not forget the job system! It's been tweaked again, now allowing for a dual job system, meaning you can mix and match skills to create some pretty 'sick combinations' for battle. While it's not the intricate character fine-tuning of a *Final Fantasy V*, it makes 'learning' jobs feel more like 'speedrunning' them, which is perfect for keeping the pace up. By the late game, battles are apparently mini *Dragon Ball Z* episodes, which, honestly, sounds like a proper good time.
So, the million-gold-coin question: is this the Dragon Quest you should start with? Despite all the fantastic streamlining and quality-of-life improvements, making it arguably the 'friendliest' *DQVII* to beginners, I'd still lean towards *Dragon Quest XI* for a 3D entry point, or the upcoming HD-2D remakes for the series' foundational stories. But here's the kicker: the fact that we're even having this discussion – about which Dragon Quest game is the *best* entry point because there are *so many good choices* – is a testament to how far the series has come in the West. We're spoiled for choice, mate. And that, in itself, is a bloody marvellous thing.
_Original article by Nadia Oxford, published on Kotaku on February 3, 2026. Retrieved
Tags: Dragon Quest, JRPG, Remake, Square Enix, Gaming Review
Original article: kotaku