Dragon Quest VII Reimagined
| Main series games | |
|---|---|
| Dragon Quest VII Reimagined | |
| Developer(s) | Hexadrive Co., Ltd |
| Publisher(s) | Square Enix |
| Designer(s) | Yuji Horii |
| Series | Dragon Quest |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Steam |
| Release date(s) | Nintendo Switch INT Febuary 5, 2026 PlayStation 5 INT Febuary 5, 2026 Xbox Series X/S INT Febuary 5, 2026 Steam INT Febuary 5, 2026 |
| Genre(s) | Console role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is the second remake of Dragon Quest VII, announced on September 12th 2025. Unlike the Nintendo 3DS remake released in 2013 that implemented modest balance adjustments to the original, Reimagined is a total reworking of the adventure that changes several elements to provide a different experience. Certain aspects that were added in the Nintendo 3DS remake have been retained, such as Ruff riding on the back of his adoptive mother and the unnamed Faerie guide dwelling in the Shrine of Mysteries, named The Caretaker.
New features
Presentation changes
- Characters are displayed in a handcrafted artstyle and the environments are presented as dioramas, not unlike Square-Enix's Fantasian
Scenario changes
- The game is considerably more non-linear than before, allowing players to tackle scenarios in a different order
- New scenarios have been added while some have been removed
- A battle arena has been added, with one section including the three archfiends from the Erdrick Trilogy
Battle changes
- All five heroes can now travel together, as seen in the battle screen promotional image
- Just like the 3DS remake, Random encounters have been replaced with on-screen monsters
- Weakling monsters are instantly defeated upon making contact with the player, similar to Nintendo's EarthBound
- New vocations have been added, such as "wolf child" (オオカミ少年)
- Characters can now take up two vocations simultaneously in a featured dubbed "moonlighting"
- All vocations now feature exclusive perks called Let Loose that trigger when a character is thoroughly worked up in battle, ranging from powerful attacks to life-saving buffs
- Monster vocations and monster hearts have been removed, while the Monster Master vocation replaces the Monster Masher vocation
- New spells and abilities have been added, such as the Frizz Cracker spell and fourth-tier attack spells
- The Charm, Deftness, Magical Mending, and Magical Might stats have been added
Development
In a brief video published on the day of the game's announcement, producer Takeshi Ichikawa states that the subtitled of "Reimagined" was chosen as the game changed so much of the original's content. Real-life figurines were scanned to create the in-game models for the characters and monsters, with the developers dubbing this approach the "diorama style". The narrative has been reworked extensively, with new scenarios being added while others were removed to improve the original game's infamous pacing. Yuji Horii notes that searching for fragments is much easier than before.
Gallery
Promotional images
Characters
External links