While waiting for the HD-2D remakes of Dragon Quest I-III, I don’t think anyone could have expected a full-on remake of Dragon Quest VII. It already had a pretty good remake on the 3DS and was about as good as you could hope for as far as 3D remakes go, even if it was slightly abridged to cater to modern gamers. Yet the problem was that it was stuck on the 3DS.
When it was on the old PlayStation, and even the 3DS remake, Dragon Quest VII had some questionable creative choices. The job class system takes forever to get to. Several of the story arcs are padded out with a lot of repetitive backtracking that amounts to nothing, and the gameplay is fairly thin for such a long game.
With Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, Square Enix set out to make it more accessible than ever before. But maybe they went a little too far? Just how far does this remake go, and is this the definitive Dragon Quest VII? Find out in our Dragon Quest VII Reimagined review!
This is a review coupled with a supplemental video review. You can watch the video review or read the full review of the game below:
Dragon Quest VII Reimagined
Developer: HexaDrive, Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Platforms: Windows, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 (reviewed)
Release Date: February 5, 2026
Price: $59.99
When it was announced that the remake of Dragon Quest VII was going to be called “reimagined”, I assumed that it meant that there were going to be sweeping changes to the game to make it the ultimate Dragon Quest game. There is a solid foundation to work with, and Square Enix has shown that they’re not afraid to expand their stories and gameplay in some of their other remakes.
To my surprise, Reimagined doesn’t really add much new content at all. The most notable addition is a backloaded sequence involving an adult Kiefer. For the most part, Reimagined‘s changes are cuts and some rearrangements. Some cuts make sense, as the vignette-style episodic structure of the story arcs results in a few that don’t really contribute to the bigger narrative.
The basic story stays the same: a fisherman’s son from Pilchard Bay teams up with Prince Kiefer and Maribel, the mayor’s daughter, to find ancient map fragments in nearby ruins that allow them to travel to the past. There, they discover fragmented lands in crisis due to demonic forces.
As their group grows to include allies like the wolf-boy Ruff, the paladin Mervyn, and the dancer Aishe, they work together to solve these historical disasters, defeat local evils, and restore the continents to the present. The way the story unfolds adds to the sense of a huge and sweeping adventure, and even in this abridged form, it still feels effective.
Some major changes are that Aishe joins the party much earlier now and is no longer the final party member. This was a change I agree with since she was one of the more fun party members, and it sucked getting her so late. The only problem with her is that once she joins, she still does not get much characterization.
The party chat doesn’t add much personality to the cast like it did in the past two versions and has been redesigned as a prompt to remind casual tourists- I mean gamers, where to go next. In fact, you’ll never get lost or forget where to go because there are tons of mission markers and NPCs reminding you what to do and where to go all the time.
Dungeon floor maps are completed the moment you enter the area, and they even mark where the treasures are. Several dungeons are simplified, like the Tall Tall Tower, going from nine floors to only six. Tons of puzzles are just gone or have been redesigned to be so easy that they can’t even be called puzzles. There are many examples to point at that it becomes hard to notice anything else.
Several dungeons have been cut entirely, and even a few islands too. What’s confusing is that some that didn’t get cut have been made optional, and yet they don’t have a worthy reward to play through them. It’s almost as if they were going to get cut, but someone had already made the sequences, so they got left in.
Reimagined speeds through scenarios, often trimming story beats to shorten playtime, which makes it feel like an inferior experience compared to both the original and the 3DS remake. If you are already a fan of the older versions, expect to constantly be distracted by the compromises that cater to tourists who didn’t have what it takes to play the original.
If you didn’t play the 3DS remake or the original and you’re a Dragon Quest tourist, you’ll probably have a great time. The heart of the game is still very much Dragon Quest VII, with searching for tablets and getting into turn-based battles. The combat system has been beefed up a bit since you get job classes much earlier now, and it does not take long before you gain the ability to have two classes.
Abilities don’t transfer from classes like in the 3DS version, but having two classes is a fair middle ground, especially since some abilities are shared between them. The actual strategy and flow of battles is as fun as can be for this series, with combat being the fastest it’s ever been. The autobattle feature makes tedious, low-stakes fights a breeze, and at times it feels almost too effective. Even against bosses, the CPU often makes the best possible decisions.
Unfortunately, the cuts have affected the job class system as well. All outfits are gone, and the Puff Puff move has been removed. Characters no longer turn into coffins when they die after battle, and fallen party members now get a free revival with one HP, making the priest’s resurrection services pointless.
The overall experience is easier than ever, and even though you can crank up the difficulty, it never feels authentic because there’s no real trade-off. No matter how tough the game seems on the highest setting, I always know it can be easily exploited without any consequences, making the hardest mode feel pointless and fake.
A simple fix for this issue already exists in other games, either by disabling trophies or creating a separate difficulty mode that locks you from lowering it once activated. Dragon Quest XI nailed this years ago with its Draconian settings. It’s still a mystery why this idea never came back, as it offered a pure, unadulterated challenge for true gamers.
The graphics are undeniably stunning and look incredible in 4K. Unfortunately, they cut corners by reusing a limited selection of NPC designs. Several story arcs highlight characters from the new islands, only for the same models to appear in the next town as generic nobodies, repeating the same few lines of dialogue.
It makes no sense why this is called “Reimagined” when most of the time it cuts content. They should have called this “Dragon Quest VII Abridged and Easier“, because that’s what it is. There is still some enjoyment to be had; it is still a Dragon Quest game afterall, but losing so much content for the sake of better graphics doesn’t seem worth it.
Dragon Quest VII Reimagined was reviewed on PlayStation 5 using a code provided by Square Enix. Additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy is here. Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is now available for Windows PC (via Steam), Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2.
