Dragon Quest VII Reimagined
Square Enix · Square Enix
“Square Enix rebuilt Dragon Quest VII from the ground up and proved that a 25-year-old JRPG can still charm. As long as you have the patience of a saint and about eighty hours to spare.”
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The Review
Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is not a remaster. It's a full rebuild of the 2000 PlayStation original, with modern visuals, overhauled combat, and quality-of-life improvements that drag the most notoriously slow Dragon Quest into the current generation. The classic turn-based combat is intact but streamlined, the class system remains deep and rewarding, and Akira Toriyama's character designs have never looked better rendered in the series' signature art style. This is a love letter to JRPG purists, and it knows exactly who it's for.
The island-hopping structure. Where you travel through time to restore vanished islands. Still works as a narrative framework, and each island's self-contained story hits emotional beats that modern JRPGs rarely attempt. Square Enix has trimmed some of the original's more egregious padding, but 'trimmed' is relative. This is still a 70+ hour game that doesn't let you into combat for the first two hours. The pacing is the definition of 'it gets good, I promise,' and in 2026, that's a harder sell than it used to be.
The multiplatform launch across PS5, Xbox, PC, and Switch 2 is smart. Dragon Quest has historically been a PlayStation/Nintendo affair, and the Xbox and PC audiences deserve to experience why this series matters. But the Switch 2 version has noticeable performance dips in larger areas, and the PC port launched with some baffling keybinding defaults that suggest the team spent approximately zero minutes testing with a keyboard. Still, for JRPG fans willing to invest the time, this is a faithful and gorgeous reimagining of a game that deserved a second chance.
What It Nails
- +Full visual rebuild looks stunning. Toriyama's designs have never been rendered this beautifully
- +Island-hopping time-travel narrative still hits emotional highs that modern JRPGs can't touch
- +Class system is deep and rewarding, with real build diversity that encourages experimentation
- +Quality-of-life improvements respect your time without gutting what made the original special
What It Botches
- -Pacing remains glacial. Two hours before your first combat encounter is a hard sell in 2026
- -Switch 2 performance dips and PC keybinding defaults suggest rushed multiplatform QA
- -Some of the original's padding survives the 'reimagining'. Certain islands feel like filler
- -The job system's depth is poorly explained, leaving newcomers to figure it out through trial and error
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Who It's For
JRPG purists who believe Dragon Quest is the genre's beating heart. And anyone curious why that claim might be true.
Who Should Skip
If you need a game to respect your time from minute one, Dragon Quest VII's slow-burn opening will test your commitment before rewarding it.
External Scores
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