Square Enix’s latest Dragon Quest remake is targeting one of the most complex entries in the saga. Dragon Quest 7: Fragments of the Forgotten Past is beloved by hardcore fans of the JRPG saga, but its extensive class system and fragmented story have made it harder for newcomers to jump into than other DQ games. That’s exactly what Square Enix is looking to remedy with Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined, a modernization of the 2000 JRPG. I played roughly an hour of the upcoming game on PS5 at a private preview event. Dragon Quest 7 is in rare company as a video game that has now been remade twice. It creates a unique situation when it comes to development, which I asked Takeshi Ichitake, the producer of Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined. “Dragon Quest 7 has this unique aesthetic and feel that the other titles don’t,” he said, translated from Japanese to English by an on-site translator. “And Dragon Quest 7 has this unique aesthetic and feel that the other titles don’t really have.” He went on to say that the team felt that now was the right time to retell that story for modern audiences. Built from the ground-up, Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined preserves the story, characters, and mechanics of the original PS1 game, but with some changes that Square Enix thought was necessary to streamline the experience. Dragon Quest 7’s vocation system allows players to assign different vocations to their party members, which can be progressed for unique ability unlocks. This is a huge sticking point among fans with the original game, as individually leveling up each desired class can feel incredibly tedious. In comes moonlighting, a new feature in Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined that lets players equip two vocations at once. It not only smooths over one of the game’s roughest edges, it also opens up strategy in an exciting way. Square Enix has also made some notable changes to Dragon Quest 7’s battle system. Players can now attack enemies in the overworld without having to jump into a full-fledged battle. Weaker enemies can be defeated in the overworld, a change that puts DQ7 more in line with modern RPGs and will save players a large chunk of time. That said, fans of Dragon Quest 7 and its challenging battles should fret not. I found the game to still be difficult and highly dependent upon team composition and strategy. During my demo, I got to fight Gracos in the Sunken Citadel, and he wiped my team a couple of times before I was able to defeat him. Interestingly, Dragon Quest 7 is also adding some brand new content to the game. This includes a handful of new missions designed to expand the lore and build out the characters. A new storyline sees the party encounter an older version of Keifer, one of your key companions. Hot off the HD-2D remakes of the original Dragon Quest trilogy, I was fascinated to learn about the unique art style being used for the DQ7 remake. All of the character models were based on handcrafted figurines that were made in real life, and then scanned into the game. Takeshi Ichitake explained to me that he and his team felt like this approach was a great fit for Dragon Quest 7’s unique art style, which features shorter character models than the other mainline games. Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined has me excited to fully dive into one of my personally least-played Dragon Quest games. The quality-of-life changes promise a simpler experience without sacrificing much of what made the original game special in its own right. This preview is based on an early build of Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined, played at a press event. Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined costs $59. 99 and launches on February 5, 2026, for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, Switch 2, and PC.
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