Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined isn't pretending to be something it's not
The first time I saw the art style for Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined, I instinctively recoiled. The plasticine characters, toy-like enemies and diorama worlds felt like a DreamWorks animated movie, but once I began playing I realized that comparison wasn’t inherently derogatory: the look helped clarify what Dragon Quest 7 is, an RPG for kids.
Originally released for the PlayStation in 2000, Dragon Quest 7 is a massive turn-based RPG with a globe-trotting premise. Players control a young, nameless hero who travels through time to bring lost continents back to the present, and the story mostly unfolds in self-contained episodes on small islands — light, often silly vignettes like a cursed town where everyone keeps turning into animals.
An overarching villain with God-killing implications ties things together, but the game remains a sweet, breezy tale about kids solving people’s problems.