Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined streamlines the infamous 100-hour JRPG into a must-play

Polygon’s review says Square Enix’s Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined is a faithful, gorgeously polished remake that turns the generational — and once-daunting — Dragon Quest 7 into a must-play. The game will be released on Feb. 5 for Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.

Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined remains a classic turn-based JRPG about the unnamed Hero, royal heir Keifer, and Maribel as they leave their island, Estard, travel backward in time to other islands, solve residents’ problems, and restore the world. The remake keeps the original story’s charm while adding new heroes and streamlining progression.

Square Enix and co-developer Hexadrive refined many systems to respect players’ time: battles can be sped up or occasionally skipped, random encounters are infrequent, and the vocation system has been overhauled. The new Moonlighting system lets characters advance two vocations at once, the Career Sphere calls the Alltrades Abbey administrator to change jobs without backtracking, and some monster roles now grant Monster Hearts that behave like equipable charms.

The presentation is glossy and toylike: environments and monsters are rendered in a diorama style, though the main cast can sometimes look stiff. The soundtrack is lavishly orchestrated, and Polygon’s review highlights the voice cast — noting even repeated lines like Maribel’s “Easy peasy!” remain enjoyable.

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