{"id":543696,"date":"2026-02-23T17:43:27","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T15:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ragequit.gr\/?p=543696"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:25:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T18:25:30","slug":"dragon-quest-vii-reimagined-pc-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ragequit.gr\/en\/reviews\/item\/dragon-quest-vii-reimagined-pc-review\/","title":{"rendered":"DRAGON QUEST VII – REIMAGINED"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the year 2000, Enix released Dragon Quest VII on the first PlayStation, which proved to be one of the most commercially successful games in the well-known JRPG series. A series that is particularly beloved in the Land of the Rising Sun, which from 1986 to today, creates a small panic in the Japanese economy with each new \"episode.\" However, regardless of its success, Dragon Quest VII had one peculiarity: it was really long, with over 100 hours of gameplay, not counting the side quests, which made it seem like a really verbose and tedious game\u2014not to mention that the difficulty level was nothing to scoff at.<\/p>\n

Recognizing the problem, Square Enix (more) several years later released a more \"streamlined\" version on the Nintendo 3DS, which, despite better editing, continued to suffer from verbosity. As a result, Dragon Quest VII became even more \"fat-burning,\" with the Remagined version announced a few years ago, which, according to its developers, offers much better narrative flow while condensing the story \"just enough\" to make it possible to complete in about 35 to 40 hours. Admittedly, this is a huge streamline compared to the original version, but playing it, we find that such a game may not fare very well against other representatives of the genre in 2026.<\/p>\n

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The game always shows where our next goal is, to make things easier.<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The main reason is the relatively weak story it tells. To be more specific, Dragon Quest VII is more of a series of self-contained stories, which are (much later) brought together under a common framework, which, when revealed, is not particularly memorable. In general, the entire central idea of the game revolves around the efforts of the young hero Hero (we can choose any name we want) to restore the planet he inhabits to its original state.<\/p>\n

Of course, this purpose is not apparent from the outset, but the first signs are clear that something is wrong. This is because, apart from the small island where Hero lives (along with a handful of other inhabitants), called Estard, there is nothing else on the horizon. The rest of the planet is covered by sea, a fact that is rather puzzling and worthy of investigation. The catalyst for this investigation begins when Hero's fisherman father, on one of his trips, discovers a small piece of a map, which proves that in the past there were other islands that have sunk. After a series of events, Hero, along with two of his friends (his childhood friend Maribel and Prince Kiefer), find a way to go back in time to when these islands still existed.<\/p>\n

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There are a handful of cutscenes, but it's hard to get excited about the story...<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In order for the islands to remain in place in the modern era, Hero and his companions (who, of course, multiply along the way) must identify and solve the problem that their inhabitants faced in the past. This pattern of returning to the past and then back to the present is repeated many times throughout the game, with each island having its own (bitter) history, some of which are quite interesting, while others are not so much.<\/p>\n

However, on the positive side, each story is not too long, making Dragon Quest VII \u2013 Reimagined better suited to being played in short bursts, like watching an episode of a series on a digital TV platform. In the final hours of the game, the person responsible for all this is revealed in a classic battle between good and evil, completely black and white, which is entirely predictable and lacks any exciting climaxes.<\/p>\n

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One of the game's cool puzzles.<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I'm not sure if it's because of the game's age or because I've tried enough JRPGs in my life, but I almost never felt any particular anxiety to find out what would happen next. This is also contributed to by the rather shallow approach to the main characters of the story, who, with the exception of one or two, are not sufficiently developed and their existence remains in the realm of \"simply serving the story.\" Consequently, the game seeks to keep the player interested mainly through the classic battle\/exploration motif, which has been the backbone of Dragon Quest all these years.<\/p>\n

A combat system based on the typical turn-based system of JRPGs, with our team consisting of up to four people, fighting in rounds against enemies, to whom we give various commands as we see fit (attack, defense, use of items, special moves, and so on). The difference in battles is caused by vocations, or in other words, classes. Both the hero and the rest of the team start with a vocation (Warrior, Mage, Priest, etc.), but later in the game, we gain the ability to change it, choosing from a variety of options that gradually open up as we master one of them. Even later in the adventure, the ability to have up to two vocations active for each team member is added, which enriches our team's arsenal of spells, special moves, buffs, and antibuffs, etc.<\/p>\n

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The Vocation system offers several options for customizing our team. However, grinding can take many hours before we achieve the desired result.<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The part that raises quite a bit of discussion is the strengthening of vocations, which can only be achieved through battles, leading to inevitable grinding, if and when we want to try all the options available to us. Fortunately, Dragon Quest VII \u2013 Reimagined offers enough quality-of-life features to lessen the impact of grinding (auto-battle, immediate completion of battles against low-level mobs), but also some other valuable out-of-the-box options, such as automatic healing after each battle. However, even so, grinding cannot be completely avoided, although the overall low difficulty level of the title, where only advanced bosses can challenge us a little more, does not force us to master many vocations if we do not wish to. As long as we are satisfied with three or four combinations, then we can reach the finale, without having to bother with any others.<\/p>\n

Apart from the battles, the rest of the game is by-the-numbers, at all levels. As far as exploration is concerned, all we have to do is go to the next point of interest shown on the map and press the button (dialogue, automatic use of quest items, etc.) to move on. Traversal initially begins on foot, but as we move through fairly dense maps, then by ship, and later with... flying aids (with mobs always visible on the map \u2013 fortunately, there are no random battles, except on the ship). If we stray from the main path, we may discover some goodies, mainly in the form of auxiliary items and equipment, so it is more or less worth exploring every inch of each map.<\/p>\n

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The battles take place in a strictly turn-based setting, without straying from the familiar framework of JRPGs.<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Equipping the team is an equally simple process, as it is sufficient to wear the weapons and armor with the best characteristics each time (vendors sell very good equipment). If we want to build a character with specific characteristics, then we should place more emphasis on the secondary effects of an item (e.g., Magic or Charm), but essentially, there is nothing here that can cause us headaches.<\/p>\n

In some cases, in order to break the monotony, there are some environmental puzzles, which are not particularly demanding, but in some of them, we may need to think a little harder. However, in the context of streamlining, the game will not let us get stuck for long, constantly giving hints on how to solve each puzzle, which is a little disappointing.<\/p>\n

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With the power of stone, I call you…<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The overall impression given by Dragon Quest VII \u2013 Reimagined is that it is clearly intended to appeal to a modern audience, as compared to the original game from 2000, both the difficulty level and mechanics, as well as the implementation of the adventure itself, have chaotic differences. However, precisely because of this hand-holding approach, combined with the conventional story it tells, it is a JRPG that can only really excite die-hard fans of the genre.<\/p>\n

The fact that it is one of Akira Toriyama's (RIP) last artistic works, as well as the existence of the highly acclaimed orchestral soundtrack by the also late Koichi Sugiyama, add some extra points to the value of the remake. As a game, however, Dragon Quest VII \u2013 Reimagined, for someone playing it for the first time (like me), is just a pleasant and clearly old-fashioned JRPG experience, which at times tires with its repetitiveness, while for those who have tried the original, perhaps nostalgia will touch them a little more.<\/p>\n