Dragon Quest VII Reimagined (Switch 2) Review

It turns out that going over Dragon Quest release dates can age you fast, where even the more recent numbered titles are on the way to being 20 years old. Even the last Dragon Quest VII remake was nearly a decade ago now! Instead of just giving this classic title a new lick of paint and chucking it out there, Square Enix has gone for a “reimagining”. With the success of other remakes/reimaginings like Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy and Dragon Quest I-III 2D-HD updates, grab your adventurer’s cloak and let’s see if they’ve kept the streak going.

Dragon Quest VII Reimagined starts on the lonely island of Estard, a small kingdom in a world of its own. Through the discovery of a mysterious stone fragment, it’s found that someone or something had caused all the islands in the world to become stranded on their own. The hero and his friends, Keifer and Maribel, use the stone fragments to go back to the past of these trapped islands, to help free them of the various evils keeping the world separated. This game is known for its episodic nature, with each island serving as its own smaller adventure, tied into the overarching quest to restore the world. Across the many hours you’ll play, each island’s dilemmas manage to differ. Human drama often underpins the tragedy that has befallen these islands, as much as there is the evil lurking in the shadows. It helps that each island feels distinct, utilising different dialects across the villages to help the world feel like a larger place where each island has been isolated on its own.

DQVII in either of its previous forms is known for its slow start, with the time before you see combat being 2+ hours. DQVIIR streamlines this, with about an hour before a battle, maybe even less if you’re not smashing every barrel and pot (I smashed every barrel and pot I could). Overall, moving through the story and islands feels a little more of a workable pace than previous iterations. It’s still a good 10-15 hours until you unlock vocations (jobs/classes), and you still have a good 30+ hours to go.

The last time I put in some serious time into the Dragon Quest VII games was just shy of a decade ago when the 3DS remake came out. So I won’t be able to get too deep into comparisons; it’s also not helpful. The word ‘reimagined’ helps; there is no promise to just tread the same ground. Why not just remaster/update the 3DS version otherwise?

For those who do want to know (and you likely already know), not every previous island/episode has made it into this reimagining. Although there is new content too, meaningful additions to the story. It’s already been revealed in promotional material just before launch regarding a key character’s involvement in the story. Still, I won’t go into too much detail because it is later in the story, and it’s nicer getting to experience it for yourself. This addition helps to put a nice bow on an already grand adventure.

While the original game is 25 years old, and the remake is already ten years old (for the English release), it shouldn’t be a surprise that there have been some quality-of-life improvements to this new take. Once again, not looking to get too deep into it, improvements are generally small but really useful changes. Just the addition of a shared inventory helps; this means you don’t need to be as cautious about what each character carries. Fast travel or the Zoom skill feels much easier to traverse the world when you’re past the exploring stage and running back and forth for a quest. You also no longer need to return to the Alltrades Abbey to change your vocations. With the press of a button anytime, you can swap around to what your team needs for the battle, or even just need to swap out a mastered vocation. It is a shame that vocational outfits don’t return, though.

For those coming in fresh, vocations allow your team to specialise in new and potentially very different ways outside of their starting classes (vocations). Previously, you just had the one vocation at a time, which meant it could take a while to get to some of the more advanced classes. A new addition is “Moonlighting” to help speed up the process of unlocking new options and mix and match vocations. Moonlighting allows you to have two classes at once, helping you to unlock those more advanced vocations that need to have mastery in multiple vocations first. It is also another great addition just allowing each party member to have wider access to more skills/magic. You can even keep a mastered vocation to give a boost to the rate your proficiency points go up for the other vocation.

Monster vocations of the 3DS version are gone, although Monster Hearts remain. Monster Hearts are usually obtained by fighting vicious versions of the monster, although some less imposing monster hearts can be found in the world. Although the game never feels lacking for not adding another layer of vocations on top of everything already there.

Another big addition that will help new players and the hardcore is the ability to customise the game’s difficulty settings. You can either go with the straightforward difficulty settings, where all the toggles are set, or you can have it your way. Toggles allow you to choose the damage dealt, damage given, amount of experience, rate of vocation proficiency points, or restoring the party’s HP at the end of each battle. There is no punishment or being locked out of content for messing with these settings at any point. You can breathe easier and enjoy the story, you can give yourself a tougher time, or just something in between.

For all of the positives, there are a few small gripes. Collecting the stone/tablet fragments to open up more islands/continents and progressing the story relies on you finding those fragments. Some are given as rewards for completing a quest or side story, usually the last piece to keep you from getting too far ahead. For the other fragments, most feel like they are on the way to the objective, if you’re thorough with checking every building at least. On the positive side, the map will usually show where the fragment is, but then there are the odd few that won’t. There is a character that will tell you the rough direction of where any stray fragments are, really helpful if you aren’t as obsessive with checking everywhere for chests and items. It is much less of a pain than it was previously, but it still has the potential to annoy. Lastly, at a big turning point for the story, your team loses the ability to fast travel around the map. In story, it makes sense why, but given you’ve had 35+ hours with the ability to alleviate some of the backtracking, it’s a surprising step backwards. Fortunately, it’s not for long, but as I said, it’s a small gripe.

One of the big talking points for the reimaging is the visual upgrade. While the 3DS remake brought the full game into 3D, opposed to the original PS1’s mix of 3D environments and sprites. The 3DS version was a step up. It’s, of course, still limited by the hardware. Now, current-gen consoles, including the Switch 2, are capable of so much more. DQVIIR is a stylised overhaul; instead of a more realistic reimaging like Final Fantasy VII Remake, DQVIIR goes for a high-quality diorama aesthetic.

The characters all remain incredibly faithful to long-term character artist Akira Toriyama’s designs. Part of the game announcement info was that characters were made into 3D models from physical dolls, which you could imagine appearing in a Studio Laika stop-motion movie. The environments feel like a continuation of the HD-2D diorama style that was used in the recent Dragon Quest 1-3 releases. Given that there’ve been a fair few games utilising the HD-2D style, including the first three Dragon Quest updates, the top-quality 3D translations of the original designs feel refreshing.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that a Dragon Quest game in 2026 audibly sounds great too, but just so you know, the familiar tunes are still a pleasure. There is voice acting throughout, but don’t expect it all the time. The majority of the time, it sounds fitting, as the different islands have their different dialects or manner of speaking. It can help get the vibe of the villages hearing it spoken, as sometimes reading it can be hard to decipher.

On the Switch 2, not only does it look nicer, it runs at a higher resolution than the original Switch. It also has pretty quick load times, making zooming around the world a breeze. The frame rate ran at a smooth 60fps the majority of the time, with super minimal amounts of pop-in on the overworld. Overall, the game looks and runs great on the Switch 2!

Dragon Quest VII Reimagined revitalises an old classic with a loving overhaul to allow everyone to enjoy this adventure across time. This new take comes with a lovely visual style and other additions and tweaks to bring this story to a new generation. I definitely wouldn’t complain if Square Enix continues with the Reimagine for some of the following sequels stuck on older Nintendo handhelds.

Rating: 4.5/5