Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined is having a great time on Steam as players flock to the cult classic JRPG, but Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D still reigns supreme

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Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined has emerged as the legendary JRPG series' second-biggest Steam launch ever

A header for Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined showing Aishe in a martial arts pose
(Image credit: Square Enix)

Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined is enjoying series-high player numbers and great reviews on Steam, but there's one game keeping it from being the franchise's biggest launch on the platform: Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D, which is still ahead by a wide margin.

Specifically, we're talking about Steam's tracking of peak concurrent players. Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined has managed an all-time peak player count of 27,390 as of yesterday - likely to be its highest peak as it happened the weekend after launch - while Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D's peak from its November 2024 launch is 45,357, quite the jump from 7 Reimagined.

  • Dragon Quest I & I HD-2D Remake : 15,608
  • Dragon Quest XI OG : 11,793
  • Dragon Quest X Offline : 3,538
  • Dragon Quest Monsters : 2,987

Not that anyone asked, but I do think Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D deserves its number one spot as a fantastic remake and entry to the series, although OG Dragon Quest 11 deserves way more respect. I would argue it's an equally worthwhile entry point to the series with the franchise's best storytelling to date, but I'm admittedly biased as it was the first Dragon Quest game I played.

As for Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined, I'm glad people are enjoying it and it's by no means a bad game, but I'm largely in agreement with GR's Dustin Bailey that the myriad changes Square Enix made to the original game result in a much more approachable, but ultimately less satisfying, JRPG. It's very much worth playing, but for my money it lacks a lot of the identity that makes Dragon Quest such a uniquely rewarding, although often punishing series.

Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii says Final Fantasy protagonists "speak a lot," forming a "key difference" between the two iconic JRPG series: "You're not necessarily becoming the protagonist."

Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.

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