Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined lead "had a lot of fun" playing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 while remaking the classic JRPG: "It really keeps what makes turn-based games great"

Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined
(Image credit: Square Enix)

Among the plaudits and game of the year nods Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is sure to receive, here's one blessing developer Sandfall Entertainment should be proud of. Takeshi Ichikawa, executive producer on Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined, thoroughly enjoyed the heavily JRPG-inspired game, believing it captures much of what makes the form intriguing.

Ichikawa revealed as much to us during an interview about putting together Reimagined. "I had a lot of fun with [Clair Obscur], it really keeps what makes turn-based games great, but also does it in such a stylish, visually appealing way," he tells GamesRadar+.

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"I [played Clair Obscur] while we were in the middle of development, and I felt that the direction that they've gone with Clair Obscur, in terms of the tempo, the pacing of the battles, was very similar to the way that I'd approached trying to improve Dragon Quest 7," he says.

Living up to the moniker, Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined is a top-to-bottom rebuild of the original game. Missions have been cut and streamlined, mechanics tinkered with, and the visuals re-done for contemporary standards. This entry is lesser-known within the series, since the original PlayStation game never made it to Europe, and a re-release on the Nintendo 3DS in 2013 found more of a cult audience.

The success of Clair Obscur: Expedition has made it clear there are a lot of JRPG fans out there. After two missed opportunities to truly leave a mark, Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined is here to teach players a little more about a long-running franchise, and how it's never too late to learn a thing or two from your contemporaries.

Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined aims to fix one of the only things I don't like about the original JRPG: "The amount of time it takes to get to the first battle in the game is much shorter"

Anthony McGlynn
Contributing Writer

Anthony is an Irish entertainment and games journalist, now based in Glasgow. He previously served as Senior Anime Writer at Dexerto and News Editor at The Digital Fix, on top of providing work for Variety, IGN, Den of Geek, PC Gamer, and many more. Besides Studio Ghibli, horror movies, and The Muppets, he enjoys action-RPGs, heavy metal, and pro-wrestling. He interviewed Animal once, not that he won’t stop going on about it or anything.

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