The original Dragon Quest 7 is a bonafide classic JRPG, but even its most ardent fans - myself included - will admit its fragmented story has some pretty serious pacing issues. Apparently, Square Enix agrees, as the recently revealed Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined cuts some unnecessary subplots and adds new scenes intended to make the plot feel more streamlined, according to the developers.
In a newly published Square Enix interview with Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined producer Takeshi Ichikawa, this issue of pacing is addressed.
"The 'reimagined' elements of the narrative allude to improvements in the game's overall framework, which offers a much deeper and more compelling experience," said Ichikawa. "In our effort to streamline the overall story progression and provide a more engaging narrative, we decided to cut subplots that have little or no direct relevance to the main scenario."
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Much of Dragon Quest 7's main quest is essentially made up of interconnected mini quests sending the player to various islands to solve their inhabitants' respective problems. It all comes together in a beautifully melancholic way, but I definitely remember some subplots that felt particularly unnecessary. It sounds like Square Enix is taking out the ones it deems irrelevant to the main plot and replacing them, although not necessarily at a 1:1 scale, with more meaningful ones.
"While some content has been removed, entirely new scenarios have also been introduced," added Ichikawa. "Our goal was to build upon the strengths of the original game while striving to deliver a deeper, more immersive story experience for modern players."
All of this helps to drive home Square Enix's point about Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined being a full-fledged ground-up overhaul of the 25-year-old original, similar to the HD-2D remakes of Dragon Quest 1-3 but with an art style I'm personally more drawn to as someone who didn't grow up with the NES games.
Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined launches on Switch, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on February 5, 2026.
Here are the best JRPGs you can play in the meantime.
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