Bless him, Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii says "warmth" and "accessibility" are key to the almost-40-year-old JRPG series' enduring success

Yuji Horii, creator of the Dragon Quest series, believes that the games' long-running success is thanks to its "warmth" and "accessibility." Further, the producer of the Dragon Quest 7 remake, Takeshi Ichikawa, believes that entries need "Horii-esque elements" in order to succeed.

Dragon Quest turns 40 next year, making it one of the longest-running video game series in the world. Originally launching in Japan in 1986, it later became a global success after proving itself on its home turf. You know Dragon Quest has reached unimaginable levels of popularity when Square Enix changes the series' release days to Saturdays so that children won't stay home from school to play.

Speaking to Game Informer, Horii claims that his series' secret sauce was how it opened gaming up to more people. "The key concept that I really try to prioritize, or keep important to me, for Dragon Quest is that, you know, older computer games didn't really have a sense of warmth," Horii says. "But [warmth] was something that I really wanted to bring for the Dragon Quest titles. That, and accessibility for the players… I think [warmth and accessibility] are pretty important in terms of what makes Dragon Quest, Dragon Quest."

Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined will launch in February 2026, but more than 25 years after the original's release, a whole new group of developers is at the helm. Luckily, Ichikawa agrees with Horii's assessment and believes the key to its success lies in the "Horii-esque elements."

"I think all the RPG elements the series has to offer are the biggest strength of the Dragon Quest series, and I like to call it part of the Horii-esque elements," he says. "All the humor, the jokes in the narrative, the dialogue, and the expressions and the portrayals; It's just so adorable at times, and when you look at the story, it's an epic story but also somehow feels relevant to you at the time."

At 100+ hours, Dragon Quest 7 is an enormous JRPG, so in the Reimagined remake "a few of the stories which weren't 100% relevant to the main storyline have just been cut entirely."