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  1. Games
  2. JRPGs
  3. Dragon Quest VII

Square Enix's best modern tradition continues as Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined drops a 3-hour demo where your progress carries into the full JRPG

News
By Dustin Bailey published 6 January 2026

The demo doesn't quite match the Dragon Quest 11 S precedent, but it's a nice preview

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined
(Image credit: Square Enix)
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Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined is following in one of modern Square Enix's best traditions, offering a free demo that will let you experience the beginning of the game and carry your progress forward into the full release.

The demo for Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined launches on January 7 across PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Switch, and Steam. "Adventures who have demo saved data on their console and continue their journey in the full game will also receive a reward," Square Enix explains, in the form of Maribel's Day Off Dress – a yellow outfit for the party member that you can see in the image below.

Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined

(Image credit: Square Enix)

Square Enix announced the demo news alongside the release of the opening movie for Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined, offering an extensive glimpse at what the new art style looks like in a selection of lavish CG cutscenes.

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  • A header for Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined showing Aishe in a martial arts pose Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined is having a great time on Steam, but it's no Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D
  • The protagonist of Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined stares into the distance Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined "isn't meant to supplement or improve upon" previous versions of the classic JRPG
  • Key art featuring the lead characters of Dragon Quest 7 I've fallen in love with Dragon Quest 7 – not the JRPG's breezy new remake, but the 25-year-old PS1 original
Opening Movie | DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined - YouTube Opening Movie | DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined - YouTube
Watch On

Some regions, like Australia and New Zealand, have already crossed into January 7, and a handful of full demo playthroughs have already started to hit YouTube. Judging by those, you can expect to spend about three hours running through this demo. That's a fair bit short of the generous precedent set by the 10-hour demo for Dragon Quest 11 S, but should still give you a meaty look at the opening of the game, including how the devs have cut back the wait to get to the first battle.

If you're still waiting for the demo to drop in your region, check out our hands-on preview of Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined from November.

Here are the upcoming RPGs for 2026 and beyond you need to know about.

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Dustin Bailey
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Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.

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