In October 2025, I previewed Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, and in addition had the great fortune to talk with Takeshi Ichikawa, producer of the upcoming title by way of a translator. Dragon Quest VII is such an enchanting sport for me personally, as a result of it’s by no means been one in every of my favorites within the collection, for a big selection of causes. That stated, it’s one I’ve written about, as a result of the principle character is arguably one of many strongest protagonists within the collection.
That stated, I’ve been hands-on with Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, and to this point, I completely cherished it. The Moonlighting (dual-class) function is wonderful, and the streamlining of the story feels good. I talked about these modifications and way more with Takeshi Ichikawa, after my hands-on expertise with Dragon Quest VII Reimagined.
Takeshi Ichikawa of Dragon Quest VII Reimagined on minimize content material, new storylines, and the place he stopped taking part in DQVII
Q. Hey! First, thanks a lot for taking the time to talk with us. For individuals who won’t know who you’re, might you please introduce your self, your function, and another titles gamers would possibly acknowledge you’ve labored on?
Takeshi Ichikawa: My identify is Takeshi Ichikawa, and I’m the Producer of Dragon Quest VII Reimagined. As for earlier titles I’ve labored on, the very first that I used to be concerned with once I joined this trade was Dragon Quest Builders 2. I used to be the Assistant Producer on that title.
Jason Parker: Ahh, that’s one in every of my favourite video games! I don’t usually like constructing video games, however I fell in love with Builders 2. I’m nonetheless hoping for a Builders 3.
Takeshi Ichikawa: Apart from Dragon Quest Builders 2, I additionally labored on Dragon Quest XI S, and I additionally served as Assistant Producer on that. So Dragon Quest VII Reimagined serves as my first time as producer.
Jason Parker: And I do know I stated it earlier, however DQXI is tied for my favourite Dragon Quest of all time, subsequent to DQIII. It’s as near an ideal Dragon Quest sport as there has ever been.
Q. What’s your historical past and expertise with Dragon Quest? Is it a collection you performed quite a lot of in your youth?
Takeshi Ichikawa: So the very first Dragon Quest sport I ever performed was Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland. As for the first-ever mainline sport, it was truly Dragon Quest VII. I used to be a really younger child then, again in elementary faculty, and it does type of ache me to speak about, as a result of I truly gave up midway. I didn’t end the sport. After that, I additionally performed a handful of different mainline titles and spinoff titles, after which I joined Sq. Enix.
Jason Parker: I’m in a form of related boat with [Dragon Quest] VII. I didn’t give it up, however I did cease taking part in it for fairly an extended whereas. [Laughs] It got here out once I was about 18, and it was a sport I actually didn’t like at first, just like Dragon Quest II. DQVII did develop on me, as did DQII once I began taking part in the HD-2D Remake.
Q. Based on an interview with Yuji Horii, there’s been content material that was confirmed added/faraway from Dragon Quest VII. Amongst these bits of content material, we’ve heard that the Immigrant City, Monster Meadows, and the Excellence Grading Group could have been minimize. The interpretation of the interview could have been incorrect, so I needed to ask if that is true.
Takeshi Ichikawa: Sure, I can affirm that the content material you listed has been faraway from Dragon Quest VII Reimagined.
Q. I’ve additionally heard blended experiences on the Eventualities: Grondal, Windfall, and El Ciclo. I’ve heard they’ve been minimize, however I’ve additionally heard rumors that they’ve been used as aspect quests/aspect content material. Can you affirm this?
Takeshi Ichikawa: Sure, I can affirm that as nicely.
Q. Dragon Quest VII is a sport that’s personally fairly odd for me among the many franchise. It’s one of many solely video games within the collection I’ve solely performed by way of as soon as, and that was when it initially got here to America. One of many modifications that had been made positively appealed to me: a extra streamlined storyline. The introduction to the unique sport positively felt prefer it was a bit lengthy. What kinds of modifications can we anticipate within the story?
Takeshi Ichikawa: With the remastered model, we reworked the situation, the narrative totally. It’s a whole overhaul. We checked out pacing, and made certain that we rearranged all the things in order that it’s extra streamlined and interesting to our audiences. However on the identical time, we needed to verify we had been retaining all the great elements from the unique, too.
You introduced up an ideal level, truly. The introduction, the prologue, is one thing we labored on as nicely. We recognized the extended length it takes to get to the primary battle of the sport. You talked about it takes about 3 or 4 hours on the PlayStation, and also you had been lifeless on. [Laughs]
That’s the right understanding of it. Within the Reimagined model [of Dragon Quest VII], we labored on all the things, we rearranged all of the situations, made some changes and streamlined issues, as for the primary battle within the sport, it shouldn’t take you greater than an hour to get to that time.
Q. I’d wish to circle again to earlier, the place you stated you had the same expertise with Dragon Quest VII. The place did you fall off in VII? What made you cease taking part in?
Takeshi Ichikawa: To be fairly trustworthy, I truly gave up fairly early on. [Laughs]
Jason Parker: I get it! [Laughs]
Takeshi Ichikawa: It was truly earlier than I even reached the primary battle. The rationale why is strictly the explanation that you just talked about. I simply needed to get into battles with monsters, and since my first publicity to Dragon Quest was Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland, and also you get into battles with a bunch of monsters fairly early, I used to be anticipating the same expertise to that.
However Dragon Quest VII takes fairly a very long time to get into that first battle, so it did really feel boring to me again then. However I used to be a really younger child.
Jason Parker: And round that point, Remaining Fantasy X got here out. So I requested myself, “Why am I scuffling with this, once I can simply put 300 hours into FFX? Which is what I in the end did.” [Laughs]
Q. We’ve seen some fairly attention-grabbing modifications within the current Dragon Quest remakes. I’m trying once more on the Roto Trilogy and the addition of the Monster Wrangler Vocation in DQ3. Are we going to see new Vocations, or any main modifications to the Vocation system in DQVII Reimagined?
Takeshi Ichikawa: As for the Vocation parts of Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, we targeted on what we name the “Human Vocations”, versus the “Monster Vocations”, which had been in earlier releases. That’s the content material that was eliminated on this model, so we’re targeted on the character’s Vocations right here.
Earlier than the complete Vocation system and Moonlighting is unlocked, a Distinctive Vocation is hooked up to each one of many social gathering members. In order that’s the brand new addition to the Vocation system.
Q. On that word, I really like Moonlighting, and I really like having the ability to dual-class. Was this a choice made as a result of Dragon Quest video games, particularly Dragon Quest video games at that cut-off date, had been extremely troublesome? VII and VIII particularly had been very difficult video games, however having a dual-class system, basically, might tone down the issue a bit.
Takeshi Ichikawa: One of many important causes we needed to implement the Moonlighting function was to handle a difficulty we had with the earlier releases (3DS and PlayStation). In order you understand, the best way it labored was there was a selected Vocation proficiency degree hooked up to each Vocation. So when you max these out, the participant will get to vary their Vocation and obtain the next rank Vocation.
The way in which it labored in earlier variations was whenever you max out a Vocation and alter it to the next rank Vocation, your proficiency goes again down from the max degree all the way down to 1. That negatively impacted the character’s attributes, and that didn’t actually work nicely for gamers.
The rationale we needed to implement the Moonlighting system was to handle that particular challenge we had within the earlier releases. Now gamers get to equip two Vocations without delay, and that challenge with decrease attributes/stats gained’t be a difficulty anymore.
As well as, having the ability to equip two Vocations without delay provides extra flexibility and freedom for gamers to strive all of the totally different mixtures and distinctive Vocations that now we have. It’s type of a “killing two birds with one stone” determination. It made that system smoother and much more enjoyable.
We additionally made some changes to gameplay stability in battle as nicely, so we didn’t solely simply rework the vocation system. The stability in fight is adjusted as nicely, with the idea that the gamers will make the most of the Moonlighting system. So by way of the issue, it’s nonetheless going to be difficult. It gained’t be too straightforward for gamers, and may nonetheless be enjoyable for them.
Q. We’re in a form of Dragon Quest Renaissance proper now, too! We’ve had a brand new Dragon Quest Monsters, III HD-2D Remake, and the I & II HD-2D Remake will probably be out by the point this interview goes dwell as nicely. In Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, there was an enormous lore reveal within the ending that wasn’t within the authentic sport. In Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, there’s going to be the Hero & Maribel storyline. Is that being designed in that very same type, as a brand new, added storyline to offer extra context and flesh out the characters?
Takeshi Ichikawa: I believe I calmly touched upon this earlier however along with changes to the storyline, eradicating some content material and making a few of it elective, we’re additionally introducing utterly new tales as nicely. What these storylines will depict are a extra in-depth take a look at our social gathering members, and a few of them are going to be fairly large tales. So I believe it’s going to ship a extremely contemporary story expertise for gamers, even those who have skilled Dragon Quest VII earlier than.
This was type of a spoiler by Horii-san on the TGS stage. [Laughs] There will probably be a brand new episode that explores the connection between the protagonist and Maribel.
Jason Parker: It instantly makes me consider Dragon Quest XI, the place everybody had a extremely essential storyline related to them, that fleshed them out extra, and gave them an opportunity to shine.
Q. Why was Dragon Quest VII picked for a remake, versus one of many different video games which are arguably a bit extra beloved, like VIII, IX, and even maybe V?
Takeshi Ichikawa: Dragon Quest VII has quite a lot of actually distinctive traits that’s probably not shared with the opposite mainline installments, so we consider these are distinctive aesthetics of the world of Dragon Quest VII.
And to be a bit extra particular, the adversities that the characters face, it’s darker than the tales within the Dragon Quest saga. Because it’s been 25 years because the authentic launch, now could be the best time to ship this to our viewers, and we predict it can resonate with them.
Q. Final, however actually not least: What’s your favourite Dragon Quest sport, and why?
Takeshi Ichikawa: You understand, clearly, I’ve gotta go together with [Dragon Quest] VII [Laughs]. I’ve some historical past with the title, and I’m engaged on the Reimagined model, but when I had been to select one thing else, I might say Dragon Quest Builders 2. It’s personally essential for me, because it’s the very first title I ever labored on as a developer, so positively these two titles.
Dragon Quest VII Reimagined releases on February 5, 2026, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Sequence X}S, PC, Nintendo Swap, and Nintendo Swap 2. It’s going to be an enormous sport, and after being hands-on with it, I actually assume long-time followers and newcomers alike are going to adore it.
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Edited by Abu Amjad Khan