Dragon Quest VII Reimagined Demo Impressions

Like a belated Christmas present, Dragon Quest VII Reimagined arrived the day before yesterday in the form of a demo on PS5, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC, to whet our appetites ahead of its release on February 5.

This demo allows us to play the first few stages of this great adventure, covering approximately the first three hours of the story, with the possibility of transferring our progress to the final version of the game. It differs from the demo that Square Enix let us try last November, so you can check out those first impressions with DQVIIR to discover even more details if you didn't do so at the time.

This is thus a demo for all audiences, and I certainly enjoyed it. Thanks to this first taste of everything this "reimagining" of Dragon Quest VII has to offer, we can familiarise ourselves with the combat system, the story and mission progression, as well as the puzzles and challenges we can expect to find in the final product. My impressions of this demo have been very positive; it's a very good first taste of everything the final game has to offer.

What stands out most is the game's artistic style and visual finish. Graphically, it's simply beautiful, with scenes that look like they've been taken straight out of a diorama and realistic elements, masterfully blended with the signature character design by the beloved Akira Toriyama. This leaves behind the pixel art style of the original game from the first PlayStation back in 2001, and stands out from the cel-shaded remake that was released on Nintendo 3DS in 2013 in Japan and in 2016 in Europe and America, Fragments of the Forgotten Past. It also sets a new precedent for remakes of the Dragon Quest series, as Dragon Quest I-II-III were recently released as HD-2D remakes, in the style of the Octopath Traveler series. On a personal level, I must admit that after the announcement of this game, I found the character models outright ugly, but after trying this demo, I realise I was wrong; they work very well and look great in motion, especially in Handheld Mode on Nintendo Switch 2, as if you were carrying them around with you in a little box with a window.

In terms of the progression structure, it has various quality-of-life elements to prevent players from getting lost, such as access to a map that indicates points of interest to advance the story or a difficulty selector, with an "Easy Mode", as well as the ability to customise different elements to suit any play style. The combat system is turn-based, as we are accustomed to in traditional titles in the series. We can see enemies and allies at all times, and great care has been taken with the attack animations and monster reactions. It also features a job system that determines each character's abilities, using classic archetypes: balanced character, physical attack-focused character, magic attack-focused character...

The Dragon Quest VII Reimagined demo reminds us that this is a title that exudes care and attention to detail from the outset. The key lies in the small details that are revealed as soon as you start playing: from interacting with all the dogs and cats you encounter, to being able to destroy barrels and vases to find hidden objects. Another detail that this version retains and that reminds us how special the first JRPGs were is the ability to talk to any NPC, who will always offer some dialogue or advice, and to enter practically any building we come across, which almost always hides an object to be found. Less significant elements also stand out, but they equally add something extra to the experience, such as rotating the camera to see the beautiful scenery of the title from almost any angle and thus find secret entrances to buildings. One detail I didn't like is that the tutorial screens use a smaller text font than the menus and dialogue, making them difficult to read compared to the rest of the text in the game. However, based on what I've seen in this trial version, I think that whether you're new to JRPGs or the Dragon Quest series in general, or whether you're already a veteran slimeslayer, Dragon Quest VII Reimagined will win you over. We'll confirm whether or not this is the case in our review in just a few weeks.