Sq. Enix on the RPG traditional’s return

After it initially launched on PlayStation, Dragon Quest 7 got here to Nintendo 3DS a couple of decade in the past with a remake. Sq. Enix has now determined to revisit it as soon as extra with a second remake, Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined for Nintendo Swap 2 and Swap, which options its personal visible fashion and makes varied gameplay changes.

Alongside the launch of Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined, we caught up with producer Takeshi Ichikawa to study a bit extra concerning the undertaking. Other than speaking concerning the recreation itself, Ichikawa spoke about why it’s the best time to deliver again the RPG once more.

You could find our full dialogue under. 

Dragon Quest 7 is remembered for its size and deliberate pacing. What guiding ideas did you employ to resolve what to protect versus what to streamline within the reimagined model?

The state of affairs construction of Dragon Quest 7 is a sequence of “brief story” fashion episodes and we tweaked this construction to create a fast-paced and immersive narrative expertise by re-ordering a few of these episodes, making others optionally available and slicing out a number of. Nonetheless, along with re-working the sport’s overarching construction, now we have additionally created some fully new story content material to deliver much more depth to the sport general, so I really feel that it’s going to present a recent new story expertise for gamers of the unique Dragon Quest 7 as properly.

Have been there story beats, characters, or themes you felt gamers misunderstood or neglected within the unique launch? If that’s the case, how did this remake provide the alternative to make clear or deepen them?

I don’t suppose gamers misunderstood or neglected something within the unique. Nonetheless, on this remake, we reimagined the state of affairs to offer a extra fast-paced and immersive story expertise.

Visually, the remake feels very totally different – virtually like a residing diorama, with exaggerated character designs in cutscenes. What led the crew towards this aesthetic for Dragon Quest 7, and was there a particular cause this fashion was chosen relatively than going the HD-2D route as we’ve just lately seen with different current remakes for the sequence?

When remaking Dragon Quest 7, we thought-about the visible course with the hope that audiences worldwide, not simply in Japan, would take pleasure in and develop keen on the charming characters designed by Akira Toriyama. To be able to depict the depth and really feel of Dragon Quest 7’s story extra vividly, we took on a brand new problem for the Dragon Quest sequence: using a “doll-like artwork fashion” and growing an in-game atmosphere that resembles a diorama. Please seek advice from this because the “hand-crafted fashion”! As well as, we adopted the hand-crafted visible fashion to match the stylized character designs of Dragon Quest 7, which differ from these in different mainline entries.

Dragon Quest 7 explores loss, restoration, and the gradual rebuilding of the world. Did the remake help you reframe these themes in ways in which resonate extra strongly with at the moment’s viewers?

Whereas preserving the unique’s appeal and distinctive ambiance, we reimagined the state of affairs to create a extra fast-paced and immersive story expertise.

For gamers who’re newer followers and should have began with a recreation like Dragon Quest 11, how did the crew strategy reimagining Dragon Quest 7 so it feels welcoming and intuitive to that viewers whereas nonetheless preserving what longtime followers love concerning the unique?

As talked about earlier, now we have reimagined the sport to make it simpler to play whereas preserving the unique’s appeal and distinctive ambiance. We imagine this enables each gamers experiencing the Dragon Quest sequence for the primary time and those that have performed Dragon Quest 7 earlier than to benefit from the recreation.

For longtime followers who know the unique inside and outside, what moments, story-wise or emotionally, are you most excited for them to expertise once more on this reimagined model?Now we have made varied changes in order that even gamers who’ve skilled Dragon Quest 7 earlier than can take pleasure in a recent expertise. We hope everybody can uncover one thing new and luxuriate in this barely totally different tackle Dragon Quest 7.

We’ve seen quite a lot of Dragon Quest remakes over the previous couple of years. Have been there any issues about overdoing it with new releases or did this simply really feel like one of the best time to launch Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined?

Dragon Quest 7: Fragments of the Forgotten Previous initially launched in 2000 – so this 12 months is its twenty sixth anniversary! Due to this, we felt it was the proper time to deliver its storytelling and distinctive ambiance to a wider viewers – particularly now, in at the moment’s world. Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined not solely “reimagines” the story and emotional portrayal of its characters but in addition makes the sport considerably extra approachable and accessible. We imagine this recreation will likely be pleasing for each earlier Dragon Quest 7 gamers and newcomers alike!

Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined is now out there on Nintendo Swap 2 and Swap worldwide. Discover our evaluation of the sport right here.

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