Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined isn’t pretending to be something it’s not

The first time I saw the art style for Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined, I instinctively recoiled in my chair. Maybe I was just so used to seeing the series remade with glorious HD-2D art, but I was totally taken off guard. The plasticine characters, the toy-like enemies, the diorama worlds — it all reminded me of a DreamWorks animated movie. It wasn’t until I actually began playing the RPG that I realized that comparison wasn’t inherently derogatory. In fact, I’ve grown quite fond of Reimagined’s art style, because it’s helped me better understand what Dragon Quest 7 is: an RPG for kids.

Originally released for the PlayStation in 2000, Dragon Quest 7 is a famously massive turn-based RPG with a globe-trotting premise. Players control a young and nameless hero who sets out on an adventure through time to bring the lost continents of the past back to the present. The story mostly plays out in self-contained episodes, each one set on a small island. Those stories are light in nature, and even a little silly on occasion. On one island, the party comes across a cursed town where everyone keeps turning into animals.

There’s an overarching villain story with God-killing implications that ties everything together, but you’d be hard-pressed to call it “mature.” It’s a sweet and breezy tale about a group of kids solving people’s problems, not unlike a Nickelodeon cartoon. It may as well be a Nintendo game with a lot more required reading. That’s not a knock against it by any means. On the contrary, it’s a real delight to play such a good-natured RPG about the world-saving power of childlike optimism.

Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined doesn’t just keep that spirit intact; it does everything it can to emphasize it. Instead of playing to older audiences who grew up with the original, it tries to welcome in today’s kids by toning down a good deal of the difficulty and friction. (Older critics are split on that approach, but Polygon’s review praised the breezy reinvention.) The most impactful change, though, comes down to art style. Rather than staying nostalgic like the HD-2D Dragon Quest remakes or taking a cinematic approach, Reimagined looks like it was pulled out of a toy box. Every continent is a playset filled with plastic toys. Blue slimes are so cute and tactile that you just want to pick them up and trot them around a Candy Land board.

Image: Square Enix via Polygon

It takes some getting used to, because the art is occasionally hideous. The look is meant to honor the late Akira Toriyama, whose signature style defined the look of Dragon Quest, but character models can teeter into Shrek territory. No, really. Kiefer, a young prince who joins the party early, is a dead ringer for Lord Farquaad, thanks to his little DreamWorks smirk. It’s off-putting early on, but feels right once it becomes clear that Dragon Quest 7 is not some high-stakes war story. It’s a jaunty little adventure for the young and the young at heart.

I can’t blame anyone who takes issue with that read, especially those who grew up with the original game in 2000. Back in an era where graphical power had more limits, it could be difficult to deduce a game’s audience by looking at it. The colorful art of the original Dragon Quest 7 was consistent with other RPGs of the era, even ones that were worlds apart in tone. But with more stylistic options at its disposal in 2026, Square Enix is able to communicate a bit more explicitly with the look of Reimagined. This is a game that wants you to know that it’s kid-friendly, and the art fits the intent.

Image: Grezzo/Nintendo

Reimagined isn’t the only game that has utilized that style effectively. Grezzo’s excellent remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening similarly brings out the childhood spirit of a Game Boy classic, adapting it into a toy box rather than building it into a grand epic. Pokémon Shining Pearl and Brilliant Diamond similarly tell adult players to chill out by making it clear that these are RPGs for kids. Even Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp made it clear that its wartime tactics weren’t meant to be treated more seriously than children playing with toy soldiers. None of these remakes demean their source material by dumbing them down; they just help clarify the intended tone.

Sometimes, we could use the reminder. How often do you come across a fan-made video that imagines what a Mario game would look like if it were made in Unreal Engine 5? Dark shadows, realistic fireballs, and complex lighting aim to imagine an “adult” modernization of the Mushroom Kingdom. For over a decade, I’ve been seeing artists reimagine Pokémon by turning them from cartoons into lifelike creatures covered in slimy scales and dirty fur. (Generative AI has turned a once-novel bit of fan art into an engagement-bait institution.) Open up the comment section in examples like these and you’ll find players who grew up with Nintendo games pining for their cartoon mascots to age with them.

Image: Facebook via Polygon

It’s a little ridiculous considering that Mario is a cartoon character who jumps on turtles and plays board games with his squeaky-voiced pals. The childlike innocence is core to the charm of the series. Some players are bound to age out of it eventually, but there’s a good reason that Nintendo keeps making Mario’s games brighter and more toon-like even as its hardware becomes more capable.

I appreciate that Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined isn’t trying to pretend to be something it’s not. There’s a version of it that’s even more mechanically complex, sporting a grand art style that gives the adventure a false sense of maturity — one that makes middle-aged PlayStation owners like me feel less insecure about playing it. Instead, it’s comfortable with the fact that Dragon Quest isn’t high adult art. If you play Reimagined, you’re signing up for an animated movie that will make you feel like a wild and free kid again. If you’re not up for that ride, you can get your fill of suffering in Dragon’s Dogma 2, get a little steamy in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, or get your knuckles bloody in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. There are more than enough dragon quests for you.