When Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined was announced during September’s Nintendo Direct, not everybody was surprised, but most of us still loved what we saw. The game still looks great every time it’s shown, but some are beginning to wonder whether the huge leap in graphical fidelity will justify what will be lost in this second remake to a seminal game.
We’d heard from the get-go that certain content would be removed, and that the overall story would be streamlined. As I said at the time, this makes sense given DQ7’s infamously plodding structure, but it’s also a real bummer for those of us who adore it for its unapologetically large scope. Thanks to a Tokyo Game Show broadcast, we now have more concrete information on what’s been sent packing — and what’s here to replace it.
Goodbye, Gambling?
One of the reasons games like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth have worked so well for a sizable subset of modern JRPG fandom is that they bring back a delightful hodgepodge of side activities that don’t involve fighting, fighting, and still more fighting. Sure, the quality of that content varies, but casinos — a Dragon Quest staple — have almost always been a full-fledged fun time. Thus, it’s doubly disappointing that they’ve been nixed from Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined.
The following is a list of cut content presented by Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii himself during the Tokyo Game Show 2025 broadcast:
- Three of the game’s original scenarios: El Ciclo, Gröndal, and Providence.
- Immigrant Town.
- Monster Meadows.
- Excellence Grading Organisation.
- And, as I’ve already droned on about, the casino.
Regarding the cut scenarios, Horii said the decision was made to remove the ones which contained the least ties to the main story. As Japanese gaming publication Dengeki puts it, this was done “in order to speed up the overall tempo and provide a more intense story experience.” Again, yes, Dragon Quest 7 is infamously cumbersome. It meanders a ton. That, however, is part of its charm to so many of us; we’ll see how it shakes up here.
It’s not all bad news, however. In fact, I’m a bit more hopeful knowing that there will be at least one added scenario, which will presumably link up with the primary narrative a bit more. Here’s what Horii says is new for Reimagined:
- An arena, with formidable enemies and luxurious prizes. You can fight “past Demon Kings” here in the endgame stretch.
- ‘Childhood of Hero & Maribel’ scenario, which may or may not be the official English translation for it. I’m rolling off of Stealth40k’s tweet for that bit. I’ll also leave room for the possibility that these are, in fact, two scenarios. Not 100 percent sure here.
- Scenarios that aren’t part of the main story have become optional, “so that they can be challenged at any time.”
Lucky Panel is still in this version, but it’s been removed from its previous casino-bound whereabouts. Famitsu transcribed Horii’s details therein, but right now, all we know is that it’s been “adjusted and implemented separately.”
Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined is coming to PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam on February 5, 2026.
