DRAGON QUEST VII REIMAGINED: THE LONG ONE, MADE KIND
8.5 of 10 bananas. Square Enix rebuilt the famously slow PS1 epic with a handmade diorama look, a faster start, and a second vocation slot. Critics rate it in the mid 80s. Fans of the original note real cuts, and the Switch 2 copy is a game-key card.
By the Alpha. Full review. Updated Nov 10 2026.
Honest note: This is not a fresh hands-on playtest. I built this verdict from critic reviews, player reviews, the store listing, and the official game pages linked below. If I put real hours in on stream, I will update the score and say so.
Platforms: Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and the Microsoft Store. Released February 5 2026 by Square Enix. The Amazon button is the Switch 2 physical edition. Listen well: the box art shows a GAME-KEY CARD. The card does not hold the full game; you download it (about 6 GB per the box) and keep the card inserted to play. The Switch 1 version comes on a regular cartridge, with no Switch 2 upgrade path. At my Nov 10 2026 check the Switch 2 copy was sold by Amazon.com at 44.99 dollars and listed In Stock.
Get DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined for Switch 2 on AmazonStore check, Nov 10 2026: new copies sold and shipped by Amazon.com at 44.99 dollars, In Stock. Switch 2 GAME-KEY CARD (about 6 GB download, card must stay inserted). Prices and sellers change, so look before you pay.
Sit with me a moment. The original Dragon Quest VII made you wait about two hours before your first fight. I remember young gorillas giving up on the beach. This version asks a fair question: what if the long road stayed, but the waiting went away?
What It Wants To Be
You are a quiet island kid who finds stone tablet fragments that open doors into the past. Each island you save in the past rises from the sea in the present, and each one tells a small, self contained story. Reimagined keeps that anthology shape, adds a toy diorama look built from scanned handmade figures, re-recorded orchestral music, roaming enemies instead of random fights, and Moonlighting, which lets a character run two vocations at once.
What Works
Critics are warm. Metacritic shows 84 for Switch 2 from 31 critic reviews at my check. Nintendo Life gave it 9 of 10 and called it the most fun version yet, praising the trimmed pacing, the Moonlighting system, and an unbroken 60 frames per second on Switch 2. Push Square gave the PS5 version 8. On Amazon, buyers rate the Switch 2 copy 4.8 of 5 from 690 ratings, with 400 plus bought in the past month.
What Breaks
Listen well, veterans. The streamlining cut real content: fans of the PS1 original report removed islands and scenes, fewer vocations, a much easier difficulty, and the casino is gone. The combat is classic turn based and plain next to modern systems. And the Switch 2 physical copy is a game-key card, which many buyers dislike; the Switch 1 cartridge holds the full game but runs at 30 frames per second, per reports.
Who Should Play
Play it if you have never finished Dragon Quest VII, if you want a long, kind, old school JRPG with gentle stories, or if you loved Dragon Quest XI. Skip it, or keep your old copy, if the full PS1 length and challenge were the point for you.
STRENGTHS
- Gorgeous diorama visuals
- Much faster opening
- Moonlighting adds build depth
- Sold by Amazon.com at my check
HONEST COSTS
- Real content cuts versus the original
- Easy, plain combat
- GAME-KEY CARD on Switch 2
- No Switch 1 to Switch 2 upgrade
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