Dragon Quest 7 Remake Aims to Capture Akira Toriyama’s Charm While Preserving Its Unique JRPG Atmosphere

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There’s been a lot of chatter—both positive and negative—about the diorama-style art and doll-like character designs in Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined since their reveal, especially in light of the recent HD remakes of Dragon Quest 1-3, which opted for a more traditional pixel art style. Regardless of your stance on the doll aesthetic, one thing is clear: the art style remains true to the original designs crafted by the late Akira Toriyama, the legendary mangaka and artist behind the Dragon Quest series.

We recently had a chance to chat with Takeshi Ichikawa, the producer of Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined, and we were eager to hear his thoughts on adapting Toriyama’s iconic character designs into this unique style.

“The original Dragon Quest 7 was defined by Akira Toriyama’s designs, featuring charming, stylized characters,” Ichikawa shared. “We aimed to convey that cuteness while still capturing the game’s distinctive atmosphere.”

In my opinion, they absolutely succeeded in this regard. While I have my own critiques about Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined (it feels a bit too easy), I genuinely appreciate how the remake modernizes Toriyama’s designs without losing the essence that makes them so uniquely his.

When asked about the decision to adopt the doll-like aesthetic, Ichikawa explained that Square Enix had observed a similar visual style in successful films and games and wanted to explore it.

“At the same time, we found that media featuring doll motifs were well-received worldwide, which inspired us to merge this concept with Dragon Quest 7’s character designs,” he noted. “We believed this approach would yield a visually appealing style, leading us to embrace the hand-crafted aesthetic.”

Ichikawa emphasized that Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined “isn’t meant to supplement or improve upon” previous versions of the classic JRPG, but rather to “represent” the game “for today.”