Dragon Quest Creator Yuji Horii On Remakes And Game Preservation

Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is the latest game to grace the cover of Game Informer magazine, and would you believe that in our 34 years of history, this is the first time we’ve featured a Dragon Quest game on the cover? That’s a wild statement, so during my trip to Tokyo, Japan, to play Reimagined, I interviewed Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii for 90 minutes about the series, what it’s like seeing Dragon Quest VII remade again, game preservation, and more. 

You can read my full deep dive into Dragon Quest history, as told by Horii, here, but in the meantime, let’s get into Horii’s thoughts on remakes and game preservation. 

A screenshot from Dragon Quest I

He begins discussing remakes by mentioning platform limitations of the past. 

“We were confined by a lot of elements when we developed those games,” Horii tells me. “So seeing this new generation of creators [Editor’s Note: Horii is seated beside Reimagined producer Takeshi Ichikawa during this interview], reimagining and remaking these titles, it is an interesting sight to see.

“One of the key differences between video games and other entertainment platforms or media – you can always revisit those old mangas, old movies, but for video games, it’s getting more difficult to play older games. So to actually offer an opportunity for players around the world to actually play the older titles in a new way in this modern day and age and on the current generation of consoles and platforms, I think it’s a really great thing.” 

Game Informer video editor Alex Van Aken, who accompanied me on this Reimagined trip, followed up with Horii to ask about his thoughts on game preservation. He says it’s a difficult topic. 

“In a lot of ways, it’s really something that can’t be helped in this day and age,” Horii says. “Back then, kids had limited forms of entertainment, or limited accessibility to entertainment. So they would spend tens and hundreds of hours in video games, but nowadays, it’s a little bit different. The way people or kids interact and engage with video games is very different from when they did way back then, a few decades ago, since it’s not just video games; there are so many different types and forms of entertainment. It’s really hard to have a video game take [a piece of that] pie. So yeah, it’s a difficult topic.”

Dragon Quest VII Reimagined launches on February 5 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Switch, and PC. 

While waiting for its release, check out this article breaking down everything in the Dragon Quest VII Reimagined issue of Game Informer, and be sure to subscribe here if you haven’t yet to access the Dragon Quest VII Reimagined cover story, our deep dive into Dragon Quest history with creator Yuji Horii, and so much more.