1 articlesDragon Quest is one of the most well-known series in the JRPG scene. And by 2026, it will celebrate its 40th anniversary, with Dragon Quest VII Reimagined kicking off in a few months.
Needless to say, the care and passion that go into the franchise have allowed it to become a household name in the JRPG genre.
And the secret? Well, it comes down to warmth and accessibility.
In an interview with GameInformer, Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii said that warmth and accessibility are two of the things that make Dragon Quest, well, Dragon Quest.
“The key concept that I really try to prioritize, or keep important to me, for Dragon Quest is that, you know, older computer games didn’t really have a sense of warmth,” Horii says on the games he played preceding his work creating Dragon Quest,” said Horii.
He emphasized that the “secret sauce” for the series’s longstanding success was how it opened up gaming to a wider audience.
Moreover, he mentioned that one potential reason for the series’s success, why it’s loved by its fans, is that it serves as a communication tool.
Dragon Quest is a Huge Success as It Connects People
“A lot of people might have memories of playing the Dragon Quest games with friends,” said Horii. “They might have a memory of playing the game with their older brother, who they might ask to play the game on their behalf so that they can grind and skip the leveling process challenges.”
Horii was accompanied by Reimagined producer Takeshi Ichikawa, who was seated beside him during the interview.
Ichikiwa shares the same sentiment with Horii, saying that the “Horii-esque elements”, referring to the series’ RPG elements, are what made Dragon Quest so loved by its fans.
“All the humor, the jokes in the narrative, the dialogue, and the expressions and the portrayals; It’s just so adorable at times,” said Ichikawa. “When you look at the story, it’s an epic story but also somehow feels relevant to you at the time.”
Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is slated to release in February 2026 on both PC and consoles.
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