Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined Producer Says A Remake’s Purpose Should Be ‘To Delight Fans of the Original’
Embracing the history.
Few video game series have a rich legacy like Dragon Quest, the grandfather of RPGs. As you might expect, Dragon Quest has seen its fair share of remakes and remasters across the years, including the HD-2D trilogy, and the upcoming Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined — by far the series’ most ambitious remake yet.
While it might seem the primary function of a remake is to bring the game to a new wave of players, Dragon Quest I & II producer Masaaki Hayasaka has a different mind, at least for Dragon Quest.
“The goals behind a remake vary from project to project. However, I personally think it's to ‘delight fans of the original game,’” Hayasaka tells Inverse. “Of course, acquiring new fans and adapting to current hardware, as mentioned earlier, are also often counted among our goals. However, a remake can only exist because the original game exists, and because there is a certain number of people who love it.”
Hayasaka worked on many of Square Enix’s Team Asano titles, including producing both Octopath Traveler and Bravely Default II. But now he’s shepherding Dragon Quest’s remake efforts, producing the entire HD-2D trilogy as well as Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined.
As part of the Remade series, Inverse talked to Hayasaka about how to approach redefining a legendary series like Dragon Quest, balancing new fans versus old, and why remakes have become vital.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Dragon Quest 2 is the most drastically changed of the HD-2D games.
Why do you think video game remakes have become such a huge part of the industry? Do you think that trend will continue as the industry continues to get older?
Hayasaka: First and foremost, please allow me to note that this interview reflects solely my personal views and not the company's official stance. Now, I believe there are a few standpoints to consider regarding your question. The first is investment risk. As game producers, we pitch game concepts to the company, secure approval, and acquire the budgets to drive our projects. In other words, the producer's primary responsibility is convincing the company that “this game concept is worth investing in.” I’m sure it’s common knowledge that development costs are rising alongside advances in hardware capabilities.
Because of this, investing in “new/original titles with uncertain sales potential” inevitably becomes more challenging for companies. Conversely, “remakes of past titles with demonstrated performance” already come equipped with data like sales performance and player feedback, making it easier to forecast and approximate their potential for success and, thus, for management to greenlight them. The other standpoint to consider is how the number of existing titles increases in proportion to the passage of time.
Naturally, when video games first emerged, there were no existing titles to remake, so only new titles existed. From there, the pool of released titles has steadily grown as the years rolled by, and with it, the number of titles we consider to be masterpieces. I believe this — coupled with the considerations surrounding investment risks mentioned earlier — has led to an increase in the number of remake titles. As long as development costs continue to rise, so too will the investment risk for companies, leading me to believe this “trend for more remake titles” will likely continue, too.
Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined is a remake in every sense, making drastic changes to the game’s structure and story — including cutting out entire parts of the original game.
Why are video games so much more prone to remakes than other media, like film or TV? Is it because of the interactive element?
I believe this is likely because, compared to other forms of media, video games are “influenced significantly by hardware limitations.” The Famicom was released in 1983, but if we took films as an example, the third Star Wars movie also came out that same year. This means that the technical capability to achieve graphical expressions on par with Star Wars films existed at the time, but when it came to video games, the screen simply turned into pixelated dots instead. This is attributed to none other than the limitations of the gaming hardware itself, and developers had no choice but to work with what they could within those constraints. Given the evolution of hardware over the years, the greater the restrictions were at the time, the wider the gap becomes in terms of “what’s now possible with current technology.”
And that’s why remaking those titles now “can feel worthwhile.” While the film and TV industry has certainly evolved in terms of graphics and equipment, if we compare the changes within the same timeframe from 1983 to 2025, chances are everyone would agree that “video game graphics have evolved even more.” I think this gap is precisely what makes video game remakes more likely to emerge.
What do you think the purpose of a video game remake should be? Is it to bring the game to a new generation, or preserve its place in history? Essentially, what makes a video game remake successful?
It's difficult to provide a general statement because the goals behind a remake vary from project to project. However, I personally think it's to “delight fans of the original game.” Of course, acquiring new fans and adapting to current hardware, as mentioned earlier, are also often counted among our goals. However, a remake can only exist because the original game exists, and because there is a certain number of people who love it.
That is why the decision to create a remake is made in the first place. Given this, I believe a remake’s content must first be one that could delight its original fans and gain their support. Doing so enables the title to earn strong acclaim, and that recognition in turn spreads to new audiences, ultimately leading more people to discover and play the game. Perhaps one could say a remake has succeeded once it cements itself as a new “original” in its own right.
Reimagined’s characters are based on real-life dolls the development team made, and then scanned into the game and animated.
Do you have any worries that too many remakes could lead to a lack of innovation in video games at large? Can you still experiment and try new ideas by returning to older titles?
I don’t really have such concerns. Case in point, Dragon Quest I & II, the very project I just worked on, adopts new character growth and battle elements that have never been featured within the Dragon Quest series until now, including the original game. Various approaches exist under the umbrella of what we call remakes, where some are made by remaining faithful to the original, while others take a completely different direction.
Given this, it’s possible to create all sorts of new things depending on which direction you take. Conversely, ”Could a title be described as innovative simply on account of it being brand new?” The answer wouldn’t necessarily be yes. After all, it’s not uncommon for us to look at a new game and go, “This feels like something we've already seen before.”
With a series that has been around as long as Dragon Quest, do you think remakes present the chance to bring in a new generation or fan base? How do you balance the wants of longtime fans with trying to attract entirely new players?
Yes, I agree that the longer the series’ history is, the more worthwhile remakes become when it comes to expanding its fan base. Our latest remakes of Dragon Quest I, II, and III are especially great examples of this. These titles had been remade a few times in the past already, but even those remakes were for the Super Famicom, Game Boy Color, etc., making them nearly 30 years old at this point.
Trying to play them today would inevitably feel a bit tough from a playability or graphical standpoint, especially for younger players, so we can bring in new fans by remaking them as modern games again. As for how to make both the existing fan base and new players happy… I almost wish somebody would give me those answers, haha. I've now worked on two remakes, but even then, I still don’t have a clear answer myself. One thing I can say for certain, however, is that striking that perfect balance is the most difficult and crucial challenge for any remake.
One of the key features of the HD-2D trilogy is that all three games are now tied more closely together narratively — almost feeling like one package.
Considering the changes made to DQ2 and the upcoming DQ7, how do you approach making changes to classic games like these? How do you tread the line of keeping the game’s spirit intact, and realizing their vision with modern tools?
How to approach a remake varies drastically across titles, so this inevitably becomes a more general statement, but I think everything ultimately comes down to researching and understanding the original work and IP itself. Taking the IP’s history into account—what elements of the original game did players love back then, and what areas need to be improved for modern players to feel the same—none of these discussions can even begin without a deep understanding of the original game.
Put another way, once you’ve firmly grasped that foundation, you’ll begin to gain a clearer picture of which key points a remake should focus on—and which ones you absolutely shouldn’t overlook. This is where the creator’s skills are truly put to the test, which I find to be the unique challenge and appeal of remakes.
