Major Overhaul: Dragon Quest VII Reimagined to Cut Casino, Excellence Grading Organisation, and Key Scenarios in Pursuit of a Streamlined RPG Experience

The highly anticipated Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is poised to be more than just a graphical update of the classic JRPG. Recent announcements from the Tokyo Game Show have confirmed a substantial re-engineering of the game’s content, with Square Enix opting to significantly streamline the massive title by removing several long-standing, fan-favorite features and scenarios. This radical approach aims to improve the notoriously slow pacing of the original, but the cuts—including the beloved Dragon Quest Casino—have ignited a fierce debate among the RPG community.

The Axed Content: Gambling, Grading, and Guilds Removed

The development team, led by producer Takeshi Ichikawa and working in consultation with series creator Yuji Horii, is openly trading breadth for pace. The removed content targets many of the original game’s substantial, yet often optional, side activities that contributed to its immense length.

• The Casino Cut: Perhaps the most controversial removal is the Casino, a staple of the Dragon Quest series where players could spend vast amounts of in-game gold to gamble for powerful, exclusive equipment. The decision is widely speculated to be a consequence of evolving global age-rating standards, particularly the European PEGI system, which began classifying games with simulated gambling as 18+ in recent years. This change directly impacts the series’ long-held goal of being an accessible, all-ages RPG.
• Excellence Grading Organisation (EGO): Also confirmed for removal is the Excellence Grading Organisation, which hosted the popular Style Contest, a mini-game allowing players to compete for prizes by assembling stylish outfits from their accumulated equipment. This cut removes an entire layer of unique endgame content and item-collection strategy.
• Monster Meadows and Immigrant Town: The Monster Meadows, where players could send captured monsters, and the Immigrant Town (known as the Haven in the 3DS version), which transformed based on the NPCs recruited, are also on the chopping block. These features provided a sense of world-building and reward for exploration that will now be absent.

Furthermore, three entire past-world scenarios—El Ciclo, Gröndal, and Providence—have been omitted. The developers note that these were chosen for removal because they were deemed less connected to the main, overarching narrative, suggesting a new, tighter focus on the central quest of restoring the world’s lost islands.

The Trade-Off: New Features and a Focus on Story

To compensate for the loss of this significant gameplay content, Square Enix is integrating several new and modified features intended to modernize the experience and enhance the main narrative flow.

• New Arena Colosseum: A new Arena Colosseum mode will be introduced, offering a venue for ranked battles against formidable enemies, including classic Demon Kings in the post-game content. This addition appears to be the primary replacement for the challenge and reward structure lost with the Casino and EGO.
• Streamlined Story Content: The overall story is being “enhanced to provide a more streamlined story experience” with better pacing. A brand-new scenario, tentatively titled the ‘Childhood of Hero & Maribel’, will be added, likely serving to build deeper character connections for the protagonist and his childhood friend early in the adventure.
• Quality of Life Upgrades: The game will feature a charming, new hand-crafted diorama visual style and numerous quality-of-life improvements. These include the return of the Lucky Panel mini-game in a redesigned form, visible on-field enemy encounters to replace random battles, and a new “Moonlighting” Vocation system that allows characters to equip two vocations at once for more flexible battle strategy and character builds—a key element for JRPG veterans seeking deep customization.

The changes in Dragon Quest VII Reimagined represent a bold, yet risky, maneuver for one of the longest and most revered titles in the Square Enix catalog. While the new aesthetic and streamlined pacing may attract a wider, modern audience looking for an accessible high-value entertainment experience, the removal of iconic, optional content like the Casino may prove a significant deterrent for long-time fans who valued the original’s vast scope and myriad of eccentric side activities.

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