Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past, is a 2000 role-playing video game developed by Heartbeat and ArtePiazza, and published by Enix for the PlayStation. The game was produced by Yuji Horii, who has presided over the Dragon Quest series since its inception. Artwork and character designs were once again provided by Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama, the artist responsible for all previous Dragon Quest games. It was released in North America in 2001 under the title Dragon Warrior VII. The game received a remake on the Nintendo 3DS in Japan in 2013; the remake was released in English under the title Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past in 2016. A version of the game for Android and iOS was released in Japan in 2015. Another remake, entitled Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, was released for Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on February 5, 2026.
The game follows the Hero and his friends as they discover secrets about the mysterious islands surrounding their home of Estard. Through some ancient ruins, they are transported to the pasts of various islands and must defeat evil in each new location. Game mechanics are largely unchanged from previous games in the series, although an extensive Class system allows players to customize their characters.
Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past is the seventh installment of the popular Dragon Quest series of role playing games, and is the successor to 1995's Dragon Quest VI for the Super Famicom. An immediate success upon release, Dragon Warrior VIIs sales totalled 4.06 million by April 6, 2001, making it the best-selling PlayStation game in Japan, and is an Ultimate Hits title. It was the first main series Dragon Quest title to be released outside Japan since the release of Dragon Quest IV in North America in 1992, the last Dragon Quest title to be released in North America with the Dragon Warrior name, and the last Dragon Quest game outside of Japan to be published by Enix, before merging with Squaresoft in 2003 to form Square Enix.
Gameplay
Dragon Quest VII is best known for its huge size. Without completing the game's side quests, a single game of Dragon Quest VII can take a hundred hours or more. In terms of gameplay, not much has changed from previous installments; battles are still fought in a turn-based mode from a first person perspective. Although non-battle sequences are rendered in 3D, battles themselves are still portrayed two dimensionally. The ability to talk with the party characters in and outside of battles was added to this game. They offer advice about battle strategies and plot points, or simply comment on how they feel at a given moment. There are four ways and means of locomotion: walking (striding), sailing a boat, flying a magic carpet, or using an object known as the skystone. Each of these can move across different terrain; however, some are more limited than others.
The main flow of the game is different from the other Dragon Quest games; instead of exploring one large world, the party goes to separate continents by placing stone shards into their appropriate pedestals in the Shrine of Mysteries. Once all of the missing shards are located and placed for a particular pedestal, the party is transported to the trapped location in the past. After solving whatever problems plague the location, the party then travels back to Estard, the beginning island. From there, they can travel via boat, carpet, or skystone to the modern version of the location they just saved. These saved lands appear on the main map, although the originals (from the past) can be revisited through the ruins.
Like most of the other Dragon Quest games, this game has several mini-games to participate in. The Haven (Immigrant Town in the PlayStation release), similar to the one in Dragon Quest IV, lets the player recruit people from various towns. They then live in the town, which changes depending on the type of people living there (e.g. several merchants will bring more stores to the town). A prominent feature in most Dragon Quest games is the casino. Poker, slot machines, and Lucky Panel can all be played in Dragon Quest VII. The Excellence Grading Organization (previously the World Ranking Federation) allows the player to compete for the highest stats, like the Beauty Competition from Dragon Quest VI. The player can also catch monsters, although they are only displayed in the Monster Meadows, unlike in Dragon Quest V, where monsters fought in the party. Blueprints are found to add new environments to the park. In Reimagined, the Haven, the Excellence Grading Organization, Monster Meadows, and casino minigames except for Lucky Panel were removed, with the Battle Arena taking the casino's place. The Battle Arena allows players to compete in gauntlets against bosses and are graded based on how many turns they take to clear rounds and are given greater rewards for clearing them within a given number of turns. Paid downloadable content allows players to face the main antagonists from the Erdrick Trilogy of games (Dragon Quest, Dragon Quest II, and Dragon Quest III).
Class system
Dragon Quest VII uses a class system for learning abilities, similar to that of Dragon Quest VI. Some available classes include Warrior, Fighter, Cleric, Mage, Bard, Dancer, Jester, Thief, Idol, Pirate, Ranger, Gladiator, Paladin, Summoner, God Hand ("Champion" in the English versions), and Hero, some of which are unlocked by mastering other classes. The game also includes monster classes, which can be unlocked by using the appropriate monster heart or mastering pre-requisite monster classes. In Reimagined, the monster classes were replaced by a single advanced class called Monster Master and characters can belong to two classes at the same time for extra flexibility.
Characters generally stop learning character specific spells and skills around experience level 15; however, around this time in the game, players will reach Alltrades Abbey, where they can give their characters certain classes. Each non-monster class belongs to one of three tiers (Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced), while monster classes have more tiers. Characters gain levels in classes by fighting a certain number of battles, as opposed to gaining experience points. Characters learn different spells and skills when they reach another class level and their stats are affected by what class they are. Once a character reaches the 8th and final level of a class, it is considered "mastered", if a character masters certain classes, higher-tier classes will become available to them.
Plot and setting
Story
The story begins when the father of the protagonist brings home a map fragment from a fishing trip; this map suggests to the protagonist and his friend that the world had, at some point in its past, had many continents, though now there is only the small island of . The two of them find a way to travel back to the past, when the continents still existed. The continents are facing serious problems that threaten their existence; the protagonist and his growing party work to resolve the problems, and when they do, the continents reappear in the present. When all the continents are finally restored, the party confronts the Demon King Orgodemir, who long ago defeated the Almighty (God in the Japanese script and the English PlayStation release) and is responsible for the continents' disappearance. After his initial defeat, Orgodemir returns in the present and poses as the Almighty to trick humanity into worshiping him, then seals the continents away again. The party summons the Four Great Spirits to expose Orgodemir, then travels to the Demon King's fortress where they destroy him for good in a final showdown. Afterwards, the party celebrates their victory with the allies they made during their journey and return to their ordinary lives.
Characters — The Hero has no default name; as is traditional in the Dragon Quest series, the name is supplied by the player (however, he is called Arus in the official manga and was given the name Auster in the English versions). The Hero is a lifelong native of the town of Pilchard Bay on Estard Island and dreams of becoming a fisherman like his father. He is good friends with Maribel, daughter of the mayor of Pilchard Bay, and Kiefer, prince of Estard. In particular, he has a fondness for going out on impromptu "adventures" with Kiefer. It is one such adventure than begins the story of the game. In Reimagined, he is voiced by Kouki Osuzu in Japanese and Isaac Rouse in English. — Kiefer is a prince of Estard, and the presumptive heir to the throne. Far from anticipating his elevation to kingship, however, Kiefer seems to resent his royal blood, and is a source of endless worry and frustration to his family and advisors. Kiefer, for his part, spends much of his time in search of excitement and adventure, and has found a kindred spirit in the Hero, whom he considers his closest friend. On one trip to an ancient land, Kiefer falls in love, and remains behind. Upon returning to the present, the hero finds out that Kiefer became a famous guardian of the Roamer tribe. In Reimagined, Kiefer briefly reunites with the party with the option to participate in the final battle against Orgodemir before returning to the past, and is voiced by Mamoru Miyano in Japanese and Roly Botha in English. Kiefer is also the main character of the game Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart. — A friend of both the Hero and Kiefer, Maribel is the daughter of the mayor of Pilchard Bay. Unlike Kiefer, who has steadfastly refused to let his social status influence how he looks upon other people, Maribel tends to be a bit condescending, even bossy. Despite this, she has a kind, sentimental side and gets along well with her friends, and occasionally accompanies them on their adventuring, even if she sometimes has to pressure them into letting her tag along. In Reimagined, Maribel is voiced by Aoi Yūki in Japanese and Becky Wright in English. — Although he appears normal, Ruff is actually a white wolf pup who was irrevocably turned into a boy. As such, he retains a number of obvious lupine characteristics, and can be somewhat animalistic at times. Ruff agrees to travel with the heroes hoping to protect his family, but remains with the group out of a sense of loyalty. In Reimagined, Ruff is voiced by Mutsumi Tamura in Japanese and Claire Corbett in English. Sir''' — A skilled paladin of generations past, Sir Mervyn fought on the side of God against the Demon Lord many years ago. Sir Mervyn excelled at his work, and distinguished himself in both skill and honor. As such, he was petrified in stone by God, so that, should the need arise, Sir Mervyn could be reawakened to once again take up the fight against evil. The party finds Sir Mervyn, who joins their adventure, although his age and unfamiliarity with the present day often leave other characters somewhat befuddled. In Reimagined, Sir Mervyn is voiced by Shigeru Chiba in Japanese and Nicholas Boulton in English. — Aishe is a descendant of Kiefer and the lead ritual dancer of the Roamer tribe, an ancient race of people charged with the stewardship of a temple necessary in the act of calling forth the Almighty. Raised and trained at swordsmanship, she is determined to fulfill her tribe's duty with the Almighty so they can finally move on. In Reimagined, Aishe is voiced by Asami Imai in Japanese and Amrita Acharia in English.