One of the true ironies of our gaming world is that you never really know how people will react to something until they do. All developers and publishers have to worry about sending out the “wrong message” upon announcing something, as that can doom a game outright. In the case of Square Enix, they were undoubtedly a little nervous when Dragon Quest VII Reimagined was announced at a Nintendo Direct earlier this year, as that entry isn’t the most beloved in the fabled RPG line. Yet, thanks to the trailer and details that were dropped later, fans seem eager for it.
In a special interview with the Dragon Quest VII Reimagined team, Producer Takeshi Ichikawa gave his own take on the reaction from fans at the announcement:
It was announced during a Nintendo Direct broadcast, which had a lot of titles in it. We managed to push our way to the front of all of them and get the number one trend in Japan, so I was very happy with that!
The reaction in Europe and America was good too. Obviously, we didn’t quite get the number one like we did in Japan, but even against the big first-party Nintendo titles in that show, we managed to get close to it. I think it was a really good announcement overall.
The producer did also note that Square Enix is aware that the franchise isn’t as big in other countries as it is in Japan, but they’re always going to make things accessible to those who want to give it a shot:
“We do think about that when we develop our games, and try to make sure that they are accessible and easy to get into for people outside of Japan who don’t know them so well.”
That undoubtedly was their motivation for the recent remakes they did, including the remakes of the 1st and 2nd titles in the series, our review of which you can read here.
Source: Square Enix
