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Dragon Quest 7: Fragments of the Forgotten Past |OT| Roman numerals are hard

Camjo-Z

Member
Can't believe I'll finally get to play this. Between this and Builders in less than a month, it's a good time to be a DQ fan.
 

epmode

Member
Nice little detail - all buttons advance text boxes, even the dpad and shoulder buttons. Very convenient!

And this game is really, really pretty. The lower camera plus the camera rotation really makes it come alive.

Every game with lots of text needs this. Kills me that Ace Attorney still hasn't figured it out.
 
Every game with lots of text needs this. Kills me that Ace Attorney still hasn't figured it out.

Unless I missed it, the only thing that I wish were included is a display all text button, as charing as I find DQ's bleeps and bloops, there are times where I just want to display everything at once.

I know there's a speed adjustment for battle text, but I didn't see one for dialogue.
 
Wow, street date is getting broken like crazy on this, a used game store that I frequent already had a copy today along with the other handful of sealed 3DS games they sell. Gonna wait until tomorrow though because a friend of mine is going to use his Best Buy gamer club discount to get me 20% off. ^_^
 
5f60fc2bacc549f69fa28af5c4a1e07b.png


Took a pic straight out of the store since I couldn't wait lol.

Logged in about an hour and am in Estard rn, can't figure how to get my 3ds to take proper screenshots.

Also a tiny PSA, go into Settings (under Misc I think) and change immediately the field camera to the second option. It makes the overworld camera much better.
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
So charming already from the first hour in. This series has such a well-polished charm to it that you just don't see in any other rpg. The great translations we get really help.
 

KiTA

Member
Oh man, I didn't think to check if my locla GS was breaking street date. Ah well, 18 more hours won't kill me.
 

BY2K

Membero Americo
So say I'm looking for a old-school style RPG to fill an urge for it right now, this would be the game to get?
 

zbarron

Member
Nice little detail - all buttons advance text boxes, even the dpad and shoulder buttons. Very convenient!

And this game is really, really pretty. The lower camera plus the camera rotation really makes it come alive.

That is nice. I remember Dragon Quest VIII on PS2 having a decent one handed mode where you could even do battles with just the stick and L1 and L2 buttons. It's quite nice for long JRPGs.

Just pre-purchased my copy on the eShop.
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
Are there any side-by-side comparisons between the original and the 3ds version?
The psx version pretty much looks like a Super Nintendo game. People were angry back in the day.
 

Arkeband

Banned
Did they really rename Prince Kiefer's father for another pop culture pun?

King Burns -> King Donald

Donald/Keifer Sutherland
 

Xaero Gravity

NEXT LEVEL lame™
DQ6 looks way better than DQ7. DQ7 looked terrible even when it came out.
I remember seeing screenshots of Dragon Warrior VII in an issue of EGM and being legitimately disgusted and swearing it off. But I loved the series so much that I said screw it and planned on picking it up but I never found a copy :(
 

Kouriozan

Member
Quickly looked at the PS1 version beginning on youtube and Maribel seems much nicer there (or it was localization problems?), would have played it if it was released in EU.
Currently at the
island with invading robots
, about 8 hours in, and I still love Dragon Quest so much <3
 

Aeana

Member
I never really understood the visceral reactions to DQ7's graphics back then. Yes, it does not look as good as its peers like FF9, but... a LOT of games didn't. FF9 was a stellar looking game, miles ahead of its contemporaries. DQ7 looked acceptable to me.
 
I remember seeing screenshots of Dragon Warrior VII in an issue of EGM and being legitimately disgusted and swearing it off. But I loved the series so much that I said screw it and planned on picking it up but I never found a copy :(

Compare the graphics of DQ7 psx with DQ3 sfam and DQ6. Night and fucking day. Looks like a Super Nintendo game? Hahahaha fuck no! There were lots of RPGs like that In the 32 bit era with 3D bgs and 2d sprites. From Xenogears and Grandia to Final Fantasy Tactics and Kartia. And DQVII is easily the worst looking rpg I've seen on that system. I'm pretty knowledgeable with its library too. I have never understood why DQ7 is so ugly. Has never made sense even before I was even a DQ fan.

The only thing I can think of is the scope of the game hampered it. But then Xenogears is almost as long as DQ7 and wasn't eye gouge worthy.

I loved the game but it is easily one of the ugliest games I have ever played.

Going from that to the remake is like going from rf unit to HDMI. Just holy SHIT. And I've only played the mobile version which looks WORSE than the 3da version.

Can't wait!
 
I never really understood the visceral reactions to DQ7's graphics back then. Yes, it does not look as good as its peers like FF9, but... a LOT of games didn't. FF9 was a stellar looking game, miles ahead of its contemporaries. DQ7 looked acceptable to me.
It was 2D
 
I never really understood the visceral reactions to DQ7's graphics back then. Yes, it does not look as good as its peers like FF9, but... a LOT of games didn't. FF9 was a stellar looking game, miles ahead of its contemporaries. DQ7 looked acceptable to me.

I think it was a mix bag of 2d and the fact that FF9 was pushing the envelope. Growing up with both series people really did pick a side and stick to it for the most part. Either you were Square hardcore or Enix hardcore.

When the two companies merged the meltdowns were a sight to behold in my friend circle.
 

Ydelnae

Member
I'm 6 hours in and just reached the
present? future? version of the
Volcano village.

I'm having fun but by this time I was more invested in DQ6 and DQ3. Seems like this will be a slow burner. Things that I dislike: don't make me go back and forth constantly in the hub island (thank god no enemies) and long ass dungeons (the last one felt very long to me even though I think I was more because of the backtracking).
 
Holy fuck, how are you guys getting it so early? I should've checked my best buy before leaving today...I really hope it doesn't sell out too quickly.
 
I never really understood the visceral reactions to DQ7's graphics back then. Yes, it does not look as good as its peers like FF9, but... a LOT of games didn't. FF9 was a stellar looking game, miles ahead of its contemporaries. DQ7 looked acceptable to me.

The problem wasn't the environments. The problem was the sprites.

FF9 is a bad comparison. Other 32 bit 2d RPGs are preferable comparisons. In the 16 bit era rpg stories were carried by the music. You had a few basic animations: a laugh animation, a walk animation, a looking at the floor sad animation. Sprites were expressionless but mostly charming, especially in Square RPGs. But mostly, it was the music that told the story. Our sense of adventure boils through our blood when we get in the Epoch and that fucking theme plays. You know the one! Or when you're
turned to stone
in DQV and feel so powerless. The music conveys this. When Kefka bursts from the sky like a God, the music makes us feel his power. The Phantom Forest feels haunting due to the music.

In the 32 bit era, 2d sprites could now gain expression. The music is still there, but now we have to had to fill less blanks in our imaginations. So when Delita stabs the queen we feel it as her lifeless body clumps over. Or when Nanami is shot with an arrow in Suikoden II. We feel empathy as the hero holds her body. We feel Luca Blight's power as he's shot with arrow after arrow and doesn't back down. All of this, despite being 2d. 2d reached a point where it could finally tell emotional stories in spite of the music, as well as including it. And then there's Dragon Quest VII, a game that came out the same year as the PLAYSTATION 2.

What do we play as? An obese looking keebler elf. The sprites have no emotion. They're squat and fat and look like dwarves. No SNES RPGs you feel basic empathy. Celise getting beaten up by the guards as she's imprisoned. Celes jumping to her death after Cid dies. Crono's death. But DQ7 has no such thing. It's a game released in 2000 with more limited animations than some of the most better looking SNES RPGs, never mind the psx RPGs I described above. DQ7 is an emotional game, and it's certainly not the game graphics drawing you in. It's the overall story dialogue and music. Especially the music. Sugiyama's soundtrack saves the entire game and gives the most emotional scenes weight that the games sprites just simply lack. They just stand there. They have no quirks. They have no emotions. They have no body behavior. They just stand there. It's so ugly and lifeless. And utterly betrays the beauty of the games story.

If the game had bigger sprites that had more emotion, like Final Fantasy Tactics' or Suikoden II's, no one would have cared about DQ7's graphics. Instead, we play as an obese green dude. UGH!!!

Never mind the lack of enemy battle animations.
 
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