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

Hugstable

Banned
I feel silly asking this, but how do I go about getting the DQVII 3ds theme if I preordered the game digitally? Really want the theme and checked theme shop but saw nothing besides my 2 Mon Hun themes :(
 

Kuro Madoushi

Unconfirmed Member
I feel silly asking this, but how do I go about getting the DQVII 3ds theme if I preordered the game digitally? Really want the theme and checked theme shop but saw nothing besides my 2 Mon Hun themes :(
If it's anything like monhun, you check your digital receipt in the eshop, write down the code there and then go to the theme shop and put it in there.
 
I feel silly asking this, but how do I go about getting the DQVII 3ds theme if I preordered the game digitally? Really want the theme and checked theme shop but saw nothing besides my 2 Mon Hun themes :(

The theme is not available until the game releases digitally. There is a theme redeem code in the digital receipt that can be looked up through the eShop.
 

Graciaus

Member
Amazon came a day early for the first time ever! I wasn't expecting this so my 3DS isn't even charged or updated. Looking forward to starting this soon.
 
I feel silly asking this, but how do I go about getting the DQVII 3ds theme if I preordered the game digitally? Really want the theme and checked theme shop but saw nothing besides my 2 Mon Hun themes :(
I can walk you through this real quick. Open the eShop, go to Menu, then Settings/Other, then Account Activity. View Receipt on your Dragon Quest VII purchase, scroll down to the bottom, and your code for the theme will be there. Snap a picture with your phone or write it down.

Then Home Menu, Change Theme, Theme Shop, tap the top right icon, and hit Enter Download Code. Enter your code, enjoy your theme.

The theme isn't available until tomorrow.
 

Raw64life

Member
Pre-ordered on Amazon 9 months ago. My card has since expired and it let me know I needed to change the card charged to a valid one. I changed the card literally 2 minutes after I got the e-mail. It now shows Tuesday, September 20. Contacted Amazon support. They can't do anything.

4 years I've been waiting for this game. Fucking hell.

I'm sure to have a grand old time hunting for this game at brick and mortar stores tomorrow.
 
Pre-ordered on Amazon 9 months ago. My card has since expired and it let me know I needed to change the card charged to a valid one. I changed the card literally 2 minutes after I got the e-mail. It now shows Tuesday, September 20. Contacted Amazon support. They can't do anything.

4 years I've been waiting for this game. Fucking hell.

I'm sure to have a grand old time hunting for this game at brick and mortar stores tomorrow.

I just don't get why they don't automatically change it to your newest card. It makes no sense.
 

Raw64life

Member
I just don't get why they don't automatically change it to your newest card. It makes no sense.

Which is exactly what I told customer support. Or e-mail you sometime earlier than right before the game ships to notify you that the card is no longer valid and then immediately give your order to someone else.

Luckily I was able to order through Best Buy and do in-store pickup for tomorrow. But now I'm paying more and have to drive there. First world problems I know, but I've been waiting an eternity for this.
 

magnetic

Member
I keep impatiently checking out video footage, and man, I love this new battle view so much. I love seeing my team attacking, but I also love the viewpoint of looking from my team towards the enemy and into the scenery.
It keeps the "directness" of the first person.

I never could get used to the wild camera pans in DQIX, it felt somewhat disjointed to me. Same goes for Persona.

The little graphical details like reflections, slimy skin or metallic sheen on the enemies are great as well.
 

Hugstable

Banned
The theme is not available until the game releases digitally. There is a theme redeem code in the digital receipt that can be looked up through the eShop.

I can walk you through this real quick. Open the eShop, go to Menu, then Settings/Other, then Account Activity. View Receipt on your Dragon Quest VII purchase, scroll down to the bottom, and your code for the theme will be there. Snap a picture with your phone or write it down.

Then Home Menu, Change Theme, Theme Shop, tap the top right icon, and hit Enter Download Code. Enter your code, enjoy your theme.

The theme isn't available until tomorrow.

Thanks got my code now! thought it was up already for some reason >_>
 
I keep impatiently checking out video footage, and man, I love this new battle view so much. I love seeing my team attacking, but I also love the viewpoint of looking from my team towards the enemy and into the scenery.
It keeps the "directness" of the first person.

I never could get used to the wild camera pans in DQIX, it felt somewhat disjointed to me. Same goes for Persona.

The little graphical details like reflections, slimy skin or metallic sheen on the enemies are great as well.

The battle setup in this remake is probably the best in the series so far. I didn't mind the different camera pans in DQIX but it did take a while and made the battles kinda slow. The battles here are very snappy and it's nice to still see the actual characters attacking.
 
I keep impatiently checking out video footage, and man, I love this new battle view so much. I love seeing my team attacking, but I also love the viewpoint of looking from my team towards the enemy and into the scenery.
It keeps the "directness" of the first person.

I never could get used to the wild camera pans in DQIX, it felt somewhat disjointed to me. Same goes for Persona.

The little graphical details like reflections, slimy skin or metallic sheen on the enemies are great as well.

Agreed. I didn't expect this game to look so good, but lord it works well with what it's got. The battle animations are still nice and swift as well - as charming as VIII's were they slowed the pacing down a bit, and IX's camera swapping just made everything feel a bit slower than it really was.
 

Lynx_7

Member
-Screenshots don't do this one justice. It looks so good on the 3DS' screen. The art really comes to life.

-The world map feels a lot more immersive and expansive. It's big enough to offer you a sense of space while not going for VIII's huge scale. I wonder why not many JRPGs adopt a similar style, seems like the perfect compromise between classic world maps and modern "open worlds".

-Midi soundtrack still sounds good.

-The localization has been great so far. Has much more personality than the old one.

-Cutscenes are a big improvement. I like how there's actually some camera work like in VIII's cutscenes as I was expecting something a bit more dry like V's PS2 remake.

-Pretty much everything feels better than the little I've played of the original... Except for the ruins themselves. Since I knew the remake was going to have a shortened intro, I went back and played the original one to get a feel for it and I really don't like how they streamlined it at all. The mysterious atmosphere and the feeling that you're actually venturing through these abandoned, ancient ruins is completely gone. Now you have this fairy-like guide handling you everything you need in a silver platter. The zelda-esque dungeon of the original has no proper replacement and they didn't even let you figure out which equipment belonged to which statue by yourself, it felt very rushed and lazy in comparison. IMO it doesn't improve the pacing because it removes a fairly engaging portion of the game that contributes to worldbuilding and atmosphere with something pretty boring in its place, even if its shorter. They don't even let you approach the altars by yourself anymore. Like someone else said in another thread, it feels more "videogamey", while the original felt more organic. I really didn't like thw changes they made here. It's still a fairly small problem when you consider the size of the game so it's not a big deal in the end

-I really like the visible encounters. There's some merit to random encounters adding tension when you have to make a treck back to town to heal/ressurrect your party but I won't lie it's very convenient being able to circumvent enemies altogether and explore places at your own pace.

TL;DR: better in pretty much every aspect so far except for the ruins segment which is a downgrade.
 
-Pretty much everything feels better than the little I've played of the original... Except for the ruins themselves. Since I knew the remake was going to have a shortened intro, I went back and played the original one to get a feel for it and I really don't like how they streamlined it at all. The mysterious atmosphere and the feeling that you're actually venturing through these abandoned, ancient ruins is completely gone. Now you have this fairy-like guide handling you everything you need in a silver platter. The zelda-esque dungeon of the original has no proper replacement and they didn't even let you figure out which equipment belonged to which statue by yourself, it felt very rushed and lazy in comparison. IMO it doesn't improve the pacing because it removes a fairly engaging portio. of the game that contributes to worldbuilding and atmosphere with something pretty boring in its place, even if its shorter. They don't even let you approach the altars by yourself anymore. Like someone else said in another thread, it feels more "videogamey", while the original felt more organic. I really didn't like thw changes they made here. It's still a fairly small problem when you consider the size of the game so it's not a big deal in the end

The worst part is that it doesn't even help to shorten the intro that much. It's still like 2 hours before you hit the first enemy encounter, more if you have trouble figuring out the sequence of things you need to do to open the ruins. And reviewers are still complaining about the long intro, same as 2001.

Also Dialac.
 

R0ckman

Member
Pre-ordered on Amazon 9 months ago. My card has since expired and it let me know I needed to change the card charged to a valid one. I changed the card literally 2 minutes after I got the e-mail. It now shows Tuesday, September 20. Contacted Amazon support. They can't do anything.

4 years I've been waiting for this game. Fucking hell.

I'm sure to have a grand old time hunting for this game at brick and mortar stores tomorrow.

Huh, almost the EXACT same scenario as you only my update to my card was later and I still kept my shipment time. Are you prime? It seems all of the incompetency suddenly vanishes if you are a prime member.
 

Raw64life

Member
Huh, almost the EXACT same scenario as you only my update to my card was later and I still kept my shipnent time. Are you prime? It seems all of the incompetency suddenly vanishes if you are a prime member.

Been a Prime member for 7 years. From what customer service told me it was more of a "this game has a limited production run" thing than anything else. They just didn't have anymore available after they erased my order and gave it to someone else. But they just shouldn't do that in the first place.
 

Feeroper

Member
Im so pumped for this game! I have played every DQ game since it first came out in North America as Dragon Warrior for the NES. The only one I never got was Dragon Warrior VII when it first came out, and I always regretted it later.

When they announced DQVII was coming to NA I was so excited and I cant believe it is almost here. I LOVED the DS remakes of IV - VI and IX. I cant wait to dig in tomorrow.

I hope this does really well too, I want to ensure that they send XI over to NA as well. If they had ever put X over here I would have definitely been an ongoing subscriber.
 

Keyouta

Junior Member
Waiting for my preorder to ship I hope it does soon. I wanted to play on Friday but it looks like it won't be here until Monday.
 

Aeana

Member
The worst part is that it doesn't even help to shorten the intro that much. It's still like 2 hours before you hit the first enemy encounter, more if you have trouble figuring out the sequence of things you need to do to open the ruins. And reviewers are still complaining about the long intro, same as 2001.

Also Dialac.

It's only an hour unless you're somehow wasting time wandering around. I finished Rexwood/Bollymolly in under 2 hours even.
 
No, the first game to have that was 8.

And thank god, because it's the worst thing that has been added to DQ over the years.

Need to use it constantly, but it's got a long, annoying animation? And in DQ8, IIRC, didn't it also take a considerable amount of in-game time for some items?
 

Aeana

Member
I just found out I apparently ordered the game from two other places, so in addition to the gift that got me the game early, I have 3 copies incoming from various places. No idea how I managed this (._. )

And thank god, because it's the worst thing that has been added to DQ over the years.

Need to use it constantly, but it's got a long, annoying animation? And in DQ8, IIRC, didn't it also take a considerable amount of in-game time for some items?

Yes, although in the 3DS version the alchemy pot is instant.
 

wrowa

Member
"Time until the first enemy encounter" is similarly to "Time to reach the first dungeon in a Zelda game" one of the weirdest metrics for a games' quality I've ever seen. It's so arbitrary, as if an RPG couldn't possibly be fun until you've fought some monsters.
 
I just found out I apparently ordered the game from two other places, so in addition to the gift that got me the game early, I have 3 copies incoming from various places. No idea how I managed this (._. )



Yes, although in the 3DS version the alchemy pot is instant.

That just sold me on DQ8 3DS.

"Time until the first enemy encounter" is similarly to "Time to reach the first dungeon in a Zelda game" one of the weirdest metrics for a games' quality I've ever seen. It's so arbitrary, as if an RPG couldn't possibly be fun until you've fought some monsters.

I think JRPGs (well, RPGs in general) are to blame for that. We've spent decades playing these games where the core gameplay revolves around combat. Most, if not all of your advancement comes from killing enemies, the combat (and leveling) mechanics are deeper than anything else present in most RPGs, and for the majority of the playtime of most RPGs, your goals tend to amount to "move through this area, kill everything". It shouldn't be surprising that the rare game that says "Hold on, let's establish some story and character before the 50 hours of killing stuff" throws people for a loop.
 

dcassell

Banned
Best Buy page just updated to tell me that my item is ready for pick up. If I go to the store, will they deny me the sale? I would assume yes, but I'm curious about other people's experience with in store pickup.
 

Lynx_7

Member
Also Dialac.

Is that the town where they apparently cut out a lot of story content? I heard some people say it was one of the best vignettes of the original so I hope it wasn't as butchered as the ruins.

"Time until the first enemy encounter" is similarly to "Time to reach the first dungeon in a Zelda game" one of the weirdest metrics for a games' quality I've ever seen. It's so arbitrary, as if an RPG couldn't possibly be fun until you've fought some monsters.

I get the complaints with Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword because their intros are pretty boring from a gameplay and story perspective. It's a lot of obvious tutorials stringed together, some mundane minigames and too little story, worldbuilding or good character interactions to justify their lengths. Wind Waker does the whole village shtick better in less than half the time.

I don't feel like RPGs with a lot of setup suffer from the same problem, at least not the well executed ones. Like, yeah, P4's intro (which people complain about for similar reasons) takes a good 4 hours before you finally get to explore a dungeon and start playing the game "for real", but those 4 hours are used pretty well to stablish the story, setting, atmosphere and characters. Dragon Quest VII also uses its intro as buildup for the moment you finally step outside the island, similar to a lot of fantasy stories out there, and it's done quite nicely. I can appreciate slow paced intros when their execution isn't lacking, and I didn't feel like VII needed to be trimmed down that much. The little changes made to the sizzling stone and the game giving you more directions are the kind of good streamlining that I can appreciate and would've been good enough for me.
 

DaddyDonuts

Neo Member
Best Buy page just updated to tell me that my item is ready for pick up. If I go to the store, will they deny me the sale? I would assume yes, but I'm curious about other people's experience with in store pickup.

I think it's best to call them. It probably varies store-to-store.
 

inner-G

Banned
Best Buy page just updated to tell me that my item is ready for pick up. If I go to the store, will they deny me the sale? I would assume yes, but I'm curious about other people's experience with in store pickup.

I got an email that said i can pick it up tomorrow the 16th
 

R0ckman

Member
Been a Prime member for 7 years. From what customer service told me it was more of a "this game has a limited production run" thing than anything else. They just didn't have anymore available after they erased my order and gave it to someone else. But they just shouldn't do that in the first place.

I wonder why mine was not erased?
 

speedpop

Has problems recognising girls
I'm in New Zealand atm on a vacation, but if I had known about the pre-loading situation with DQ7 then I would've bought it and packed my 3DS along for the trip. At least the flight back home would have passed by easily. Ah well. I get back on the 19th so no major drama.

Looking forward to it immensely though. Very fond memories of playing the original on my PSP back in the day.
 
Best Buy page just updated to tell me that my item is ready for pick up. If I go to the store, will they deny me the sale? I would assume yes, but I'm curious about other people's experience with in store pickup.

Generally they won't be able to ring it up in the register. I'd wait, but you can always call.
 
Same thing happened to me Raw, and it has shipped and it'll be here tomorrow. It said it would be here Tuesday as well. Check your status to see if it has shipped.
 

dcassell

Banned
I think it's best to call them. It probably varies store-to-store.

Good idea, I might do that in a bit. I mean, I'm fine waiting until tomorrow, but a head start would be awesome.

I got a text that said I could grab it tomorrow, but my actual order says it's ready for pick up. I'll call, but yeah the whole register thing definitely makes me want to just wait the day. Very excited to play this.
 

inner-G

Banned
Good idea, I might do that in a bit. I mean, I'm fine waiting until tomorrow, but a head start would be awesome.

I got a text that said I could grab it tomorrow, but my actual order says it's ready for pick up. I'll call, but yeah the whole register thing definitely makes me want to just wait the day. Very excited to play this.
Hmm, just looked at the BB app and it says it's ready and to 'pick up by 9/16'...
 

Megatron

Member
If it's anything like monhun, you check your digital receipt in the eshop, write down the code there and then go to the theme shop and put it in there.

Did the monster hunter theme become available to buy? I want the do theme but am buying physical. Hope I can buy it separately.
 

Hobbun

Member
I loved DQ VIII on the PS2, one of my favorite Dragon Quests. Even if it was on the easy side.

I'd find it hard to believe it would be better on mobile. But then I am biased as I am not a fan of mobile games in general.
 

Teknoman

Member
Worse than on mobile? I've only played DQVIII on PS2, so I could totally be wrong, but all the cuts made to the mobile version sounded pretty brutal.

I'm thinking Cindi just means because of the alchemy pot scenes? The game itself is still amazing / looks / sounds great.

Then again I don't like that random encounters are being removed from DQ so 😅
 
Worse than on mobile? I've only played DQVIII on PS2, so I could totally be wrong, but all the cuts made to the mobile version sounded pretty brutal.

Depends on what you value. Others may find the orchestrated music and voice acting to huge cuts but I didn't mind it and actually prefer the midi music to the bombastic orchestrated music. No alchemy wait time, faster gameplay and battles, I found the experience much more enjoyable than when I tried to replay VIII a long time ago.

It goes like this supposedly:

3ds DQ8 > JP ps2 DQ8 = DQ8 iOS > NA DQ8 ps2


I'm thinking Cindi just means because of the alchemy pot scenes? The game itself is still amazing / looks / sounds great.

Then again I don't like that random encounters are being removed from DQ so 😅

It also has faster battles and load times than the ps2 version. It's just way faster and less of a slog.
 

bigmac996

Member
Depends on what you value. Others may find the orchestrated music and voice acting to huge cuts but I didn't mind it and actually prefer the midi music to the bombastic orchestrated music. No alchemy wait time, faster gameplay and battles, I found the experience much more enjoyable than when I tried to replay VIII a long time ago.

It goes like this supposedly:

3ds DQ8 > JP ps2 DQ8 = DQ8 iOS > NA DQ8 ps2




It also has faster battles and load times than the ps2 version. It's just way faster and less of a slog.

Why JP ps2 over the NA version? I figured most people would prefer the orchestrated soundtrack and the great localisation/ voice acting of the NA version.
 
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