Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past Review for the Nintendo 3DS
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- After several delays, Jarrod finally brings you his review of Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past on the 3DS.
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Currently playing through this. The Graphics look so beautiful. Love it. Also love the episodic nature of the quests.
Streamlining these games is great. I recently played one of my favorite RPGs, Breath of Fire 3 and I was astonished by how the hell myself, kids and young adults played these games back then. I guess guides and walkthroughs were popular back then not just because of the lack of internet but because these games were insane. Some stuff required to progress was like going to an alley and turning the camera 90 degrees to find a hidden item, it was absolutely crazy.
The Japanese version did get the orchestral version but from what I understand due to memory on the 3DS they were only 30 seconds long and then started to repeat. So while the midi is inferior quality (they used pretty good samples though much better than xi) being able to hear the full tracks is more important I feel
My favorite dragon quest game of all time! Love 7 🔮
I'm still working away at the game each night but I've been looking forward to the video. My only real negative with the game is I wish there were more music tracks and character models as well. It can make some moments a bit harder to remember when every sad moment uses the same 1 track.
Indeed.
viewtifuljoe99 I
Absolutely loved DW. Took me 3 years to beat due to trying to find that stupid swamp (I think it involved a seal or something needed to get the armor).
You persevered though. :)
Erdricks token
I'm a huge western Dragon Quest fan and DQ7 is the one game I haven't tried yet. So excited to finally get around to it! I know exactly what I'm getting into and I CAN'T WAIT to buy this game!
It's a fantastic game if you know what you're getting into :D I'm currently super hyped for the upcoming Dragon Quest XI. July 29th can't come soon enough. I'm also registered for the Switch beta of DQ X.
Project COE Is DQ X coming stateside?
Officially the answer is "Square-Enix has nothing to announce at this time." The game was released in 2012, and the longer it stays in Japan, the less likely our chances are of it ever getting released here. The glimmer of hope now rests on the two new platforms it is coming out for, PS4 and Switch. If the goddess wishes it, we might just get one of those versions.
At first it was a little slow but then it gets way better and you will want to play it more to unlock more islands and be a hero to save the island inhabitants.. I'm 18 hrs and 42 min in, and its a great game so far
I always found it humorous that the total global sales (mostly thanks to the large Japanese sales numbers) of the original PS1 version of DQ7 far outweighs the total global sales of Final Fantasy 7.
This has been the common trend with these 2 series, they achieve similar sales at the end of the day, with DQ crushing FF in Japan and FF crushing DQ in NA and Europe.
I just finished playing dragon quest 1 to 7.
This 7 for me is the best dq that ive played. The version i played was psx or ps1. 7 Story is by far the best to me in dq 1-7. My playing time was 180 hour , but i played it in mobile using epsxe app and i made the game 3x faster in settings. Currently playing dq8 its slow to me.
Spoiler *****
Still cant believe kiefer the dipper , he just dipped(disappear) after meeting a pretty girl and never seen again
Yup that was always a sore spot for me.
When I see these games out in the wild I try to pick them up. I have 4, 7, 8 and 9. Just finished 11, working on 9. Can't wait to play 8.
With this Dragon Quest being my first game I didn't know what to expect funny thing is when I turned it on my power was out at my house that night so I spent the whole night hacking away at the long opening to the game but once I got to the battles I started to have a ton of fun I have put over 90 hours in and have almost finished the game since I took the time to level the job classes it's a great game but it's definitely not going to please everyone I can't wait to play dragon quest 8 o have heard many good things for it so I'm excited. 7 is a great game and I have been very pleased with it and now I'm a Dragon Quest fan through and through!
Dragon Quest VIII mostly blew the minds off fans who have played the classic 2D games, I am one of those.
But since you already started with the better-looking VII Remake, I'm not so sure if VIII will still have the same impact since you haven't experienced the series' beginnings.
90 hours....here I'm at 173 hours!
Well I'm trying to master almost every vocation 😂
My favorite dragon quest, perhaps only matched by 11. I just love this series!
It's absolutely a fantastic series :)
Finished it in early 2018, absolutely loved it!
I fucking love this game, the3DS remake is a true master piece. It pains me that the game doesn't get the recognition I know it deserves. Thank you for this video and thank you for loving Dragon Quest
The more I think about this game, the more I like it for some reason. I hated the fact that they made you repeat the same things over and over again to prolonge the game, but still, there's a little "je ne sais quoi" about this game that makes it one of the greats.
VII will forever be the divisive Dragon Quest in the series. I invested more time into VII than any other DQ outside X, and I don't think that will change anytime soon. There is something special about it regardless of its faults.
Really enjoyed DQ 8 on the 3DS. Looking forward to starting this one.
I'll be curious what you think. VII can be a bit divisive because of some game design choices.
I remember a friend playing this in PS1. After several hours, the screen showed "thank you for playing".
I read that the orchestral version in the Japanese one only played the first 30 seconds to a min of each track due to space limitations. (Also the English translation takes up more space than Japanese )So I kind of prefer the full midi tracks.
Amazing game. About time you do this.
Did you know that if you level up Kiefer to 50, he gets a bonus to his Resilience score of 660 - CurrentResilience at 49. So if it's 70, that's 590 points you just leveled up with..whatever your Res, it always ends up being exactly 660 at level 50. He still has the same baseline stat growth after, so his stats then go up 0 or 1 up through to 99. However, as a result, he can be used to solo the DLC tablets if you want. He can even gear up with most of the DLC gear (and for that matter, most of the in-game gear all the way through to the post-game).
This is likely due to the original game code having Alltrades appearing before Roamers in the map files, and indications Kiefer was supposed to return at one point (even in the PSX, he can still gear up with most of the late game equipment).
I've actually done this 3x. The second two are for a "perfect" restart in 2 game copies with a level 99 Kiefer and level 1 of the other three (and two in the other cart), alongside all recruited DLC monsters, the tablets with mobs that are a nightmare to recruit, and all DLC items, alongside at least 1 of every heart, and at least one of certain late game equipment that can make the game more fun (like the Duplic Hat, which seriously changes the nature of magic from being meh and helpful to fun and dominating mid and even late-game).
If you're wondering if this can take a short time...no, it takes awhile. Took me 1 year of sporadic playing to get it done.
Oh...Monster Hearts can more easily drop through tablets. Double the rate, and the four that don't drop their hearts normally, will do so in the tablets you craft, if they're the boss, as a boss completion reward. Note that this is the case for all monsters that drop hearts.
Also...in case you're wondering why do that? This is by far my favourite game. I don't expect the DLC to be around forever, so in this way I, and my future kids can get to enjoy this particular game in the way it was intended to be. Kind of like keeping my main DQ9 save through a save manager.
At some point I'll CFW my 3DS though and upload my two saves so others can enjoy DQ7 in ways they never thought possible. It's a blast taking on Alltrades at level 1.
If you're curious at all:
photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipOmDzNWXgTmjKZZDENj0edy1vBJDeHHtObitFIL
photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipMQ1R_50SBtt-yWt5W3bHkqMmntT0Wl7cgN5moj
The first one is my third Super Kiefer, and those stats are 100% natural. The second had some Str seed farming to kill the iron scorpion enemies that were the only high-exp value monster available at the time via DLC. Back when they were cycling the tablets in and out.
Thanks for sharing. I'd love to see those pictures, but the links are broken.
They were initially on photobucket, but that place is a pain to link to, often blocking unless my account or someone elses is updated in some way they don't even explain nor link to. I figured out the reason is those links are account exclusive, I didn't see the link to button before, so these should work:
photos.app.goo.gl/J6nVavai3xALC6Fv2
photos.app.goo.gl/3ryBWWHBy36HCoVH2
I always wondered about Kiefer. I found it so strange that he never came back into the mix, so thanks for sharing this and the new links. This is very interesting.
One of the interesting things about the development of DQ7, is that since the merger SE made a smart move in putting all of their game development data on servers to draw from for later. For some reason Japanese companies never caught onto this for future releases, and reusing code. Some did. Like Tri-Ace, Namco's Team Wolf (the Tales of original team, and later Namco -> Bandai Namco), or the DQ development teams. Or Square when it came to FF and Xenogears. However, they kept the engines, NOT the game code. SEGA apparently kept only data for certain games, and this includes game engines...and is why they won't attempt to remake or rerelease Panzer Dragoon Saga, as that particular engine was scrapped the moment it was created.
Anyway, what I'm getting at is that DQ7 was one game that had to be recoded from scratch. Arte Piazza may have kept the game engine they started with under Heartbeat for 6 and 3 SFC -> 7 and 4 PSX -> 4~6 DS to utilize, but not the actual game. So they had to remake the PSX game first, before they could work on the 3DS version. That had to cut into time. It's probably why a lot of the game is thoroughly reworked, while other elements are either removed or clearly not fully thought through, like they rushed things.
Like in the PSX version, stats are fixed, but the 3DS they're dynamic. This is the same for DQ's 5 and 6 DS. Original games are static, and the DS remakes have algorithms to determine growth. 7's is a bloody pain in the ass. They clearly spent a lot of time making a really complex series of algorithms based on your level and a baseline stat value. The baseline stats are from the PSX version, BUT, because they had to rewrite all of that code, and clearly had to rush it, some level up growth is totally out of whack.
For instance, one of the level ups for Ruff has a base value of 10 for HP, but instead of 10, he gets 0. I forget what level, but no matter how many resets I ran, it was always 0. No amount of seeding either, so it's not like he hit some cap and went to 0. It's just someone at Arte Piazza who was exhausted and made a mistake, and they clearly never had time to edit, or it's just too much damn game code to bother with.
Another glaring issue that is in all versions, and supposedly in the mobile release as well, is the Trailing Damage bug. In the original PSX, when trailing damage hit, it would function normally, you'd get a normal kill. You could still recruit that enemy, still get a drop from that enemy, and your Big Book of Beasts would record the kill. In this remake, it doesn't, and that's clearly due to having to rewrite, and likely no time to test the "psx" version they recreated, or if they did, that was overlooked. Someone clearly rewrote the code and failed to write in a clause dealing with monster death, so when it runs a check for death, the monster is dead, but the kill doesn't count. At least boss drops are fixed no matter what, and the encoding for them runs a double check for the drop, as it's tied to the battle itself, not the enemy, so it doesn't fudge with that, but you can end up with 0 as your boss kill count. It's a mixed bag, sometimes it counts, sometimes it doesn't for bosses. For normals, it almost never counts, but for some odd reason it ocasionally does, but never a drop, never a heart, never a tame. HOWEVER, you still get the EXP, Gold, and Job Points...and you can still autosteal.
You also have things like Nap and Padfoot removed, which would require some serious reworking and testing to properly implement in the new overworld and battle systems. Both visual files and in the case of padfoot, changing the spawn rate, or changing how enemies view people.
Plus, there are glaring issues early game versus mid and late. Like hallway size. Early game most hallways are narrow, while late game they're large. Early game even if the spawn rates are low, you'll get into battles often. In mid-> late game, it's much easier to avoid battles. It gives the impression that the idea for monsters on screen was made mid-way through development, and they likely didn't have time to remake the early game stuff.
This is likely why certain decisions seem to be rushed that make for bad gameplay. Enemy's spot you almost the moment they spawn; there's no grace period like in 8 or 9 (or 10 for that matter). Their visual range is also typically the whole screen, and for some enemies, well beyond that point, while for a select few it's close. Visual range also seems tied to level difference, where up to being the same level, it's wider, while at the same level and above, it shrinks. Most of them run as fast as the party, and the view area is 180 degrees, while for 8, 9, etc. it's like a 60~90 degree view depending on the enemy, so you're not spotted the moment you're at their side, with the exception of Metals.
Without Padfoot, or adding in something like Vanish, it makes for a punishing trek if you're really unlucky with spawn rates, or getting monsters that are noticeably huge.
Overworld chest contents are a mixed bag. Some are very useful, others seem like they lacked any thought. Like the Roamer's chest on the hill near the camp in the Past having a Magic Water.
Makes you wonder about what plans they had for Kiefer, but weren't able to implement or even get to likely due to time and budget constraints. Makes me wonder the level of sophistication the game might have had if they didn't have to rewrite the PSX game first. Maybe puzzles early game again, just less legwork due to better dialogue indicating where to go, and that bit that cuts out two objects we used in the PSX. The whole grave thing feels rushed and forced. The Imp I can see either way, but it would make more sense for him to explain the nature of the place, and give guidance on tablets. I get the impression they didn't have time to build the tablet room and reintegrate the original system. This was easier and allowed a more streamlined system.
Then there are things like the tablet system, which is a really cool system, and I hope it returns, but it needs a huge makeover. The game needs needs extra characters to join to justify the plethora of weapons that are far too easily accessed now. The lack of summoning ability for tablet bosses (except Slime and Metal Slime +'s) makes some battles boring as fudge, especially when the boss is allowed to use the skill, despite it not doing anything.
Game should have incorporated wisdom scaling as well to rebalance magic classes.
Tablet bosses should have had something like potentially increased turn counts, and upgraded skill pools as they level up, rather than just higher stats and the same skills. Makes 80% of the battles boring.
Half of the summoned creatures anyway are Healslimes. Yes...Healslimes. Why not Cureslimes or King Cureslimes? Spice things up a bit! Make battles harder.
One thing that vexes me is why they cut down on the number of enemies late game in a party. I want 2 Gigadraco's...err Draculord's. That would be fun. Truly fun. Why not 2 and another 3 monsters. Given some earlier monsters that are relatively large, but can spawn in quite a few of themselves, it's not an issue of poly count. Just a design issue, and it makes late game battles too easy. It's the same for DQ6, but 7 it's so glaring and obvious as everything has low Defense power, and so few enemies have resistance at all to damage elements...likely to give people a reason to just unload any attack, and due to the plethora of classes. It's still fun in a different way, but it would be so much more fun if they added that extra challenge and incentive to All/Group, or single target skills, instead of going from AoE mid-game to Single late-post.
They also need to implement Zoom in the past, and let that carry over to the present, that would DEFINITELY cut down on excess time.
Would also help if the dungeons that remain in the Present are altered by time. That would make things more fun, give players a reason to explore. Maybe offer some Present Day boss or something that guards the tablet, or a tie-in to a new sidequest on top of just tablet grabbing. That would have made the padding more worthwhile.
Sorry man, I'm done ranting. Whenever I CFW and can post up my save somewhere, I'll let you know if you're ever curious about what I like to call "Super Kiefer."
Playing 2 on NES and 7 on PS1 are for the most hardcore fans only.
Playing through 7 on ps1 right now. 6 hours in and still on the first island. Loving this game so far.
I know is late, but I really appreciate this review. After falling in Love with DQ11, imo the Greatest DQ in the series, I started looking up the DQ's I hadn't played, basically from 5 to 7. I saw a playthrough of 7 but it was on the playstation. the guy has the entire game in 4 parts, the first part is 12 hours 40 minutes of which are spent on the Damned Intro. 40 minutes of edited gameplay, and not ONE fight. Far from being disturbed, this ReallY got me interested. Then watching the story unfold... and the characters. So I stopped watching, so as to be able to see the story for myself but seeing the graphical differences in the 3ds version, I wanted to get an honest opinion.
I'm gonna have to go ahead and get this,, so thanks.
Let me know what you think.
@@ProjectCOE thanks will do. pushing it off til I can get the ds xl, want that bigger screen
@@ProjectCOE LoL screw the waiting I couldn't help myself, I'm only a little bit in, haven't even left the first village and LOVING it already. One thing Enix has Always done so well is character development. They want you to know who you're playing as, and it's always engrossing. I can't wait to be patient and see everything this game has to offer.
@@ProjectCOE In addition I'm SSOO glad the remaster kept the importance of the camera rotation in for exploring every nook and cranny. Might seem silly to some, but for me it's that attention to detail that makes Enix so Awesome! They didn't just throw that away for the sake of ease. it's still an important part of the game, and I LOVE IT!!!!
Update: I Freaking LOVE THIS DQ!!!!! This is BAR NONE the BEST employment of the job/vocation system in any Final Fantasy I've played EVER!!!!!
It's something you need to grind, but at the same time, unlike with all the FF's, it's not a chore. It's fast enough to be engrossing, while engaging enough to want to make you really excel at it's possibilities.
The only other DQ I've played with a job system was 9, and I'll be honest I don't like the.combat system in 9. Changing jobs feels like a punishment to level. Plus the whole repeat the last action disrupts from playing multi classes if you like, which I do. I don't want to be punished for using a melee and a caster.
7 Rewrds you for vocation exploration, which is just Phenomenal.
In short.... I am in Love with DQ 7. So thanks for this amazing review
Fantastic video review. Subscribed.
Thank you :D
Playing through this for the first time ever w/ DS version. Enjoying it, but kind of depressed that it’s going to be so long before the Job system opens up.
@ Project COE - Another great video, I was too poor in the 90's and through out the 2000's , I never got the PS1/PS2 versions of Dragon Quest. I have all the DS and the 3DS remakes . Do you know why the DQ 7 remake is so good ? SE used the DQ 9 game engine. we still need Dragon Quest 1 - 2 - 3 on one 3DS card and it could easily be ported to the Switch as well. Looking foreward to DQ XI and DQ Heroes 1 & 2 coming to the Switch, DQ XI likely will take 1 - 2 years for Translation but I have High Hopes that DQ Heroes 1 & 2 will come to the Switch in 2017 as there is less text to translate.
Yeah DQH should make it out here sooner rather than later. I'm hoping XI hits before too long too, but you never know.
Project COE I'm sure SE is intending to release DQ XI in he future for America, but Just like DQ 7 3DS there was A Lot of text to translate, should be easier this time around, as the Files are Digital, no hand written scripts and multiple versions.
Err...SE didn't use any engine. The engine for DQ7 3DS is the same one that started with DQ6 SFC, which was reused for DQ3 SFC, then was retweaked for DQ7 PSX, then slightly for DQ4 PSX, then heavily rebuilt for DQ4 DS, then reworked to add in fogging/lighting effects for DQ5 DS, then retweeked for brighter colours for DQ6 DS. Then reworked for a 3D model build for DQ7 3DS.
This is because the same company built the engine for all of these games: Arte Piazza. They were the engineers for Hearbeat, but when Heartbeat broke up after trying to force Enix to give them more money for DQ4 PSX, because DQ7 PSX sold more copies than they expected in the US, and tried to take Enix to court then were forced to close down due to breech of contract and spending too much on lawyer fees...most of the Heartbeat dev team just reformed under the Arte Piazza banner, with the Arte Piazza team. They already owned the rights to the development tools, and as such you can see the basic structure of this same toolkit in every single game they've developed.
Hell, they built everything in DQ7 that's 3D from scratch, both times. DQ7 3DS has a different camera system than 9, it has a different battle system from 9, it has a completely different graphical interface from 9, a different menu system, a different baseline gameplay system that's based on the original game code that has been around since DQ3, while 9 has a brand new system that Level-5 developed, and SE purchased off of them to use for DQX.
Now SE owns the systems that are used, but it's like with Tales of series. Each team that makes a game uses the system they're familiar with, that they used to develop the game. So if the DQ11 teams are brought back in for 12, they'll use the baseline systems and artifacts/functions/objects/etc. that they used in their last endeavour. It's why DQ7 3DS still plays just like DQ7 PSX, only with some tweaks. It's why the battle camera looks different.
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That said...yeah, DQH1+2 should hopefully come stateside. However SE isn't releasing numbers, and Heroes 1 and 2 sales, as far as anyone can tell, mimic the Dragon Quest remakes in the US. Meaning solid, but not fantastic. Who knows though, but they did post the total sales of Builders, suggesting Builders sold really well comparatively. Probably due to the Mussou style of Heroes. Dynasty Warriors is not well liked or respected outside Japan, and that probably hurt overall sales. They should have gone for a more traditional ARPG route, maybe followed in Xenoblade and FF12's footsteps instead, for a slightly slower paced Action RPG, or Dragon's Dogma/Witcher/Gothic/Elder Scrolls inspired, just with more enemies on each map. That would have really spiked DQ's appeal in the West...either direction.
4:30 Ahh I lived through that one... but I never lost hope. There were the oases of the APK of Super Light and Heroes... but it was the announcement of this one and the 3DS version of DQVIII when I knew the drought was over. However, I predict a third one if Dragon Quest XI doesn't meet expected sales and yes, I believe that one will also reach North America (including here in Mexico), Central and South America and Europe. Let's all do our best to make sure the third one doesn't happen.
Dragon Quest XI will happen for sure. It has been influenced by Western games in a lot of design elements I've seen thus far, which means it will certainly get released outside Japan. I think the chances for X leaving Japan for a wide worldwide release are slim to none. Yes it's out in China, but in English-speaking areas, I doubt it very much.
I mastered all the jobs, including every single monster class, before finishing the main game, which made the final boss a complete joke. In hindsight, I wish I had waiting until the post-game content to grind out all the job classes.
Not related , but I watched some documentaries about North Korea and Ussr .... That intro reminded me of those documentaries, because of the state sounds/musics had that kind of fanfare lol
5hrs for the first dungeon? Even playing it brand new, It only took me around two hours in the first dungeon.
Once you knew what to do, you could breeze by it in around 30 - 40 min tops.
5hrs in the original. They shortened it significantly in the 3ds version
This is likely gonna be one of the games I horde from the eShop before it shuts down. Lol.
I have only played 5. Should I play 7 or 8 next?
VIII has more in common with V in that neither one of them feature class systems. VII features a deep and robust class system. Outside that, both are great games, although VII is quite a lengthy adventure if you decide you want to tackle that one next.
I hope to get a switch port of this game if xi does good enough
I played DQ7 on PS1 and never picked up a Dragon Quest game until DQ11 came out. The backtracking, the repetitive nature, the outdated sprites and the overall slog put me off on ever getting into the DQ series.
Just started to play this today as love DQ11 S. My first thought his mum is called Pearl umm Mother of Pearl was that a pun I wonder?
15:30
"Storeyteller"........wut? Is this right?
I loved it but then again im a biased opinion.
Haha, so is my opinion.
lol
Yeah but at least you can be a bit more fair in judgement. I just grab people by the shoulders and scream at them to buy more Dragon Quest.
I love this game, but jp level caps have to be the single most worst mechanic ever added to an rpg
He took way to much time giving a history lesson. It's almost 5 minutes. Detailed review though.
I liked the history section but I get you only wanted to hear the review and that makes sense. Maybe there should be time stamps
i dunno maybe this game is not for me, I was expecting to explore a huge world like in dragon warrior 2, not search for fragments to earn small islands to walk on, please tell me there is large continents later on? or is the whole entire game island hopper, graphics are good, id wish they remake dragon warrior 1&2 in this format, with option to play on multi-player servers mixed with pvp and coop, then you would have something interesting and fun
dragon warrior 7 I beat like five times.
Incredible Long ? This Game was RIDICIOULUS Long, even the "cutted" 3DS Version. Really dont like it, it feels WAY more like WORK than Fun. Part 8 was WAY WAY More my Kind of Game. Nice Video Anyway
11 is really long like 7 now
@@warm-heartedreaction6191 nah 7 is way longer
I remember how relieved I was after finally finish the game on PS1. This game (at least its original version) is unnecessarily loooong because of the shards thing. Also, I must say DQVII has the least appealing character design among all DQs.
Disagree. 7 has one of the best character designs. I think 6 or 9 probably has the worst. It’s all subjective though.
Now don't wait 4 months to review dq 8. That one will be even better then 7 so you can't screw up again.
I'll try and get it done within 12 months of release. No promises.
i HATED 7 so very very badly! >.< its lack of direction was horrible and ruined the entire game all on its own
'go talk to this person' WHERE!? *youtube* all the way across the map -_-
LOL! This one is so divisive.
The lack of direction is exactly why I love it. Combing the map for hours looking for what to do next. It felt like a true adventure. I hate games that hold your hand.
dragon quest 9 a excellent game? i beg to differ
What did Dragon Quest IX do to deserve this erasure from history?
Liam Sweeney It just pales in comparison to VIII that’s why.
IX is fun but without the multiplayer aspect it takes a lot out of the game
By far one of the worst Dragon quest Games i have play...cant top 8, cant top even 9 and XI just Piss on every single DQ except 8.
VII completely rapes IX.