What a long journey this has been. I have heard before playing that Dragon Quest VII was a long game but I think I underestimated these remarks. After months playing it and about 70 hours I have finally finish it, but how was it?

First, how about giving a general idea about this game? Dragon Quest VII is a JRPG, which was originally released at the last days of the original Playstation (in the west, at least). This game was infamous back then about being extremely long, spamming something between 100 to 120 hours of playtime. That sure sounds like a good bang for your buck but in reality some parts of the game took way too long; for example it could take you about 5 hours just to fight your first battle (from what I’ve heard).

Even thought some people loved it back then, it’s graphics were very much dated compared to its contemporary RPGs, and in the end Dragon Quest VII had a tough time in the west.

Fast-forward to the future and we got not too long ago a completely remake of Dragon Quest VII for the Nintendo 3DS. The looks beautiful, full of charm and very much in tune with the much loved Dragon Quest VIII, possibly the most popular game of the series in the west (not counting for DQXI which released not too long ago).

The game starts with you, the protagonist, and your childhood friends Keifer and Mariel on a time traveling journey across time. Not going deep about the story, I can say it has a very heart warming feeling to it.

In summary, you go to many different places helping people solve problems, it’s like having a bunch of small vignettes that in the end sum up a great adventure.

There are too many to mention and remember but there are two I’d like to mention that we’re among my favorites (especially for those who have played the game already)

1. Right before you gain access to Alltrades Abbey, there is a twist, not just in story but in Gameplay. It was so good, challenging and refreshing I’ll probably remember it for a long time.

2. This may be a very small spoiler but when you go to a village and there’s a monster living there. This was pretty easy to guess what happened but it was moving nonetheless.

The end of the game, although predictable, was very fun.

About the gameplay itself, as far as battles goes it is your typical turn based JRPG, nothing new given that we are talking about Dragon Quest, a franchise that like to stay true to its roots, and it works perfectly fine. You will fight thousands of battles throughout the game and for me they were fun from beginning to end. However, I should add that for the last two thirds of the game I was probably letting my teammates fight for themselves with the “No Magic” option selected and it went fine, with the exception of boys battles where I would control everyone myself.

Another interesting thing about the gameplay is the job system. If you’ve played another RPG with you’ll be at home right here, as for me personally, since I played Final Fantasy Tactics way back in the day I’ve been a sucker for job system in JRPGs. To put it simply, once you unlock Alltrades Abbey you will have many vocations to choose for your characters, each of those give you new abilities as you progress in them, and you progress in them by fighting battles. Once a determined number of battles are fought, you level it up. By mastering some basic jobs you unlock tier 2 jobs and again for tier 3 for the endgame ones.

If there is one thing I must complain about the gameplay is the menu. If you have played another Dragon Quest game in the original Nintendo DS (or Android) you should what I’m talking about. In short, the bag which contains all your items becomes a mess, there no way to auto organize it (not that I’ve noticed). The same goes for each character personal inventory and if you’re about to buy a new weapon or armor and equip it, the game is kind enough to find room for you, but on the other hand it will throw everything else that is not equipped in the bag, making it even messier than it already was. So, managing reusable items and consumables are cumbersome. I do realize Japanese fans of Dragon Quest like their traditions but, in my opinion, a more efficient UI is not going to ruin neither the magic nor the nostalgia of Dragon Quest.

About the music, what can I say? Saying Dragon Quest music is good is like saying that water is wet. The composer, Koichi Sugiyama, once again did not disappoint. As of now I have forgotten the battle theme of DQV but of DQVIII I remember pretty well and even though stuck easier in my mind, I prefer the battle theme for Dragon Quest VII. As for the rest of the soundtrack, it is great also I just felt it wasn’t very varied compared to DQVIII.

To wrap things up, from what I’ve head, this is the perfect way to play Dragon Quest VII and while I have not played the Playstation version I can attest to the 3DS version as I have liked it a lot! It is shorter but also sweeter. If I can give one advice for anyone that wants to play it: play it at a reasonable pace. To put it simple, don’t rush it. Since this is not a game that makes you eager to know what happens in the next plot point (as they are self sufficient) I think it is better experienced slowly given some stories may feel a bit repetitive, especially how long the game is.

With this, I can say, the game is very good, highly recommend it! Dragon Quest V is still my favorite but this is surely number two.

Now onto Dragon Quest XI!