Dragon Quest VII
For years as I dove deeper and deeper into the Dragon Quest series I heard tale of just how long Dragon Quest VII is. As I approach the end of this remake with still more game ahead of me I've noticed the time on my save file is over 120 hours long I cannot help but agree with them. I first started this game when it first came out about nine years ago but a month or two ago decided I would knock out this game because I was near the end clocking in around 90 hours, how foolish I was. I've been clearing out some side quests and at the time of this writing September 15 2025 a new remake of this game was just announced last week.
I fondly remember the campaign to get Dragon Quest VII for the 3DS released in the US, back then it wasn't certain that we would receive this title due to the HUGE amount of text required to be translated but I'm glad it landed here in the states. The game starts on a small island in the middle of a huge empty ocean and focuses on the son of a fisherman and his pals the Mayor of his town and the Prince of their tiny kingdom. Don't worry there are no fishmen sailing around drinking their own piss at least not that I found in my over 100 hour playthrough. Eventually after solving a few simple puzzles our heros find a mysterious time travelling temple. Players gther fragments of stone tablets that when placed on a mystical plinth transport them back in time. After solving that areas problem, by bonking monsters with swords and casting frizzle, players are ushered back to the present where the islands begin reappearing. If you're playing this game right you're talking to every NPC in each time zone. It really is cool going back to the present and hearing about how some really cool heroes solved their problems. Just about every character reacts to the events unfolding which is why there is so much text in this game. This also lends itself to playing in little bursts perfectly. There are definitely short story lines on some of the islands that are real tear jerkers adding a level of emotional depth that I haven't personally seen in most of the Dragon Quest games.
As the game unfolds you start to piece together the over arching story which doenst really come to take place until you're like 80 hours into the game. While you're working your way towards the end you will unlock the vocation system which is pretty amazing honestly. You can unlock various vocations some of them requiring simple vocations to be maxed out before unlocking the cooler vocations. Once of the side tasks I've been busying mself with as I slowly work towards the end is messing around with monster vocations. As you play you can find monster hearts which allow you to take on the skills and abilities of the monsters in the game! I'm not sure why I want to do it but I want to master the heal slime vocation. Maybe it's because of my fondness for Healie in Dragon Warrior IV? If you cna swing it without spoiling anything you should do a little reading about the vocation system and have an idea of what your final party is going to look like and what vocations you want mastered. I had a bit of an idea and followed through with it and am glad I did. The gameplay is Dragon Quest so you know what you're getting into if you like Dragon Quest there is a lot of it here for you.
The graphics are amazing! There's some times where the 3DS feels like its struggling to keep up with the action but it looks great in both 2D and 3D. Sometimes during battles when I see a new monster I like to turn on the 3D to check out their animations which you can tell are designed to look BAD ASS in 3D. But for longer play sessions I keep it in 2D most of the time. And if we're being honest I think this is the best looking version of the game. The original looks like a Super Nintendo RPG turned into 2.5D or just barely 3D but has a charming style to it. The newest version of the game honestly looks like it dips a bit into the uncanny valley, espcially Prince Keifer's disgusting face. It honestly reminds me of Chucky's son Glen.
I can't be the only one that sees this.
I am not sure where I would rank this overall in Dragon Quest series but I know that I loved it and there was definitely a lot to love. I still have a large protion of the series to play through as I've been saving 4, 5 and 6 to play in order as they're a loose trilogy. But as I have been working through these masterpiece RPGs I have loved them all. I'm not sure which version is going to end up being the absolute best way to play through 7 but as it stands now I think it's going to be this 3DS version and would highly recommend it to anyone at all interested in Dragon Quest. I wouldn't recommend this as your first entry but don't let the crybabies try to scare you with the long length it was worth it.
