The longest Dragon Quest is charmingly remastered and noticeably trimmed, however loses a little bit of its coronary heart within the course of.
The announcement of 3DS remakes for Dragon Quest 7 and eight was the motivator I wanted to lastly get into the long-running RPG sequence. Forward of their 2016 and 2017 releases within the West, respectively, I’d discover my approach to buying Dragon Quest 4 by means of 6 on DS, spending months on finish in traditional, turn-based heaven. After having completed every of those aforementioned titles, I used to be fairly firmly within the camp of truly loving Fragments of the Forgotten Previous, the seventh mainline Dragon Quest sport. I’ve fond recollections of placing that world again collectively and discovering its particular person tales and peoples fairly endearing, to the purpose of feeling emotional throughout sure story moments. In consequence, I used to be delighted by the sudden announcement of Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined, which comes on the heels of HD-2D remakes for the primary three video games within the sequence. Whereas I adored mainly the entire modifications made to these remakes, I’m extra lukewarm on Reimagined’s strategy.
The premise of Dragon Quest 7 is that you’re discovering puzzle piece-like fragments that will let you return to the previous to rebuild the world of the current. It’s an enchanting conceit and presents a transparent goal to the participant up till you discover the entire fragments. It isn’t till greater than midway by means of the sport {that a} extra central antagonist seems, and so the sooner proceedings can develop tedious as you rinse and repeat the gathering of fragments, opening up of recent islands, after which fixing usually a singular quest on every earlier than returning to the current day. What this implies is that it might probably really feel such as you’re occurring dozens of hours of fetch quests earlier than a extra centered plight rears its head and compels you ahead.
Whereas most will definitely recognize Reimagined’s streamlined strategy to the construction of Dragon Quest 7, as somebody extra keen on the unique than others, I do really feel like a part of its coronary heart is lacking. For certain, the addition of useful mini-map markers to information you in direction of fragments works fairly properly; the truth that it doesn’t take 20 hours to entry the job system is undeniably a feather within the hero’s proverbial cap. The removing of The Haven, the on line casino, and various areas might be seen as trimming the fats, however I used to be considerably postpone by the sheer quantity of streamlining. For reference, I reached the credit in underneath 30 hours, albeit with out working my means by means of the entire non-obligatory content material. I’ve to present partial credit score right here to the revamped battle system, which incorporates an automatic function that’s nice for grinding or working by means of dungeons, and the speed-up choices we’ve seen in more moderen Dragon Quest releases.
Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined adopts a phenomenal, diorama-style look that enhances the Toriyama artwork exceptionally properly; it jogs my memory of Sakaguchi’s Fantasian. The aesthetic is totally one of many highlights of the remake. Added voicework brings one other degree of depth to the characters; Roly Botha as Kiefer is especially wonderful. Seeing your celebration working across the overworld map can solely be described as cute, and from starting to finish I by no means bored with what I used to be seeing on display screen. There aren’t lots of them, however the CG cutscenes had been an absolute delight. I’m gushing in regards to the artwork fashion, and for good cause: I’d like to see Dragon Quest 8 given the Reimagined remedy, too, however possibly with fewer edits.
One other main constructive is the job system, which lets you finally have two vocations on the similar time, like Mage and Warrior. Mastering sure lessons opens up extra superior ones, however I did discover that on the conventional problem, I didn’t have to go any additional than having just one or two of the intermediate lessons opened up. The pinnacle of Alltrades Abbey even offers you a tool in an effort to swap vocations at any time, even inside dungeons, which is ideal for creating a particular celebration composition earlier than a boss encounter. Though it’s a bit annoying that mastering a vocation doesn’t will let you retain your realized spells, working in direction of the higher-tier lessons and the flexibility to modify on the fly do ease that frustration to an extent.
Certainly one of my takeaways throughout the evaluation interval of Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined is that the sport could also be extra fulfilling in brief bursts, even with the entire streamlining that’s been put in place. As a result of the gameplay loop is so repetitive, so completely round, longer gaming classes actually amplify the vanity of how you place the world again collectively. The characters you meet are fascinating for a second, however as a result of you might have considerably fleeting interactions with them, it’s tougher to see every one as memorable. When you end their fundamental requests of you, it’s on to the following questgiver on a distinct island. It appears like I’m complaining about some normal RPG tropes and mechanics, however the construction of Dragon Quest 7 appears to intensify the negatives constructed into these components.
When it comes to efficiency the Nintendo Swap 2 model runs regular. With minimal load instances and a clean 60fps, it’s a delight to play by means of. The one noticeable oddity is that there’s a clearly seen “rendering line” that makes textures and smaller obstacles load in a number of frames late. It is most likely one thing you’ll solely begin to discover many hours into your journey, particularly at first of fight encounters. Aside from that the Swap 2 model comes extremely really useful. The Swap 1 model gives a gradual and clean 30fps itself. Although it’s a disgrace that for bodily lovers, the Swap 1 model can’t be upgraded and the bodily Swap 2 launch is restricted to a Recreation Key Card.
The query I’ve to ask myself, and maybe one which will probably be requested by others who love(d) an earlier model of Dragon Quest 7: Why does Reimagined not fairly strike the identical chord as the unique or the 3DS remake? Has it been pared down too far, or have the handfuls of RPGs to come back within the intervening years pushed our tastes in direction of one thing else? Usually, I’d be pretty desperate to dive again right into a Dragon Quest sport to discover the post-game content material or search out aspect quests left incomplete, and despite the fact that I do know there’s a great bit extra I can do right here, the drive to compel me again simply isn’t there. After 4 remakes in lower than a 12 months and a half, I could also be Dragon Quest-ed out, and I’m shocked to even assume such a factor.
Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined is a superbly designed turn-based RPG that’s rather more approachable to new gamers than the 3DS remake in 2016, however it might depart followers of earlier variations feeling slighted. Small modifications like enemy weaknesses or immunities being highlighted in battle could make fight much less difficult, so RPG veterans might need to contemplate a better problem and keep away from auto-battling totally. I can’t recall the final time I defeated a Dragon Quest last boss on the primary attempt, however such was the case with Reimagined regardless of doing little grinding, and the consequence left me feeling deflated, moderately than triumphant. Regardless that there aren’t any obvious issues with this remake, it by no means felt as satisfying to play because the HD-2D video games or Dragon Quest 11, so be ready for a noticeably totally different expertise in comparison with these RPGs.
