A JRPG infamous for its length, but proof that more content isn't always a recipe for perfection.

Dragon Quest VII starts innocuously enough, as we follow the young son of a fisherman who spends his days exploring his island home with his best friend, the unruly Prince Kiefer. When the pair find a mysterious tablet it sparks a truly massive quest that sees them dive back in time to free their world from a mighty curse that shattered the world into fragments and sealed them in darkness centuries ago. There's a brilliant structure to this adventure, with each island you visit in the past having its own complete storyline but as you get further into the story these individual plots begin to weave together into one huge narrative.

However, it's also extremely slowly paced. It takes over an hour for the first fight to occur, nearly 10 hours can go by without a full party, and I'd played for about 20 hours before I unlocked the job system - and that was still barely a quarter of the way in! If you're not a fan of grindy JRPGs then you really must avoid this game, but if you're happy to sit in for the long haul, Dragon Quest VII can be exhausting but rewarding.

Well, I was going to play this game. I got stuck trying to find where the fucking prince went after he gave me the book. I spent an hour trying to find him and NOTHING gave me any information about where he should be. The recap info didn't tell me, npcs didn't tell me. Quite honestly, one of the most frustrating things I've done in a game recently. I know its a ps1 game and man does it feel like it with not being able to tell where the fuck to go or do. I should've just started with 8 like everyone said. The game is 80+ hours long and I spent the first hour aimlessly wandering because I didn't pay enough attention to remember during the cutscene where the prince said where he was going, IF he even said it at all. This issue could be solved with a guide, or I could just play a game that doesn't require a guide. First impressions are important and this was one of the worst first impressions a game had put me through.

Une aventure hors-norme dans la pure tradition de la série, mais avec un supplément dans la trame scénaristique qui prend la forme d'une reconstruction d'un monde déchu.

Les histoires s'enchaînent, touchantes et variées, sur un rythme lent, mais bien huilé. Et toujours, au bout du compte, cette narration pleine d'humanité qui permet d'élever le moindre PNJ au rang de personnage attachant.

La lutte est semée d'embûches, de ramages de la 3DS, le voyage très long, ponctué de classes à farmer jusqu'à plus soif, mais on ressort de l'aventure dépaysé, éreinté, le cœur empli de mélancolie en repensant à toutes les épreuves traversées. L'un des meilleurs épisodes de la série une fois qu'on parvient à l'appréhender.