This game is almost like a retro throwback before those were in. At a time when Final Fantasy was breaking records with blockbuster production values and incredible presentation, Dragon Quest 7 defiantly presented itself as a kinda-3D souped-up SNES RPG, complete with tinny sound effects. As was long the case with this series, Japan loved it while the west saw it as backwards.
The appeal of DQ7 in particular is especially niche given that on top of its simple presentation, it's like a hundred hours long. I'm not saying that as hyperbolic expression, I literally mean that the main story is, by most accounts, around one hundred hours long. You've got to be really into JRPGs and/or Dragon Quest to want to spend a hundred hours of your limited time on Earth experiencing this game. Personally, I tend to find JRPGs merely tolerable as games except when they have a strong hook, like an intriguing and well-presented story or unique combat and progression systems. This means I'm much more primed to be a Final Fantasy guy than a Dragon Quest guy, but the latter still has some undeniable magnetic charm to it, even as the games are usually more iterative than innovative past the NES era.
So I went into this game knowing full well I'd never beat it, but I was still intrigued in seeing what it had to offer. Indeed, "more iterative than innovative" describes my experience with DQ7. Rather than attempting something as ambitious as DQ4's chapters or DQ5's lifetime-spanning saga, DQ7 is mostly just classic Dragon Quest, but really big. The game's intro sequence is a couple hours devoid of any combat, which for me felt like an eternity of looking for the right NPCs to finally unlock the simple-but-sprawling first dungeon. By the time the first battle finally happened, I thought "Geez, finally."
If there is anything novel about this game other than it being backwards-looking and very long, it's the surprising Zelda influence. Obvious ways include the time-travel plot probably influenced by Ocarina of Time, the dungeons being more puzzle-centric, and the hero wearing a pointy green hat. Another example of Zelda's influence is that unlike previous Dragon Quest games where you can look in jars, here you lift them over your head, then chuck 'em. The puzzles are actually pretty enjoyable, but I personally think this more interactive world is more suited to a game with action combat, as combining it with DQ's traditional turn-based approach creates a harder separation between the overworld and separate menu-based battle screens, making it a bit harder to get engrossed in the world.
The charm is there in spades, but the abysmally slow pacing and absurd length combined with typical Dragon Quest simple gameplay and episodic story emphasis filters most, and I can't say I'm an exception to that. It's undeniably a well-made game that knows exactly what it wants to be, but it's not really a high point for Dragon Quest, RPGs, or the PS1. Look elsewhere.
The appeal of DQ7 in particular is especially niche given that on top of its simple presentation, it's like a hundred hours long. I'm not saying that as hyperbolic expression, I literally mean that the main story is, by most accounts, around one hundred hours long. You've got to be really into JRPGs and/or Dragon Quest to want to spend a hundred hours of your limited time on Earth experiencing this game. Personally, I tend to find JRPGs merely tolerable as games except when they have a strong hook, like an intriguing and well-presented story or unique combat and progression systems. This means I'm much more primed to be a Final Fantasy guy than a Dragon Quest guy, but the latter still has some undeniable magnetic charm to it, even as the games are usually more iterative than innovative past the NES era.
So I went into this game knowing full well I'd never beat it, but I was still intrigued in seeing what it had to offer. Indeed, "more iterative than innovative" describes my experience with DQ7. Rather than attempting something as ambitious as DQ4's chapters or DQ5's lifetime-spanning saga, DQ7 is mostly just classic Dragon Quest, but really big. The game's intro sequence is a couple hours devoid of any combat, which for me felt like an eternity of looking for the right NPCs to finally unlock the simple-but-sprawling first dungeon. By the time the first battle finally happened, I thought "Geez, finally."
If there is anything novel about this game other than it being backwards-looking and very long, it's the surprising Zelda influence. Obvious ways include the time-travel plot probably influenced by Ocarina of Time, the dungeons being more puzzle-centric, and the hero wearing a pointy green hat. Another example of Zelda's influence is that unlike previous Dragon Quest games where you can look in jars, here you lift them over your head, then chuck 'em. The puzzles are actually pretty enjoyable, but I personally think this more interactive world is more suited to a game with action combat, as combining it with DQ's traditional turn-based approach creates a harder separation between the overworld and separate menu-based battle screens, making it a bit harder to get engrossed in the world.
The charm is there in spades, but the abysmally slow pacing and absurd length combined with typical Dragon Quest simple gameplay and episodic story emphasis filters most, and I can't say I'm an exception to that. It's undeniably a well-made game that knows exactly what it wants to be, but it's not really a high point for Dragon Quest, RPGs, or the PS1. Look elsewhere.