Time travel may seem like a far-off concept reserved only for science-fiction movies like “Back to the Future,” but for the cast of characters in “Dragon Quest VII,” it’s their only hope to save the world.
“Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past” is a complete overhaul of the Playstation classic. Featuring bonus dungeons, StreetPass dungeon sharing functionality and more, the 3DS version improves on the original in many ways.
The game focuses on the journey of a fisherman’s son and a ragtag group of adventurers as they uncover the secrets of islands lost to mysterious happenings and travel through time to save the world. By saving villages, you will restore the islands and undertake new adventures to bring hope back to the world.
Throughout your time exploring, you’ll also pick up new fragments that will be marked as nearby by the game’s tracker. By walking into a village with a fragment of time, you’ll be notified of its general presence and be tasked to find it. These can be held by villagers, hidden in corridors or unlocked as part of the storyline.
By restoring fragments within a sacred location known as the Shrine of Mysteries, it will open a portal to the past with a village in need. One such village is Emberdale, which was destroyed after a massive volcano eruption. By traversing through the volcano during the town’s yearly ritual to please the gods, you’ll also fight to prevent a monster from causing the volcano to erupt.
To do so, I fought off an evil moai head made of magma, traveled back to the present, collected holy water and traveled back to the past to sprinkle it on the flames and restore order. You’ll be hopping back and forth through time often, and it’s a neat puzzle-solving mechanic that I personally enjoyed.
Combat in the game follows the series’ traditional turn-based fighting, letting you command your partners or let them choose the best way to fight by giving them a tactic. For example, Maribel starts as a magician-like character and you can set her to focus on healing or simply hold off on casting spells.
However, at several points during the game, I had to backtrack for better gear or level up multiple times to keep the game moving. While the beginning is simple enough and full of weaker enemies that will ease the level-up process, later dungeons become labyrinth-like, filled with enemies that will wipe the party in a single move if you’re unprepared.
“Dragon Quest VII” is a long RPG. After 25 hours, I’ve barely scratched the surface of what the game has to offer content-wise, with fans of the game saying that I’ve only finished “the tutorial section of the game.”
According to a walkthrough on GameFAQs, I still have side-activities such as the casino, monster tablets to find and fight bosses in and another 70+ hours of the main storyline to enjoy.
While the game is long, it’s certainly keeping my interest and scratching that old-school RPG itch as I fight my way through hordes of enemies and gain new abilities to take on stronger foes. “Dragon Quest VII’ is available now for 3DS for $39.99.
