Customer Reviews

Dragon Warrior VII

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Dragon Warrior VII recalls the glory days of RPG gaming, when developers were not reliant on flashy graphics and FMV, but rather a good story, whimsical dialogue, and a deep and engaging plot.
In the era of 3-D texture mapped graphics running at 60 frames per second, Dragon Warrior is indeed a gem to behold. The graphics are terrible but charming, the sound is purely 16- bit but very sumptuous, and the vast world will help you kill off literally hundreds of hours of your life.
The only low point with the game other than the obvious is the somewhat linear nature of the game towards the beginning to the middle section of the plot.
Dragon Warrior VII may not be able to compete with the likes of Final Fantasy X, but for those who love RPGs, Dragon Warrior has the hours and ultimately the heart to keep you glued to your television screen.

It's been so long since a Dragon Warrior game has made it to a domestic release that I've almost forgotten the series. For those who may not remember, Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest in Japan) was one of the first role playing games ever to be released on a console system. The series has seen tremendous success in Japan, and Dragon Warrior 7 for the Playstation is one the best selling games ever as a result. Dragon Warrior 7 is as about as traditional as an RPG can get with the medievil theme, random battles, spells, and the like. It may come as a surprise to some that the graphics have changed little over the years when compared to other RPGs, especially Final Fantasy. However, after you play several hours into the game and get passed the mediocre graphics, you will quickly find yourself hooked. There's something nostalgic about the old style graphics and gameplay...perhaps Enix realized this and developed the game accordingly. The storyline and gameplay are great, and there's never a shortage of areas to explore. This is one massive game...it will take even the best of RPG gamers at least 70 - 80 hours to obtain everything. Perhaps Dragon Warrior 7 will be best appreciated by those who played the older games many years ago, but that doesn't mean it can't be enjoyed by the uninitiated. Dragon Warrior 7 is yet another reason to remember why in an era where graphics often sell a game, quality gameplay is still the most important of any feature.

The game is a blast from the past, and it is welcomed with open and very eager arms. The intro screen follows suit of previous Dragon Warrior games - no long movie intros, just the title of the game plain and simple. You are immediately thrown into the classic character creation scheme and get a quick movie that lays some basis for the personalities of the characters. The beginning of the game involves more puzzle solving then jumping right into fights, a welcome change from the previous Dragon Warrior games. But don't dismay, the classic fighting scene is well preserved with some fun adjustments.

The world view is most definately an improvement allowing rotation of the 3D world, although not always FULL rotation depending on where your character currently resides (i.e. in a cave or in a town). The graphical enhancements to the world are a far cry from the 16 or so bright colors originally displayed on Nintendo consoles. There is a zoom-up function available in towns that allows you to raise the bird's eye view to help you figure out how to get wherever you want to go.

The original menu system is still in play with a couple of small, but useful tweaks of its own - mainly cursor location tracking. When you're involved in item management or moving, the cursor will remember where it was last so if you want to move a large number or items from one person to another you don't have to constantly move the cursor back and forth. The other pseudo-tweak of the menu system is the times you DON'T have to access it. Previously, one had to open the general command menu and then select "Talk" to talk to someone or "Search" to look around your feet or in a treasure chest - no longer. All the "automatic" functions such as search or talk are combined into the top button of the four on the controller. If you want to look in a chest or talk to someone, just hit the button and away you go!

The adjustments to the battle mode are also quite notable with improved backgrounds on which the monsters reside, a morphing of the monsters' attacks, and a definate 3D feel. Whenever an enemy makes an attack, the image of the enemy (normally at the classic stand-still) morphs into action! The smooth, quick morphing of the attacks is quite impressive and each type of attack imposed on your characters has a specific look. This is certainly a step in the right direction from just text saying "so-and-so attacks." The only only gripe to be had is when defensive spells are cast, unless you're reading (and reading quickly), there's a good chance you'll totally miss the casting as no visual effects give away the action.

One thing that many may find irritatin is when you rotate the 3D world, the direction your character faces is not adjusted with it. If you face east and rotate the world, your character's direction of sight will change instead of staying looking east.
The only obvious part of the game not enhanced to the same graphical level as the rest of the game is the character sprites (the images of the characters themselves). They still sport the bright, lower-quality color depths seen with previous iterations of the Dragon Warrior saga. While the detail and movement of the character sprites is improved somewhat, they still remind you of the character sprites of Dragon Warrior III.

Overall the newest release of Dragon Warrior in the US is (and should be) greeted and celebrated by many avid Dragon Warrior and RPG fans. The story line is well developed (but I won't give it away), the main characters' personalities are very will portrayed giving them more depth, and if this game follows suit of previous releases - the replay value will be HUGE!

First of all, i would like to mention piece of my mind on graphic. Lot of people complain that the graphic looks really outdated. Personally, i didn't think it was outdated at all. You see, certain games have to accommodate particular graphic in order to really convey the atmosphere and theme of the game. Could you imagine Parappa the Rappa with 3D, realistic graphic? Just go to top of the castle, and roate your screen, dang, it's beautiful!! How many games let you rotate your screen and yet so smoothly? It took long time to make this game and i'm sure that staff at Enix thoughtout everything thoroughly.

Alrite.. I have to, first of all, let you know that this game isn't for everyone. I've played the series from NES day, Dragon Warrior 1 through 4, and replayed them again on GameBoy. Personally I love Dragon Warrior series more than I love Final Fantasy series. When you play the game for few hours, you will realize that it's not really easy to earn your money and experience point like other RPGs. What this means that you will have to not only fight diligently but also spend your money wisely. It's not like other RPG where you have so much money, you have no problem with equiping everyone with latest weapon and armor once you get to next town. However, in Dragon Warrior 7, you will have to work your way up to buy one weapon or armor for one character. Now..you might think that's so stupid, spending, or rather wasting your time on these meaningless thing, when you have world before you to save.. Wrong. You see, when i heard about RPG for very first time, I thought it was so stupid. Come'on, give me a break, no action whatsoever?? You just command character to attack or use magic, and that's it?? And your health point just got reduced by 8 points?? But once you get a taste of RPG, it becomes very addictive, isn't it? Same thing with earning money/exp. point, and buying that one weapon, that one armor which you will see with your own eyes during battles that actually equiping that very weapon, that very armor really works, inflicting more damage, reducing damage points from enemies. Like I mentioned in Dragon Warrior III review, Dragon Warrior VII doesn't flood the world with countless weapon and armor. There are just several of them, and really good ones, which you will have to search and find with good effort. You will appreciate each weapon and armor, knowing that they are not something to be done without even thinking about it in other RPGs, but it sort of becomes more personal, knowing you are battling to save money to buy that particular weapon/armor.

Music.. you know, personally, I love Dragon Warrior music much more than Final Fantasy music score. It seems like Final Fantasy does pull out excellent ones once in awhile, however, the composer (what was his name,,Koichi??) really knows how to compose good music score. His music, if you listen to them from Dragon Warrior 1, is very simple, yet it really does pierce into you very deeply. It's sort of easier to compose something with lot of sound effect/channel, but it is REALLY difficult to make a masterpiece with let's say only piano sound. The most famous music score for Final Fantasy is probably the very first song of opening movie, starting in C major, A minor, F major, G major then back to C again. Koichi is the master of composing excellent music score from very simple mean and sound. His music is very simple yet, really delivers the various situation. I still think the very first music from Dragon Warrior, the music which comes out when you are on over world field as the BEST music ever. And i'm glad Enix decided to bring some old sound effect, like going up and down stair, sound of reaching next level, etc.

One thing I didnt' like about Dragon Warrior 7 is that time to time, you don't know where to go, or get stuck because you don't have the stone shard to proceed to next story. What it means is that you will have to search everywhere, explore same place in present and in past as well in order to proceed. But that's really minor thing.

Overall, if you are too fond of Final Fantasy's graphic, and deep storyline, and haven't played previous Dragon Warrior series from NES time, then I'm not sure if you will like it or not. But one thing for sure, when it comes to the DELICATE BALANCE OF GAME PLAY, nothing can even come close, really.

Enjoy your Dragon Warrior, the Best Selling Japanese PlayStation game console Title of All Time! What about Mighty Final Fantasy?
DRAGON WARRIOR VII IS THE BEST SELLING JAPANESE PLAYSTATION GAME CONSOLE TITLE OF ALL TIME, PERIOD.

First off, I must give a disclaimer; I love the Dragon Warrior games. I love pretty much ALL (good) RPG's, and Dragon Warrior has never disappointed. That being said, I think that Dragon Warrior 7 might be the best of the bunch...
Yeah, yeah, I know. Final Fantasy continues to have groundbreaking deliveries, with breathtaking graphics and symphonic sound. However, strip away the pretenses, and what you have is so-so role-playing action. However, Dragon Warrior 7 delivers on all of the aspects necessary for a good role playing adventure...
First off, the game is long. In fact, over 100 hours, to be exact! Also, there is very little in the way of cinematics, and so the gamer is actually PLAYING the entire time (unlike the aforementioned Final Fantasy games). Characters have the freedom to train in over 50 classes (although many of the classes are difficult to obtain), obtaining many new skills and spells. The world of DW7 is huge as well, and also includes forays into the past (in order to unravel mysteries which I will not speak of here). There are a few fun pastimes; for example, you can try to build your own town, or monster park, or you can play a few hands of poker in the casino. The enemies at times are downright difficult, forcing you to use strategy in a few of the battles. There are some twists, and although a former reviewer said the twists were trite, I nonetheless enjoyed the fact that it brought more gameplay. I cannot say enough about this game, but if you like true RPG action, and are sick of games that have you watching movies, I would strongly recommend purchasin this game. I don't think you'll be disappointed!

I got this game a week ago and have already put in 24+ hours on it--seeing as I'm a first-year law student in the middle of exams, you can understand just how addictive this game is. The gameplay is very similar to the old Dragon Warrior games, but incredibly in-depth and expansive. The music borrows quite a bit from the older games in the series as well, which is nice--I hate to see games diverge too much from what made them great in the first place *cough*FF8*cough*. If there were one thing I would change about this game, it would be the graphics. The 3-D town layout is wonderful, but the characters and the enemies are not much better than what you'd see on a SNES or much older PS1 game. This makes the FMVs (although rare--I've only come across one so far) look VERY out of place. The engaging plot and fast-paced gameplay definitely makes up for these shortcomings, though.

One caveat--don't get this for a younger teen. There are some situations that are hilarious for adults but possibly inappropriate for kids--one character, for example, is reading a dirty magazine if you try talking to him too soon, and on another occasion the 16-year-old main characters decide to get drunk at a party. Parents might not want their kids exposed to this sort of thing.

This game will take you a long time to beat and you will have to invest between 100-250 hours to beat it depending if you play the sidequests. Minimum it will take over 100 hours and that is really pushing it, I can not stress it enough. There are many sidequests such as casinos, a monster park where you can keep monsters you defeat, finding tiny medals for great weapons, etc. This game is extremely difficult if you do not have a Prima strategy guide. I am not saying it cannot be beat but would prove very difficult.

As for the game itself, it starts out pretty annoying and boring. You have to explore your home land and open a time gate before you can even fight any monsters. It took me around 4 hours to beat just this part which may make you think the game stays like this and give up. I thought it was pretty cool fighting all the monsters and constantly upgrading weapons and levels. Towards the middle to end it will get very repetive and annoying fighting all the same monters to just get up a level in experience points. There are some tricks to getting them done much quicker especially near the end of the game.

This is an older style RPG with older nintendo style graphics which some people do not like, especially some younger users. They did not bother me much at all. I think you would not have as long of game if they stuffed all the graphic info into one disc. There are tons of places to discover and many different monsters to fight.

The game brought me back to when I was younger when I played the original Nintendo version, just bigger and better. I also cannot stress enough how much a strategy guide will be needed. Some things are not even in the strategy guide which will prove to be the most challenging such as; where to get all the tiny medals or how to get to the bonus dungeons. Look up Dragons Den on the web to get more detailed help.

My brother is a hard-core gamer who thinks this game was not great but extremely challenging. He would not put it in the same league with the Final Fantasy games. I thought it was challenging, pretty fun, will give you something to do for a very long time, and worth every penny you spend on it for the time involved.

At first glance when the average gamer starts this game, they wonder about this game's expectations. It boasts a hundred hours of gameplay, so that must mean that the graphics must be really good, right? Well, most gamers take one look at the graphics, fiddle around with the game for a little bit, and give up completely. I warn you, this game is not for those who are only out for the flasy graphics or the gameplay that's so simple any five-year-old could complete it in their sleep. This game is not simple-minded. No, it's not Final Fantasy: It's Dragon Warrior, and having a game that just screams "old school" and boasts about it for a ridiculously long time is absolutely fine with me.

As I already said, at first glance, this game is not particularly pretty to stare at. But if anybody spends enough time with the game, you'll tend to ignore this little minor detail. That's right: minor. This is Dragon Warrior, and the focus is on gameplay here, not making everything look pretty. The majority of the game focuses strictly on battle, where your strategic wits are most needed. Instead of today's "Attack, heal, repeat" strategy, you'll have to dig deeper if you want to come out of the battles alive. In other games in which spells that increase your attack and defense are practically useless, in Dragon Warrior VII, they are all but required.

As well, at first glance, the plot seems as linear as it could be. As the heroes of the game, you have decided to embark on a quest to recover lands lost due to an unknown evil via time travel. This may seem like a pointless game where it all seems like all you have to keep doing is go back in time and rescue the helpless people, then go to the next land, save it, and do it over and over again. However, the more time you spend with the game, the more this seemingly linear plot unfolds. The more lands you restore, the more you learn about this unknown evil. That seems to be the basis of most video games in general, but for some reason, this one seems that much different. Not to mention there is this one cruel and sadistic plot twist that will leave your jaw dropping and frozen in that position for an indefinite length of time. I will not mention what it is, for that would be spoiling things.

One thing that I haven't mentioned that should really be noted is of course the musical score. Koichi Sugiyama is the go-to guy, and has written the scores for the previous Dragon Warrior games. While the music for other games has a blatant techno-new age appearance, Sugiyama has decided to stick with a much more traditional, orchestral-based sound, and to me, that creates a really powerful emotional tool during crucial points of the game at times. It's really a great score, and really adds to the experience.

In conclusion, all I have to say is to give this game an honest chance. Don't dislike it because it isn't Final Fantasy, and it isn't as attractive-looking. Because of this misjudgment, most gamers are missing out on this remarkable, innovative gaming experience. You should play the game to experience what old school is all about, and will possibly be as close to an actual journey to rid evil as anything will ever be. Don't be one of the several gamers who have turned their backs on this game for trivial reasons. This game is that and much more.

You're missing out. Big time.

This is what rpgs are all about. Finally, a game where money has a point. In other games you have so much money you can afford every single thing, so there might as well not be any money, but in DW7 you have to be thrifty and clever. It's difficulty is pleasent, not hard or easy. The graphics don't suck, they're adorable. Nice rotable screen. Intricate towns and dungeons. Fun job system. Long adventure. A refreshing break from all to similar games like FF 8 and FF 10. Basically, the story is composed of several little tradegies, well planned out and take place in about 3 hours a peice, which is amazing as you meet characters, their problems, and help them out in that much time. The reason their seems to be character development lacking in the main character Is...........the fact that he is YOU! Do YOU really need character development to be told how YOU are? Nope. The only con is it starts of kinda slow. (First battle is 6 hours into the game).

alright maybe the graphics of this game may be nothing to the amazing cg squaresoft puts out, dq VII is staight out one of the longest and most inovative rpg out there. the story itself has amazing cliches and one of the best build up after battles you can have. With the many job classes and skills that this game offers you will be wanting to master each one and it's incredibly addicting and that is one of the best parts of this game. Of course this game will suck any social life you once had and have you glued to the tv for the next weeks to come after you buy this game.