Dragon Warrior 7

[OmegaFlareX]

Hey, Victrix, do you have a Game Boy Color/Advance? If so, I'd reccomend playing the Dragon Warrior III remake instead of DW7. It's a truly classic game with a fresh new coat of paint. A *very* slick, shiny new coat of paint (given the hardware). Actually, there are sooooo many improvements over the original, it's like playing a whole new game. Or, if you are willing/able, give Dragon Quest VI a try via emulation & english patch.

Yes, I played DW7 for 125 hours, but that doesn't mean there aren't better DQ/DW games out there. As a matter of fact, I popped DW7 in my Playstation yesterday, but I was so utterly overwhelmed by the sheer number of tasks I wanted to do, I shut it off to further pursue some side-quests in the simpler DW3 GBC.

[taloony]

Originally posted by StriderKyo
Thing is, I liked the other DWs I played. The very first is still one of my favourite rpgs ever, and is fun to go through to this day. DW7 just doesn't feel as tight as those, for whatever reason. Maybe it's the insanely long quest - it's entirely possible I'd have gotten tied of the others if they were this long as well.

DW1? No kidding? I recently played through the GBC version, and had a hell of a time finishing it, but I wanted to play them all in order.

I really have enjoyed 7, but it's nowhere near my favorite. 4 was the king for me back in the NES days, and I love it to this day. I've been searching for a copy of it for years.

[StriderKyo]

[Keeping this as spoiler-free as possible] Okay, I've finally slain this beast. The whole ordeal lasted roughly 111 hours for me; about 18 hours of which was nothing but levelling up. Of course, I may have levelled up too much - I pretty much spanked the Demon Lord (when you have two maxed out Godhand/Heroes it's pretty easy to just UltraHit him to death).

My final feelings? Yes, it was worth doing, because now I feel like a total gaming stud. This trophy's going on the shelf next to Mars Matrix and 7th Saga. The levelling up thing isn't fun, exactly, but I did feel motivated enough to do it, so take that as you will.

As for the actual game - It might just be too long. Some of the stories were really good (Eri the MechSoldier, Coastal), but some really weren't (like that one with the priest who's turned into a monster). The second disc is better than the first, though; I think it benefits from actually having a central story. The ending...was okay, but I think they could have given us a little more closure after all that. This game did take me 6 months to win, after all, and it seemed like there were alot of little threads that were just kind of left hanging at the end.

Overall, it's cool that they focused on doing their thing, and doing alot of it rather than just trying to make a Square graphics-fest. And I think that had I come across this when I was 10 years old and I only got games for christmas and my birthday, and was able to approach it with a child's imagination, I'd have liked it alot more. It's obvious they tried to make a massive world for you to just play around in; the actual plot seems pretty much secondary. But at the same time, they were hardly short on time or money, so I don't think it's out of line to say they could have done more in terms of character sprites (like, if you could properly make out the details on them) and musical variance. All in all a well crafted game, but I wouldn't rank it in the top 5 on PSone or anything. Still, I'm glad I played through it.

[Kidnemo]

Originally posted by StriderKyo
[Keeping this as spoiler-free as possible] Okay, I've finally slain this beast. The whole ordeal lasted roughly 111 hours for me; about 18 hours of which was nothing but levelling up.

Everytime I see somebody thats beat this game, I'm impressed.

Nice job, and you earn the "Kidnemos hardcore cookie of the day" award.

[OmegaFlareX]

Hey, congrats! I'm wondering where you spent 18 hours levelling-up. My guess would be Krage.

Originally posted by StriderKyo
It's obvious they tried to make a massive world for you to just play around in; the actual plot seems pretty much secondary.

You have played previous Dragon Quest/Warrior games, haven't you? They're ALL like this. I've said something similiar before, but I'll re-iterate...

You WILL be disappointed with Dragon Quest/Warrior games if you expect a moving storyline. DQ/W is a different experience. That is, you play a game instead of just watching stuff unfold and having your hand held from point to point. Think of them as massive, time-consuming digital activity books. Certainly not the type of game to appeal to the masses, but I find them quite enjoyable.

I completely agree with you about the quality of the sprites and the lack of music variation. I wouldn't have minded a 4-disc game (and a little loading time) if Heartbeat had used the extra space to improve the graphic quality and amount of music tracks.

I certainly hope the monsters in DQ8 retain their charm going from 2D to cel-shaded 3D.

[StriderKyo]

Originally posted by Kidenemo

Everytime I see somebody thats beat this game, I'm impressed.

Nice job, and you earn the "Kidnemos hardcore cookie of the day" award.

Thanks! Although I'm not sure I want to eat anything called a "hardcore cookie".

Originally posted by OmegaFlareX
Hey, congrats! I'm wondering where you spent 18 hours levelling-up. My guess would be Krage.

Well, that was my total throughout the game. The only time I spent in any real levelling up was in the underwater city (Gracos was kicking my arse), the Demon Lord's lair at the end of the first disc, and then at the very end. I pretty much wimped out at the end and just fought the enemies around Fishbel, since they didn't have any annoying SleepAll/Beat spells for me to worry about. And since I had to fight for EIGHT HOURS STRAIGHT (I was talking on the phone, watching football/basketball or listening to music the whole time) it only made sense to get through all thsoe fights as quickly as possible.

You have played previous Dragon Quest/Warrior games, haven't you? They're ALL like this.

I've only played the first few, but they definitely seemed to be a more streamlined experience. Maybe it was because they had smaller worlds, so the "I'm so freaking lost" factor wasn't as big.

I completely agree with you about the quality of the sprites and the lack of music variation. I wouldn't have minded a 4-disc game (and a little loading time) if Heartbeat had used the extra space to improve the graphic quality and amount of music tracks.

What did all the different developers listed on the title screen actually do? Heartbeat/Arte Piazza etc.

I certainly hope the monsters in DQ8 retain their charm going from 2D to cel-shaded 3D.

DW8 looks like it has the graphic update the series has been screaming for. But there's no effing way I'm playing it if it's 100+ hours long again

[jiji]

Originally posted by StriderKyo
DW8 looks like it has the graphic update the series has been screaming for. But there's no effing way I'm playing it if it's 100+ hours long again

Well, since it would seem that DQ8 won't be in development for the five or so years it took them to squeeeeze out DQ7, it probably won't be as gigantic. But then again, maybe they'll try to top themselves to...erm...please their fans, and the game will end up in develoment hell just like DQ7 was.

I got DW7 for Christmas last year and played it for about seven hours, until GTA3 came along and ate up all my gaming time. I really enjoyed what I played of it then, and the other day I picked it up again and I've been enjoying it since then. I think enjoying the game really depends on your expectations for it, as far as theme and scenarios are involved (I can't say much for the game's length, as I'm only thirteen hours in). If you go in expecting a Final Fantasy-style overwrought, contrived plot with each main character getting his or her own story sidequest and a world-consuming villain/final boss, you might not enjoy it as much. I went in expecting a whimsical story with not much of an overarching plot and lots of fun enemies with great animations, and I'm having a blast. I love helping people out in each ministory and I like the goofy humor. It kind of makes you feel like a kid when you play it, sort of like the Zelda series (IMHO).

[StriderKyo]

Originally posted by jiji
If you go in expecting a Final Fantasy-style overwrought, contrived plot with each main character getting his or her own story sidequest and a world-consuming villain/final boss, you might not enjoy it as much. I went in expecting a whimsical story with not much of an overarching plot and lots of fun enemies with great animations, and I'm having a blast. I love helping people out in each ministory and I like the goofy humor. It kind of makes you feel like a kid when you play it, sort of like the Zelda series (IMHO).

I felt exactly the same way for the first 20 hours or so. I mean, right down to the Zelda thing and everything. But after a while, it started to drag a bit, and you start wishing for more to look at. Those background elements you see - the chest of drawers, the pots, the crooked town walls? Get ready to see those in every single town.

How about those characters - old man, old lady, smart guy, green guy with cape, dude in vest, muscly guy with Master-Blaster-from-Mad-Max helmet? Get ready to see them in every town, too.

And how about that music? Town themes 1 through 3, dungeon themes 1 through 3, the two overworld themes and the two fighting themes? I hope you like them, because you're going to be listening to them over-and-over-and-over for the next 100 hours of your life.

After a while, I'd accepted that there wasn't going to be anything particularly interesting to look at or listen to (aside from 2 second monster animations), so it all rests on exploring that massive, washed-out world, and the plot. Except there isn't one, really - just go to town, something sucks, go to dungeon, everything's fixed. Some of the stories are good, but it if a game's going to rest on the strength of its plot, it would have been better to actually flesh it out.

I mean, if you're going to hang out with these characters for essentially four straight waking days, shouldn't they get more than 3 meaningful lines in the whole game each?

Don't get me wrong, the game has a lot of charm, and it seems they switched translators halfway through or something, because at one point the villagers suddenly become alot funnier. But I don't think having more substance in terms of plot would have hurt anything.