The 3DS version of Dragon Quest VII is easily my favorite JRPG. What made this game so great FOR ME personally is what an immense journey it was, rather then focus on a single narrative VII sees you piece a world back together continent by continent both in the past and the future. This brings you in contact with one of gaming's largest variety of stories, communities, cultures and characters that spans generations; Imo, this game was never about its overarching narrative which is also good, but more about a sprawling sense of exploration and adventure. When I pre-ordered this and saw the amazing graphical re-work I imagined this would be a touch up of the 3DS version that makes it more accessible while adding new QoL features. Now that the game is out, I see that the word "streamlining" actually just means "cutting droves of content for no good reason". First of all, didn't we already do this with the 3DS version which only took 70-100 hours depending on how much side content you did? More if you were a completionist. Second of all, if we're cutting off all of the "bloat" why is SOOO much of the cut content memorable side content rather then main content? Also why do this after DQ11 has a VERY similar run time and everybody loves it? I never knew people wanted LESS in their RPGs. To put into perspective how much has been cut or "streamlined": -Immigrant Town/Haven, gone -Monster Meadows, gone -Casino, gone -Excellence Grading Organization, gone -Intro has been trimmed down significantly, personally I dislike it and it just feels rushed now; you spend no time in your home town or even Estard skipping straight to the end of the Pilchard festival -There are no books you can read off shelves anymore, extra lore gone -Puzzles have also been "streamlined" aka made incredibly simple -While combat has a few improvements it too has been streamlined and the amount of items you receive will nullify any difficulty. Also tactical bags are gone, universal bag now. Every encounter tells you what monsters are weak to BEFORE you kill them even once. -You now insta-kill enemies much weaker then you which can easily be exploited to farm endless XP and gold -Fragments are now shown ON THE MAP. No more sense of exploration/detective work for the main part of the game -Even collectibles such as chests are now shown on the map... -All main story beats show you a big marker that you CANNOT turn off. Again, sense of exploration gone -Unique Vocation Appearances, gone about 25-50 hours of content/story, gone, POOF. Also the "new content" seems to be about an hour in length and the touted boss rush has DAY ONE DLC. I see so many people saying "oh man, this game had so much bloat!" I honestly did NOT feel that way in the 3DS version, I can get reducing the time in the first area to speed up getting into battle, but this is around 25-50 HOURS of removed content, all of which I THORUOUGHLY enjoyed. I feel like the people referring to the islands and their stories as "bloat" just want to rush to the end to say they beat the game, to me none of these islands are bloat as this game is about the journey! Hell, when you boot up this version of the game it's not "start game", it's "begin journey" And yet they killed pretty much all sense that this is a journey with the insanely strange design philosophy to "streamline" their lengthiest game. That is not only to make it way easier but to make it shorter by an arbitrary amount. If you like this version you're within your right, the presentation alone is arguably one of the best I've seen in the genre, the moonlight system is the one worthwhile new mechanic which allows characters to multi-class, and the voice acting is EXACTLY how I always pictured the characters sounding. But a ton of the game is NOT voiced and it certainly isn't worth $60 as a fan who still owns the 3DS version (which was $40 on release, btw) just for voice acting and graphics with WAY LESS content. Refunding this but I'll definitely buy this on sale sometime just to experience the voiced story, especially if they add in the rest of the content. It's not a bad version but it's also not the definitive version.

Critics are unfairly Criticizing this game's remake for being streamlined and easier than the original and while i'm fairly aware these aren't the same critics who may have reviewed the original releases on DS and PS1 let's not forget why this game was maligned in the first place. it was far and away the longest and hardest dragon quest game to sit through. Square enix set out a goal to trim the fat and for the most part have done a superb job in achieving their goals. this is a fantastic entry into a legendary series and should not be missed because a game is "too easy" now. that's the whole point. if this is your first dragon quest you have picked a magnificent title to start with.

If you're going to make it this easy, and take all the challenge out of it, you should just stick to a lets play. I never thought i'd be upset at a dragon quest game before, but recently they've been making the games/remakes a walk in the park and not difficult at all, even with the adjustable difficulty settings it's a far cry from it's predecessors. took away the grinding (you can easily beat weaker monsters pre battle, with reduced loot/xp) took away the CASINO Took away switching equipment in battle Took away item limits and now everyone can just use whatever is in the bag vs 10 or so Items per Character. took away the severity of death, your crew died? You don't need to go to a church to revive them there, and worry about how much Gold you have, they'll get up with 1HP after the battle. They've also added plenty of places to save/revive full HP, and given an extreme amount of healing/recovery items in case you get any boo-boos, which is a far departure from the 3DS and PS1 versions. It isn't the end of the world, the visuals are great, the DUB is pretty good, and It still is a great story, and the series is still a really wonderful series. But stop holding my hand, give me an actual challenge and let me fail, instead of making it a complete cakewalk Making the game more modern shouldn't take away the classical challenge of a QUEST. Update after 15 hours Alltrades Abby is probably the best Change in pacing of the game, the pacing in that was well done, and you can get your vocations in slightly faster, with Jacqueline having a slightly larger role. Sexual Content and Violence was toned down which is Ironic considering it's Nintendo 3DS port was on a NINTENDO console and didn't pander to a modern lens (no throwing the soulstealer in this one, too violent! A monster straight up EATING someone? think of the children!) , dumb changes to Lore have been changed for no particularly smart Reason, and the bestiary was changed as well. It's easy to nitpick and say it doesn't matter, well if it didn't why change it in the first place, "George Lucas"? Sometimes things Reimagined doesn't mean the end result will be high quality (Like a CGI Rocks blocking R2D2 in A new Hope.) The English Dub is of a stellar quality, Square Enix May change much, but they do not skimp on VA quality especially with every boss you fight. It actually feels like real people vs typical exaggeration anime dub (i.e. like Like a Dragon/Yakuza) but still not as memorable as Yangus or King Trode. Regardless of it's shortcomings, it is still fun, but it had the potential to be so much better than just an overall easy comfort game vs an actual Quest that Challenges you. Reimagining obviously means things are going to change, I just wish they imagined themselves a stronger bit of Creativity, because it's obvious the passion is there. Buy on a sale/other means, or boot up DQ8 or DQ5. (will update Accordingly)

We need a Dragon Quest game about going back in time and stopping Square Enix from the erasing most of this game.

Not far enough into this to say too much (and I never played the original or 3DS version) but so far so good! Playing it before I go sleepy time makes it feel like a kind Japanese man is telling me a bedtime story before kissing me on the forehead and tucking me in. In other words, it’s peak.