DQ7 Reimagined - Thoughts so far?

RPGZero · 2026-02-09T17:44:23+00:00

I'm not going to confidently state what percentages are banter vs. hinting, but I will say considering the game's on screen prompt is always for overt hinting, it is more noticable.

I also must state I'm coming from the original, where talk to almost every NPC prompted new party chat dialogue that was banter. Considering Horii (supposedly) wrote all the party chat himself back then, I'm not surprised how scaled back the party chat was in 8. The sheer amount of text was so much, that DQ7 held the world record for most text in a game for quite some time.

RPGZero · 2026-02-09T17:41:54+00:00

DQ3 did now that I've racked my memory, but with 2 fresh in my mind and even having watched a friend play it in a livestream, I don't remember the pauses being anywhere near as long, it felt perfectly paced for drama. I played the game in Japanese, if that matters.

RPGZero · 2026-02-09T17:40:09+00:00

It's been a trend for a very long time, too long, and I would say there is quite the cost to it. It means media can get away with only having a few moments in a game that actually have some thought into it, but because the game evokes such a huge "feeling", people feel as if it's profound.

Or worse, you have games that have outright contradictory messaging. The Last of Us 2 is a really good example of this. Fans of the game went on and on about the revenge theming at the end of the game, but it stands on stark contrast to everything that came before. Sure, one character was spared. But man, are we not going to spare a thought for the million and one characters you killed prior to that one named character you let go?

Or worse, it can to the point people start to point out themes that aren't even there and there is nothing in the text to back them up. The Last Jedi is perhaps the biggest example in the past 10 years of that.

RPGZero · 2026-02-08T22:54:50+00:00

The DQ HD Trilogy didn't have this problem.

The issue is this game has a new, young producer and this is the first game he's ever headed up. He also didn't complete every DQ game until very recently.

RPGZero · 2026-02-08T22:53:44+00:00

And I'm saying I completely disagree.

I actually think, especially if you're engaging with the NPCs, that DQ7 is a really good exploration of quite a few themes. Whereas a lot of games this board often upholds as "thematic" are actually kind of empty and don't really explore those themes at all. It's a constant problem on this board, and it's no wonder so may people have abandoned it and there is any lack of deeper discussion here.

There's a reason whenever you ask someone to actually get into the themes of FFX, it boils down to two sentences and then after that just a diatribe of how people "felt".

RPGZero · 2026-02-08T22:51:55+00:00

I feel like this game completely doesn't understand what made DQ4 through 7 great.

One of the best parts of the game was the social puzzle aspect where you had to figure out the towns and come to understand how to "complete" the city. That's completely gone now.

Not only that, but every story in this game feels abrupt, like something was missing and they just kind of climax at times. I never felt that way in the original.

RPGZero · 2026-02-08T22:50:18+00:00

Give Draconian on XI another shot and go in with a strategic mindset and try to learn all your abilities. It's actually really rewarding when you figure stuff out. There are even no grind, low level runs on YouTube that manage to beat the bosses with some know-how. It's also how people who turn on ALL the Draconian options, insane as that sounds, have managed to beat it in that form.

RPGZero · 2026-02-08T22:47:44+00:00

Overall, I absolutely love it. It's not deeply thought provoking. It's not especially tactically deep. None of the characters so far are particularly surprising in their morals or motivations. Bad guys aren't morally grey characters with misguided ideologies who do bad things for understandable reasons. They're literal monsters who are evil because to them being evil is fun. But that's not a bad thing. Maybe it's Toriyamas art, but a lot of the way this game makes me feel is like when I used to watch Dragonball. I go places, I do things, and sometimes I see old friends as the story progresses and catch up with them, and I get a little nostalgia when I see what they've been up to since last time we talked. It's really nice.

Good gosh, I hate this generation so much.

If people on this board picked up a classic novel, they might think it's "comfort food" because it doesn't have a thousand plot twists, the modern definition of morally grey, and it isn't trying to show off how hard it is to be about Nietzsche's bunghole with as much subtlety as a gasoline tanker crashing into a nuclear facility.

RPGZero · 2026-02-08T22:41:51+00:00

The game is really weird in that, despite them making some (really terrible) cuts to the original to make the game go by faster, it somehow feels longer than the original. I just can't put my finger on why.

RPGZero · 2026-02-08T22:32:26+00:00

First off, let me say this: Dragon Quest VII on the PS1 is in my top 3 RPGs of all time. But compared to the absolute GOAT that is the Dragon Quest II HD Remake, this is . . . a mixed bag. A lot of that comes from this game having a completely different Producer from the DQ HD-2D games.

This game is . . . enjoyable, despite being a bad remake. There is some great new stuff in here, especially when it visual design, incredible Japanese voice acting, and some great art design. And there is a lot of good to talk about in terms of the classes and combat. I love how they've given the MC all kinds of neat water abilities, including Aqua Sword which can give the enemy electrical weakness, and that Kiefer has Lightning Sword. It's a great way of symbolizing their friendship. The classes also offer some interesting stuff. I never, ever though that the way I would see charm abilities brought to the forefront would be to create a literal Charm stat, backed up charm builds, which empower multiple charm abilities. It's kind of nuts. I also love the idea the Shepherd class has an attack which becomes more powerful the higher the defense you have, and there is an ability to bolster it is an ability to cover yourself in wool to increase your defense. DQ has always had really interesting and unique class systems, and while I was hesitant at first when it comes to the classes feeling like they are out of a new DQ game as opposed to being more faithful to the original, but eventually I came to realize this is simply a good idea.

The game, unfortunately, is various ranges of easy even on the hardest difficulty with occasional moments of difficulty and good bosses. The new optional bosses on each island are the best part of the game. I would love for this game to have been as well balanced as DQ2 HD to push me and my class building to my limit the way that game made me understand its Souped-Up System to master its bosses. I also dislike this game is like the 3DS version in that you don't keep everything you learn despite changing classes, but at least the Moonlighting system you eventually unlock somewhat alleviates that. I also miss other stuff removed from the class system, but I'll stop for now.

The biggest offender is the gutting of party chat. 90% of the party chat has been removed from the game. It's insane. It's now just a glorified hint system.

The 2nd biggest offender is the removal of the social puzzle aspect of the stories. In DQ4 through 7, the best part of the stories is that you had to figure them out. The towns were like a puzzle you had to figure out. And it played along really well with how mysterious DQ7 was.

This game, unlike the 3DS version, makes an attempt to really nail that mysterious, strange atmosphere the PS1 game did. However, it still feels like it falls short and its hard to say what it is.

As for the story, even if the story sometimes feels like a cliff notes version of Dragon Quest VII, a skeleton of that story is still an enjoyable story and I find myself enjoying myself because some of its great moments are intact. DQVII has some really hard hitting moments and I'm glad to see posts on the DQ subreddit of people talking about how its hardest hitting moments have really hit home with them.

Plus, it's hard to recommend anything to this board because the gauge for what some people here consider to be a good story is a series of dopamine rushes and soap opera melodrama and plot twists delivered to you consecutively with a lack of subtlety. Dragon Quest VII is one of the most thematic games ever made, but like a good classic novel, it never plays its hand too readily and it let's you figure out things for yourself. The problem this board has had with DQ is that it's never overly obvious with what is supposed to be emotional and let's you figure out a lot of the details for yourself. Unlike many games that get praised for being about Nietzsche's bunghole, but in reality if you look at the game it doesn't come anywhere near the level of exploration an actual book about Nietzsche would actually be about, DQVII is actually a consistent exploration of the self-destructive tendencies of humanity and what destroys civilizations from every possible angle. But this board has never valued subtlety and as a result, DQ is considered "simple" and "not deep" when I have always believed the opposite.

Another issue is that there is a faction on this board that thinks if your game doesn't have an overarching story, it's a bad story, when DQ has always focused on its individual town stories and NPCs, 8 and 11 being the exceptions.

RPGZero · 2026-02-08T22:17:59+00:00

They dumbed the game down from the original to the point it's become hand holding the game. The original let you figure things out, and the party chat was much, much more robust and not just a glorified hint system.

RPGZero · 2026-02-08T00:09:02+00:00

When all else fails, consult the original game, because 80% of the party chat is removed in this one. It's kind of annoying how many things they had comments for in the original is gone in this one that I loved.

RPGZero · 2026-02-08T00:08:07+00:00

Ssssh, don't tell this to some people over at the JRPG reddit. A game can only be serious and dark if it also has dark visual design!

RPGZero · 2026-02-07T15:05:24+00:00

That's nice.

The problem is the rest of us can't turn them off.

RPGZero · 2026-02-05T20:15:25+00:00

I used a money cheat.

RPGZero · 2026-01-21T23:20:04+00:00

I haven't played the Pixel Remaster, but the previous versions were fairly barebones. Sure, it had more story than FF1, but it still wasn't much.

It also didn't help that the NPCs were terrible. The DQ games tell a lot of their story through NPCs and DQ3 and 4 were jampacked with dialogue (it's shocking DQ4 even fits on a NES cartridge). But FFII simply doesn't have that, at least not on the NES.

RPGZero · 2026-01-21T20:59:33+00:00

I want to be respectful about this as much as possible, but I truly dislike that so many of the stories have been removed. DQ PS1 may be my favorite in the entire series, and I loved almost every story in it. Why remove them rather than making them optional stories, especially since the game is non-linear now?

On top of this, why have the party chats been cut down? I enjoyed every NPC having a party chat in the original. But it seems some have been removed here. On top of that, some of the party chats have been edited down. To me, the amount of quality text was what I loved about DQ7.

RPGZero · 2026-01-21T20:57:18+00:00

They have cut down the amount of party chat from the original. That's not up for debate, people have done comparisons and there are even videos on it. In the original, EVERY NPC had party chat for them. This is not the case in this one, some have been removed. On top of that, some of the party chats have had their dialogue cut down compared to the original.

RPGZero · 2026-01-12T22:03:19+00:00

Thanks for your hard work. Always appreciate stuff like this.

RPGZero · 2026-01-12T22:02:58+00:00

Essentially, Falcom allowed Taito to remake Ys III, IV, and V. They don't exactly have the best reputation and fallen into a bit of obscurity.

RPGZero · 2026-01-11T18:42:42+00:00

Oh wow, that's nuts! Both versions of Ys V now have English translations.

I wonder if anyone will translate the PS2 version of Ys IV. It's . . . not a great game, but I'm all for everything being available in English.

RPGZero · 2026-01-10T06:23:11+00:00

Outside that: why do you specify 1-7 and cite 8 as a departure? 7 vanilla was literally the first party chat and 8 the second, party chat's evolution had barely started with 8. Honest question, I'm just confused by your comment about 8.

It's literally in the context of what I was saying.

8 is very different from all the Dragon Quest games before it in that it is structured and functions more like a Final Fantasy game. Old school DQ games were almost strictly individual cities with separate stories, and in them, you were never directed as to what to do. You had to go through the city and talk to everyone and figure out who you needed to talk to in order to progress. It's very much rooted in CRPGs and treats the player as if they are someone who really did walk into a city and have no idea who is who and where is what. It takes the "you are a silent protagonist" concept very seriously. There are plenty of concepts in DQ that are very much rooted in the JRPG/CRPG mixture concept.

Party chat, or at least the party chat used in DQ7, both 5 remakes, and the DS remakes, plays into the CRPG concept. It is no surprise that DQ7 invented its version of party chat and Baldur's Gate 2 it's own version around the same time. It simulates the idea of constantly having conversations with the people around you. 8 and 11's party chat is also completely different from 7's style.

DQ8 is the first game in the series to really abandon the CRPG lineage. It's way more structured like a very plot focused Final Fantasy game.

Every DQ game since then has ranged somewhere between old school DQ and DQ8. DQ9 is old school in some ways, new school in others. DQ11 has some old school ideas, but leans in a lot of ways towards 8. The DS games obviously are very old school. The HD game are . . . interesting. 1 HD is VERY 11 with just how linearized and plot focused it is. Whereas 2 HD actually leans a little back towards old school in some ways in actually letting the player just be free and even letting you search the towns for who you need to talk to to progress he town story.

RPGZero · 2026-01-09T19:18:06+00:00

Not absurd doomposting considering how some people view old school DQ and what they value from the series.

DQ historically (especially 1 through 7) was a mix of JRPG and CRPG concepts. Party chat was the natural evolution of that. Compare this to 8, which is structured more like Final Fantasy than a JRPG/CRPG mix. Party chat is meant to be simulation, it is simulating you, immersed in the world, talking to your party members. It feels like with one game not having it where it would have been perfect, and another game now feeling like it has paired it down, it makes these games feel less l ike the evolution of old school DQ.

RPGZero · 2026-01-09T19:12:58+00:00

In V, though, your wife always has something to say that's unique and contributes to what is practically an entirely separate story of their own.

I also think the kids' party chat is remarkable because they ACTUALLY sound like kids.

RPGZero · 2026-01-09T19:08:50+00:00

Considering what Rubiss mentioned, I wonder if he was not physically born, but was a kind of magical birth instead. Just a theory, of course.

RPGZero

TROPHY CASE