Dragon Quest VII’s original PlayStation build was a laboured, divisive experience back in 2001, back when it was known as ‘Dragon Warrior VII‘, but its Nintendo 3DS remake, which was originally not planned for localization in North America until fan demand convinced Nintendo to step up and assume the publisher role for the West, is shaping up to be a far superior rendition of the game! Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past was shown off during Nintendo Treehouse Live at E3, and it’s still looking very sharp for RPG fans.
Along with demonstrating the series’ usual vibrant and fun personality, dialogue and exploration, with regular artist, Akira Toriyama continuing to provide the very appealing 3DS graphic designs in the remake, Nintendo also confirmed an all-new feature in Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past for Nintendo 3DS; The ability to share unique custom dungeons with other players! This was revealed shortly after confirmation that the game’s dungeons and hostile environments no longer have random encounters as in the original PlayStation game, but now allow players to glimpse enemies in the field and touch them to start the returning turn-based battles. Monsters and characters also boast unique animations for battle to boot, which can also be enjoyed with the unique custom monsters in the special StreetPass dungeons.
Loosely inspired by the Tag Mode from Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies on Nintendo DS, players can discover special tablets that contain special custom dungeons with millions of potential random combinations of layouts and monsters. The advantage with the Nintendo 3DS versus the Nintendo DS however is that it has built-in StreetPass capabilities from the dashboard (Dragon Quest IX’s unique Tag Mode actually served as a primitive forerunner to StreetPass that likely inspired the built-in StreetPass function of the Nintendo 3DS), allowing players to easily access and enjoy new custom dungeons from players that they tag with StreetPass in their daily routine. Some especially valuable loot can only be obtained in these special dungeons as well, if it’s truly taking after the Tag Mode dungeons from Dragon Quest IX.
Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past hits Nintendo 3DS for North America at some point this year, and is said to be targeting a release later this Summer. A Nintendo 3DS remaster of the game’s successor, Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, is also targeting a release in the West this year.
Keep adventuring to Eggplante for all major news and updates on Dragon Quest.