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Hands on: How Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past has changed for Nintendo 3DS

Here be dragons

Hands on: How Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past has changed for Nintendo 3DS

Do you remember when Square and Enix didn't know that Europe existed? Throughout the 90s, games like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Chrono Trigger just never made their way to our fair continent.

That includes the early PS1 game Dragon Quest 7. This was a truly enormous adventure, where Enix was still using 2D artwork from the 16bit era and could pack hundreds of hours worth of content onto a chunky PS1 disc.

Dragon Quest

It's got 50-odd classes, an enormous storyline about travelling through time, bajillions of side quests, and more. Bit of a shame we never got to sink our teeth into it.

Until now that is. Or, well, September. That's when Dragon Quest 7 hits 3DS.

This remake has a spiffy 3D visual style that matches those Final Fantasy games on DS. And instead of those clunky battle screens where you only see the monsters, you now see your heroes up on screen.

Dragon Quest

This looks especially good when you visit a city that's dark and downtrodden - only to save the day and return to find the town bright and happy again. It's a strong visual indicator that you've done a good deed.

Visuals are not the only change, mind. The random encounters are gone, as you now see enemies roaming about the map and can choose whether or not to engage them.

Plus, new Street Pass quests will see you passing dungeons filled with monsters onto people you walk past.

Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer