...and another thing! Exactly what "apparent technical faults" are you talking about? Is it the game's appearance? It looks comparable to Wild Arms 2, Suikoden II, Alundra 2, Rhapsody, Grandia, Persona 2, Arc the Lad III and all the rest of the recently released games that combine sprites with polygons. Is the frame rate somehow only 20 FPS? How could that possibly matter when the gameplay is slow-paced-as-all-hell Dragon Quest? The game does not share the new Final Fantasy look, but who says it must? Both DQ and FF have spawned their imitators, and apparently, despite Final Fantasy's techincal ambitions, there are not a whole ton of RPGs that even choose to aspire anywhere near the same place. Why should they, when a variety of styles has always worked well for RPGs?

And if, by technical faults, you mean the antiquated menu system, well, your guess is as good as mine as to why Enix and Chun Soft have not thrown that out, but I have a small theory: In every DQ game, because you can search places, because you have to open a menu to open a treasure chest and what-not, its lended the game a more interactive feel than most RPGs where you just push the same button for every thing in the over world. It is pretty much an illusion, but it works. And besides, DQVI had cute, awesome animations for most of that stuff that made it much more fun to do.

As for the gameplay, there's nothing old and moldy about it. Its looks to be the start of a new trilogy for the story arc (at least there don't seem to be any connections to the Floating Isle of Zenithia) and the gameplay depth is sure to be like always. New features like rows for the enemies, being able to talk to your comrades in battle, uncovering the underworld as you play and who knows what else are bound to be used well, as many of the new elements in Dragon Quest are always tuned to the gameplay so precisely that you can't help but feel that they've been polished to a shiny, lucid whole. On top of that, you have the 3D, you have the CG and you have the hand-drawn-looking gorgeous battle graphics and animation.

Better yet, when you combine all the things the gameplay has inherited through the series, the monster-gathering, the mini-games, the job-mastering with the classic Dragon Quest elements this is most likely to be one game where the depth is superb. All the games in the second Dragon Quest trilogy were not only longer than their Final Fantasy counterparts, but generally involved thinking on a grander scale and began to institute very good plots, if more light-hearted and less focused on character development than FF. I see many RPG fans complain about random battles lately, and its largely justified because a lot of games just cram in enemy after enemy that tend to act almost identical to the last. This is not the case in DQ games, especially as the series gets more complex. The difference between a Metal Babble, King Slime, Wyvern, Warlock, Fury or a Huntsmen is quite large, its just not HP amount, and it makes quite a difference in battle strategy. Moreover when you don't have an unlimited inventory, many a time Dragon Quest's strategy is not the same heal, battle, repeat and resource management, but more the type of thinking that will you get through the insanely difficult dungeons in one piece.

I've always liked Dragon Quest better than Final Fantasy, though the competition sure is a close one. Every single Dragon Quest so far has benefit from the massive time taken to adhere to the details. More than innovating out to the moon or drastically changing the format, the series evolves and rediscovers itself, much in the same way Zelda has since the SNES version. Better yet, playing each one is analogous to the feeling of coming home out of the rain to drink hot chocolate. You know when you play Dragon Quest that the developers pay attention to developing rewarding, thoughtful, excellent gameplay, not just flash and melodrama. (FF is certainly a lot more than that, but sometimes in those games...) The creators of Dragon Quest aren't intimidated by any trends, they just create a series whose gameplay will out last the sands of time, and that is the most important thing.

After all, what other RPG in the near future is going to allow you to call a wolf to fight alongside you like DQVII will? And what RPG in the past allowed you to commandeer a floating island, join a beauty contest (with a statistic for stylishness to boot!), dance to kill your enemies (besides FFT), distract the enemy by telling them a joke or become king for a day?

-Link

(P.S. While writing this, I noticed I have a couple of very old e-mails in my directory from Chris Jones talking about RPGs...hmmm...I wonder if that was you.)

I know you said you haven't played much of FM3 yet, but what do you think about the slow loading time. I was shocked when I first saw that hideous black screen with the word loading in the bottom corner. I immediately had flash backs to horribly old games from when I first got my PSX. But seriously whats up with that, I thought that PSX games were beyond stuff like that now.

Steve Newman

Graphics do not make the game.

Look at FF8. Stunning graphics... amazing FMV.. OK music... Gameplay of a turnip. Graphics are a nice touch to games, in fact they are somewhat important, but good graphics do not make a game an instant hit.

And in a similar vein, mediocre graphics do not ruin a game. It has always been the gameplay that's important, at least to me. As corny as it sounds, I don't play games, RPGs in particular, to watch Squall and Rinoa dance. I play them to face off against the evil wizardess and save the day.

The problem with saying that the graphics in DQ7 are bad is that it's your opinion. I happen to think that the screen shots I have seen so far are very good, in an SD Anime-style sort of way. Sure, the graphics ain't hyper realistic CGI silicon graphics workstation created masterpieces. They aren't supposed to be. They're a different style, an updated version of the old NES/SNES DQ games. And that's what all the DQ games have been about -- building upon the earlier games in the series. Growing and evolving right with their fans. But above all else, keeping the heart of the series the same.

The game follows in a long line of very popular, amazing DQ games -- and rather than try to change the whole system and idea behind the games (Which can really alienate longtime fans of a series... cough cough FF8 cough cough) they are sticking with the DQ traditions. Traditions like the fight engine have been around for years, and will no doubt be updated -- but not replaced -- in DQ7. The original happy faced blue Slimes are back in DQ7 -- with more cousins like Winged Slimes, Rock Slimes and Spot Slimes. The only difference between the Slimes from the original DQ1 and the DQ7 slimes will be that the slimes -- like all the enemies since DQ5 -- are now fully animated. The party members follow the hero in DQ7 on the overworld, just like in every DQ since DQ2.

And with any luck DQ8 and DQ9 and even DQ100 will have the same fight engine, the same slimes, the same overhead view format. That's what MAKES them DQ games. Not the name, not the people who made it. The traditions, the links to the past, the building upon a foundation of wonderful gaming experiences -- this is the heart of the DQ series to me.

And that's the ultimate point of Dragon Quest 7 that I don't think anyone who hasn't played a DQ game all the way through will understand. If Enix took out the Slimes, took out the old battle system, used CGI created FMV for half the game, then DQ7 would not BE a Dragon Quest game. It would be a pale imitation of what they USED to be. Enix knows what their fan base wants, and they are working to offer that to them. And anyone else can either become a fan or not.

The Dragon Quest series IS the old school RPG genre personified -- the First DQ game WAS the first console RPG. And you can still see elements of the original game in DQ6, and you will be able to see links to the old NES games in DQ7. And THAT is what endears the game to me.

And in a modern, new school world of 60 minute FMVs and 40 hr gameplay over 4 CD games, I for one am looking for a little bit of the old school in this FMV flooded world.

-- Mark Cantrell
The Knight in Tarnished Armor

After the long, winded rant, question: if you had the dilemma above, what would you pass on, buy later? I already decided to pass on Parasite Eve II, and I didn't highly dislike the first one... Now, I know you're a self professed Squarehead, so this is highly hypothetical, and if the mere thought of having to renounce buying any of them causes you any pain, I apologize in advance.

Princess Jemmy

And kind of like Alex, when I think of RPGs in a broad way, DQ is one of the first things to come to mind. And this is coming from someone who's only sampled the first DQ. Such is the power of DQ.

And you know what else? I like sprites. I like 2D. Bring on the SNES grade graphics, baby. Like what's his face from IGN said...'Graphics don't make a game, but bad ones can break it.'

I also don't see myself outraged, because I honestly have no expectations for the game other than a solid RPG experience. Not spectactular, not genre redefining. Just...Fun.

~Ian P.

P.S. Seriously...How long exactly has DQ7 been in the works? Well over three years now?

elizabeth

CO