When a video game series goes on for a long time, it raises a question for newcomers: Just where is the best place to jump in? In the case of Dragon Quest, there are nearly a dozen mainline titles, not to mention copious spinoffs and ports that span four decades of history. Of late, though, publisher Square Enix has been releasing a number of remakes that serve as almost ideal entry points for beginners who are intimidated by all of that baggage. And the new Dragon Quest VII Reimagined might just be the best so far.<\/p>\n
DQVII was a pivotal game for the series when it launched on the original PlayStation, as it was the first with 3D graphics. For a franchise that evolves at a slow, deliberate pace, that was a big deal. Maybe that\u2019s why this isn\u2019t the first time Square Enix has remade it; the game also launched on the Nintendo 3DS under the new subtitle Fragments of the Forgotten Past. Reimagined builds on the core experience with a number of quality-of-life tweaks \u2014 you can see enemies before battle starts, for instance, and the game gives you a \u201cpreviously on\u201d story update each time you start it up \u2014 along with revamped graphics that make the game world look like a series of cute-as-heck dioramas. It doesn\u2019t quite approach the handcrafted charm of Fantasian<\/a>, but it\u2019s close.<\/p>\n That stuff is great and makes Reimagined feel like a thoroughly modern game. But what really makes it a great entry point for Dragon Quest beginners is the way it\u2019s structured. For the most part, every Dragon Quest is a standalone experience that tells its own story, so narrative-wise there\u2019s no real issue with jumping into the series with any specific number, including the seventh game. But what makes DQVII unique is how its premise turns it into a series of episodes that are much more digestible than one single, epic quest.<\/p>\n Unlike most Dragon Quest games, and most other fantasy RPGs for that matter, DQVII isn\u2019t set in one huge world. Instead, the game opens on a tiny island, one where the residents believe it\u2019s literally the only place in the world. Of course, that turns out to not exactly be the case, as other islands slowly start to appear and you, the plucky hero, are also able to piece together magical tablets that whisk you to faraway realms.<\/p>\n DQVII still has the epic scope of a traditional RPG, but this structure \u2014 which has you exploring these new islands and locations one at a time \u2014 makes it easier to both play in bite-sized chunks and remember just what the heck is going on. There\u2019s an overarching story, but because each area has its own distinct storyline, the game ends up feeling almost like a series of chapters you tackle individually. I never really found myself lost in the story \u2014 thanks in part to the recap feature \u2014 nor did I find myself lost in the world itself, unsure of where to go next. And the islands are all pretty delightful places to explore; one moment you\u2019re investigating a strange ritual in a giant volcano, the next you\u2019re visiting a farming village where everyone has been turned into an animal.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the combination of visual refresh, streamlined quality-of-life features, and less-intimidating structure that makes Reimagined such a good entry point. It\u2019s also not alone. Dragon Quest has been incredibly popular in Japan since its inception, but has gradually grown its audience in the rest of the world. And over the last few years in particular, Square Enix has released a handful of titles that I consider to be great starter games. If you\u2019re looking for something with a little bit more of a retro feel, the remake of Dragon Quest III<\/a> \u2014 part of the publisher\u2019s fascinating HD-2D line of games<\/a> \u2014 manages to strike the right blend of depth and approachability. It\u2019s straightforward in a way that turns into something like RPG comfort food. And for something larger in scope, there\u2019s always Dragon Quest XI<\/a>, the most recent mainline entry in the series, which takes the familiar DQ gameplay and bolts on high-end graphics and cutscenes that make it feel more like a modern epic.<\/p>\n But I think that Reimagined has those games beat when it comes to being welcoming. Every DQ game is charming, and every modern release has quality-of-life tweaks that make it more palatable compared to older RPGs. But the narrative structure of DQVII turns a huge adventure into a series of smaller, digestible stories, making it easier to play on your own terms. So if you\u2019ve been wondering what the deal with blue slimes is, this is your best chance to find out.<\/p>\n Dragon Quest VII Reimagined launches on February 5th on the Switch, PS5, Xbox, and PC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When a video game series goes on for a long time, it raises a question for newcomers: Just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,48,75,61617,874,61],"class_list":{"0":"post-449386","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-games-review","12":"tag-gaming","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}