Dissapointing Game
The Dragon Quest (Warrior) series has a special place in my heart, I have enjoyed all of the titles preceding this one that I've played. But let me cut to the chase here: this game is a disappointment. This is really a shame because the more I played this game, the more I realize the care that went into making this title. However Dragon Warrior VII (DW7) ends up fundamentally a broken and outdated title (even for its 2000 / 2001 release).
The game starts you out as a normal teenager in a small fishing village on a small island with nothing else present in the entire world. The first two hours gets you introduced to that small island and some small mysteries surrounding it. It was apparent that the developers tried to inject some interesting world building and connections that would take place over the entire game. However, this introduction was devoid of any combat, character development, or any specific direction besides fetch quests.
Once you do get to combat and leveling, the pace by which this occurs is painfully slow. From my many years of playing JRPG's the rule of thumb that I use is 7 battles maximum to level-up in any given area will get you the appropriate power for the scenario you are about to encounter. This title takes about 10 battles initially to level up in the first area, and won't net you a whole lot of extra power or money to buy the equipment in the shops.
This means that you'll be grinding... a lot! This alone would be suffer-able if the game didn't later, and without real warning, impose leveling caps on jobs based upon your character's level in certain areas.
Technically this game was outdated at its release. The music is repetitive, and the quality is low. Essentially it sounds like a SNES title, with the occasional NES sound effect thrown in. The graphics are block-y sprites on top of a 3-D world that doesn't mesh well.
Overall, the plot of the game isn't terrible, but the repetition in story elements, repetition in grinding, and just plain un-balanced gameplay makes this a game that I really can't recommend to even die-hard Dragon Quest (Warrior) fans.
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