Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past - Nintendo 3DS Game | JRPG Adventure with Classic Turn-Based Combat | Perfect for Travel & Home Gaming

The original Dragon Quest VII (then known as Dragon Warrior) was a game after it's time. Sprite graphics, badly incorporated 3D backgrounds, weird translation (with an interesting reason behind it) and a slow pace beset an amazing storyline. Released years after Final Fantasy VII, it had seemed like the Dragon Quest series needed to move on or get with the times (something that was fixed with it's sequel, Dragon Quest VIII).Dragon Quest VII for the Nintendo 3DS is everything that the game should have been. The pace has been greatly improved (with the unfortunate removal of some complicated, but fun puzzles and riddles). The storyline is much the same, but with a better translation. Also improved are the names of the characters and towns, to better fit their settings. Earlier translations of Dragon Quest removed the accents of each town, something that has generally been present in the Japanese versions. Modern translated DQ games thankfully fix that to make for a broader experience.Also to note are the improved graphics. They are gorgeous, crisp (for a 3DS game) and certain things looks AMAZING with the 3D turned on. You can enjoy it with the 3D turned off (I have to most of the time because 3D gives me headaches), but certain things look great. The game features a classic Dragon Quest interface, which lags slightly and may not seem as responsive as other games, but seems to emulate previous games in the franchise. You get used to it, but I've read a lot of complaints on here and reddit about that. Just imagine it as a slight charm of the Dragon Quest franchise.Now, this game is not without it's faults. The aforementioned lag does sometimes get to you and there is a bit of slowdown in certain areas. I play on a New 3DS XL, so I don't seem to be noticing as much lag as normal 3DS users, but there is some still there. The removal of puzzles is my greatest disappointment... I quite enjoyed the puzzles in the original, though they killed the pace of certain dungeons (and the opening of the game), but I feel as though this version holds the player's hand WAY too much. There should have been a happy medium.Regardless, this is a game for every RPG fan's collection. It's witty, funny, ridiculous, and has wonderfully heart touching (and heart breaking) stories within. Get a physical copy before you lose the chance.