Dragon Quest VII – Fragments of the Forgotten Past

Dragon Quest VII – Fragments of the Forgotten Past is a 2000 Japanese role-playing video game developed by Heartbeat and ArtePiazza, and published by Enix for the PlayStation. It was released in North America in 2001 under the title Dragon Warrior VII. The game received a remake on the Nintendo 3DS in Japan in 2013, released in English under the title Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past in 2016. A version of the game for Android and iOS was released in Japan in 2015. Dragon Quest VII is best known for its huge size. Without completing the game’s side quests, a single game of Dragon Quest VII can take a hundred hours or more. 

In terms of gameplay, not much has changed from previous installments; battles are still fought in a turn-based mode from a first person perspective. Although non-battle sequences are rendered in 3D, battles themselves are still portrayed two dimensionally. The ability to talk with the party characters in and outside of battles was added to this game. They offer advice about battle strategies and plot points, or simply comment on how they feel at a given moment. There are four ways and means of locomotion: walking (striding), sailing a boat, flying a magic carpet, or using an object known as the skystone.

Each of these can move across different terrain; however, some are more limited than others. The game follows the Hero and his friends as they discover secrets about the mysterious islands surrounding their home of Estard. Through some ancient ruins, they are transported to the pasts of various islands and must defeat evil in each new location. Game mechanics are largely unchanged from previous games in the series, although an extensive Class system allows players to customize their characters.

The story begins when the father of the protagonist brings home a map fragment from a fishing trip; this map suggests to the protagonist and his friend that the world had, at some point in its past, many continents, though now there is only the small island of Estard. The two of them find a way to travel back to the past, when the continents still existed. The continents are facing serious problems that threaten their existence; the protagonist and his growing party work to resolve the problems, and when they do, the continents reappear in the present.

When all the continents are finally restored, the party confronts the Demon Lord Orgodemir, who long ago defeated God (The Almighty in the 3DS English translation) and is responsible for the continents’ disappearance. After his initial defeat, Orgodemir returns in the present and poses as God to trick humanity into worshiping him, then seals the continents away again. The party summons the Four Elemental Spirits to expose Orgodemir, then travels to the Dark Palace where they defeat Orgodemir in a final showdown.