Dragon Warrior VII - Retroview

Review Breakdown
Battle System	5
Interaction	5
Originality	5
Story	4
Music & Sound	3
Visuals	4
Challenge	Medium
Completion Time	100-150 hours
Overall
Classic RPG towns with 3-D

From the moment you play Dragon Warrior 7, it becomes fairly obvious that the game has a very old-school presentation. NES sound effects are present, and the characters resemble many from the 16-bit RPGs. The game's environments are 3-D representations of classic RPG towns. Many things in the game appear very familiar from the 16-bit age.

Dragon Warrior 7 is a traditional-style RPG, only the traditional ways of making an RPG have almost been honed to perfection. Its story seems tried and true, and yet it still has strong plot and character development. The game’s story progresses at a slow pace, forcing you not to try to rush through the game. The battle system in the game has been used for many years, and yet it was, in my opinion the game's biggest draw. Battles never get excessively long, and they always are fast paced and at times quite challenging. Moves take a minimal amount of time to be executed, though the monsters and spells have beautiful 2D animations. As you progress through the game, new battle moves with new uses will appear. The game features an extensive class system for learning many types of abilities.

In addition to DW7's game mechanics, there is a whole lot of material packed in this game. It should take 100+ hours for most gamers, and there are many places to visit and some interesting side quests.

Nicely drawn 2D monsters with a frozen pose when not attacking

But what really drew me to this game was its presentation. It doesn't try to overwhelm the player with flashy bells and whistles. The monsters in the battles are still unless they attack. Characters attack from a 1st-person view. Nostalgic NES sound effects play often. In an age where RPGs get flashier with storylines and battle systems, it's refreshing for an RPG to show that traditional elements still have their place if done right.

All the greatness aside, DW7 does have some flaws. The game will be a bit too long for some, and leveling up is not very easy. Also, the music, though high in quality, starts to eventually repeat. The 3-D environments don’t have ultra high poly counts, but they have an overall nice look and get the job done, though character sprites outside of battle aren’t animated so well. But in the end, this game has so many strengths in its story and gameplay, and a much-welcomed throwback approach to RPGs. I consider it my favorite Playstation RPG.