Dragon Warrior VII

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Dragon Quest VII: Warriors of Eden
North American boxart
Developer(s)	Heartbeat, ArtePiazza
Publisher(s)	Enix
Designer(s)	Yūji Horii
Artist(s)	Akira Toriyama
Composer(s)	Koichi Sugiyama
Series	Dragon Quest
Platform(s)	PlayStation
Release date(s)	JP August 26, 2000 NA November 1, 2001 JP March 2, 2005 (PSOne Books re-release) JP June 20, 2006 (Ultimate Hits re-release[1])
Genre(s)	Role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	CERO: A (All Ages) ESRB: T (Teen)
Media	2 CD-ROM

Dragon Warrior VII, known in Japan as Dragon Quest VII Eden no Senshitachi (ドラゴンクエストVII エデンの戦士たち, Doragon Kuesuto Sebun Eden no Senshi-tachi^?, lit. "Dragon Quest VII: Warriors of Eden") is a Japanese console role-playing game developed by Heartbeat^[2] and ArtePiazza,^[3] and published by Enix for the PlayStation in 2000. It was released in North America in 2001 under the title Dragon Warrior VII.

Dragon Warrior VII is the seventh installment of the popular Dragon Quest series of role playing games, and is the successor to 1995's Dragon Quest VI for the Super Famicom. An immediate success upon release, Dragon Warrior VII's sales have totalled 4.06 million, making it the best-selling PlayStation game in Japan by April 6, 2001,^[4] and is a Ultimate Hits title. It was the first main seriesDragon Quest title to be released outside of Japan since the release of Dragon Quest IV in North America in 1992, and the last Dragon Quest title to be released in North America with the Dragon Warrior name. The game was produced by Yuji Horii,^[2] who has presided over the Dragon Quest series since its inception. Artwork and character designs were once again provided by Akira Toriyama,^[2] the artist responsible for all previous Dragon Quest games and famous mangaka.

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.

Contents 1 Gameplay 1.1 Class system 2 Plot and setting 2.1 Story 2.2 Characters 3 Development and release 4 Soundtrack 5 Manga 6 Reception 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Gameplay

Dragon Warrior 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.^[2] 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.^[5] 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: feet, boat, magic carpet, and skystone. Each of these can move across different terrain.

The main flow of the game is different than the other Dragon Quest games; instead of exploring one large world, the party goes to separate continents by placing stone shards into their appropriate pedestals in Estard Fane. Once all of the missing shards are located and placed for a particular pedestal, the party is transported to the trapped location in the past. After solving whatever problems plague the location, the party then travels back to Estard, the beginning island. From there, they can travel via boat, carpet, or skystone to the modern version of the location they just saved. These saved lands appear on the main map, although the originals (from the past) can be revisited through the ruins.

Like most of the other Dragon Quest games, this game has several mini-games to participate in. The Immigrant Town, similar to the one in Dragon Warrior IV, lets the player recruit people from various towns.^[6] They then live in the town, which changes depending on the type of people living there (e.g. several merchants will bring more stores to the town). A prominent feature in most Dragon Quest games is the casino. Poker, slot machines, and luck panel can all be played in Dragon Warrior VII. The Ranking Association allows the player to compete for the highest stats, like the Beauty Competition from Dragon Quest VI. The player can also catch monsters, although they are only displayed in the Monster Park, unlike in Dragon Quest V, where monsters fought in the party.^[6] Blueprints are found to add new environments to the park.

[edit] Class system

It has been suggested that Dragon Quest character classes#Dragon Warrior VII be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

Dragon Warrior VII uses a class system for learning abilities, similar to that of Dragon Quest VI.^[7] Some available classes include Warrior, Fighter, Cleric, Mage, Bard, Dancer, Jester, Thief, Teen Idol, Pirate, Ranger, Dragoon, Paladin, Summoner, God Hand, and Hero, some of which are unlocked by mastering other classes.^[8] The game also includes monster classes, which can be unlocked by using the appropriate monster heart or mastering pre-requisite monster classes.^[6]

Characters generally stop learning character specific spells and skills around experience level 15; however, around this time in the game, players will reach Dharma Island, where they can give their characters certain classes.^[9] Each non-monster class belongs to one of three tiers (Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced), while monster classes have more tiers. Characters gain levels in classes by fighting a certain number of battles, as opposed to gaining experience points.^[9] Characters learn different spells and skills when they reach another class level and their stats are affected by what class they are. Once a character reaches the 8th and final level of a class, it is considered "mastered", if a character masters certain classes, higher tier classes will become available to them. For example, if a character masters the Mage and Cleric classes, which are both Basic, then the Intermediate class Sage will be available to them. If that character was to then master the TeenIdol class, the Advanced Summoner class would open up.^[9]

[edit] Plot and setting

This article's plot summary may be too long or overly detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (December 2009)

[edit] Story

Dragon Warrior VII tells the story of a young hero, the son of a prominent fisherman in the village of Fishdel on Estard Island, the only landmass in the world, and his friends in a fantastical medieval-like world.^[2] They set out on adventures through the world's past and learn about its history. Upon discovering different lands in the past and solving the troubles, they reappear in the game's present-day map.^[10]

The party begins their adventure when the hero and Keifer discovers a mysterious fragment of a map his father brings home from a fishing trip. Further investigations lead him to discover that the world he lives on, which seems to consist of only his small island, used to contain many continents that have somehow been sealed away.^[2][6] By placing found shards on pedestals in Estard's ruins, the Hero and his friends are sent to different lands in the past which the party eventually realizes.^[11] Once they solve the problems in the area's past, the landmasses appear in the present.

• Rexwood: The party arrives, finding that monsters kidnapped the women of the village, ordering the men to disassemble the city lest face destruction. The town obliges except for a warrior named Hank, and his son, Patrick. There is also a mysterious woman named Matilda making appearances within the surrounding area. However, Hank is severely injured following his encounter with a Golem. The party must first venture into the nearby Colorstone Mine to obtain a rare Green Orb to heal him, and only then may the party, with Hank's help, attack the Eastern Tower where the monsters' leader dwells. In a startling turn, Matilda turns out to be the lead monster. She was the younger sister of Rex, whom the village was named for, a hero who met an untimely end in battle when the townspeople were too frightened to help him. Driven by her hatred of the people for letting her brother die, she was corrupted into a demon, and regretably, the party has to kill her to lift the curse on the area for the women to be returned. In the present, Rexwood is a little more developed, although the people seem to forgotten several important details about their town's history.

• Engow: The party arrives just prior to the villagers annual festival, and an event known as the Procession of Fire, in which the villagers pay tribute to their volcano god by dropping torches into the pit. A servant of the Demon Lord, known as FireGiant, has taken up residence in the core of the volcano, and the villagers unwittingly contribute to his power during their festival. Should all of the villagers drop there torches into the volcano, the game will end. The party defeats FireGiant, but still a large black flame ominously hangs over the volcano. The party must return to the present and track down some Holy Water to dispel the flame and ultimately save Engow. In the present, Engow is something of a tourist attraction, with hot springs and festivals. It is much later found out that Engow's "God of Flame" is actually the Flame Spirit.

• Dialac: The party arrives here 50 years after a disaster known as the "Gray Rain" visited the town, turning everyone into statues. The people have been weathered away by the elements and are barely recognizable. The is little here except an old man named Clayman who resided there in its heyday. He gives the party an item called the AngelTear, which he obtained too late to save the townspeople. A strange event takes place at night allowing the Hero to view the people's stories, in time they find that a small boy named Joseph turned to stone in a secluded place, was not weathered by the years of petrification. However, despite this happy reunion, Dialac does not exist in the present, but the site serves for a Dragon Warrior series staple, the Immigrant Town, which is run by an old man named Sim.

• Orph: A sadistic monster known as Deathpal, who doesn't seem to have any connection to the Demon Lord, used a rather interesting curse that turned the people into animals, and the animals into people (and neither of which can communicate their thoughts to you!). The town was defended for centuries by a clan of white wolves, who had set out to fight the monster. Unfortunately they were all defeated, except for a cub who was left behind, who appears as a rather wild-looking young boy later introduced as Gabo. The party seeks the help of an individual in the present known only as the Woodsman, who frees Gabo and helps the party communicate to the animals. They learn that the monster dwells at the Holy Mountain, known also as Mt. Ceide. The party pays a visit to Deathpal, who set a second curse on the inner chamber preventing them from using any spells in the battle. When defeated, Deathpal fires a curse at Gabo which forces him to remain human forever, despite his prior curse on the townspeople being lifted. In the present, it is interest to note that the townspeople hold a regular celebration in honor of animals.

• Falrod: A robotic servant of the Demon Lord has established a base near the Kingdom and is waging war against the people, who are having a difficult time contending with their mechanical adversaries. The party gets hired by the captain, Trad, as mercenaries and decides to help the army by figuring out the mechsoldiers' weakness. Per vicecaptain Hanes's request, the party seeks out Zebbot, an antisocial scientist who happens to be Trad's brother. After some convincing, Zebbot agrees to help devise a way to win the war. After another invasion of mechsoldiers, he takes one and reworks its programming, developing a sort of radio-signal weapon through it which incapacitates the soldiers at the front of the base, allowing the party to sneak in. The party finds the Machinoid deep in the base and defeats him and a group of ClockMechs with him. He laughs as he tells the party his ultimate weapon, the EvilMech, will lay waste to them all. After this double-boss showdown, the land is saved. In the present, Falrod has developed early-grade mechanical servants, although Zebbot's cabin west of the kingdom has been declared a forbidden zone.

• Verdham: Verdham is a village famous for its herb garden, and is currently under the same Gray Rain which destroyed Dialac, fortunately, the perpetrator, Rainmaker, is still here. After quickly killing him, the party saves the village with the AngelTear given to them by Clayman. What ensues is an almost soap-opera-esque drama which plays out among the villagers. There is also a growing threat with a monster in the Marsh Cave, known as Cavemon, who lures people with stories of treasure, only to eat them when they arrive. In the present, Verdham is little more than ruins with a beautiful garden in the middle, although a nearby village called Mentare was founded by the gardener's family. There is also a monastery on a nearby hill, and through these two areas, the party can get closure on the events in Verdham.

• Deja: This region is inhabited by the gypsy-esque Deja Tribe, who are on a mission to resurrect God. The Tribe Dancer, Layla, and the Tula Master, Jann, are set to perform on the sacred altar. The party helps the tribe get to the Altar of God via a cave filled with traps, and draining a nearby lake. Jann and Layla perform, but to no avail, Jann later leaves on the outset of a scandal. Kiefer stays behind with the tribe, leaving the party effectively for the rest of the game. In the present, there is a strange excavation site that is important for a few game events, as well as the Dark Palace once the player completes the Coastal region. The elusive Deja tribe still roam the lands, but they do not immediately appear here. Later on, the party meets Aira here, who is a "descendant" of Kiefer and Layla, and has qualities reminiscent of both.

• Dharma: Monsters have kidnapped the high priest and infiltrated the temple, and the monster high priest, Antoria, is using the class-changing pool to drain humans of their abilities to empower the Demon Lord. Humans are deposited into a horrible place known as Penal Town, where brute force rules all, and the only escape is to murder five others with a Soul Sword. Fortunately, the party hooks up with a former guard, Kasim, and his thief friend, Flower, in a resistance effort to find the real high priest, a young girl named Fosse. Kasim is also trying to help a girl named Neris, whom he has feelings for, and is constantly being rebuffed by her younger brother. With Kasim's help, the party rescues high priest Fosse from a crystal prison. Further on in, the party finds that humans are forced to battle in a coliseum under the temple for the monsters' amusement. The party teams up with Zaji, who is Neris' brother, to advance through the tournament to save his sister. Chaos erupts in the arena shortly after as the resistance allies with the other humans there, to fight the monsters. Fosse and the party take advantage on the disorder to launch an attack on Antoria who is alone. Upon defeating him, the party is now able to use the job-class system to gain new abilities. In the present, Dharma Temple is still up and running, but a recent plague of bandit attacks is keeping the people on edge. The party quells the situation, finding that their leader held a special interest in them. With the arrival of Dharma comes another small island, with a town called Mezar on it. A man named Nicola wants to loan his magic carpet to some heroes, but he can't find them. His carpet turns out to be fake, but his maid was instructed to hide the real one, and will show you where it is if you find the gem of the sea, the MermMoon.

• Dune: A region heavily influenced by ancient Egypt. Dune Palace was ravaged by monster attacks, and the meets a man named Hadeed inside, who helps them fight off a BoneRider. The monster had Queen Fedel's locket, which had a note inside, leading Hadeed to believe that the Queen is still alive. They later find out that he is the son of chief Zarathustra. Hadeed's mission is to save Queen Fedel by getting to the Sphinx, which is being rebuilt into a statue of the Demon Lord, via riding a friendly monster named Tyrano down the massive Nila (Nile) River. Unfortunately, Tyrano is nowhere to be found. But the party can obtain its fossil at the Deja excavation site, and the creature is restored when the fossil sinks into the river. With Hadeed's help, the party sieges the Evil Statue, and defeats the monsters' general, a demon named Seto. In the present, Dune is ruled by a queen named Nephthys, and the region is deeply interested in their Lore involving the Terra Spirit. The Sphinx is out of bounds until the party acquires some magical transportion, and beneath the Sphinx is the Earth Fane. There are several chests down here, which cannot be accessed, but they probably held the gems needed to resurrect the Terra Spirit, since they are found a short while later.

• Krage: Krage is a small island which is home to the Yggdrasil World Tree. A strange visitor working for the Demon Lord has arrived in town and subsequently everyone is acting rather batty, each one believes that they are the one and true Demon Lord. The mayor is still within his senses and he warns them that monsters have poisoned the town's only well. By talking to the Elf Girl who lives near the tree, the party acquires the HolyDew, which can purify the water. The people block the party, so they have to take the long way around by going underground by the tree, following the roots, where they confront a powered-up EvilWell waiting for them. The HolyDew works very well, freeing the villagers from the curse, and causing the visitor to flip out, revealing him to be an ApeBat monster. In the future, Krage now has multiple wells, in reaction to how the town was almost destroyed... the party may also purchase World Dew here, but it is pricey (1000 Gold) and there are special restrictions on buying it.

• Litorud: The region suffers from what can only be described as Groundhog Day (film)-syndrome, where everyone relives the same day over and over. The party learns that the local genius architect, Baloch, has designed all sorts of weird structures in the city, including the clock tower, as well as the nearby bridge which is nearing completion. Through investigation, it is determined that the Clock Tower malfunctioned, and a Time Rift has opened up somewhere, the party finds it in the home of Dr. Creyney. The powerful TimeSage rules this mysterious dimension, with his two assistants, Makimakis, per his defeat the party may restore order to the flow of time. Their reward is the TimeSand item, which allows for restarting any battle, a lifesaver if things go horribly wrong. After the battle, the bridge is complete, and it leads to Verdham in a later period, in which even more drama can be seen. Baloch's most enduring legacy is a tower, which is designed as a long puzzle to keep people out. Litorud is also home of the World Ranking Federation, which keeps track of people's stats throughout the world. Note that it is impossible to win the Style Ranking without first completing a short sidequest to find the old Style winner, Rose, who resides somewhere in the Dune region.

• Hamelia: The region has a strange old bard who lures people into a vortex at night. He vists Avon, Huzu and finally Hamelia, each time taking the villagers away, but in Hamelia, the party jumps through as well. They find themselves in a nearby mountain tower. The villagers get really angry at their situation, but quickly learn it was for the better when the entire continent begins to sink into the ocean. It is deduced by the people that the ruler of the Undersea City, a monster named Gracos, is causing this to happen. The party takes a raft out into the ocean, and a strange event occur with the Hero's birthmark on his arm, which allows the party to freely explore the city. The bard arrives to help the party face Gracos, where he reveals himself as Jann, the former Deja Tula Player who abandoned his tribe so long ago. After returning things to normal, the player can obtain the MermMoon in Hamelia's treasure vault. This is important in a series of events that culminates in the party acquiring Melvin, which must be done to progress the game. In the present, Avon and Huzu are no longer there, but Hamelia is, and it's home to a genius named Azmov who is researching the town's legend about a flood, and he will need to visit the same old tower too.

• Probina: Probina is a region about to be invaded by a neighboring power known as the Raguraz Kingdom. The small village is in possession of a goddess statue said to have magical qualities. The Raguraz army demand the statue, but a local man named Razual refuses to give it to them, and promptly breaks it in front of everyone. Suddenly the Raguraz army turn into monsters and attack the city. The player must retrieve the broken goddess statue and drop it into a magical spring on the hill behind Probina. During this, they are attacked by LizardMan, who leads this group of monsters. Upon his defeat, the power of the goddess statue returns the souls back to any villager who was killed in the battle. Present Probina is literally no different than the past form, it is just a small town, with little to do there at all.

• Loomin: Loomin gets it worse than probably several other regions combined. First the town is besieged by a gang of monsters, led by the anthropomorphic moose-demon Borunga. Secondly, the DarkDraco threatens to destroy the island and envelops the area in darkness, so it must be defeated. Upon checking Loomin in the present you find that it is just ruins, so you must return. Thirdly, with the darkness gone, a savage plant known as HellVine had moved under the city from a nearby hill and is wreaking havoc. With this taken care of, you find that Loomin is still ruins in the present! Now, a plague of HellWorms attacks the city... and here is where it gets interesting. The chief also has a pet HellWorm named Chibi, and the player can decide if they want to kill it, or set it free. Clearly, setting it free is the best option, as the game gives several chances to back out of killing Chibi. Chibi will return and fight off HellWorms for you, but dies from exhaustion after the battle. If Chibi is killed, Loomin will be nothing but ruins in the future, if Chibi is set free, Loomin will exist in the present, and have a grave of a mysterious hero, but no one knows that Chibi was a HellWorm and not a person. Also arriving with Loomin, is the Monster Park, run by a descendant of the past village chief, who was apparently run out of town for having all sorts of monster pets. The player can tame monsters to send them here and collect BluePrints to expand the park. Collecting every enemy in the game awards the player with Chibi's Memento, a one-of-a-kind accessory.

• Mardra: Mardra is a powerful kingdom with heavy emphasis on magic. In the past, Mardra was attacked by the Raguraz Kingdom, but its ruler, Prince Zeppel laid waste to Raguraz once and for all. Raguraz is nothing but a hollow-shell of a Kingdom now. There is a problem going on in Mardra anyway, as the Prince is seeking more high-grade magic in case the kingdom's enemies return. The High Priest fears that the Prince will be unable to handle such magic and works on developing his own anti-spell for the sake of the kingdom. Zeppel eventually performs the "Ultimate Magic" will transforms him into a demon, hellbent on wrecking his own castle, and he defeats the party in an unwinnable battle. The High Priest intervenes and casts the newly developed Majustis spell on Zeppel, which makes the battle winnable. After the smoke clears, Zeppel sees the error in his ways, and declares that Mardra will now focus on the arts, rather than magic. In the present, Mardra is ruled by Princess Michaela, who is a huge fan of music. Through her, the party later stages a Tula competition, in order to find a suitable player to accompany Aira's dancing during the second attempt to revive God in the Deja region. An often overlooked secret here is that the Hero can learn Majustis by inspecting the grave of the High Priest, and if they return and speak to him in the past, he will develop it further. Checking the grave a second time, allows the Hero to learn Gigastis, a multi-target Majustis.

• Gorges: The region of the extraordinary Lefa tribe, who fly as angels. Well, at least most of them, there is a girl here named Firia, who is Lefan but does not have wings. The Lefans precious relic that grants them wind power, the BlissRock, has been stolen by monsters, so the party enters the Dark Cloud Maze near the Wind Fang to defeat HellGenie. Upon retrieving it, the party finds that they cannot advance to the deeper parts of the Wind Fane without a Lefan accompanying them. Firia goes along with them, and helps them through the shrine, where the BlissRock is used to clear the dark mist off of the statue of the Wind Spirit. Upon doing so, HellCloud ambushes the party in what is regarded as the hardest boss fight in the first half of the game. In the present, it is a surprise to find that none of the Lefas have wings anymore. There is also a large tower along the southern coast of the region, which cannot be entered until the party must seek the aid of the Wind Spirit. The tower leads to a very strange place known as Sky Town, which has a gate to the Wind Maze. Both areas have a very strange take on the theory of gravity. A demon named Nengal decided it wants the Wind Robe to itself, so it must be killed in order to get the robe to revive the Spirit back at the Wind Fane.

• Labres: Labres is a town undergoing a strange circumstance. A few people went off to fight monsters on nearby Mt. Tor, and only a monster wearing the priest's robes returned. The people assumed it was the monster coming to gloat so they chased it, til it hid in the temple. What they don't know, is that the priest agreed to trade forms with the monster's leader, under the guise that as long as the priest lives, the monsters won't attack the village. The party tries to stop the villagers but they end up imprisoned on Mt. Tor with no choice but the fight their way through. They eventually meet Botok, a Demon Lord cohort, and kill him. When the party returns, the priest is about to be burned at the stake. However slow-acting, the priest returned to his rightful form soon after and the townspeople realize the error of their ways. In the present, however, those in Labres seem to completely deny the facts of the past, believing a traveler in league with the Demon Lord kidnapped the priest, and had to be rescued by the villagers. Everyone except the village children, that is.

• Coastal: Coastal is a castle town that been plagued with darkness for years and worst of all, every human newborn is cursed to become a monster under the light of its first night of the full moon. The party have to collect some Glim Moss from the cave of the Halfings to track the recent newborn through the Great Northern Lighthouse, where the monsters are luring the newborns and also the Rainbow Dew from back on Estard to put down the dark flame shrouding the tower. First you fight Gamadius to help the Halfings, then in the Great Lighthouse, you fight BeliMawr to free the newborns. To remove the veil of darkness, you have to go to past Engow to get the Pliotfire to relight the LightHouse. While in past Coastal, the party hear the stories of Sharkeye, the great Captain to the pirates of the Marle de Dragonne. Sharkeye was once allied with Coastal as navy security against the Demon Lord, but his ship and crew was imprisoned in an iceberg by the monsters, leaving behind an pregant Anise, his wife in the care of the King of Coastal. This was just before Coastal was cursed in the past. While saving Coastal, Anise disappears and everyone was then told later she became a mermaid with the Undersea King's help, to live and wait for Sharkeye's curse to be lifted. In present Coastal, the capital moved to the Halfings Cave and the castle becomes a casino.

• Fanes of the Soldiers of God: After helping the Lefan Region and getting the Blissrock, there is a fane located east of Falrish. The hero's party follows a maze of underwater tunnels and islets to the ground relief bearing God's Crest. Using the Blissrock, they reach to the skybound Fanes of the Soldiers of God, where they learned that only two of the four original fanes still float. With the "?" Shards that forms God's Crest, they travel to the past to help raise back up the other fanes with the Blissrock. After restoring the Fanes, the party get now get the Skystone, their airborne vehicle for the game.

• The Demon Lord's Castle: After picking up the last "?" Shard in the Hamilia Region, the party returns to the Deja Region where the dig site is almost completely abandoned. Inside the cavern, the "?" Shards that forms the Demon Lord's Crest takes the party back to the climax of God's battle, allied with the Elemental Spirits, where Orgodemir defeats God and returns to his castle to rest. The party can fight the Demon Lord here and restore a new land to the present. After the battle, the heroes would then set out to revive God.

After the world is restored, Orgodemir, the Demon Lord, disguises himself as God and steals several of the islands away once again; this time Estard is sealed as well. The party sets out to revive the elemental spirits: Wind, Flame, Terra, and Aqua. Only after obtaining the help of the Flame, Terra and Wind spirits, do the party find out that the Aqua Spirit has been under Estard Isle's Rainbow Cove the whole time. Orgodemir is then revealed as the Demon Lord to the world whereupon he claims to have done so to trick humanity. Orgodemir then raises his Dark Palace and with the aid of the Flying Rock, the party confronts him in a final battle.

[edit] Characters

• Hero — The Hero has no default name; as is traditional in the Dragon Quest series, the name is supplied by the player (however, he is called Arus in the official manga^[6]). The Hero is a lifelong native of the town of Fishbel on Estard Island. He is good friends with Maribel, daughter of the mayor of Fishbel, and Kiefer, prince of Estard Castle. In particular, he has a fondness for going out on impromptu "adventures" with Kiefer. It is one such adventure than begins the story of the game.^[12]
  In terms of gameplay, the Hero is a well-rounded character who is one of the strongest fighters in the game. He also lays claim to a variety of healing magics, and has fairly average statistical growth.
• Kiefer — Kiefer is a prince of Estard, and the presumptive heir to the throne. Far from anticipating his elevation to kingship, however, Kiefer seems to resent his royal blood, and is a source of endless worry and frustration to his family and advisors. Kiefer, for his part, spends much of his time in search of excitement and adventure, and has found a kindred spirit in the Hero, whom he considers his closest friend.^[12]
  Kiefer is incredibly strong, with a high physical attack statistic and naturally high hit points (HP). He is the most powerful character available early on in the game. On one trip to an ancient land, Kiefer falls in love, and remains behind. Upon returning to the present, the hero finds out that Kiefer became a famous guardian of the Dejan tribe, and is the biological ancestor of almost an entire culture/continent. Kiefer is also the main character of the game Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart.
• Maribel — A friend of both the Hero and Kiefer, Maribel is the daughter of the mayor of Fishbel. Unlike Kiefer, who has steadfastly refused to let his social status influence how he looks upon other people, Maribel tends to be a bit condescending, even bossy. Despite this, she gets along well with her friends, and occasionally accompanies them on their adventuring, even if she sometimes has to pressure them into letting her tag along.^[12]
  Maribel is primarily a magic user: with low starting physical statistics, and an early lack of powerful weapons available for her use, it takes a good deal of time before she can do anything approaching the amount of physical damage inflicted by some of the other characters. On the other hand, Maribel has access to a variety of damaging attack spells relatively early on.
• Gabo — Although he appears normal, Gabo is actually a white wolf pup who was irrevocably turned into a boy. As such, he retains a number of obvious lupine characteristics, and can be somewhat animalistic at times. He agrees to travel with the heroes hoping to protect his family, but remains with the group out of a sense of loyalty.^[12]
  Gabo's speciality is in physical combat. Despite his diminutive size, he can easily become as powerful as the Hero, Melvin, and Aira through mastery of the class system.
• Melvin — A skilled paladin of generations past, Melvin fought on the side of God against the Demon Lord many years ago. Melvin excelled at his work, and distinguished himself in both skill and honor. As such, Melvin was petrified in stone by God, so that, should the need arise, he could be reawakened to once again take up the fight against evil. The party finds Melvin, who joins their adventure, although his age and unfamiliarity with the present day often leave other characters somewhat befuddled.^[12]
  Melvin is proficient at both magic and physical combat, though his magic casting abilities are slightly superior to his physical attack skills.
• Aira — Aira is the lead ritual dancer of the Deja tribe, an ancient race of people charged with the stewardship of a temple necessary in the act of calling forth God. Raised and trained at swordsmanship, Aira is a more than capable fighter, as well. But, for all her skills, Aira harbors a secret from her past that weighs heavily upon her soul.^[12]
  Aira is a powerful fighter and magic user. Although capable of doing both significant physical and significant magical damage, Aira stands in contrast to Melvin, in that her magic skills tend to lag slightly behind her physical statistics.

[edit] Development and release

Dragon Quest VII was designed by series creator Yuji Horii and directed by Manabu Yamana. Shintaro Majima signed on as art director, while series veterans Akira Toriyama and Koichi Sugiyama designed the characters and composed the music respectively.

The game was officially announced in 1996 and originally planned for the Nintendo 64DD.^[13][14] On January 15, 1997, it was announced that development had been moved to the PlayStation. By the next day, both stock in Sony and Enix rose significantly in Japan.^[14] By 2000,Dragon Quest VII was predicted to be so successful in Japan that it would "create a 50 billion yen effect on the Japanese economy", said research firm DIHS.^[15] Dragon Quest VII would go on to be released on August 26, 2000 and sold 4.06 million games in Japan alone, becoming one of the highest selling games of all time.^[16]

The game was delayed numerous times before its actual release.^[17][18] Work on the game was extended because the development staff wanted to perfect the game due to high expectations from the fans and because the team only consisted of about 35 people.^[13] Before its release, it was ranked as the most wanted game in Japan and Square, knowing about Dragon Quest VII's release, moved its Final Fantasy game to come out on a later date.^[18] Horii stated in an interview that the team focused more on puzzle solving than the game's story. Being the first game in the series to include 3D graphics, the team was also initially reluctant to include CG movies and cinematics due to letters written to Enix by fans fearing that doing so would change the overall feeling of the series.^[19]

The English language localization of Dragon Warrior VII began directly after the game's Japanese release. Enix of America was tasked with translating over 70,000 pages of text via 20 translators and 5 copy editors.^[13] No effort was made to edit or censor the context of the Japanese script.^[13] Weeks prior to the game's US release, Enix released new information about the game's different mechanics on their website weekly to introduce players to the game.^[20] Paul Handelman, president of Enix America, commented on the game that "All the talk this month about new systems with the latest technological wizardry doesn't diminish the fact that at the end of the day, compelling game play is what it's all about, and Dragon Warrior VII provides just that."^[21] Dragon Warrior VII was released in the US on November 1, 2001 and was the last game in the series to have Warrior in its title instead of Quest. In 2003, Square Enix registered the Dragon Quest trademark in the US, with the intent to retire the Dragon Warrior name. Soon after the game's release, developer Heartbeat went on hiatus. Justin Lucas, product manager of Enix America, commented on the hiatus, saying that the developer merely "worked their tails off on Dragon Warrior 7 and Dragon Warrior 4. They decided to take a sabbatical for a while and rest up", noting that it had nothing to do with the game's US sales.^[22]

The back of the Dragon Warrior VII manual in North America contained an advertisement for Dragon Warrior IV, an enhanced remake for the PlayStation of a Nintendo game of the same name. The localization was subsequently cancelled, due to Heartbeat's hiatus.^[22]

[edit] Soundtrack

As with every Dragon Quest, Koichi Sugiyama composed the musical score and directed all the associated spinoff soundtracks. As was done for Dragon Quest VI, the original sound version was bundled with the symphonic suite in a two-disc set called Dragon Quest VII: Eden no Senshitachi Symphonic Suite + OST.^[23] The entire first disc and the opening song of the second disc consists of the symphonic suite, while the rest of the second disc is the original sound version. A disc titled Dragon Quest VII: Eden no Senshitachi on Piano was also released, and contained 27 piano-arranged tracks.^[24] The Symphonic Suite was later reprinted by itself in 2006.^[25]

All songs written and composed by Koichi Sugiyama. 

All songs written and composed by Koichi Sugiyama. 

[edit] Manga

The manga adaptation of Dragon Quest VII was published by Enix's Monthly Gangan in Japan. ^[26] It was illustrated by Kamui Fujiwara, who also worked on another franchise-related manga, Dragon Quest Retsuden: Roto no Monshō.^[26] Fourteen volumes were released between 2001 and 2006, though the series is currently on hiatus.^[27]

In this adaptation, the hero is given the name "Arus".^[26] The manga follows the game story while adding in new characters and more detailed relationships, as the original hero was silent and a personality needed to be added for the comic version.

[edit] Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	81%[28]
Metacritic	78 out of 100[29]
Review scores
Publication	Score
Famitsu	38 out of 40[30]
Game Informer	6.75 out of 10[31]
GamePro	4 out of 5[32]
GameSpot	7.7 out of 10[11]
IGN	8.7 out of 10[7]
Official PlayStation Magazine (US)	4.5 out of 5

Dragon Warrior VII was very well-received in Japan both commercially and critically. It was the best-selling PlayStation game of 2000 in the region at 3.78 million copies sold.^[33][34] As most of the units were sold mere weeks after the game's release, the game established itself for having the largest annual shipment of any independently sold game for the original PlayStation.^[35] Worldwide, sales of the game have surpassed 4.1 million units as of February 2004.^[36] Dragon Warrior VII won the grand prize in Digital (Interactive) Art Division at the 4th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2000, where the game was praised for being "...engaging without depending on a high degree of realism..." and "...well refined and artfully executed."^[37] The game also won four awards from the 5th Japan Entertainment Software Awards by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA), including Best Prize, Scenario Prize, Sales Prize, and Popularity Prize.^[38] In 2006, the readers of Famitsu magazine voted Dragon Warrior VII the 9th best video game of all time.^[39]

Sales of the North American version of Dragon Warrior VII reached about 200,000 copies according to The Magic Box, which was not nearly as stellar as its Japanese counterpart.^[40] Enix of America still expressed their satisfaction with the sales figures.^[22] Dragon Warrior VII met with mostly good reviews from North American critics. IGN noted that all "100+ hours" of the game are enjoyable despite the dated visuals and clunky presentation.^[41] GamePro questioned whether the game's package was nostalgic or just awful, but still gave it a decent score and called it a great game overall.^[42] GameZone.com praised the game's concept and nostalgia factor and cited it as "what role-playing games were meant to be." They also noted the game's high difficulty, which, instead of making the game frustrating, they say, "make it that much more of an accomplishment when you complete a quest."^[43] IGN described the game's class system as "one of the best class systems seen outside a strategy RPG."^[7]

Other critics were not as pleased with Dragon Warrior VII. GameShark.com described the first two hours of the game as "some of the most boring hours you will ever play in a video game."^[44] XenGamers.com also pointed out that in order to play the game, the player needs "the patience of a rock".^[44] Game Informer even went as far as to say that "four million Japanese can be wrong", referring to the game's immense popularity in Japan.^[44]

Because of the game's delay in being developed, its release was after the PlayStation 2's release, which created some negative feedback, particularly about the game's graphics.^[18] IGN commented on this, calling the game "a game that makes only a bare minimum of concessions to advancing technology, but more than makes up for this with its deep gameplay, massive quest, and sheer variety."^[7] Gamespot called the graphics "not good" and warned readers that if the "most rewarding things" they "got out of Final Fantasy VII were the full-motion video interludes, you definitely won't be wowed by anything you see in Dragon Warrior VII."^[11] Dragon Warrior VII is still highly sought-after by video game collectors and RPG fans, and even used copies can sell for considerable amounts.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official English Dragon Warrior VII Website

v • d • e Dragon Quest and Dragon Warrior series Main series I • II • III • IV: Chapters of the Chosen • V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride • VI: Realms of Reverie • VII • VIII: Journey of the Cursed King • Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies • X Spinoff titles Kenshin • Monster Battle Road • Swords • Wars Monsters 1 • 2 • 1+2 • Caravan Heart • Joker • Joker 2 Slime titles Shōgeki no Shippo Dan • Rocket Slime Mystery Dungeon Torneko no Daibōken • The Last Hope • Torneko 3 • Shōnen Yangus Anime and manga Dragon Warrior: Legend of the Hero Abel • Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibōken • Dragon Quest Retsuden: Roto no Monshō Creators Yuji Horii • Akira Toriyama • Koichi Sugiyama Characters Slime Compiilations/Remakes (I & II) Media • Gameplay (Character classes)