Lots of Dragon Quest VII 3DS development details
Japanese publication Dengeki published a new interview with Dragon Quest series producer Noriyoshi Fujimoto and ArtePiazza’s Shintaro Mashima. In it, the two discuss how his ArtePiazza and Square Enix tackled the 3DS remake of Dragon Quest VII.
Read on below to find out what the two had to say:
– Fujimoto always wanted to remake Dragon Quest VII for a handheld
– Dragon Quest VII was originally made right before the digital era
– All development documents were written on paper
– Dragon Quest VII had an insane amount of documents used for development
– All old documents are kept from the previous series
– Dragon Quest VII has its own section because the game has so much
– The Dragon Quest VII 3DS team had to brace the face that they’d be going through each file
– There couldn’t be a much longer wait for a remake of VII since it has already been almost 10 years since the game’s first release
– Waiting any longer could be too late
– When ArtePiazza and Square Enix met up, they would haul about 40 books of documents, consisting of the scenario texts alone
– Almost a year was needed to copy everything from paper to stored data on PC
– While this was taking place, Square Enix and ArtePiazza thought of new remake ideas
– A lot of planning was involved on how to give it a new presentation while keeping the same Dragon Quest feeling to it
– The team was focusing on how to best utilize the 3DS graphics and its features
– Fujimoto actually sat down and played through the PlayStation version of Dragon Quest VII with Yuji Hori, the creator of the Dragon Quest series
– Hori noticed that the game was difficult with its various problem solving aspects and puzzles
– When they made the original version, the idea was to make a “riddle solving adventure” game
– Hori pointed out the change of era during their recent play
– Fujimoto: “Solving some of the puzzles felt very exhilarating at times. Whenever you got stuck in the game, the frustration would build up.”
– With that in mind, they’ve decided to add features such as the stone shard radars
– Overall tempo improved and smoother gameplay
– From the starting point of Estard Island to the number of puzzles and overall difficulty, they’ve revised many things for the upcoming 3DS version
– First fight will be introduced earlier so players can enjoy their adventure while participating in heated battles from start to end
– Originally took around an hour until the first fight
– Leveling pace increased to match other Dragon Quests
– The addition of the visual encounters was meant for that purpose, allowing players to have the choice to fight whenever they want
– The team wants to make it easier to play rather than easier overall
– Better tempo stems from allowing players to have more decision making instead of forcing them to fight or solve puzzles
– Tough enemies will still be tough
– Useful spells including Evac will be available at earlier levels in the game
– Evac: escape from a dungeon
– Exclusive costumes added that visually correspond to each class
– Prior to that, the characters always looked the same regardless of any class changing
– Dragon Quest has been known for having an in game menu window, rather than screen
– For Dragon Quest VII on 3DS, they’ve made it an even better experience to provide smoother game play
– Camera work improved
– Players have two different angles to play from
– Can adjust this at any time
