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  1. After Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past released on the 3DS in Japan back in 2013, fans waited for an English localization, some going so far as to contact Square Enix and Nintendo to request a localized version. Years passed until finally, in November of 2015, a Nintendo Direct announced the game would reach Western audiences in 2016. Better late than never, as they say. Fragments of the Forgotten Past is an RPG for RPG fans, with all of the classic elements of the Dragon Quest franchise wrapped up in an epic length story and addictive class change system. There are some annoying quirks of the RPG genre found here as well, but this adventure is well worth playing despite some of its tedious moments. The story in Fragments of the Forgotten Past is almost ridiculously large. You play as the average son of a fisherman, prone to getting into small adventures with his best friend, Prince Kiefer. While on one of these typical adventures together they discover that the small, ho-hum island that you live on may not be the only one in the world. There were once numerous islands, entire continents even. When the hero, Prince Keifer, and their occasionally bossy friend Maribel discover an old shrine, they find a way to transport themselves back to the past on different islands, each of which is facing some kind of problem. As is so often the case in RPGs this culminates in a quest to save the entire world. For such a big RPG, just using the touch screen for a map is still a big help. What makes the story so huge is that every single island you visit has its own backstory, its own little vignette for you to explore. The developers do a fine job of making sure each location has its own sense of personality so it's fun to explore all of these small stories. And although the playable characters aren't too involved in the story itself there are plenty of odd and entertaining characters to meet on your quest. But admittedly Fragments of the Forgotten Past can be a bit long-winded. There is a ridiculous amount of dialogue in this game, and sometimes it feels like the game just isn't respecting your time when your goal is to simply talk to everyone in one location, then go to a new place and talk to everyone there. This remake cuts down on some of the excessive length of Dragon Quest VII but the game can still be tediously slow at times. The gameplay itself is classic RPG fare in Fragments of the Forgotten Past. Turn-based battles, monster filled caves, plenty of equipment to buy/find, etc. Unlike more recent RPGs Fragments of the Forgotten Past makes few concessions to inexperienced players, so be prepared for some traditional RPG challenges. The game is never overwhelmingly difficult though. At times you may find yourself a bit lost with little hint as to what to do next, and the advertised "no random encounters" doesn't mean much when monsters can be as wide as a hallway which prevents you from passing without a fight anyway, but for the most part the game has a comfortable sense of challenge. Battles pay homage to the first-person perspective of the series but also has more stylish effects as well. And although a job class system isn't anything new for RPGs, in Fragments of the Forgotten Past it can be pretty addictive to level up jobs and unlock new ones. And there are a ton of abilities that each character in your party can learn. In advanced classes you only retain certain skills while you're in that class, but for basic classes and monster classes you'll keep your abilities which gives you a decent amount of room to experiment with party compositions. The downside is that the game doesn't always give you a good reason to use varied abilities. Many of them have essentially the same effect, so your ability list sometimes feels redundant and inconveniently long. There's also a bit of awkward game balancing concerning certain abilities that cost zero magic power. Some of these abilities are frankly overpowered considering they cost nothing to use and some of them can hit every enemy on screen. This also trivializes a lot of actual magic spells that become, by comparison, too costly. Obviously the solution for the player is to not use abilities that make the game too easy but perhaps the long list of skills in Fragments of the Forgotten Past could have used some pruning and balancing. Fragments of the Forgotten Past also has its share of minor inconveniences that sometimes arise simply because of the size and scope of the game. In order the change classes or even check on your progress in leveling up a class you need to return to the Alltrades Abbey, which can be a slightly irritating interruption when you're in the middle of exploring a new island in the past. And like most RPGs there are a lot of menus to navigate in Fragments of the Forgotten Past but there's just a little bit of lag when moving your cursor through said menus. It's not a ton but it's enough to be noticeable and gives the game a slightly weighed down feel, like you're moving underwater. It's a small complaint but in a game that otherwise has perfectly simple controls, this one little irritant can stand out. When on the overworld map dodging enemies makes sense. In tight hallways, not so much. As with every Dragon Quest game Fragments of the Forgotten Past boasts the distinctive art style of Akira Toriyama. But compared to the PlayStation original, this 3DS version has had a complete visual overhaul with full 3D graphics. The 3DS may not be the most powerful hardware out there but the game looks great: the characters look charming, the monsters have a nice variety of designs, and even the scenery has a bit of personality. In a game this large there's going to be some repetition but otherwise the graphics look great. The soundtrack is in much the same boat. The key songs that you hear often may begin to lose their luster around the fifty hour mark, but the game does have some infectiously catchy tunes. Fragments of the Forgotten Past is meant for gamers ready to commit a serious chunk of time to the game. Even by RPG standards this is a long game, lasting at minimum around eighty hours, and that's with almost no time spent on the game's extras. If you want to try mastering every class available, take on the bonus dungeons in the post-game, or even just spend some time in the casino, you'll need an even bigger time commitment to Fragments of the Forgotten Past. The game also supports Streetpass which allows you to share traveler's tablets, used to access short extra dungeons ideal for grinding levels, classes, or for befriending monsters–yet another side venture which allows you to find still more traveler's tablets. Frankly the game can be overwhelming when you try to do everything it offers, but even while playing the bare minimum you can be sure you'll get your money's worth here. Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past is a beast of an RPG, the kind that you can sink weeks and weeks of time into and still find more to do. It has its share of problems too in regards to pacing and just generally the speed at which you can navigate through menus, but the sheer size of the game helps soften some of those edges. The lengthy dialogue, classic turn-based battle system, and wealth of character class combos makes for a siren song to any RPG fans who, like me, grew up obsessing over RPGs in order to find every little challenge possible. Fragments of the Forgotten Past does a perfect job of capturing that good old fashioned sense of RPG adventure. Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
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