Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past came out for the PS1 back in 2000 for Japan and in 2001 for US. Square Enix decided to remake it into the 3DS format for Japan in 2013 and now finally, the US is getting a localized version as well in the 3DS format which is scheduled to be released September 16, 2016. During PAX West 2016, I got to play Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past at the Nintendo booth on the 3DS.

The demo starts five hours into the game where you find the hero and his party going in search for the culprit that has turned the villagers into animals. Once you are in the dungeon, you fight enemies along the way till you encounter the boss. Once you beat him you save the villagers and the boss returns them to their normal forms and so ends the demo. The remake has taken some changes before on PS1 the game was puzzle driven to the point that many players found it hard to complete but now in the remake, this has changed so less puzzles so the player can focus more on the story. As well as the rebalancing of the vocations to make it more player friendly. With these changes, it seems like the game can be passed down from veterans fans to newer generations of gamers to make them fans of RPG games. So story will be the same with a few extra scenes here and there but overall the only other change from PS1 into the 3DS aside from the game being more story driven than puzzle solving is just the 3D characters and environments. Also one of the volunteers talked about "the story so far" which is a feature that will let you know where you left off before. This a feature that goes very well with 3DS since the console is a used by most when traveling it will come in handy. I personally did not see this feature at work but it is a helpful feature.

Overall the feel for the game is the same as before the same turn-based combat and similar monsters we all have come to associate with this franchise. This game is perfect for new younger fans but some older fans might get a bit upset that the puzzle element that made this game known for being challenging has been reduced. The gameplay is player friendly as well as simple and forgiving. New fans will be able to get right into it without knowing any of the past games. Since the game has been rebalanced it seems this is aimed toward more casual gamers than the old-school RPG gamers from before. People who pick this up will be for the fact that is now on a portable console and can be played during small breaks or downtime or they couldn't beat the original back on the PS1. This game is scheduled for US release September 16, 2016.