‘Dragon Quest 7’ Release Date: Nintendo E3 Treehouse Shows Off ‘DQVII’ 3DS Remake, Hints At ‘Dragon Quest 11’ Western Release
Nintendo has used the second day of its E3 Treehouse live stream to showcase other games heading to the company’s platforms this year. One of the most prominent of those games is Dragon Quest VII for Nintendo 3DS. During the live stream, Nintendo confirmed the western release date for the seventh Dragon Quest game, whilst also showing off some fresh English footage and hinting at a possible release of Dragon Quest 11 in the west.
According to Siliconera, Square Enix made the decision to bring a remake of Dragon Quest VII to the west because of a good deal of demand from fans. The company found itself inundated with requests from fans across the globe, all eager to play the first Dragon Quest game released on the Nintendo 3DS. Those very fans will be pleased to hear that Dragon Quest VII has been given a North American release date of September 16.
Dragon Quest 7 is finally coming to Europe this September. https://t.co/hj9Bo7xKya pic.twitter.com/QPTinZ8beq
— Eurogamer (@eurogamer) June 15, 2016
Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past, as it’s officially known, was originally released on the Sony PlayStation back in 2001 during the heyday of the Dragon Quest series. It was the first title in the series to make the leap from Nintendo’s line of home console systems to Sony’s more powerful alternative.
Since then, Square Enix has slowly started bringing the Dragon Quest series back towards Nintendo platforms, announcing a remake of Dragon Quest VII for the Nintendo 3DS. The game was released in Japan in 2013, adopting various updated gameplay aspects of the DS release Dragon Quest IX, including random encounters and unique backgrounds. According to Gematsu, the 3DS remake of Dragon Quest VII was officially announced to be receiving a western release during a Nintendo Direct broadcast in November 2015. However, until now, Square Enix has remained largely hush around specific details of the game, including its release date.
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As well as providing a western release date for Dragon Quest VII, Nintendo also provided a good deal of footage throughout the course of their Treehouse live stream. It goes without saying that one of the key improvements between the original release for the PlayStation and this comes in the form of visuals.
Despite visual enhancements, the Dragon Quest series has always been one Square Enix is keen to preserve, with that in mind, fans will be pleased to hear that the game’s traditional battle system remains intact. Dragon Quest is also well known for its sprawling menu screens and complicated mechanics. With that in mind, Square Enix has included a fair amount of guidance for new players with this remake in a bid to make Dragon Quest VII more accessible to a wider audience than any game in the series has been before.
In fact, Dragon Quest VII is one of the most expansive releases in the JRPG series, which has made the process of localization a lengthy and difficult one for Square Enix.
Square Enix testing the waters for Dragon Quest 11 localization. https://t.co/DDPtk2P2QU pic.twitter.com/a8NfphKVQE
— GameSpot (@GameSpot) June 16, 2016
Dragon Quest VII is one of three titles in the Dragon Quest series heading to the west this year, also including a remake of Dragon Quest VIII for 3DS and the spin-off Dragon Quest Builders for PlayStation 4. Square Enix have said that they’ll be watching the progress of these releases carefully to determine whether or not it’s worth the company’s time to bring the completely new release of Dragon Quest XI to the west. With that in mind, the future of the Dragon Quest series truly hinges on the success of these titles.
Dragon Quest VII for Nintendo 3DS launches in North America and Europe on September 16.
[Image via Square Enix]
