You dream of becoming a fisherman like your father, but when the mischievous Prince Kiefer and the feisty Maribel and you discover the world had much more than a single island. Uncover the puzzle peices to travle back in time to discover lost continents.

Once in the past you must solve the mysteries of the past to make the continents exist in your present. Complete the task and the world will be complete. Fail, and the lost islands will be doomed for extinction. What is the power that ereased so much of the world in the frist place? And what are these hints of a past war between good, and evil. Your quest starts on Estard Island.

You start out in the small town of Fishbel, where the young and unnamed son of a fisherman has decided to go exploring with two friends, Maribel and Kiefer. Maribel is the hero's curious and single-minded love interest, while Kiefer is the adventurous prince of Estard Island, the lone landmass on the planet. Upon collecting three pieces of a much larger map in the ruins they're exploring, the three adventurers are magically transported back in time and find themselves on a mysterious island. From there, the real journey begins as they travel through time and piece together the events of the past, all of which point to an epic battle between the forces of good and evil. Our heroes will receive help along the way from several other characters, including Borkano, the hero's father; Melvin, an elderly war hero; Aira, a traveling female warrior; and Gabo, a boy raised by wolves.

While the traditional battle style is still in tact, Enix has made various small improvements and additions to liven up the feel of fighting. The basics of the battle system retain the traditional Dragon Quest format: unseen party members facing a row of enemies head-on. Characters all share the basic battle commands like attack and magic, in which players can choose from attack, healing, and status changing spells. To liven things up a little, each character now has their own special attack, such as Gabo's ability to call on a wolf to aid your team. Also, the hero can now talk to other party members, allowing you to hear how they're feeling, or maybe even their prospective battle plan. Additionally, the battles run at a much faster pace, allowing for more enjoyable fighting than in previous Dragon Quest titles where battles often seemed dragged out. The battle graphics themselves may not be anything to write home about, but the animation is said to be superb. The enemies have also gained the ability to arrange themselves in formations (with stronger fighters in front and magic-users in back). However, even despite these few changes, the age-old Dragon Quest battle feel will remain in place, with solid, traditional turn-based gameplay at the helm.

Another centerpiece of the series, its job system, also returns. Ten base jobs are available: Fighter, Mage, Priest, Monk, Sailor, Thief, Bard, Dancer, Shepherd, and Jester. Each job has eight levels before you master it and as your level increases you'll gain new techniques for that job. Additional jobs become available once you've obtained a high enough level in certain base classes -- for example, mastering the Martial Artist and Priest jobs opens up the Paladin. Those who master enough advanced jobs will have the chance to obtain several very powerful jobs, though they will take the most time to master. Jobs are assigned by visiting the famous Shrine of Dharma (also seen in DQ III and VI); as usual, gaining experience with a job nets you new abilities and spells. All these abilities are retained even when you change jobs, so accumulating skills from various jobs is an indisputable boost to your characters.

Past Dragon Quest games -- V and VI, specifically -- also gave the party the chance to recruit monsters into its ranks. Monsters can't be sweet-talked into joining you this time; instead, you have to take a significantly more violent route: Kill the monster and claim its spirit, which can occasionally be found trapped in a crystal on the ground at the end of a battle. Once players have obtained a monster crystal, they can choose to master the monster type by equipping the crystal. As with the Job system, gained experience helps boost the level of your training. Once a particular monster job has been mastered, your character will gain the appearance of the monster along with full command over the monster's special attacks and spells, as well as special elemental strengths or weaknesses. Like the Job system, there are various advanced levels in the monster system, though it is possible to progress to a higher-level creature by obtaining its spirit rather than just mastering the lower level monsters to advance.

While monsters can't be charmed into fighting alongside you, they can be sent off to a Monster Park, which functions on the same basic premise as establishing the town. Charmed monsters can be sent to the park where a man will begin construction of environments for them to live in based on what type of monster they are. Once the park has started to grow in size, players will gain access to Monster Houses that can be used to store extra monsters they catch.

Perhaps the most interesting sidequest in the game is the one in which you help a man establish a town. As you travel around the world, you'll randomly encounter immigrants that would like to move to the town. Your choices of whom you allow to immigrate to the village will shape the town's development. For example, if you send a lot of merchants to the town, it will fill up with a variety of stores. On the other hand, filling your town with lots of priests and nuns will establish a religious town with lots of churches. As your town grows, you will gain the option to kick people out or swapping them for other townsfolk from previous saves. Other side quests to partake in include the gathering of over 100 medals as you go through your quest which can be exchanged for rare items, competing against computer controlled characters for the best vital stats, and visiting the casino, which features a wide variety of games including poker and slots.