Instant Radical

Yep, no FMVs in the 3DS version, cutscenes are all rendered in-game and look so much better than in the original.

It's happening! There's not much on the site yet, but you can see it here: http://www.dragonquest.jp/dqm2/# I loved the first remake, I'll be picking this up as soon as it comes out. Kind of a bummer for the non-Japan residents/Japanese readers that it doesn't seem like Terry 3DS is getting an English translation.

I'd like DS remakes that use the IV-V-VI engine. Really, I'd be happy if they just did III. I'm sure a remake is on its way eventually, since it's one of the most popular games in the series.

Ehh, who cares. I live in Japan and could theoretically get all of these things but I doubt it's worth the effort. The game as-is is already great, I've never bought into this manufactured need to have all these preorder DLC exclusive thingies to enjoy the game. That's probably one reason I never liked IX very much, come to think of it.

Where I live in Japan, gas is about 6.34 per gallon. However, I drive a small, fuel efficient car and fill up every Friday (when the tank is usually about half full) and it only costs about $25-30 to fill up, which is quite reasonable to me. Regardless, I'm looking forward to moving to the city in a month and not needing a car (and related expenses) anymore.

"There's an inconsistency between you point 2 and 3..." Actually, no. I'm only referring to giving the names a foreign language flavor within the confines of katakana-to-romaji wiggle room.

"Direluck?" Yikes.

There are some places that definitely look better than in the original, like the robot cave near Falrod/Falrish. I'm about thirteen hours into the game after playing it a little over a week. I just got to the second town with people turned to stone. This game is going to take me months to beat.

Eh? What's wrong with Fishbell? It's been at least eight years since I've played the original game but the only thing I remember being different is the top of the church (which had a tinymedal around there somewhere.)

I never felt that the puzzles in the shrine were too essential to the game, and I'm really surprised to see lots of people here upset about something that was never loved in the first place (when your game is infamous as "that one with three or four hours before the first battle," that's going to be a big obstacle to handheld players.) But I do think they could have smoothed it out without messing up the original atmosphere.

I've just gotten the shards I need for Engow, here are my impressions so far. I really like the game. It's better than the original in almost every way - it looks great, the battles are fast, the new world map is great, and the music is glorious. The only gripe I have is that I don't like the addition of the little dude in the shrine. Like others, I felt the item collecting before Rexwood (fun fact: "Woodpaluna" in Japanese, yuck) was tedious, but I wish they'd kept the original design of the shard area intact. I liked the lonely atmosphere and the fact that the heroes didn't reall

PS DQVII is pretty ugly, but that graphics engine looks fantastic on the DS's smaller screen, it was the perfect choice for the IV-VI remakes. It also helps that there's more to it (character portraits, item illustrations, animated monsters, etc.)

I got the game yesterday, it took under two hours to get to the first fight (and I was in no particular rush either, and forgot exactly what I was supposed to do at a few points in the beginning.)

Slimming down the intro section was a good call. It's not a "cut to the story," it's a cut to extemporaneous gameplay section that's not necessary in a title that's already one hundred hours long. I've ordered my copy but it hasn't shipped yet. I should have it by next week.

1. I like the spell name changes in the newest versions of DQ. They're thematically consistent and make sense. The old spell names have always felt rather clunky and awkward to me. 2. Most of the character name changes are unnecessary. Some notable exceptions are Kukule (which just sounds weird and out of place) to Angelo, Barbara (which sounds too old-fashioned for a teenage girl) to Ashlynn, Papas (which just sounds funny in English, though I've always thought it was weird they didn't really change Mada's name to Martha or something) to Pankraz, and a few more. Names like Flora, H