First look: Dragon Warrior VII

Enix announced today that Dragon Warrior VII, the US version of Dragon Quest VII, will be released in the US later this year. A public unveiling will take place at E3 next month. Dragon Quest VII was released in Japan last August and sold 2 million copies in its first three days of availability. It has sold 4 million copies since its release, making it the best-selling PlayStation game of all time in Japan.

Dragon Warrior VII chronicles the exploits of a prince named Kiefer who ventures into some forbidden ruins with two of his friends. The trio must find a group of artifacts to open an ancient entrance, use ancient shards to form a map, and eventually save their continent from doom. The game will feature time-traveling puzzles, improved graphics, 17,000 pages of text, prerendered backgrounds, hundreds of animated monsters, a monster collecting and training system, and a city-building interface.

"Thousands of North American fans have been asking each day if and when Enix will release this epic RPG," Paul Handelman, president of Enix America, said. "These dedicated fans have petitioned us and created elaborate fan Web sites and an extensive Dragon Warrior community. We are now thrilled to tell the Dragon Warrior community that Dragon Warrior VII is riding across the Pacific in an RPG tsunami created by over 4 million Japanese fans."