I picked it up Friday on a little bit of a whim (though I've played DQ games before in the past and enjoyed them), and I've put in about 5.5 hours since then.

It starts a bit slow, but picks up quite a bit after the first 1.5 hours. The game looks ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, especially the battles. The monster designs and animations are just superb and the 3D adds a great depth to the backdrops. The battle theme is amazing too, and the battles themselves move at a really snappy pace. I think it's the best looking game on the system to be honest. I'm playing on a N3DS if that makes any difference. It's dumb the camera is mapped to L and R instead of the nub, but that's not a big deal.

Overall, I'm really, really impressed so far and I haven't got into any of the deeper mechanics yet. Anyone else enjoying this? I hope GB do a quick look or something because it seems like a fantastic remake so far and deserves some coverage.

I like the concept of playing though a Dragons Quest game, especially on the 3DS. But I bought 8 and tried playing that several years ago and just couldn't penetrate the start of it.

I've been excited to play it ever since the Japanese version of the remake was announced, it's great to hear such positive things about it. I will probably pick it up within the next few weeks after I finish the stuff I am playing now.

I doubt we'll see a QL of it. A game like Dragon Quest gets dumped into the "jrpg/anime game that takes too long to play" pile and I don't think any of them care about Dragon Quest beyond an appreciation of how big it is in Japan.

I can't wait to play it but I'm in the middle of Trails of Cold Steel at the moment, and with SMT4:A coming out soon I lament that there aren't more hours in the day. Glad to hear that it looks and plays great, though. The screenshots that I've glanced at look pretty sharp.

I've only had time to play a few hours so far. My one big takeaway is Maribel sucks.

I just picked up my copy, so excited and thankful to have this come over to the United States.

Probably going to wait till I finish Project X-Zone which I'm roughly a 1/3 of the way through

I was never a fan of the game on PSX, but I own every other Dragon Quest remake so I feel obligated to buy this one.

Got my copy on Friday but I'm still working my way to my first battle. Liking it so far though, the setting is really interesting and the opening hours are playing out almost like an adventure game without puzzles.

@theblue: I feel like Jeff has talked about being a fan of Dragon Quest games, and I recall Brad wanting to get into that DQ Builders game.

I'm just waiting for Vinny to pick up SMTIV:Apocalypse so he can say he'll never finish it.

@spikexmrspatula: I just googled Maribel, not a good idea.

I don't know something about the character models turns me off on this. I usual like the look of DQ games but don't like the character designs in this one. Still picked it up out of obligation but it will be awhile before I dive into it.

I picked it up two days ago. I'm really enjoying it so far but I'm very early on, only about 2 hours in.

I've only ever played DQXI and I loved that on the DS. So I'm hoping for good things with VII.

Been playing since Friday night and so far I like pretty much everything about the game. No random encounters is a plus!