Dragon Warrior

We've all lost people we love. I'm not referring to the spectacular cataclysms of Hollywood fare, but to the more typical losses caused by errors of the heart—mistakes that we were too vain to foresee and too proud to atone. If you could revisit that moment of your past, try to win back that person's trust, would you go?

Videogames have come under heavy criticism in recent years for conventions they refuse to retire, conventions that, the argument goes, are rendered absurd by the graphical realism and sophisticated 3D environments that have become commonplace. The RPG genre in particular has been the target of much of this criticism, but the reason is fairly complicated.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Mild Language, Mild Violence, Suggestive Themes

Game Description:  An fantasy adventure game of epic proportions, Dragon Warrior VII follows the adventures of the hero, his mischievous friend Prince Kiefer, and the feisty Maribel. The trio learns that the peace and tranquility of their island home is soon to be disrupted. Solving time-traveling puzzles transports them back in time, where they discover lost continents. Once in the past, they must solve the mysteries of the continents in order to save the future. If they accomplish this task, the world will be complete; if they fail, the lost lands and their inhabitants will be forever doomed.

R-P-G. In the world of video games, not only do these three letters stand for role-playing game, but its mere mention also evokes more loyalty, passion and debate than perhaps any other genre. Though I write that last sentence as if it were common knowledge, I ponder what made RPGs so endearing to me and millions of gamers around the world to begin with.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Mild Animated Violence

Game Description: Back in 1989, Dragon Warrior was one of the first titles to introduce the concept of role-playing games to the world of video game consoles, which was then almost exclusively populated by arcade spin-offs and action games. Now, more than 10 years after its initial release,Dragon Warrior and its first sequel have been spiffed up with enhanced graphics and are now united together on one cartridge for the Game Boy Color.

The release of Dragon Warrior I & II serves many purposes aside from making more money for Enix. Obviously, it is a wonderful trip down memory lane for older gamers, but it also serves as a history lesson of sorts for newbies and a stark reminder that things haven't really changed that much in the last couple of decades. As a newcomer to the game, I was surprised at how non-linear the game really is.