For many years I wondered why there weren’t more Minecraft.

Not the series specifically, but other series that incorporated the game’s style and aesthetic, converting it into something new. The industry does this all the time, but it seemed as if nobody could find a way to make the Minecraft style work in a way that is new. Well nobody could until Dragon Quest Builders.

For those who aren’t aware, Dragon Quest is a long running JRPG series that has seen many console generations, and many fans, but don’t let that discourage you. Even though I only played my first Dragon Quest game recently, about the only thing the game appeared to share is some world elements such as monsters and character design.

The game has you play as a protagonist who wakes up without any memory. Pointed to a town, you discover ruins, and nobody knows, or can even comprehend, building anymore. Though this plot element gets loose at times, the general gist is you enter the ruins of a town and show people how to build. You keep rebuilding the town and recruiting until the town gets a high enough level to advance the plot.

The minute to minute gameplay is identical to Minecraft, though in third person view.

You can hack out dirt, and stack it, build tools to get better minerals from rocks, make better tools and furniture. It differs though with nuances such as blueprints to help build specific structures, and the leveling system.

The building area levels up as you build new things, such as empty rooms or bedrooms. These can be done on the fly, for example you may build an empty room, then put the right objects in, and it becomes a basic bedroom. As this is done it will level your town up, via new rooms, more advanced rooms and structures, and placing fancy objects around the place.

As you level up the story continues, where eventually you move to a new chapter, where you basically start again but in a different location with different objects. To fill in time you will be able to do side quests which will reward you with things such as new recipes or new members of your town. These are entertaining until combat is involved.

Combat in the game is terrible. Running around and slashing, while trying to avoid enemies is boring. Fortunately, if you build enough defenses a lot of the attacking challenges will be done for you. Completing side quests, or even exploring means you need to get stuck into the bad hacking and slashing.

Another issue the game has is with its camera angles. Because it is in the third person, when you move into rooms, the camera can sit uncomfortably outside meaning you can’t see your character. You can then change the zoom, but then the camera can wind up stuck in wall. Generally, this isn’t too much of an issue, however small rooms with roofs can be painful.

A mechanic I would have been happy to see the creators not pull from Minecraft would have been the hunger mechanic. Where your hungriness is represented with pictures of bread beside your health. If it drops to zero, you start losing health. It’s an unnecessary thing to worry about during the game, but it’s not a big deal as cooking food is easy enough.

The most interesting thing the game does though is mix the Minecraft blocky aesthetic for the world, with the Dragon Quest / normal objects looking as you would expect in any other game.

Minecraft kept it all blocky, so to see blocky mixed with normal proportions is different, but awesome.

The post Dragon Quest Builders (Switch) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Omega Force has once again brought their signature 1 v 1000 style gameplay to the Dragon Quest universe with Dragon Quest Heroes 2. The sequel proves to be more than just a rehash of the previous entry, with Omega Force experimenting with a more open-world style of gameplayalong with some other tweaks.

The story follows the adventures of two new heroes, Lazarel and Teresa, as their try to restore peace throughout the land.The story is light-hearted and doesn’t take itself seriously. To enjoy it, you really have to disengage your mind and just go along with this roller-coaster ride aimed more at children.

I remember taking a liking to the rather simple one-dimensional characters in the first game. Each character generally had one personality trait which defined everything they did and made them feel distinct from one another.In Dragon Quest 2, I just couldn’t develop the same liking to the characters as I had in the first entry. Their personalities don’t feel as well refined nor do they play out as well on-screen.

The biggest change from the previous entry is the semi-open-world gameplay introduced, which is a considerable departure from the signature Omega Force style. To be frank, the open-world aspects leave much to be desired and doesn’t significantly add to the gameplay.

In this system, the world is made up of several areas which you can freely roam between. The areas are used to connect different cities together. The areas between the cities are laughably small, which results in major cities seemingly located just a few hundred metres apart. This can be brushed off as being a part of the tone of the game, which doesn’t take itself too seriously, however it does make the world feel very small.

Despite going into this new direction, old habits die hard. Progression in the game takes place primarily through battles, not organically in the open-world area you are in. You move through the open-world to get to the next set of battles. Once you reach your destination, you are taken out of the open-world area you were in and into a separate area where the battle and story plays out as per the previous Dragon Quest Heroes game.

Because of this, the open-world areas feel pointless. It doesn’t add a sense of adventure, fun exploration aspects or anything that a good open-world should. It feels like it is there just for the sake of being there. The best thing I can say about it is that it mixes things up a bit. One of my criticisms of the first game was that it got too repetitive too quickly. It does in some ways alleviate this problem a bit however it could have been so much more.

The gameplay outside of this though is superb. Omega Force brings their signature hack-and-slash combat system that feels better than ever. Gone are the days of button mashing as you can hold-down a single button to pull off combos. The system is overall smooth and fun.

The unique move set of individual characters as well as enemies mixes up the gameplay, preventing it from getting stale over time. Ruff, one of my favourite characters, attacks using a combination of his claws, quick movement and his ability to summon his wolf pals to give him a move set unlike any other that works great against large groups of enemies. Each character has their own unique flavour such as this which makes their move set and their speciality different.

One of the unique aspects of Dragon Quest Heroes is the ability to summon monsters. When you kill an enemy, there will be a small chance they will drop a monster coin, which you can use to summon the monster as you please in battle. Monster coins have different effects based on the monster. These include transforming you into that monster briefly, calling that monster to do one powerful attack or summoning the monster to fight alongside you. These monster coins add an extra layer of strategy and a bit more variety to combat.

The battles themselves are fun and varied. A criticism I had of the first game was that levels felt too repetitive. Through a combination of more variety inside the battles, changes in scenery and battles being broken up by open-world segments, I didn’t feel the same fatigue as I did in the first game.

You also can continue straight to the next battle in a set, rather than being thrown back out into the world. Although minor, this was another gripe I had with the previous entry.

Dragon Quest Heroes 2 utilises a cartoonish visual style which looks gorgeous. The overall visual style is complemented by the great character and monster design that the series is known for. The exceptional music from Dragon Quest also makes an expected reappearance.

Dragon Quest Heroes 2 takes the gorgeous visuals, great characters and monsters and fun overall tone from the Dragon Quest universe and pairs it with the superb hack-and-slash combat that Omega Force is known for. In most ways, Dragon Quest Heroes 2 builds and improves upon its predecessor. The open-world part of the game could use some improvement however it doesn’t stop Dragon Quest Heroes 2 from being a great family-friendly hack-and-slash game, if such a thing can exist.

The post Dragon Quest Heroes 2 (PlayStation 4) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Celebrate the beginning of a new year with a great adventure in Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King now released for Nintendo 3DS!

In this handheld retelling of the Dragon Quest title that introduced the series to Australia and New Zealand, adventurers can see away the summer with a grander and greater tale filled with new story content, side-quests, and the ability to recruit two new characters, all playable wherever heroes venture.

When the evil Jester Dhoulmagus comes to Castle Trodain and steals King Trode’s sceptre, he carves a trail of chaos in his wake, beginning by turning his majesty into a troll, Princess Medea into a horse, and the residents of the castle into plants. Only one castle guard escapes the curse, and escorts the King and his daughter on an adventure to retrieve the sceptre, put an end to Dhoulmagus’ diabolical plans, and restore the kingdom of Trodain.

Whether players are revisiting the rich story of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King or diving into the adventure for the first time, they can enjoy brand new content that provides more back-story about the dastardly Dhoulmagus and The Hero who aims to stop him. All cut-scenes vital to the plot are also accompanied by full voice-acting, including the new story content and a new alternative ending.

As well as new adventure content, two new characters can be recruited in the form of Red, a former rival of The Hero’s sidekick Yangus, and Morrie, the owner of the Monster Arena. By capturing specific monsters throughout their adventure, players can create their own bands of monsters to send into battle inside the Monster Arena. More powerful monsters means stronger teams and more cunning strategies to be devised in the quest to best all seven ranks, including the new X Rank.

There are even more enhancements to the classic adventure for players to enjoy, with the new Quick Save function allowing for the action to be paused and saved any time outside of battle and cut-scenes, while the Speed Up feature allows warriors in a hurry to battle monsters with greater haste.

Adventurers can even share mementos of their journey with friends, and at the press of a button can begin setting up and taking their ideal photos, complete with special poses, stickers, filters, and frames to add a personal touch to their memory. All of these images can be saved to the SD card and shared via StreetPass to other Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King owners, who can give these images an approving thumbs-up.

The more thumbs-up a player earns for their images, the higher the chance that they’ll earn new items to aid them in their quest to defeat Dhoulmagus.

Get Questing now 3DS gamers!

Everyone that works on StG is a volunteer. Keep StG Independent and (mostly) Advertising Free with a Donation

The post BEGIN THE YEAR BY SAVING THE WORLD IN DRAGON QUEST VIII: JOURNEY OF THE CURSED KING! appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

With the New Year comes new quests and great adventures, and 2017 will be no different when DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King comes to Nintendo 3DS / 2DS on January 21st 2017. This handheld retelling of the classic RPG that introduced the DRAGON QUEST series to Australia and New Zealand will be back and bigger than ever, with two new playable characters, more side-quests, and the ability to battle monsters on the go when it lands in the New Year.

The story begins when a jester, Dhoulmagus, comes to Castle Trodain and steals the King’s sceptre. He then uses its power to turn his majesty into a troll, the Princess into a horse, and the castle inhabitants into plants. The only one left unscathed from this attack is a castle guard who escaped the curse and must now step up to save the kingdom he’s sworn to protect. Only by travelling the lands, recruiting allies, and following the trail of destruction that Dhoulmagus leaves in his wake will The Hero be able to retrieve the sceptre in order to restore Trodain back to its former glory.

As players dive into the rich story of DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, whether they’re visiting for the first time or coming back to relive the adventure all over again, they can enjoy full voice-acting in all plot-important cut-scenes, and new story content that will provide more back-story about The Hero and the villainous Dhoulmagus. Further additions include additional quests to complete and dungeons to explore, and even a new alternative ending.

Returning heroes may also find that elements of DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King have been streamlined for this handheld outing. Adventurers in a hurry no longer need to rush to a Church to save thanks to the new Quick-Save function, allowing them to save and exit the game at any time. And for warriors in a hurry, battling foes is also much faster with the introduction of the “Speed Up” feature, allowing heroes to cut their way through each encounter with much greater haste.

Those who wish to capture mementos of their quest to restore peace to the land will now find it’s easier than ever before, as at any time outside of battles and cut-scenes players can pause the action and take a photo of their adventure thus far. These photos can be customised in a variety of different ways, including allowing The Hero and his companions to perform special poses, adding stickers, filters, or putting a frame around the image to add a personal touch to their memory. Once the player meets Cameron Obscura in Port Prospect they’ll also be able to unlock Cameron’s Codex, where they’ll be rewarded for taking pictures of certain subjects, monsters, and situations.

All of these images can be saved to the SD card and shared to other DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King owners via StreetPass. Once these photos have been shared other players can give them a thumbs-up, and the more of these the image earns, the higher the chance of receiving a new item.

The post THE NEW YEAR WILL BRING A NEW WORLD TO SAVE WITH DRAGON QUEST VIII: JOURNEY OF THE CURSED KING appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

In celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the beloved Dragon Quest series, Square Enix today announced that the latest entry in the series, Dragon Quest Builders, will release across Australia & New Zealand in October 2016. In this all-new building adventure, players will use their creativity to build a variety of unique tools from the materials they gather, and rebuild towns and cities to restore life to the shattered world of Alefgard– a human realm destroyed and plunged into darkness by the menacing ruler of the monsters, the Dragonlord.

Generations ago, the realm of Alefgard was plunged into darkness when the hero fated to slay the terrible and treacherous Dragonlord, the ruler of all monsters, was instead tricked into joining him. Through this vile villain’s magical machinations, mankind was scattered to the winds and robbed of the power to build. With even the idea of creativity relegated to mere legend, the people of Alefgard wander the ruins of their former home, scrounging and scavenging in the dust to survive.

But now, a legendary figure arises – a hero chosen by the Goddess herself – who sets out to return the power of creation to the people of Alefgard. Only when the wonder of imagination has been returned to the land will mankind be able to overthrow the evil Dragonlord once and for all!

In Dragon Quest Builders, players are tasked to construct a wide variety of structures as they receive ever-more extravagant requests from expectant citizens eager to find a new home. Explore with the freedom of sandbox gameplay, combined with an immersive and charming Dragon Quest story – battling with iconic Dragon Quest monsters and interacting with gorgeously designed 3D characters along the way.

With an intuitive control system, Dragon Quest Builders will have you building the towers and castles of your dreams in no time!

Dragon Quest Builders will release on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita (digital only).

The post CONSTRUCTION IS ABOUT TO BEGIN appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The title will arrive in the form of a full-scale action RPG for the first time in the Dragon Quest series.

In Dragon Quest Heroes, players must rise up against insurmountable odds – challenging swarms of enemies and conquering gigantic monsters.

Dragon Quest Heroes is brought to the PlayStation 4 in wondrous HD graphics, filled with characters and monsters designed by world renowned artist Akira Toriyama.

Both Yuji Horii, director and creator of Dragon Quest and Koichi Sugiyama, the composer closely tied to the series since its first instalment and creator of countless musical masterpieces instilled in the memory of series fans, are closely involved in bringing this title to life.

Furthermore, ω-Force (Omega Force) from KOEI TECMO GAMES, the team that has created numerous popular action game series, is also taking part in its development.

Dragon Quest Heroes is a title not only for Dragon Quest series fans, but also for gamers of all interests to enjoy.

The post Dragon Quest is Headed Down Under – News appeared first on Shane the Gamer.