There isn’t any restrict to the cuteness that may be distilled from Dragon Quest. It’s there at each flip, with the glad slimes and the intelligent puns at each nook. It’s the right playground for a kid-friendly, low-stakes affair, and as you’re most likely conscious, that’s exactly what Dragon Quest Treasures has been pitched to be.
Developer Tose, the prolific studio behind the Dragon Quest Monsters sequence and — because it occurs — Disaster Core: Closing Fantasy 7 Reunion, is the right decide to ship a easy story about siblings Erik and Mia. All the higher, then, that the majority of the sport’s occasions happen inside one other dimension; there’s no danger of stepping throughout established worldbuilding within the comparatively extra critical (albeit nonetheless whimsical) world of Dragon Quest XI.
This newfound dimension in query is named Draconia, and it’ll, for those who’ll permit its goofiness to get the higher of you, allure the heck out of you at each flip. It’s full of references to previous Dragon Quest video games, from good little nods for the in-the-know to straight-up character cameos. The result’s a veritable feast for any longtime fan, even when some followers will discover Treasures‘ gameplay extra of a middling buffet than something actually filling.
I say this lovingly. You see, I don’t thoughts that Dragon Quest Treasures’ fight system will not be nice. Heck, it’s not even good. I don’t thoughts as a result of I’ve discovered myself way more engaged with its surprisingly sizable explorable areas, coupled with the joys of cool loot round each nook, and the enjoyment of seeing the realm of Draconia slowly return to grace. However, as a reviewer, I can’t merely brush apart the sport’s greatest weak spot: battles are a bore.
Whether or not you’re controlling Erik or Mia, you’ll end up smashing away on the assault button semi-mindlessly for an unlimited portion of Dragon Quest Treasures‘ slim runtime. (For reference, I completed my playthrough in 25 hours, and I really feel like I received loads of mileage out of its non-obligatory choices together with the principle storyline.) The children have slingshots, they usually’ll be taking pictures pellets in any respect method of nasty interlopers till they’re lifeless and dusted. There’s extra to it, thoughts you; therapeutic your useful monsters, a handful of particular skills, and the like.
A good friend of mine, an enormous fan of Dragon Quest Monsters, headed into Treasures hoping for a equally complicated system of coaching fiends and unlocking their full combating potential. He got here away from it pretty bummed; that’s not what Treasures is about. Exploration is front-and-center, and your monster friends are extra continuously involved with serving to you traverse the panorama and sniffing out specific favourite sorts of treasure than doing a lot of notice in battle. That’s to not say they aren’t essential elements of fight, as a result of they completely are — it’s simply that they’re going to do no matter it’s they wish to do when bludgeoning your foes, and there’s not loads you are able to do to tell them in any other case. Fortunately, they’re fairly good on the aforementioned bludgeoning.
However hey, about that exploration.
Dragon Quest Treasures is much less about touting deep RPG mechanics, then, however quite it makes use of its role-playing overlay as a jumping-off level for its kid-friendly plot about restoring hope to the downtrodden, and banding along with a ragtag found-family gang to resume Draconian denizens with a way of happiness and objective.
Now, for those who’re allergic to JRPGs that harp on about hope, I’ve some weirdly excellent news: the script’s subdued to the purpose that frequent tropes like nonstop chatter over hope, desires, and honor are largely tossed by the wayside. Thank goodness. Alternatively, the tossing-out might need extra to do with the brevity and customarily shallow nature of character interactions, quite than any willful resolution on the writers’ half to sidestep the overly acquainted.
And admittedly, that’s OK. Some video games don’t must be a mile deep in each route to be a enjoyable, if merely passing, good time. I doubt I’ll contact Dragon Quest Treasures once more for years, but it surely’ll be there ready for me after I really feel the urge to ingest one other few ounces of its specific model of cuteness. It won’t attain the heights of the mainline sequence, and for those who’re searching for one other Monsters, I’ve received dangerous information for you. However if you wish to relax, chill out, and revel in some classic tunes in a enjoyable world that celebrates essentially the most time-honored JRPG franchise there may be, you possibly can do far worse.
Plan an abroad journey to the all-ages fantasy realm of Draconia in Dragon Quest Treasures. It’ll be enjoyable. Simply don’t e-book your flight for than a couple of days — it’s a enjoyable vacation spot, however there’s solely a lot to see.
Disclaimer: Evaluation code for Dragon Quest Treasures was offered by the writer Sq. Enix.