V has come to...the top sales bracket

The Game Awards may be coming up soon, but another awards show made minor waves just a few hours ago: Sony's PlayStation Awards, the yearly event hosted by Sony Comput??er Entertainment Japan and Asia to give a pat on the back (and a cute trophy) to the highest-selling PlayStation titles released in the last 12 months. So yeah, it's not a big deal (not any more than high sales are a big deal), but hey, recognition is recognition.

The biggest winners of the night were Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Minecraft PlayStation 4 Edition and Dragon Quest Heroes, which won the Platinum Prize awarded to games that shipped over a million units. The other "V" title to do well was Grand Theft Auto V, which netted the Gold Prize (for games that shipped over 500,000 units), but also placed in the fan-determined User's Choice categories for both Asia and Japan, as well as the "Asia Special Award" given to games that contributed significantly to PlayStation's business in Asia. Not sure exactly what the criteria for the last one are, but The Witcher 3 and Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD also merited the prize.

Other winners included Bloodborne, Yakuza 0, God Eater 2: Rage Burst, Final Fantasy XIV, and Phantasy Star Online 2, the latter two standing alongside Minecraft as the best-selling downloadable t??itles of the year.

So, yes, some games sold alright in Japan and Asia. Yay! Check out the fu??ll awards listing below.

Platinum Prize

Metal Gear Solid V

Dragon Quest Heroes

Minecraft

Gold Prize

Grand Theft Auto V

God Eater 2: Rage Burst

Yakuza 0

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3

Bloodborne

PlayStation Network Award

Final Fantasy XIV

Phantasy Star Online 2

Minecraft

User's Choice Prize Japan

Bloodborne

Grand Theft Auto V

The Witcher 3

Metal Gear Solid V

Dragon Quest Heroes

User's Choice Prize Asia

Bloodborne

Grand Theft Auto V

The Witcher 3

Metal Gear Solid V

Yakuza 0

Asia Special Award

Grand Theft Auto V

Final Fantasy X / X-2 HD Remaster

The Witcher 3

The post Metal Gear Solid V, GTA V win big at the Pl?ayStation Awar?ds 2015 appeared first on Destructoid.

Includes DLC from PS4 edition

Dragon Quest Heroes will be coming to?? Steam on December 3, S?quare Enix revealed today.

For $60, the PC version will come packaged with 11 ??bonus items and a pair of additional maps that were originally included with the "Slime Collector's Edition" on PlayStation 4.

You can find more information about the action RPG in our full review here.

Dragon Quest Heroes: Slime Edition [Steam]

The post Dragon Quest Heroes coming to PC December 3 appeared first on Destructoid.

And tips for those final bosses

Dragon Quest Heroes made my weekend disappear.

I had already invested enough time in finishing all of the side quests that I figured I might as well strive for full completion, but a few optional bosses stood in the way. They are absurdly difficult unless you're at a high level (my whole group was in the mid-80s or above) and have the right mix of equipment. Ev?en then, it's a struggle. You're going to need grind.

Thankfully, there are ??ways to q??uickly earn XP and the pain-in-the-ass rare currency, mini medals.

For leveling, you will ??want the Magnetic Necklace (earned by finishing Maya's quests, the first of which is called The First Dance) to attract metal sli?mes. They're hard to hit and quick to run away, but offer loads of XP. The map "Arba Town - Hero" is your best bet for finding them.

Head to that level and zoom around to the different nodes. Doing so will cause a group of enemies to spawn and a metal sl?ime may be among them -- if not, zoom to the next location. Once ?you've done that everywhere, select "Evac" from the start menu and try again.

If you're struggling to kill metal slimes before they flee, try to land a critical attack. One should be enough. There are items that increase those odds, like the Raging Ruby, which is also used in mini medal grinding. You can also try raising the Deftness stat in yo?ur characters' skill trees.

For farming mini medals, there is a very? specific approach as outlined in this video.

To recap, you will want Bianca? outfitted with a Raging Ruby (lower damage, more criticals +5%), Ace of Spoils (extra spoils +10%), and Allure Ring (mini med?al drop rate +2%). That last item is the most important one, and it's earned from the Yangus and Jessica quest line.

With Bianca in your party, head to the "Caliburgh - Captain" map. Zoom to the Geargate warp and look for a group of red she-slimes. Swap to Bianca and use her R1 + Triangle attack, which launches a volley of homing arrows (note: you don't need to charge this move -- just press triangle once!). Keep using that? attack until the enemies in that area are all dead, and then walk back the way you came to force the group to respawn. You'll do thi??s over and over again and wrack up mini medals as well as some bonus XP and gold. This method is a slog, but it's by far the best option.

If you're having trouble maintaining Bianca's mana, in the short term, just evac and start the map again. In the lo??ng term, make sure to unlock Powersaver and Critical Surge in her skill tree. She'll never run o?ut of mana again as long as your attacks don't repeatedly miss.

A note on new game plus

After the credits roll, you can tie up loose ends or begin a new-game-plus run, though I'd hold off. By starting fresh, you'll gain 50 skill points, ??but some of the best weapons and items in the game won't carry over. Your Battle Records progress for certain trophies won't transfer, either. It's inefficient. If you want that Platinum trophy, you can and should stick to a single playthrough.

A note on those ridiculous post-story bosses

Bjorn is the easiest and should be your first target. Sh??oot him in the head with the turret on the left, and prioritize shooting down his boulder and fireball attacks. Eventually, you'll be able to hop on his head and stab him in the eyes for a bit.

Nokturnus is no joke. Familiarize yourself with his moves above all else. The best advice I can give is to make sure your characters have Artful Dodger and Ace Evader in their skill trees. Without those upgrades??, it's very hard to avoid his one-hit-kill attack from above.

Atlas is unlocked after you beat all of the Veteran versions of the main story bosses (They're called Grudge Matches on the level select screen.) He has a stupid amount of hit points, but there's an easy way to bring him down: Terry! Equip him with a Mighty Armlet (critical hits on weak points +5%), Wrecklace (Coup de Grâce damag??e +7%), and Titan Belt (damage to weak points +6%).

During the figh?t, use Terry's Falcon Slash (R1 + Circle) to create copies, then repeatedly spam Gust Slash (R1 + Square). This will rapidly build up his tension meter, at which point you can become invincible, activate his Coup de Grâce, stun Atlus, then repeat the process. You'll need to have Terry at a high enough level for him to kill the boss in time, but otherwise it's easy. (This tactic is super useful in most of the game, by the way.)

Zoma is the biggest jerk of them all. He sho??uld be your final target. You won't win unless you have a high-level party and equipment to offset his magic. I gave my characters a Bunny Tail (reduced freeze time +40%), Lucky Dragon's Wing (magical resistance +20%), and Raging Ruby (lower damage, mor?e criticals +5%). That finally did the trick.

The post The easy way to earn XP and mini medal??s in Drago??n Quest Heroes appeared first on Destructoid.

PSA

Several hours into Dragon Quest Heroes, yeah, I should disable the sound emanating from my controller. Characters like to talk, a lot, and snippets of dialog regularly come through the DualShock 4's speakers. It didn't bother me much at first, ?but the voice clips also come out of my TV's soundbar and the two audio sources are out of sync. It's becoming an annoyance.

As far as I know, there are two ways to keep the voices at bay??.

The quick way is to hold down the PS button, then?? select Adjust Sound and Devices. From here, you can mute the controller's speaker under the Volume Control option at the top.

The other solution is specific to Dragon Quest Heroes. While in the game, press the Options button, then go to Misc., then Settings. Under Volume Setting??s, move the Voices slider to zero. Doing so will disable these dialog clips entirely -- not just on the gamepad speakers -- so you? won't hear them from your television, either. This method ended up feeling too sterile for my liking.

Hope that helps!

The post Stop Dr?agon Quest?? Heroes from talking out of your controller appeared first on Destructoid.

Memories

One of the first games I ever played was Dragon Quest on the NES, known as Dragon Warrior in the west. It was the game that gave me the RPG knowledge I have today, and I still have vivid memories of the colorful and brigh??t art direction. I totally needed help from my parents on the last dungeon though.

To celebrate the series' history, Square Enix has released two infographics covering the heroic and villain sides of Dragon Quest Heroes. The game is set to ?be released tomorrow in the west.

The post Take a look at the heroes and enemies ?of Dragon Quest Heroes appeared first on Destructoid.

That name though

Close your eyes. Imagine you're stuck on a deserted island for a year -- yes, in thi??s situation, a year is a certainty. If you could only have one game with you for that entire period (and have a working power source, bear with me), what would it be?

I'm willing to bet that many of you out there would choose a Warriors game. They're just so reliable, and if you really tried to go for? everything, it might even last you that year with some m?oderate exercise.

Dragon Quest Heroes&?nbsp;maintains that legacy of endless play, but at the cost of some utility. 

Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below (PS3, PS4 [reviewed])
Developers: Omega Force
Publisher: Square Enix
Released: October 13, 2015 (US), February 26, 2015 (JP)
MSRP: $59.99

Following a very cool opening cinematic, you're greeted with the same iconic designs from Akira Toriyama that we've all come to love over the years -- yes, this might be an Omega Force game, but it's still a Dragon Quest joint. The visual style has translated excellently to this new endeavor, and although I'm sure some will find the realistic regali??a meshed with bright goofy enemies jarring at times, it looks even better in action. It's great to see the timeless designs for enemies like the skeletons and slimes still hold up. There's also a lot of detail present, such as the aforementioned skeletons taking off their heads, or golems losing their bricks at times.

The writing and story however, are very basic and not indicative of the typical Dragon Quest experience. There's plenty of fun puns (a slime says things like "Goo and help him" a lot) so it is charming, but th??e dialogue itself never really has any chance to evolve from start to finish. What you see in the first 30 minutes or so is what you get, and it follows the same sort of heroes' "ragtag band" journey schematic throughout. It is a hack and slash game after all, but I expected a bit more.

Getting right into the action, players are presented with two control schemes -- one is a standard Warriors setup, and the other literally allows players to mash one-button combos with ease. Given that you can choose between these and a male or female main character to start, new players will relish how easy it is to acclimate. Said combo system takes its cue from Warriors in that spe?cific rotations of light and heavy will lead into new moves (such as a wave-clearing area-of-effect or a vertical launcher), but there's more variance here than meets the eye when it comes to weapon nuance.

For instance, swords can parry, staffs impact a wide area, and then there's all sorts of outliers like boomerangs, fisticuffs, whips, axes, bows, deadly fans, and magic. If you're curious, yes some fan favorite characters pop up, ranging from heroes who appeared in Dragon Quest IV through VIII. Player??s can also block, make use of a fully-featured jump (not just a useless hop), and utilize a rather generous dodge in addition to the classic Musuo power mode after charging up.

Due to the exaggerated nature of the dodge, it makes the proceedings a bit more action-oriented than a lot of games in the past, and leads to ??a less rigid style of gameplay. Plus, using Musuo mode when combined with Toriyama's designs basically turns you into a Super Saiyan. You can also get more advanced with air dashing, double-jumping, summoning minions (which can go into offensive or defensive mode), party member toggling, and queuing up spells both in combat and in non-action sequences.

As for the AI who follows you into battle (there's a real-time party switching element with L2), not enough work was done considering that it's a rather essential element. The AI is mostly involved with t??he battles at hand, sure, but they tend to loiter far too often, and it can take you out of the game. Maybe it's to actually entice you to switch more often to fire them up, but I wish there were a Gambit system of some sort that allowed you to control their general actions.

It's not just the party system that makes Heroes feel like a real RPG though, as the game sports a world map, a pretty deep stat and customization mechanic, skill trees, and shops. You're free to upgrade your armor, magic, and items, and visit the alchemist to create and synthesize new gear. Players can also chat with their party at the bar, use the church to pray and save the game, and eventually get an airship. The sidequests feel right at home and like an authentic Dragon Quest game, and tr??ophies reward players directly -- a system ??more developers should implement.

But while sidequests are generally fun, missions are shorter battles that are often a bit too linear. In other Warriors games you're usually completing multiple objectives on large, sprawling maps with plenty of side areas, but here in Heroes they fe?el more like arenas that sometimes only span a few screens. Thankfully the bosses are more involved as a result, sometimes featuring flying enemies or multi-foe fights. I won't spoil them here but suffice to say they all have strategies and weak points to discover, and are sufficiently formidable. You'll need to actually switch between party members and think tactically.

Alongside of the more bite-sized quest structure though is a complete lack of multiplayer. Yep, that's right -- there's no split-screen or online play of any kind. Whereas it was easy to introduce people into the world of Zelda with some co-op Hyrule Warriors sessions, Heroes is definitely a tougher sell, as the vast majority of Warriors games are shipped with heavy multiplayer elements for a reason. It does have all of the current DLC from Japan bundled in though, which is a plus??.

Dragon Quest Heroes almost feels like a fully-fledged action RPG, but there are a few things holding it back from greatness. In the end though it still has its charms, alongside of a beautiful art style and a buttery smooth framerate. If you really dig Warriors games and can go ?at it solo, you'll likel??y enjoy it.

The post Review: Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree’s Woe and the Blight Below appeared first on Destructoid.

Healix looks awesome

CGI-filled trailers often do a great job of building hype, but this gameplay-filled Dragon Quest Heroes video just does it for me. It shows a ton of characters doing their thing, provides a quick look at the English cast, and gives us a pretty ?good overview of what to expect.

Visually the game looks incredible, and I really like how classic enemies like the Golems have translated in-engine. Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree’s Woe and the Blight Below is already out in Japan, but will arri??ve in the west on PS4 on October 13 in North Ameri?ca and October 16 in Europe.

The PS3 versio??n ?will not be making it out of Japan.

The post This is the best Dragon Quest Heroes trailer I’ve seen yet appeared first on Destructoid.

The Western world's woe and SE's dough

Polygon recently spoke with Dragon Quest series executive producer Yuu Miyake about Dragon Quest Heroes: The Worl?d Tree's Woe and the Blight Below (God, I love that title). Since this is the first Dragon Quest game to be localized for a North American release since 2011, Miyake talked about some of the issues with loca??lization and his hopes to see more games from the series make it out of Japan in the future.

"We want to get them out here. We really do!," Miyake said. "The Dragon Quest games are very text-heavy, so the time and the cost it takes to localize these and do ??it well is quite something.

"Business-wise, we have to think quite hard whether we'll make that money back from localizing to North America," he continu??ed. "It's always been a difficult decision. But the more you tell us, the louder the voices, the more likely we are to do it."

It also sounds as though Square Enix might be using Dragon Quest Heroes to gauge interest in other Dragon Quest titles coming to North America.

"We're really using this as a kind of opening up of the market. We can gauge whether the American people might want to go back after Heroes and see some of the other Dragon Quest games. Hopefully we could use that as leverage to get those ?out over here."

If this is true, then I sure hope Dragon Quest Heroes sells well over here, because I've been dying to fight some more slimes. Hopefully, the rumors about the 3DS versions of Dragon Quest VII and VIII being localized are true, but it's possible we won't know for sure until after we see the sales for Dragon Quest Heroes.

More Dragon Quest games could come to North America if Dragon Quest Heroes sel??ls [Polygon]

The post Want more Dragon Qu?est games localized? You might want to buy Dragon Quest Heroes appeared first on Destructoid.

Terendum tempus

Dragon Quest Heroes II is in pro??duction for PS4, Vita, and PS3, Square Enix announced today.

Well, that was fast. Square Enix just released Dragon Quest Heroes in Japan a few weeks a ago and the publisher already has a follow-up in the works. Must?? be ??elated with the early sales figures.

The action game from Dynasty Warriors studio Omega Force debuted atop the Japanese?? software charts in February, ??selling more than 594,000 copies at retail in its opening weekend.

The original Dragon Quest Heroes is heading?? to PS4 in North America and Europe later this year.

新たなる冒険の幕開け！『ドラゴンクエストヒーローズⅡ』制作決定のお知らせ [Square Enix]

The post Square Enix announces Dragon Quest Heroes 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

Great news

Whenever I type up a localization announcement, I usually have a smile on my face. It's great to see more exposure for eastern games, especially one as enticing as Dragon Quest Heroes.

Square Enix has just announced it's bringing the title over to the west by way of the PS4 later this year. I'm particularly excited because of the Hyrule Warriors-esque support strateg??y, with fre??e villain characters arriving after the Japanese launch -- we'll likely see most of that content as well.

The post Dragon Quest Heroes is coming westward on PS4 appeared first on Destructoid.

A tribe called dragon quest

Dragon Quest Heroes is out this week in Japan and now we have? a direct look at the differences between the ?PS3 (below) and PS4 (above) versions of the game, aside from being informed that the latter if 60 frames per second, the former 30.

PS4 has more enemies on screen and is generally prettier, but as noted, the two have content parity, and the PS3 version doesn't look half bad. But maybe you'll have a PS4 by localization.

The post Compare Dragon Quest Heroes on PS3 and PS4 appeared first on Destructoid.

I'll tell you

Dragon Quest Heroes will launch in Japan this year on both the PS??3 and PS4 -- Square Enix is "interested" in a localization, but we haven't heard anything concrete yet. So what's the difference in terms of the generational gap?

Well, in addition to the standard PS4 share functions,?? you'll be able to use a limited form of Share Play. The content will technically be the same, but the PS3 version will run at 30fps, while the PS4 edition boasts 6?0. Visually the current generation will have an upgrade, and display more enemies on screen.

So while there is a reason to upgrade, PS3 users won?'t miss out on anything major.

Dragon Quest Heroes [Square Enix via Siliconera]

The post So what’s the difference between the PS3 and PS4 versions of Dragon Quest Heroes? appeared first on Destructoid.

Dual audio also on the table

Speaking with Game Watch at the Taipei Game Show over the weekend, Square Enix producer Ryutaro Ichimura discussed a potential western release for Dragon Quest Heroes. 

“I want to proceed thinking positively,” Ichimura responded when asked about a localization. “Since we were able to announce the Chinese version in Taiwan today, seeing that reaction, I want to spread it even further around the wo??rld.”

The topic of dual audio was also broached?, but the development team hasn't made any decisions about that just yet. "If it’d be better to put it in, that’s something we’ll consider moving forward." 

??Also at the interview was Koei Tecmo producer Kenichi Ogasawara, who added “If such a need is strong, we’re going to consider it.” Sounds like good news. Hopefully this comes to fruition.

Dragon Quest Heroes launches across Japan on February 26 for PlaySta??tion 4 and PS3.

「ドラゴンクエストヒーローズ」クリエイターインタビュー [Game Watch via Gematsu]

The post Dragon Quest Heroes? team interested in localization appeared first on Destructoid.

That Healslime plush!

If there are any Dragon Quest fanatics in the house, they're out Christmas shopping. It's just me, guy who played Dragon Quest IX ??but remembers almost nothing of the DS role-playing game.

That said: I love Hyrule Warriors, my introduction to developer Omega Force, and plan to stick with the game far into next year. (Those never-ending Adventure maps!) Seems like a safe-enough bet that I'll like Dragon Quest Heroes despite my unfamiliarity w?ith the long-running series from which it draws. The wonderful monster designs alone should carry my interest.

Find more footage and announcements out of Square Enix in this hour-and-a-half stream.

[Via All Games Beta]

He's never taking that off his shoulder, is he?

The post I’m so down for Dragon Quest Heroes appeared first on Destructoid.