Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, which was originally released for Nintendo S?witch in December 2023, is about to make its debut on both PC and mobile?? platforms on September 11, allowing more people than ever to play. 

According to Square Enix, the additional platforms will give players both new and old a chance to “discover new monster combinations and immerse themselves in strategic battles.�/p>

In Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, you play as Psaro the d?emon? prince, who cannot harm monsters due to his curse. Rather than letting that get him down, though, Psaro chooses to go out and befriend them instead. 

There are over 500 monsters which can be captured or otherwise be created through combining other pairs of monsters, so if you’re a collector or completionist, The Dark Prince could teeter between being a dream come true and a complete nightmare. There are some familiar faces from the Dragon Quest franchise, but also some completely new friends to be foun?d. 

The PC and mobile versions of The Dark Prince will not only include the base game, but also al?l DLC content which has previously been launched for the N??intendo Switch Digital Deluxe Edition:

The Mole Hill

• A Special dungeon where you’ll only find monsters who you have befriended already, including those which have specific spawning conditions or can only be obtained through combining other monsters during Synthesis.

Coach Joe’s Dungeon Gym

• Randomly generated dungeons where you can battle through legions of extremely powerful monsters.

Treasure Trunks

• Treasure chests which can be opened once every hour, providing you with useful items.

The Dark Prince will release for PC (via Steam) and mobile on September 11, and I’m now counting down the days until I can go mo??nster wrangling all over agai??n on a larger screen. 

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If you’ve been keeping up with the packed schedule of events in Final Fantasy XIV in the lead up to Dawntrail, you’ll be expecting the Dragon Quest collaboration event, Breaking Brick Mountains, as it’s r??eturning on June 5. 

With Dawntrail just around the corner, there are a lot of things happening in Eorzea to keep Final Fantasy XIV players occupied while t??hey wait imp??atiently for the doomed summer holiday they’ve been promised.

The latest event is going to be running alongside the Moogle Treasure Trove: The Second Hunt for Genesis, the Yo-kai Watch collaboration, and thanks to the latest iteration of the Free Login Campaign, returning players can take part without having to pay a subscriptio?n for up to 96 hours. 

Breaking Brick Mountains will return for the fifth time at 1 a.m. PDT/4 a.m. EST on June 5 and you can take part in events until June 20, so there’s plenty of time to take part in the FATEs and get your Dragon Quest themed items. This includes the King Slime Crown which inspires the FFXIV Community Blog’s chosen catchphrase for ??the event, ‘gettin�jiggly with it�

If you’ve completed the event in previous years, you can join in and experience all of the Dragon Quest references by using the Seasonal Event Replay feature of FFXIV. Regardless of ??whether you j??oin in or not, be prepared to see a large number of wobbly slime hats.

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If you weren’t paying attention, Nintendo shut down the online services for 3DS and Wii U, because the future is forward, baby. Unfortunately, this means that gamers with principles had to step in to preserve what Nintendo was burying with its digital store closures, and one of those things was the Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past DLC maps.

Twitter user Sackchief had a plan to preserve those 56 DLC maps for anyone who wants to experience them after the shutdown in the best w??ay possible, too. There seemed to be no takers on the endeavour until Gronya, stuck in bed and recovering from bowel ulcers, decided to take on the difficult task of?? grinding for the cleanest save file.

Gronya lays out the entire agonizing process in the embedded video. It involves keeping the two mai??n protagonists dead while temporary party member Kiefer grinds his?? way to invulnerability to get to the point where the DLC Tablets could be obtained.

I’m going to be real with you: I don’t know enough about Dragon Quest VII and its DLC to know why this was necessary. I didn't get into the series until about 2014 or 2015 when I was sad and lonely and my only escape was sprawling myself across the couch watching GameCenter CX and playing Japanese games.

It seems as though this was done not because it was the only way to preserve the content but the best way. Gronya even says that this could have been done in 10 hours without Super-Kiefer. Obviously, this was d?one for a reason, otherwise Gronya (and another user na??med DaniPhoFani) wouldn’t have gone to such lengths.

However, I admire the effort. It probably would have been better if Nintendo had just kept the infrastructure or designed it with more perpetuity in mind. Maybe Square Enix will one day port Dragon Quest VII again with the DLC either intact or just recreated.?? We can’t count on that. So, for now, we have the hard-fought save file av?ailable on the Internet Archive.

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After being found guilty in two cases of insider trading, Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka has resurfaced again on Twitter. This time, Naka used the new headlines around Yu Miyake, producer of Square Enix's Dragon Quest series, as a chance t?o air a little more of that beef.

In late 2022, Naka was arrested un??der suspicio?n of conducting insider trading while employed at Square Enix. He subsequently plead guilty in court last July, and was given a 30-month prison sentence and a hefty fine of 172.5 million yen (about $1.2 million). It's been roughly 16 months since his last Twitter post but, on April 7, Naka popped out of nowhere to comment on recent developments at Square Enix; specifically on the news of Yu Miyake leaving his post as Dragon Quest's producer.

On April 5, Bloomberg reported that Square Enix is undergoing a reorganization, which includes Miyake, who's been a producer on Dragon Quest since 1992, being shuffled over to oversee the company's mobile games. Naka, who worked at Square Enix for a few years until 2021, took?? the opportunity to make fresh allegations against Miyake, suggesting he lied when present?ing evidence during Naka's trial.

In his post, as translated by Siliconera, Naka wrote, "This person submitted a memo written with lies (and there is proof [of that]) at the trial." The "this person" in the equation is Miyake, with Naka suggesting the former Dragon Quest producer lied court.

According to Naka, his split from Square Enix was far from civil. After joining the company to develop his newest title, Balan Wonderworld, he claimed he was removed as director from the project roughly six months before its launch. In an April 2022 thread translated by Cheesemeister, Naka even announced he would be suing Square Enix, saying the company didn't "value" its fans and had ignored his attempts to address issues with Balan Wonderworld before its launch. Considering everything? that's happened since then and the lack of any updates, it's safe to assume Naka's laws?uit didn't really go anywhere.

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Okay, today’s Nintendo Direct was pretty cool, but the fun isn’t over for RPG fans. And on a day that saw an update for the Super Mario RPG remake and a Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door announcement, that’s saying something. Square Enix has released a demo for the upcoming Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince for Nintendo Switch, which you can download right now on the eShop.

Funnily enough, this appears to have had no English announcement of any kind. It just kind of appeared, with the assumption ??that RPG turbo nerds like me would just notice regardless. And I mean�I guess I am writing this, so that worked.

While you can import your demo save data over to the full version of Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, this one comes with a few catches. While monsters you capture/synthesize will carry over, their levels and st?ats won’t. Perhaps this is to prevent people from over-le??veling in the demo and trivializing the full game, we can’t say for sure. On the plus side, the demo will still allow you to explore and capture monsters after you clear the available story content. That’s a nice touch for those who just want to dive into the mechanics here.

I have so many good memories of playing Dragon Warrior Monsters on Game Boy. The Dragon Quest Monsters subseries has been do?rmant for Western audiences for a while now, so I’m hoping thi??s one will deliver. At the very least, a demo will give us a good indication of how this one is shaping up.

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince will launch on Nintendo Sw??itch on December 1, 2023,

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Collecting rings the wrong way

Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka has been found guilty of insider trading following a trial in Japan on July 7, 2023. As IGN Japan reports, it was found that through in?sider trading associated with the development of a Square Enix game, he had violated Japan’s Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.

N?aka was handed a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence, suspended for four years. Judge Madoka Hiruta also served him with two ??million yen and 107 million yen fines, amounting to approximately $14, 000 and $1.1 million respectively.

[caption id="attachment_390834" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image by Square Enix.[/caption]

Yuji Naka's legal woes

Naka is known for being one of the co-creators of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, serving as the president of Sonic Team until 2006. He has worked on several titles outside of the blue hedgehog's franchise, including Balan Wonderworld, Phantasy Star, and Samba de Amigo.

Naka was arrested in November 2022, and it was alleged that he had purchased 10,000 shares (amounting to approximately $20, 000) in Aiming ahead of the studio announcing the Dragon Quest Tact mobile game for Square Enix. He was re-arrested on similar charges, this time for buying shares in Ateam, the studio that went on to release Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier mobile game.

He had previously pled guilty to the charges, admitting that there was no doubt?? the accusations are true. Judge Hiruta stated that Naka "was known as one of the world's most famous game developers, and had the authority to access joint development information". and he also commented that Naka had damaged the trust of investors and the soundness of the stock market.

Naka isn't the only Square Enix employee to find themselves in hot water. Taisuke Sazaki and Fumiaki Suzuki were als??o arrested for insider trading after purchasing 162,000 shares at a value of approximately $337, 250. It is reported that it was Sazaki who informed Naka and Suzuki about the potential ri??se in value.

Though Naka may be facing turbulent times, things are looking good for both Sonic the Hedgehog and Final Fantasy. The newly released Final Fantasy 16 has already sold over 3 million copies, while Sonic the Hedgehog fans can look forward to Sonic Superstars, which is slated to launch in late 2023.

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This is a good year for RPG fans

As a longtime RPG fan, I am losing my mind for today's Nintendo Direct. First we get the wild announcement of a Super Mario RPG remake, and now we have solid footage of the previously teased Dragon Quest Monsters followup. Even better, we kno??w this one is arriving this year!

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLsr5N4-mmU

In a blog post by Square Enix, it looks like The Dark Prince will stay true to the formula of previous games in the series. Protagonist Psaro will have to collect monsters to fight on his behalf, which he can fuse into stronger creatures using the Synthesis feature. Monsters will also include Dragon Quest series favorites alongside complete??ly new creatures for t?his entry.

Additionally, the world will change with the passing of the seasons. While we don't know how expansive this will be in the final game, we have confirmation that certai??n? areas of the world will open depending on the season.

Dragon Quest Monsters is a fantastic spinoff series for a fantastic series, so any new entry is hella welcome in my book. Additionally, it looks like previous Dragon Quest heroes may make a cameo appearance here as well. While last year's Dragon Quest Treasures was nice, I'm excited?? to see Monsters returning to its roots like this.

We'll learn more when Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince arrives on December 1, exclusi?vely for Nintendo Switch

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And it looks like this one might actually release outside of Japan

Friday night before an extended holiday weekend is arguably the worst time for companies to release video game news. Most people have gone home, and those of us who are still around have to make the choice between enjoying our free time and dragging our butts back to our laptops to crank out one more story for the day. For most games, I'd wait until Monday. But when you're talking Dragon Quest Monsters, you have my attention.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Dragon Quest spin-off. The series is a monster-collecting take on the franchise, something developers had explored years earlier in Dragon Quest V. The first two games were released on the Game Boy Color, with the second title hitting right at the end of the handheld's life cycle. Maybe it was the fact that nothing could beat Pokémon at the time, or maybe it was because the Dragon Quest brand didn't have the international appeal it does now, but the DQM series has had an inconsistent reputation for getting worldwide releases. The Game Boy Color games both made it over to North America. Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart, which was released on the Game Boy Advance, was never localized. Both Nintendo DS entries in the series�em>Dragon Quest Monsters Joker and Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2—scored worldwide releases, but every game developed on the 3DS stay?ed in J??apan.

Given that Square Enix is still pretty shaky on whether or not a Dragon Quest game will go worldwide (looking at you, Dragon Quest X Offline), the video below gives me hope ????we'll see the series on our shores in the near future.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y-cIRpX46I

If you made it through to the end, you'll see that a new Dragon Quest Monsters is in development for the Nintendo Switch. This isn't the first time we've heard that Square Enix is revisiting the franchise. During a stream two years ago, it was revealed a new DQM was in development. It's been all quiet since then, and while I would have like??d to have seen some footage, it is nice to know that we have this to look forward to in the future. It's also nice to know the Nintendo Switch still has some support going forward.

As for this new Monsters getting a worldwid??e release, well, why bother translating any of that video into English if you ain't gonna bring it our way?

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Mobile RPG to be announced January 18

Square Enix has announced that it will be unveiling yet another mobile release set within the world of the iconic franchise Dragon Quest. The as-yet-unannounced title will be showcased in a ??special event held on ??Wednesday, January 18.

While no further details were revealed at this early stage, a new teaser website and Twitter channel have been launched in Japan. According to Gematsu, the new title will be an RPG, and next week's event will feature a gameplay overview along with a new trailer and further release details. The?? live stream will take place on the official Square Enix Jap??an YouTube channel, January 18, at 19:00 JST / 02:00 PT / 11:00 BST.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T3QzqFt620&ab_channel=%E3%82%B9%E3%82%AF%E3%82%A6%E3?%82%A7%E3%82%A2%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A8%E3%83%8B%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B9

This release will be the latest in a long, long line of Dragon Quest titles released for mobile devices. These games have ranged from rereleases of Dragon Quest classics, to an abundance of free-to-play RPGs, monster trainers, and geolocation titles. Many of these modern releases have ended service within two-to-three years of launch. The most recent release in this medium, Dragon Quest Tact, launched in North America in?? January 2021 and remains currently operational.

We'll soon find out whether this new? release is a fu??ll premium RPG or another flash-in-the-pan F2P title.

New Dragon Quest RPG for iOS, Android to be announced ?on January 18 [Gematsu]

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There is a lot to keep track of in this game, but remember these key tips

Dragon Quest Treasures has finally arrived for Nintendo Switch, and with a 77 score on Metacritic as of this writing, most reviewers seem to think it's a pretty good time. In my review, I found it to be a delightful way to pass the hours with a charming world and addictive gameplay. And as much as I do like the game, I'm aware that it doesn't exactly do the best job of informing the player of everything they can do in it. Some things you'll only learn via hint screens or in passing dialogue, so to better help those treasure hunters who are starting their journeys today, I thought I'd collect seven Dragon Quest Treasures tips to get you going the right way.

Heal your team and yourself

Healing is a pretty darn important part of most video games and that is true of Dragon Quest Treasures. Your monster squad is going to need your help recovering from any damage they take. There are a few ways to refill those HP meters of your squad. You can stop at a campfire, you can shoot your partner monsters with healing pellets, or you can be sure to bring along monsters that are capable of casting healing spells. When it comes to healing either Erik or Mia, you need to take a different approach and this can be easy to miss when it's first explained. If you're nowhere near a campfire and in desperate need of health, just stop what you're doing and hold down the X button. The Dragon Dagg??ers Erik and Mia receive at the start of the game can consume MP to heal them. You can't heal either of the main characters with pellets or food, so if you're in a bind, just remember to stop and hold X.

Hoard those Chimaera Wings

Chimaera Wings are a longtime staple of the Dragon Quest franchise, helping adventures get out of bind whenever they need to reach safety in a jiff. In Dragon Quest Treasures, they work as they do in the mainline games, whisking your team from the field of battle and back to their treasure base camp. If you're ever outnumbered or your monsters are on the verge of getting knocked out and losing the treasure they're carrying, a Chimaera Wing will get you home safely with all of your treasure intact. Just try to not be so careless with them. Chimaera Wings are surprisingly sparse in Treasures, and if you end up using your supply with reckless abandon, you might not have one on hand when you really get yourself into trouble. Instead of using a Chimaera Wing, try to always have a monster on your team with the 'Sprint' Forte. This will allow you to quickly travel great distances, hopefully getting ?you out of whatever mess you've gotten yourself into.

Stock up on pellets

You might be tempted to try and melee your way through this game, and while that is a possibility, you're better off mixing in as much pellet play as you can. I started my journey through the world slicing and dicing the enemies I encountered, but by the end of it, I was playing support for my team of overpowered monsters. Obviously, you??'ll want to stock up on healing pellets for your team as they can take a lot of damage in a short amount of time depending on the enemy encounter. But you should also grab as many elemental pellets as you can as they can easily strike down powerful foes.

The strength of your dagger strikes will grow as you level up Erik and Mia, but you can do a significant amount of damage right away if you have a good grasp on elemental weaknesses. And as you advance through the game, you'll unlock new pellet types that can apply status effects to monsters in the wild, giving you options on how you approach every enem??y encounter. Just be sure to stop at all the shops you find in the game as they all sell new pellet recipes that you'll want to add? to your arsenal.

Recruit like crazy

The game will make it sound like there's limited space at your base camp ??in the early hours, but go ahead and recruit as many monsters as you can. First of all, you'll be able to expand the barracks for your base camp just a few hours in. Second, you're going to want a good variety of monsters fo??r the squads you dispatch. Having a wide selection of monsters with different Favorite Treasures can help you achieve a higher Golden Ratio, which in turn will guarantee you better loot recovered by each of your dispatch teams.

Pay attention to the Golden Ratio

Speaking of the Golden Ratio, it's incredibly important if you want to find the best treasure with your team or the monsters you dispatch. Unfortunately, Treasures' menu system doesn't exactly make this easy. How it works is each of the game's locations?? will have a few different treasure types listed for their Treasure Forecast. So let's say The Paternoggin, the first area of the game, has Key Items, Hero Statues 1, and Cards listed in its forecast. To get a Golden Ratio of 100%, you'll need your three monsters to have their Favor?ite Treasures be those treasure types.

If you match every treasure in an area's forecast, you'll have a 100% ratio that'll make it easier to find more valuable treasure and make it easier to find the dig locations when you use your compass. If?? you have a low ratio or a ratio of 0%, you can still find valuable treasure, but you're more likely to end up with a lot of bric-a-brac. When sending out your dispatch teams, you only need to worry about matching their Favorite Treasures to the Treasure Forecast. But when you're putting together the team of monsters that'll accompany Erik or Mia, you'll have to consider their Fortes when assembling the team. That's why, once again, it's important to have a lot of recruits to choose from. And don't worry, every monster you recruit will level up with you even if you're keeping them in the barracks.

Cuff yourself to some Big Boys

If you're able to achieve a perfect Golden Ratio, you're going to want to make sure you can carry as much treasure as possible. Your initial monster squad will only be able to carry two pieces of treasure each, but as you explore more of the world and recruit bigger monsters, your treasure capacity will expand. If you want to pull in as big a haul as you can, and there ar?e monetary bonuses for doing so, make sure you're heading out with a??s many big monsters as possible.

Remember your Dragon Meter

This final tip I don't ever remember being explained to me in the game. I just farted around one day and figured it out for myself. Basically, as you adventure your way through each area, you'll start to build up a golden meter, which can be seen under Erik or Mia's character portrait. When you max that out, holding down the R button will open the Dragon Attack menu. Each monster on your team has a powerful Dragon Attack that can do serious damage to some or all of the monsters your facing. With Erik and Mia, activating their Dragon Attack know?n as Wild Side will temporarily increase all of their stats and movement speed. Dragon Attacks are incredibly helpful when you're dealing with treasure-hunter gan?gs trying to rob your base camp or when facing the most powerful monsters of the Snarl.

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The real treasures were the friends they made along the way

I feel as though there are going to be two distinct opinions of Dragon Quest Treasures, the new Switch-exclusive Dragon Quest spinoff starring Echoes of an Elusive Age's Erik and Mia. The first is that the game is an enjoyable treasuring-hunting romp with hours of content, a unique combat experience, and the type of what-will-I-find-next obsession that drives people to empty their bank accounts? into loot boxes and gacha. The second is that it’s a $60 busy-work simulator, where all you do is complete mundane tasks to progress through a mundane adventure.

Both perspectives fit the bill here, and whether or not you see this game as a cavort or a chore is really going to come down to your tolerance level for a game built on backtracking. Because, believe me, In Dragon Quest Treasures, you'll be visiting the same locations a lot.

Dragon Quest Treasures (Nintendo Switch)
Developer: Tose Co.
Publisher: Square Enix
Released: December 9, 2022
MSRP: $59.99

Set in a world where the bodies of dead dragons have given life to new landmasses, Dragon Quest Treasures sees siblings Erik and Mia teaming up with a couple of cute flying critters as they attem?pt to recover each of t?he Dragon Stones. Those, however, are largely a McGuffin, as the true goal of this game is to amass as many riches as possible while building the mightiest treasure-hunting crew in the land. The game will tell you your main goal is to find those stones, but it’s easy for them to take a backseat as you build up your war chest.

Building a competent crew requires some recruiting. You’re given a small team at the start of the game, taking control of Mia as you search for Erik in this strange new world. But it isn’t long before you’ve set up base camp at an abandoned train station and started growing to your roster. As you defeat monsters in the field, some? will ask to join your squad. To onboard them, you'll have to spend the materials you harvest in order to cover their fee. The better the monster, the higher their fee will be.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=DncSvDnGGrc

While the Dragon Quest series does have an extensive roster of monsters to pull from, the variety of available creatures in Treasures is quite small, with only a handful of monster breeds present, each divided into a few types. Some creatures are new to the series, such as the desert-dwelling M??arble Slime, but I would have liked to have seen more of this franchise’s history represented here. Of course, the actual monster breeds and types don’t matter all that much outside of aesthetics. What’s really?? important in Treasures is each monster’s Forte and Favorite Treasure.

Fortes are skills monsters possess to help you in your search for treasure. Depending on what three monsters you have in your team, you’ll be able to jump to high places, glide to the ground below, sink underground to reach tight spaces, or race across the environment. There’s also a Forte that helps you locate materials for crafting, but I can’t remember ??a moment my the 45 hours of playing this game that I used that particular skill.

Treasure, that is what you are

A monster’s Favorite Treasure is how you’ll actually go about fin??ding the best treasures scattered across the land. Each time you return to?? your base camp, you’ll be given a new Treasure Forecast. This will dictate what kind of treasure will be in each area. If the monsters on your team have Favorite Treasures that match those in the Treasure Forecast, you’ll earn a high Golden Ratio. The higher this is, the easier it will be to track down high-quality valuables.

As you venture through each of the game’s five lands, little gold chests will pop up over your monsters' heads to indicate a nearby valuable treasure location. When you are in the right spot, you can use your compass to generate three images of where the treasure is buried. The higher your Golden Ratio, the clearer and more obvious those pictures will be. With some quick digging, you’ll retrieve the treasure that can be appraised as soon as you get back to your base camp. And that is where the feeling of busy work can ??really sink in.

Monsters can only carry a few pieces of treasure each, and if you fill up on bric-a-brac–less valuable treasure that ?is easier to find–you’ll be running back and forth between your base camp ??and the rest of the world an awful lot. Bigger monsters can carry more loot, but even if you surround yourself with nothing but big boys, you can fill up on treasure in as little as 15 minutes before you’re backtracking to the closest available train station so you can empty your pockets and set out again.

Not only can the constant back and forth get a little tedious, but some of the requests you have to fulfill can also lead to tasks on top of tasks. One of the first monsters I recruited to my base camp would only join if I recruited a different monster beforehand. To get that monster, I had to find one that wanted to join my ranks, and then I had to get the items to cover its fee. That meant another trip back out into the world to t?rack down this one ??piece of material.

Thankfully, those types of multi-step side quests are few and far in between. For the rest of the game, I was plumb happy with just finding my way around the world, digging up treasure. As my collection grew, other treasure-hunting gangs would try and hunt me down or pillage my base camp, but dispatching them usually wasn’t much of a problem. Especially when I finally gained the muscle memory for Dragon Quest Treasure’s combat.

Combat straight out of '90s Bart Simpson

Unlike the mainline series, Treasures is an action RPG. Your monster crew will attack on their own, and while Erik or Mia can melee attack enemies with their daggers, they are far more useful as support characters. Both are armed with a slingshot, which this game calls a catapult because, of course, Treasures uses the Queen?’s English (or should it be called the King’s English now?). The slingshot fires pellets that can hurt the enemy or heal and buff your monsters. The controls for this do take some getting used to, as the button layout isn’t as intuitive as it should be, but smart pellet play can quickly put an end to potentially difficult battles. They can also help you avoid combat altogether.

What I really appreciate about Treasures is how it gives me options on how I can approach a situation, a??nd makes it possible to stand down higher-level enemies with simple planning. Some of the pellets you unlock can put monsters in the field to sleep or stun them, allowing you to sneak around them or steal whatever treasure they’re holding without getting pummeled. Now, the AI for your monster squad will often engage sleeping enemies, but usually only if they’re of a lower or equal level. Your monsters may also have a tendency of getting stuck behind barriers, and it would be nice if the feature that teleports stuck monsters to your side worked more efficiently. But that's an issue I can deal with. One disappointment that's harder to look past is the Snarl.

At your base camp, one of the Orc monsters you recruit will dig through a building known as the Snarl.?????????????????????????? As they dig down, they unlock portals to new areas you must complete to find hints on where you can find the Dragon Stones. These areas are nothing more than a series of challenge rooms, which is arguably one of my least favorite elements from RPGs. The monster dens you find throughout the world are the same, and while those dens are optional unless you’re going for 100% completion, unlocking the full extent of the Snarl is mandatory if you want to see the story through to its conclusion.

In hindsight, the time it took me to beat each set of challenge rooms in the Snarl was easily less than 30 minutes. In the grand scheme of things, they’re not a massive part of the game, and for some people, they might be the only enjoyable aspect. As I said in the lede, I can easily see how somebody could play Dragon Quest Treasures and walk away with the opinion th?at it’s nothing but busy work and backtracking. If that’s the prevailing impression out there, I get it; I just don’t agree with it.

Maybe it’s the Dragon Quest charm, or maybe it’s because I'm happy to be playing a game way less buggy than the last one I reviewed, but I got a kick out of Dragon Quest Treasures. This is the type of game I will happily sink hours into without caring about whether or not I’m actually progressing beyond just building up my cache. A perfect game for those long winter nights, Dragon Quest Treasures will more than tide me over until Square Enix finally gets around to releasing Infinity Strash.

Or Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate. Whichever comes first.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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It's out on December 9

Dragon Quest Treasures is sneaking up on us, as it poises for a December 9 release on Nintendo Switch. It hasn't exactly been on my mind given the sheer number of games coming out in October and November, but this new overview trailer perked me up.

In short, this spinoff deals with Erik and Mia, a brother and sister duo who "dream of exploring the world in search of grand treasure." To do so, you'll team up with various monsters, who can provide various abilities to the party to find...more treasure. The gameplay loop seems incredibly carefree, mixed with the signature style of the Dragon Quest series.

In the below four-ish minute video, Square Enix runs you through the basics, including treasure hunting itself (including the various means of traversal), as well as recruitment, the hub/base mechanic, and the main storyline (which deals wi?th rival gangs and the narrative involving the seven rare Dragonstones). Party building in particular looks fun, as your minions can also act out of combat: serving as mounts, and abilities of sorts (like having one throw you up in the air).

Like Monster Hunter, I always at least give these Dragon Quest spinoffs a second look. The series has built up so much goodwill at this point, and if I can fit it into my schedule, Dragon Quest Treasures seems like it'll be a breezy December/wint?er? game.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsbBsH9tESc

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We need more "offline-ifications" of MMOs

It feels like forever ago that I was clamoring for Dragon Quest X offline, and it's finally coming out: in Japan only!

You can find the trailer below, which refreshes the 2012 MMO original for its new offline packaging. If you're interested and want to pick up the Japanese version, Square Enix has a website dedicated to pre-orders. In classic Square Enix fashion th?ere's some ??extras to be had, as well as the opportunity to pick up the PC, PS4, PS5, and Switch editions of the game.

As for details, it's still being billed as a single-player RPG, which kind of goes with the territory of the offline pivot. Dragon Quest X offline will arrive on September 15, 2022 in Japan, but there's also going to be an "ultra large expansion" coming in spring of 2023. The standard edition will run you roughly $60 US, while the special edition is about $115 US, and includes the expansion, physical pins, a slime mug, and a spoon for said mug. The list of in-game items can be found here.

You can also go for the digital deluxe edition that nets yo??u the core game and the expansion f??or about $95 US. Options! Well, for folks who want to pick up the Japanese edition of the game, at least.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHAYsq3Uuk8&t=45s

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A realm reborn, one block at a time

I sunk a ton of time into Dragon Quest Builders trying to explore as much as possible and get every villager situated just so, but I haven't been back for round two. If you had a similar experience and you're a Nintendo Switch Online member, heads up: there's a full-game trial for Dragon Quest Builders 2 running on Switch right now through Tuesday.

The trial will be playable until April 26 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific, and you can download it here or find it in the Switch Online section of your Nintendo Switch. If you're going the first route, make sure you scroll down, though �look for a download link next to a "Game Trials" image, as opposed to the standard "demo" link up top. The full trial is 1.7 GB.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLY06_-1_nA

This probably goes without saying for the Dragon Quest series at large, but ye??s: do??n't worry about coming into the sequel totally fresh. The story �a fight against an anti-building group as a freshly washed-ashore young Hero �stands on its own.

How much of Dragon Quest Builders 2 can you finish in six days? Considering the game's girth on the How Long to Beat scale, I'd say probably ??not all of it! Folks are clocking 50-some? hours for the main story, and easily double that for a completionist scrub-down.

There's also a sale on the game and Season Pass

Speaking of, any effort you put into the Switch Online trial of Dragon Quest Builders 2 won't be a waste �that progress will carry into a purchased copy, should you decide to buy. There's a deal right now �it's $30 on the Switch eShop, which is $20 off the MSRP �and the game's Season Pass is down to $12.59, too; hey, there's a DIY aquari?um.

We're at a point now in this game's cycle where I think only the steepest (out-of-character-for-Square-Enix) discount would speak to me, so a trial event is the best bet to capture my interest. Originally, at launch, I felt like I already had my fill of this formula, and CJ's review didn't sway me. Maybe I'll come around. It is pretty charming.

This is kind of here nor there, but if we're talking about Dragon Quest spin-offs, I sure wouldn't mind a potential Dragon Quest Heroes III one of these days.

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Cblogs of 3/26 to 04/01/2022

-Scribblemacher takes a deep dive into Dragon Quest Pokemon-alike, Dragon Quest Monsters.

-Lord Spencer continues their ongoing PS1 REVIEWS series by looking at Crave's Shadow Madness.

-Avoclefo takes at look at the final acts of Nintendo's legendary Kirby series.

-Churros89 updates their ongoing game journal with some more hit??s 'n' misses.

-Spazzzh20 talks about their love of Majora's Mask and their ideal Legend of Zelda game.

-PhilsPhindings looks at the connections between the score of Kid Icarus and Latin music.

-PhilsPhindings seco?nd blog looks at the connections between Super Mario and calypso music.

-TheBlondeBass offers up more fictional work with The Suburbs We Create Ourselves.

-TheBlondeBass returns with their latest fictional entity, Finale: What Remains.

-Estrelas returns to remind us that quite often goals are ?marathons, not sprints.

-Queen of Philosophy opens up the weekend with the latest TGIF.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this week's Cblogs! If you wanna join the HOT TAKE party, then simply mosey on ov?er to the Cblogs section and have your say. If you have any thoughts on gaming, new or old, share them with us and you will find yourself recapped on this here front page next week.

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Composed over 500 pieces for RPG series

Japanese composer Koichi Sugiyama, who was responsible for scoring Square Enix's long-running Dragon Quest franchise, pass??ed away on September 30 at the age of?? 90.

Sugiyama is a noted figurehead in Japanese media, having composed the scores for numerous films, TV shows, and anime. For video game fans, Sugiyama is best known for his work on Dragon Quest, scoring 11 entries and contributing over 500 individual pieces to the fantasy adventure series. Offering the franchise its unmistakable sound for over four decades, Sugiyama's final work will feature in the upcoming Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate.

Away from music, Sugiyama's legacy is tarnished by his controversia??l political beliefs. A staunch Japanese nationalist, Sugiyama was a noted denier of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre �a horrific event of World War II wherein Japanese soldiers murdered tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians during a six-week occupation of the then-Chinese capital. In 2007, Sugiyama would join other publicized nationalists in co-signing a letter to The Washington Post, criticizing the U.??S. government's demands that Japan apologize for its exploitation of women as sex slaves during the conflict.

In 2015, Sugiyama co-hosted a Japanese television show, agreeing? with controversial politician Mio Sugita that Japan should not educate its youth on LGBTQ matters. The conversation also questioned the validity of LGBTQ suicide ra??????????????????????????tes, and asked whether childless LGBTQ couples played a negative role in Japanese society. Sugiyama would recant some of these comments in part, saying that he backed the government's occasional support of the LGBTQ community.

Koichi Sugiyama's funeral was a reportedly small affair attended only by his immediate family. In a statement released following his passing, Square Enix has asked its fans not to se?nd gifts or contributions at the Sugiyama family's request. The publisher will hold an In Memorium celebration of th?e composer's life and work at some point in the future.

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Cblogs of 5/22 to 5/28/2021

-Gamingnerd writes an excellent retrospective on the Dragon Quest series on its 35th anniversary.

-Nior discu??sses the gaming industry in Brazil by sharing the story about the failings of the world's?? first digital-only console.

-Mr Knives imagines some fruitful game partnerships bet?ween some famous games that could produce an even better game?.

-Flegma talks about maps in video games and the impo?rtance ??of "orienteering" in development.

-Exber reviews Pandora's Tower on the Wii.

-Humantofu wonders if there is really a proper way to play The House of the Dead today.

-RiffRaff writes about the history of the Adv??enture genre by focusing on some key examples.

-Black Red Gaming continues their playthrough on Sir Brante's Life, According to Myself and Others.

-Skeet warns Sega that a riot is coming if they don't release Daytona USA on the Switch.

-Shoggoth2588 responds to this month's BoB prom?pt regarding photo mode by? detailing his difficulties engaging with such modes.

-My Enormous Hairy Downstairs Kitchen writes about the magnificent speed of Wipeout 4.

-GoofierBrute writes about Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures in this blogging series exploring games that time ??forg??ot.

-Virtua Kazama bids farewell to Virtua Fighter :Final Showdown as it leaves the fighting tournament scene.

-GamingDino introduces the Raptor in ARK: Survival Evolved.

-PhilsPhindings discusses the similarities between the soundtrack of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake and typical movie soundtracks.

-Milk3y wants to know about your opinion on the various Star Wars content that has been released over the years.

-ABowlOfCereal continues their thoughts on balancing Guardian Tales, with this blog focusing on ranged combat.

-TheBlondeBass wants to makes some "Weapon Stories" for Nier: Automata.

-Exber writes abo??ut his experience as a home school tea?cher and how sometimes it feels like a video game.

-ChronoLynxx opens this week's TGIF ?thread for open community discussion.

Thanks to our readers for the great blogs and to Lord Spencer for providing us with the recap. This week, Destructoid will undergo some technical, which may temporarily a??ffect the Cblog section as various levers are flipped and dials are spun. So jus?t this bear this in mind if you plan to write a blog this week. Hopefully normal service will be resumed ASAP.

The post Dragon Quest at 35: What are your? memories o??f this legendary series? appeared first on Destructoid.

Several games draw near. Command?

See Nintendo, this is how you celebrate a franchise's 35th anniversar??y.

Square Enix hosted a live stream earlier this evening to celebrate 35 years of Dragon Quest, and buddy, it did not disappoint. Six games and updates were announced during the stream, including the confirmation of the next entry in the mainline series, Dragon Quest XII. Below, I have wrapped up ever??ything revealed in the stream.

The next numbered entry in the series will be Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate. DQXII will make changes to the traditional turn-based combat system. It's unclear what those changes will be, but Yuji Horii did state the Command feature will still be a part of the game and the development team is currently working with a few prototypes. No release date or platforms were named, but it was stated Square Enix is aim?ing for a simultaneous worldw??ide release.

Dragon Quest X will update t??o Ver. 6 this year. Still no plans for a worldwide release??. Specifically said during the stream there are no plans to release the game outside of Japan.

Dragon Quest X Offline was announced and will feature a completely different visual style than the MMO. Can play through it solo. Aiming to release in 2022 in Japan. No platforms were mentioned and also not confirmed for worldwide re??lease.

Dragon Quest Treasures is a new spin-off of the series from the team behind Dragon Quest Monsters. It will feature Erik and Mia as children. The main t?hemes of the game are "childhood" and "treasure." It is a 3D RPG, but not a traditional one. No platforms were mentioned, but aiming for a simultaneous worldwide release.

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is a remake of Dragon Quest III from the people behind Octopath Traveler and Various Daylife. Worldwide release on consoles. No release date yet. Remakes of Dragon Quest I and Dragon Quest II were hinted at as well.

Dragon Quest Keshikeshi is a m??atch-three puzzler for mobile releasing this year. Monsters from the series have been turned into tiny erasers that you line up to erase pictures. Will be free-to-play.

Additionally, a new entry in the Dragon Quest Monsters series is in the planning stages, but it wasn't shown off during the live stream. Yuji Horii?? also showed off some new franchise me??rch, but it's for Japan only.

The post Square Enix announces Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate and it’s getting a simultaneous worldwide release appeared first on Destructoid.

Rebuild the world all over again

The journey of the apprentice builder and his amnesiac? friend Malroth is coming to Xbox, and it will be headed to Game Pass as well.

Square Enix and Xbox confirmed today that 2019's Dragon Quest Builders 2 is coming to Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S (via backward compatibility) on May 4. The sandbox builder-RPG will also come to Xbox Game Pass for console, clou?d, and PC on the same day.

Dragon Quest Builders 2 is a follow-up to 2016's original spinoff, which combines Minecraft-like block-s??tacking and crafting with some RPG tenets and an overarching narrative. New to the sequel was a large island that acted as your home-away-from-home, as you and Malroth went island hopping in search of new denizens and materi??als.

It was a pretty solid sequel, and something about the building in Dragon Quest Builders keeps me coming back. The ability to build specific rooms with functions that your town's citizens will fill, like making food or arming themselves for battle, makes th??e cities you build feel alive. Game Pass owners looking for a building kick should absolutely give this one a shot next week.

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Hands on with the closed beta

If you've never heard of Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai, I wouldn't blame you. The manga series started in the pages of Weekly ShÅnen Jump back in 1989, following the exploits of the titular Dai and his friends as they embarked on a quest for revenge in a world full of humans, demons, and the classic monsters of the Dragon Quest series. The comic ran until 1996 and was also adapted into an anime, as well as?? a few theatrical films, back in the '90s??. 

After lying dormant for a few decades, Square Enix has revived the property with a new manga series, a new anime adaptation of the original manga, and a trio of games that were announced last spring. A Hero's Bonds is the first of those games to make it outside of Japan. It's a free-to-play RPG developed by DeNA and published by Square Enix. DeNA is a developer you probably most associate with Nintendo's mobile output, but it's worked with Square Enix before on the hit title Final Fantasy: Record Keeper. 

A Hero's Bonds represents the developer's first crack at the Dragon Quest franchise, but rather than doing something bold with it to make the title stand out in a ruthlessly?? competitive field, De?NA has chosen to play it disappointingly safe.

After Dragon Quest Tact, a serviceable tactical spin on the franchise that released out west earlier this year, I was hoping the franchise's next mobile outing would be a little more engaging. To its credit, A Hero's Bonds does feature a style of gameplay I find quite promising. It takes the auto-combat feature found in most free-to-play RPGs and applies it to the auto-runner formula. Each action stage of the game sees your team running down a three-lane corridor, coming face-to-face with Dragon Quest monsters. Your team will attack ?on their own; all you need to do is swipe your hero to the correct lane to actually hit the monsters, activate their special skills when they're fully charged, and block and dodge enemy attacks.

It's a surprisingly fun mash-up of ideas that quickly feels too bare-bones. While each corridor may feature a different location and aesthetic, every level I played in this closed beta was nothing more than a strai??ght line that I completed in less than a minute. There were just a few enemy encounters in each stage, culminating in a simple boss battle, before I was knocked back out to the menu to continue the game's narrative.

A Hero's Bonds actually has two connected stories to play through. "Dragon Tracks" covers the events of The Adventure of Dai manga and plays into "Bonding Journey," which is an original story featuring a player-created character that focuses on building bonds wi??th their partners. While some action levels will limit who you can have in your party, I could use my created character throughout both storylines if I wanted. As this is an RPG with leveling and all, it is important to make sure both Dai and my character got some time on the battlefield.

In these action stages, players only control their lead hero, while support characters act on their own accord. Popp and Maam, both character's from The Adventure of Dai and ??the first two partners you unlock, are pretty formidable on their own. They helped me get some easy SS ran??kings in the beginner's difficulty, but also held their own when I unlocked additional quests and modes that increase the shallow challenge. Though, that could be because I got some really lucky pulls with the game's gacha system.

Yes, A Hero's Bonds is a gacha game. It also has multiple currencies, an energy system, a crap-ton of lore, crafting, and everything else some AAA mobile developers can't seem to move beyond. I've written before about how the pandemic has altered my outlook on these types of menu-heavy, free-to-play RPGs. That hasn't changed even as we draw closer to the light at the end of the tunnel. It doesn't help that I started playing this at the tail-end of my review session of Fantasian, another mobile RPG that lacks ??everything our rea??ders consistently remind us they hate about mobile gaming.

The best compliments I can pay Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai: A Hero's Bonds is that it's got a unique gameplay hook. It's beauti??ful, and its soundtrack is appropriately epic. It's not the worst thing you can download to your phone, but at the end of the day, it's another free-to-play mobile RPG that's still clinging to old ideas of what those types of games should look like.

Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai: A Hero's Bonds is now av??ailable for preregistration and will release later this year for iOS and Andr??oid.

_{[This preview is based on an Early Access build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai: A Hero’s Bonds is as beautiful as it is formulaic appeared first on Destructoid.

Cblogs of 4/2 to 4/9/2021

-Seymour rates every singl??e game they played? in the first quarter of 2021.

-Dinoracha shares their thoughts on a big story moment in Dragon Quest XI.

-Kerrik52 reviews Tales of Berseria as a part of their Traveler in Playtime revi?ew blogs.

-Siflox Gaming reviews the current version of Fortnite.

-Black Red Gaming shares a list of four games the??y thinks everyone should play.

-Moths explains why Monster Hunter is now the only series they buy at launch.

-Taterchimp shares a list of their Top 10 food.

-Exber refl??ects on the first year they started blogging on De??structoid.

-ABowlOfCereal shares their balancing ideas for Guardian Tales.

-PhilsPhindings discusses the similarities between the music of Super Mario Land and Japanese Folk music.

-Queen of Philosophy opens this week's TGIF open community forum.

Thank you for this week's great content! Thanks, as always, to Lord Spencer for providing us with the recap. If you'd like to see your own thoughts captured for posterity on our front page, then head on over to the Cblogs? and have at it. We always enjoy reading your innermost thoughts!

The post We’re a third through 2021 already! Do you already have a GOTY frontrunner? appeared first on Destructoid.

No more hot plates, hopefully

Speedrunners have a knack for finding new ways to mess with games in the search of faster clear times, and the latest Dragon Quest 3 strategy is no exception. Runner Hitshee has now cleared Dragon Quest 3 in under seven minutes by swapping the cartridge around with a few other games wh?ile playing.

In a video, Hitshee broke down their strategy, which involves pulling the cartridge for Dragon Quest 3 and inserting several other games: Dr. Mario, Final Fantasy, and Kirby's Adventure. They recorded their full playthrough of the speedrun, but the video in the tweet below highlig??hts the c?artridge-swapping action.

ドラクエ3 ãªã‚“ã§ã‚‚ã‚ã‚ŠRTA å˜ç™ºæœ¬ä½“ãƒãƒ£ãƒ¼ãƒˆæ™‚ã®æœ€é€ŸRUN 動画アップã—ã¾ã—ãŸã€‚
(実æ³å‹•ç”»ï¼‰FC版 ドラゴンクエスト3 ãªã‚“ã§ã‚‚ã‚ã‚ŠRTA ä»»æ„コード実行ãƒãƒ£ãƒ¼ãƒˆ 6:47 //t.co/8tCN7ww2IE #sm38547442 #ニコニコ動画 #ドラゴンクエスト3 #RTA pic.twitter.com/bpg9unTztJ

— Hitsheegame＠ホットプレート使ㄠRTAinJapan (@Hitsheegame) April 7, 2021

Nintendo Enthusiast broke down Hitshee's explanation of the technique. By swapping in new cartridges and inputting specific commands, it will result in some rewrites that result in maxed-out party members, item codes being rewritten, and the game getting a little buggy. Once the right swaps and inputs have happened, the player can simply Zoom to the castle in Tantegel and, with a few finishing moves, be greeted with the ending of Dragon Quest 3.

Dragon Quest 3 runners are no stranger to odd techniques. It wasn't that long ago that some in this "anything goes" category were putting their consoles on a hot plate after discovering they could bug saves when their cartridges reached a specific t??emperature.

Not only does this seem a little bit safer, it also has some real results. In the video above, Hitshee sets a time of 6:47.10, and they've posted times below six minutes as well. The ingenuity of speedrunners to not just find fast methods for beating a game on its own terms, but to discover any way the??y can shave minutes off a run—even resorting to hot plates and hot swaps—will always amaze me.

The post New Dragon Quest 3 speedrun ?strategy involves swapping around other cartridges appeared first on Destructoid.

Cblogs Recap: Week 52

-Lord Spencer writes a report on the top 80-71 games in Retro Sanctuary's Top 100 PS1 games as part of his PS1 REVIEWS blogg??ing series.

-Spinnerweb remembers the forgotten GameCube game, P.N. 03.

-Gamingnerd writes about the history? of?? selecting difficulty in games.

-Siddartha85 discusse?s some major video game media moments in 2020.

-Amburger reviews Dragon Quest XI S on the Nintendo Switch.

-Black Red Gaming reviews Super Mario 64 as part of Mario's All-Star package.

-Shoggoth2588 responds to this month's Band of Bloggers prompt regarding finishing games by focusing on his completion of Persona 4 Golden.

-Exber discusses his top nine video games of the decade.

-Lord Spencer reviews Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare as part of his PS1 REVIEWS series.

-Virtua Kazuma discusses the top 10 difficult moves to pull off in the Virtua Fighter series.

-PhilsPhindings discusses the similarities between the opera music in Final Fantasy VI and other opera music.

-Spinnerweb thinks it is about time we start roma??nticizing the 2000s and goes down memory la??ne to do just that.

-Siddartha85 di??scusses some major music-related media mo??ments in 2020.

-Beatlemaniaxx reflects on his addiction to collectibles during his time with Assassin's Creed II.

-PhilsPhindings discusses the similarities between the music of Super Mario Bros. and several jazz tunes.

-Siddartha85 discus?ses some major fantasy book series media mo??ments.

-ChronoLynxx is back for anot?her TGIF open community discussion forum.

Thanks as always to Lord Spencer for the Cblog Recap and to our community members for their thoughts and feelings on a variety of topics this festive season??. If you want to see ?your own thoughts included in next week's recap, head over to our Community Blogs and spill those words!

The post Cblog??s of 12/19 to 12/25/2020: Alone in the Dark, Virtua Fighter, and difficulty choices appeared first on Destructoid.

To make way for Dragon Quest XI S today

In a move that probably won't hugely affect that many people but is still interesting to note, Square Enix has stopped selling Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age on the PlayStation Store and Steam in favor of only offering the just-launched Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition.

The digital PS4 version of Dragon Quest XI is "not available for purchase" from the PlayStation Store and the PC version is "unlisted on the Steam store and will not a??ppear in search." So it goes.

In many regards, the Definitive Edition is a big step up from the prior release. There are worthwhile new features – like the labor-of-love 2D mode, a lovely orchestrated soundtrack, and an even ?faster battle speed option – but the visual fidelity took a hit, and that's been a sticking point for some fans.

As previously noted by Square Enix, Definitive Edition is "a port of the Nintendo Switch version, so the graphics are not the same as they were for the original Dragon Quest XI for PlayStation 4. Please note, however, that the resolution ??and frame rate a?re at least as good as they were for the [original release]."

Of c?ourse, ??the bigger issue is that the publisher didn't give players an upgrade path or discount. If you want to experience the new stuff, it's gonna be $40, even if you bought the original edition.

At least there's a gigantic demo!

[Via Reddit]

The post The non-D??efinitive ver?sion of Dragon Quest XI was delisted on Steam and the PlayStation Store appeared first on Destructoid.

If you clear the demo, you'll get a few Seed of Skill bonuses

If you're in the mood for Dragon Quest XI S and want to get a head-start on December's Definitive Edition release for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, there's a m??eaty new demo on all three platforms.

The demo spans "the entirety of the opening chapters," according to Square Enix, and apart from being able to transfer your file to the full game, you'll earn three stat-boosting Seed of Skill items as a bonus. It's pretty wild to think about a demo exceeding th??e length (and quality) of full commercial games??.

There's a lot packed into this version of Dragon Quest XI, hence that long-ass name. This improved port of the Nintendo Switch game runs better and has all of the previous niceties like the orchestrated soundtrack, an ??ultra-fast speed toggle, Japanese VO, and the nost??algia-inducing top-down 2D mode.

Things get a little funky when you look into side-by-side-by-side comparisons of Dragon Quest XI, the Switch edition, and this Definitive Edition release, but I think the pros?? far outweigh the? cons.

Is it just me, or has there been an influx of unusually generous game demos la?tely? I'm in heaven.

The post Dragon Quest XI S has a 10-hour D?efinitive Edition demo on PC, PS4, and Xbox One appeared first on Destructoid.

I can play this until they localize Dragon Quest Walk

Dragon Quest of the Stars hit North America at just the wrong time earlier in 2020. Arriving almost five years after its initial release in Japan, the free-to-play, gacha RPG reached our shores right around the same time COVID-19 did. A month later, my employer put out a memo instructing anybody who could work from home to do so, and soon enough I found myself dropping off this mobile adventure in favor of Dragon Quest XI S - Definitive Edition on my Switch.

In a few months though, depending on how this winter goes, I'll start going back to the office for a few days a week. Because I won't be stuck at home as much, I'm probably going to once again find time for those simple little gacha games that help pass the time. And while Dragon Quest of the Stars still has some life to it that I wouldn't be against picking it back up, it may have to step aside for Dragon Quest Tact.

Dragon Quest Tact impressed me right off the bat with its production values. This game looks gorgeous and runs fantastically on my Google Pixel 3a. We haven't seen too many Dragon Quest mobile titles reach our shores to compare, but the classic DQ monsters really pop here. The battlegrounds have enough detail and charm as well to show a lot of work went into them. The layout of the actual tactical grid might be incredibly basic, with a flat fighting surf?ace that occasionally features cluttered rubble to block your way, but that puts it on par with the tactical combat.

Your best source of comparison for Dragon Quest Tact is Fire Emblem Heroes. The battlegrounds can be a bit bi??gger, and there is no weapons triangle to manage, but the casual nature of the game is the same. This isn't trying to replicate a more extensive tactics game you'd find on console and PC. Rather, it's comfortably designed for the mobile experience, getting you in and out of battles as quickly as possible.

Because this is a gacha game, there is a lot of loot to collect. You can add new monsters to your team through the campaign or scout the??m with random gacha draws. You can only have one of each monster in your repertoire, so if you want a team of slimes, you need to make sure you have at least five different types of slimes. Like with other gacha games, all that loot you acquire can be put to good use leveling up your characters, strengthening their moves, raising their rank, and boosting your profile rank. If that sounds like every other free-to-play gacha game, well, you're not wrong.

So if this has all the elements found in other F2P mobile games, what makes it better than, say, Tom Clancy's Elite Squad? Basically, its superiority to that and many other similar titles has to do with the base gameplay. Dragon Quest Tact is simply more engaging and enjoyable to play. It may lack depth, but it's not afraid to throw a challenge your way even in its early hours. I had an S-ranked and an A-ranked character from my first freebie pull, but by the third chapter, I really had to start paying attention to the make-up of my team and how best to take down enemies as fast as possible. As with most free-to-play games, if you stick with it, you'll eventually face more challenging battles that you might be able to conquer with grinding, coughing up cash, or displaying a competent amount of skill. Nothing from this preview period required the former two tactics, but chances are quite likely it'll goad players to drop some dough when those inevitable Final Fantasy crossovers start.

I would be lying if I said I didn't look at Dragon Quest Tact with a tinge of disappointment following the blockbuster success of Genshin Impact, but it's probably unfair to hold this title up to that game's standards. I mean, who knew miHoYo would pull that off as well as it did? While Genshin may be the future of free-to-play gacha games, or at least the new gold standard, this is an excellent example of the genre as we've come to ?know it.

Dragon Quest Tact&n??bsp;is out now in Japan ??and will launch in the rest of the world in early 2021.

_{[This preview is based on an Early Access build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Drago??n Quest Tact may not be that tactical, but it is a charming diversi?on appeared first on Destructoid.

'Tact' is short for 'Tactical'... You're welcome

Dragon Quest devotees might be pleased to hear that Square Enix has confirmed an English localisation of mobile battler Dragon Quest Tact. Having previously launched in Japan this past summer, the ??strategic monster-scrapper is now headed west on iOS and Android devices.

Despite its moniker, Dragon Quest Tact has nothing to do with offering constructive criticism without committing a social f??aux-pas. In fact, it is a grid-based battle game which sees players gather up famous monsters and critters from across the fantasy RPG fra??nchise, before sending them into battle, managing each of your minions' strengths and weaknesses to ensure victory.

You're all waiting for it, so let's get to it: Dragon Quest Tact is a free-to-play title with in-game purchases, though Square Enix states you can build up a menagerie of freely-available monsters without spending a penny. If you're interested, then pre-registration is available right now on Google Play. You can find out more about the game's mechanics on the new English website.

Dragon Quest Tact is getting an intern?ational release [TouchArcade]

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Launching December 4 with Xbox Game Pass support

After a stint on Nintendo Switch, Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition is coming to PlayStation 4, PC (Steam), and Xbox One (including?? Xbox Game Pass?) on December 4, 2020.

It's a hell of a name for a hell of a game. And it's about time Xbox players get to experience this series??.

Building on the already whimsical base game, the Definitive Edition of Dragon Quest XI has bonus story scenarios woven into the original adventure, a lavish 16-bit mode, a much-appreciated orchestrated soundtrack, the Japanese voice track, battle speed options, a photo mode, and miscellaneous gameplay features like hassle-free crafting to "make the game smoother ??and more convenient to play."

That said, expect some visual quirks due to the Definitive Edi??tion's Switch lineage.

"It's a port of the Nintendo Switch version, so the graphics are not the same as they were for the original Dragon Quest XI for PlayStation 4," according to Square Enix. "Please note, however, that the resolution and frame rate are at least as good as they? were for the original PlayStation 4 release."

Square Enix is selling Dragon Quest XI S for $40 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One,?? and there's no upgrade option or discount for current players who want to experience the new Definitive Edition content.

At least th?e price is where it needs to be for players who are coming in fresh.

@DragonQuest [Twitter]

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Coming in 2021

Dragon Quest is one of the more traditionalist video game franchises you'll find on the market. New games in the mainline series play nearly identical to those in the past. If you want new ideas and concepts to toy around with as you fight to survive against those classic Dragon Quest enemies, you'll need to? look to the spin-offs of?? the franchise.

Infinity Slash (or is it Infinity Strash) Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai was announced this morning and it eschews the classic turn-based combat the series is known for in favor of a fast-paced action-RPG format. Serious fans of the series might recognize Dai as the lead character from the Shoñen Jump manga series that ran from the late '80s through the mid-'90s. Dai has been making a big comeback as of late with an appearance in last year's Jump Force, a new?? anime series set to launch in Japan this year, and three upcoming games: a mobile RPG, a card-based arcade game, and the console title seen in the trailer above.

Watching that video, I am totally on board for whatever this game has in store. The Adventure of Dai will launch in 2021, however, it'?s currently unknown which platforms it will hit. Based solely on that video and its launch window, the PlayStation 5 seems like a no brainer, but might it also hit the PS4 and Switch? Hopefully, we'll get more information soon.

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Gems for sale! Get your gems!

Dragon Quest is, without a doubt, one of my favorite properties in all of entertainment. It's also one that tends to leave me yearning far more often than it quenches my thirst for it. While we in the west need not fear a lack of localization for non-MMO mainline entries in the franchise, a good chunk of Dragon Quest games don't see our shores. Several 3DS titles never left Japan, along with ?numerous arca?de machines and mobile apps.

One such app was Hoshi no Dragon Quest. Originally release?d in Japan back in 2015, it seemed destined to stay exclusive to its home turf until last year, when Square Enix announced a localization was on the way. I eagerly downloaded it the moment it became available, fully aware that a five-year-old, free-to-play mobile RPG might be set up to squeeze me out of some cash rather than provide me with a worthwhile adventure.

Dragon Quest of the Stars (iOS, Android)
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Released: February 25, 2020 (US/EU), October 15, 2015 (Japan)
MSRP: Free-to-play w/ Microtransactions

Dragon Quest of the Stars has a familiar opening for most any seasoned JRPG fan: a hero washes up on a shore with no memory of who they are or how they got there. With help from a furry local and two others found on the beach, you set off to discover who you are while curing what ails the people of a strange and magical world. Of the Stars begins with a quick charac??ter creator before sending players to Innish Isle, the tutorial map and beginning of what promises to be a long and expensive journey.

The few quests found on Innish Isle explain the basics of Dragon Quest of the Star's limited gameplay. You're presented with a destination on a map. Select it, and your crew will set off, joined by a fourth party member drafted from a pool of computer-created NPCs until they're replaced with characters from other players a bit later in the game. Before you set off for each destination,? you can see how many battles you'll encounter and the minimum level your party should be. Most everything on this first island is a cakewalk, especially considering all the free loot the game gives players just for downloading and starting it up.

When you do get into battles, your party attacks automatically. You can dictate which opp??onents they target, but most of your intera?ction in these fights will be boiled down to blocking and using special moves. These moves along with the guard function are set to meters that build throughout each fight. When you guard, your characters will guard for a few turns. Using special moves at the right time can actually give your party twice as many attacks in a turn if you play your cards right. In the early hours of the game the smartest tactic is to let all your special attacks build up and only unleash them in a chain attack on bosses.

Boss battles are predominantly found in dungeons. Dungeons are presented as individual floors with a set number of battles you must win to proceed. Each dungeon floor will have a trio of additional ?tasks, such as don't die or don't use any items, to complete for added bonuses. Once you reach the second island, these tasks will become more varied and you may need to revisit one after you obtain a specific type of weapon, or are using a certain vocation to fully complete it.

There is a lot of junk to collect in this game, from weapons and armor to items and ingredients. There a??re also coins and gems to collect, which is the perfect segue to talk about the various microtransactions available.

If you have money, Dragon Quest of the Stars is ready and willing to take it. You can buy gems -- sold at prices similar to other free-to-play RPGs -- that can be used to expand your inventory, expand your saf??e storage, buy loot boxes, or refill your energy meter (each quest you take costs a certain number of energy points). Then there are the special bundles that can go for as high as $25, guaranteeing you certain sets of armor and weapons as well as other items. There's also the Star Pass monthly subscription fee for $8.99 a month. This will net players limited-time equipment, extra equipment lockers, one free stamina refill a day, additional luck and more.

You can also buy the Star Adventurer's Passport, which can o??nly be purchased with gems you purchase rather than earn. This will grant you tickets for lucky chest draws (i.e. loot boxes), additional luck, and extra storage. If you buy the passport once, you'll also be eligible for the Premium Login Bonus, which gives you four- and five-star items each time you log in for 10 days. Both the pass and the passport will also give you the "opportunity" to buy a Star Pass Gem Pack. I have no idea what that is but I'm guessing it has something to do with the Star Pass Coins you can exchange for exceptionally rare items and keys that open special dungeons.

That is a lot to deal with and like most other free-to-play games, you're hit with a few ads for these available purchases each time you start it up. Once you get past all that though, it's a pretty standard mobile JRPG with a delightful Dragon Quest coating. Everything you get through gameplay can be sold, upgraded, traded, or merged?? with other items. There are recipes to unlock, event dungeons to conquer, and? missions to complete. Like most free-to-play games, these early hours are exceptionally generous and the way the game threw overpowered weapons at me through the free loot box pulls has eliminated any sense of a challenge so far. 

It remains to be seen if that will be true the further I get into the campaign, and I'll admit, that's the only thing keeping me going right now. This tale of my hero, his companions, Cyril the Squirril, and my grandfather-in-a-book Gaius traveling to defeat the Master of the Dark Star is, at the very least, intriguing. The bright Dragon Quest artwork is certainly a welcome sight on my phone, though I am a bit disappointed with the game's performance so far. There is a lot of pop-in on my Google Pixel 3a and I've experienced an armful of momentary freezes. Nothing to ruin the experience, but certainly evidence that, perhaps, this ?five-year-old game hasn't been optimized for newer devices.

Either way, my journey to become the Questocrat I was born to be has just begun and I can only hope the rest of Dragon Quest of the Stars manages to stay away from the free-to-play trappings that h?ave ruined so many other mobile games.

_{[This review in progress is based on a retail version of the game downloaded for free from Google Play]}

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