In the absence of a Dragon Quest XI that is slow to arrive on the Nintendo Switch, Dragon Quest Builders offered a place in Europe in early February 2018! On the program of the castagne as always, but especially of the construction! But does Square Enix really have the backbone strong enough to shake Minecraft?
Subjugated by the evil Lordragon, the kingdom of Alefgard has descended into chaos following the betrayal of a hero!Yet the goddess Ruby does not intend to sit idly by, she gathers her last strength to form the one who will bring light to the kingdom: you! But not by fighting, but by building…
After a brief introduction and explanation of the basic movements, you are sent on your first mission to the Cantelin region with a banner of hope. You will see for yourself the state of the world in desolation and on Rubiss' advice you will begin to set up camp while planting the standard in this ruined city, which will allow you to signal to other creatures that the era of darkness is over. Happy with this news, newcomers will flock in dribs and drabs. All with a special character and different aspirations, they will commission you to build objects that will improve your daily life. Nevertheless, even if the story asks you to complete these quests to discover the sequel, the game gives you total freedom to perform them immediately or not. Throughout your epic, new regions will be revealed to you, which will be synonymous with new resources, but also new monsters. The major difference between the classic Dragon Quest and Builders episodes is in the evolution of your character. As he is not considered a hero, he will remain at the same level throughout his adventure. To face the growing obstacles, you will simply need to equip yourself with better parts.
Nevertheless, your exploration, as free as it is, will force you to do battle with the hostile beings of these abandoned lands. If escape is an option, combat seems inevitable if you want to harvest in peace. To do this, Dragon Quest offers you a minimalist gameplay between the fast attack and the charged attack. The fights are not really the difficulty of Dragon Quest Builders, except possibly the bosses at the end of the chapter. Each monster has an attack pattern that it repeats endlessly, so you just have to dodge them and find the right placement and timing to deliver the necessary blows. In addition to being present in the world, monsters sensing the evolution of your camp will regularly attack it, as in Ys VIII. You will then have to repel the monsters accompanied by your inhabitants until the rout of the hostile creatures.
I found it a shame that the gameplay is so little exploited in the fights. Since changing weapons is done with a simple pressure, being able to insert weapons at a distance or weaknesses in blades, hammer or ranged weapons could have been a good idea without upsetting the available keys.
Over the chapters, the difficulty increases either by resources that are more difficult to access, or equipment upgrades that are more complicated to unlock. The islands follow one another without looking alike, since with each chapter you will take a new start in an ecosystem quite different from the old. Meadow, desert, desolation, each island has its own resources, monsters and difficulties to overcome and the more you advance in the story the more you will understand how the world withered away. The universe of the series is very well highlighted by the graphic paw and the different collectibles and characters present and the scenario releases a certain addiction, to always go further.
Although the missions are very similar, the general atmosphere of each chapter as well as their geography, resources and the personality of the characters who join you are very diverse which makes the adventure pleasant while avoiding redundancy. The soundtrack fits perfectly to the universe of Dragon Quest and humor is very present to make the title sometimes epic, sometimes light.
And even if Dragon Quest Builders gives you some freedom, you can still if you want to do without scenario, through the free mode. This one doesn't give you any instructions except how to interact with your friends.This allows you to share your creations, but not really to interact directly with your friends as the multiplayer mode of Minecraft offers. Nevertheless, it is interesting to know that by completing the story mode, it will feed the free mode of Islands to explore, and will also give you the opportunity to craft certain items, unlocked by completing hidden objectives.
Dragon Quest Builders is for me the most accessible episode of the saga in terms of audience. With its simple gameplay, its colorful universe and its light humor, it allows the youngest to discover a mythical license in Japan. Its great freedom allows you to tackle quests when you want and to let yourself go to your desires the rest of the time.
Although it has too simple fights and a rather anecdotal multi mode, Dragon Quest Builders is a real success by its addictive scenario and its respect for the universe of the franchise. It remains a good alternative for the curious who would like to start building games, while having a real accompaniment. With a rather fragile start to the year in terms of big licenses on the Switch, it is a must for the console at the beginning of 2018.
