Dragon Quest Builders 2
Stuck in my ways throughout the past decade, I have been centered on console gaming. Last week I bought my first handheld gaming device… the Nintendo Switch. The first game I purchased? Dragon Quest Builders 2 (DQB2). Coming from a much-loved background in Minecraft (and the hundreds of hours put into mining and building cities, ball parks, industrial centers and everything in between), I figured this game would be a good transition.
Three Important Aspects Of Dragon Quest Builders 2
I didn’t know much about the game when I bought it, other than what I saw on the back of the box. Basically, I was blind in the purchase but after days of grinding at the detail-intense story mode, I am pleasantly surprised with all aspects of the game. Those aspects, which is what I will discuss today include: true gameplay, mechanics and physics, as well as the story mode.
Gameplay
The whole premise of your character is the fact that he or she is the only builder left after a demonic destruction across the planet. The gameplay of the DQB2 is insanely well put together. One can easily spend hours on quests, thinking they’ve progressed, but truly only put a dent in the realm of things. Think of the game play, very similar to Minecraft in the ways you break down different types of resources in the form of a 3D cube. You use those resources to help build the farms and towns around you, taking special requests from NPCs to build certain things (rooms or houses, bathrooms, a kitchen, or maybe just a place to hang out). The quests you do are very important though, even if you think you can get through the main mission without doing the side quests, you are seriously mistaken; I highly suggest that once a quest from an NPC presents itself you take it right away. Doing this will end up making things much much easier in the long run. While quest might take some time to do or even to figure out, what is going on in them they are definitely a good way to build or replenish your resources, that you might need for something later. Most of the quests end in your builder learning a new recipe, or at times they end with the NPC giving some sort of item, thus that information or item will be extremely helpful moving forward.
Mechanics & Physics
Along with the gameplay, the mechanics and physics of the software are very well put together. There is an easy transition from when you choose to go from 1st person POV to 3rd person POV. These options will come in handy when you are building/breaking blocks, planting, and harvesting. It’s much easier to use the 1st person POV to in my opinion, (while building or farming) because it allows you to see exactly where you are putting those blocks or where you are trying to move blocks to and from. Now for combat I would suggest that you use 3rd person POV because you can see the different enemies/monsters around you, as well as what their next move will be (so you can defend or attack better). Other dimensions include the graphics of the game and obviously that depends on the tv, if you dock your switch or not. Even playing solely on the tablet, I was presently surprised with the true-graphics and how smooth the game plays. With the running, flying, building/breaking, farming and harvesting… it is not that pixilated cube we are used to seeing in Minecraft or similar games. These blocks truly represent what they are. If you construct a piece of hardwood floor, you can see the details change from a single block from a tree, into new floorboards. As well, with the character you create, he or she is not just a Gumby looking blocked out figure. These are little Dragon Ball Z looking humans!
The physics, graphics and gameplay of DQB2 helps you out a lot. One way would definitely be combat. Something I like about the combat in the game, is it is not just your average “Versus… whatever monster you are going after”. You got your boy Malroth following you around pretty much everywhere you go and helping you in all areas. Whether it is fighting, breaking block or farming. While he tried his hand in building, he completely failed and became your trusty side kick in the fight again the Evil Children of Hargon. The Evil Children of Hargon is a cult like organization that has been working towards getting rid of all creation-based items in the way of building, cooking, farming and much more.
Story Mode
Now to where I am in the content-heavy story mode. I have crash landed on an island and have met Malroth and another NPC, whom you help build out a safe space. I have traveled from my home island to the next island of Furrowfield where you meet a village that has been eradicated of farming and building. I am, in short, rebuilding their village and bringing it back to the glory it once had. Along the way you complete quests for various NPCs in the village, and eventually find more people to join your team and help rebuild the village. The main objective of this mission is to rebuild this magical tree they refer to as the Deitree, and rebuild the village.
The biggest thing here is the fact you must do all of the quests in order to complete the main missions. As I said before doing these quests will make the main mission requests easier. This chapter of the game has taken me 20+ hours as I now realize that this story mode will be heavy and will take literally days to complete. Which, if you are like me and enjoy grinding, mining resources and building things from scratch to eventually see a beautiful finished product… then you find yourself playing a couple hours at time and it will feel like 10 minutes.
Dragon Quest Builders 2 Final Thoughts
I have a lot more of the game to play, and I thoroughly am looking forward to playing pretty much every day. I will continue to update the review as my progression grows and have more content to contribute. As for now I do highly suggest the game as long as you have the time for it. It is detailed heavy and the one downside being that the dialog is text-centric. Other than that it has been a spectacular game.
I look forward to hearing comments and questions regarding the game. Don’t hesitate to reach out with anything.
