Good morning everyone, I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and your Monday is going well so far.
I have decided to start this week off with a video game review of Dragon Quest Builders 2. This game was given to me as a birthday present from my boyfriend. It's something I've had on my Steam wish list for some time but was a little bit put off because to the price due to being unemployed. This review contains my own thoughts and experience of the game and has been played without trying the multiplayer features. I will be keeping this review story spoiler free for those that are interested in the game and have not played it or read too much in to it.
I put in a vast amount of hours playing this game to complete the story and enjoy building freely to unlock some extra Steam achievements. I have not collected all of the available recipes as of yet and will definitely be playing more to unlock everything. This is a game that will remain installed on my PC as it is just a delight to play and drop in and out of when you have that urge to build.
Dragon Quest Builders 2 is a cute little spin-off from the main Dragon Quest series which contains Minecraft building elements with a very simplistic story-line. As the hero builder, it's your job to get rid of an evil cult known as the "Children of Hargon" and help to rebuild the world they have destroyed. While this is the second game in the series, you are not required to play the first one in fear of being confused as the stories are not linked.
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| Image from my steam library, just missing 9 achievements |
In the world of Dragon Quest Builders 2, you find yourself sailing between different islands where you can unlock new materials, progress through the story and collect new recipes for your catalogue. New islands are unlocked by using a currency known as gratitude points so you will find yourself having to do some additional building to rack up these points so you can progress the story. The player has their own private island in the game that is a lovely feature but does require some building up for progression. One feature that I do like in Dragon Quest Builders 2, is the ability to allow NPC's to come and live on your island, it just feels much more alive and exciting to visit.
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| A little farm village I've been building after completing the story |
When building on different islands during the story mode, you do have some restrictions as to how far you can build. I found that once you left the town area, the music would change to indicate you are now out in the wilderness. Building outside of the perimeter would result in buildings not functioning properly so I found myself making lines to plan a layout to have enough space for all the building requirements and to ensure I was not building outside of the town area. I think some placed guidelines would be very beneficial to the player if they do decide to make another game in this series.
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| Pool party in the desert after completing the building! |
The game does feature a combat system that is rather basic and very reminiscent of Minecraft's combat.
As you level up, you unlock new armour and weapon recipes as well as learning new skills such as charging your weapon to deal damage to multiple targets. Leveling up is locked behind a specific number until you progress in the story so you cannot grind to gain advantage. As you play through the story, you may experience a battle scenario where you must defeat a wave of enemies without dying to progress further. Enemies can damage your buildings but do not worry, your towns folk will automatically repair any damages taken during a battle scenario. The same cannot be said when random enemies attack your base but fortunately, they usually do very little damage.
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| A gathering of enemies before a battle takes place |
One thing that bothered me very quickly was the camera distance when playing in third person view. In some areas of the game the camera would zoom in so much that it was extremely annoying, I found myself switching between first and third person views a lot to reset the camera distance. I reviewed settings in the options menu and also researched online as how to fix this issue with no avail. Building in third person view was very frustrating as you would hit the the wrong thing with your hammer or drop a block in the wrong place. I found myself having to switch to first person for extra precision which was not a bad thing but some players may not want to take this point of view.
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| First person view inside the throne room that I created |
An issue I did encounter that could possibly be a bug was when the NPC's assisted with large scale buildings. A new feature that was not present in the previous game, players could get help from the towns folk when building large scale projects. The player may need to assist by placing the required materials in to a chest which allows the NPC's to take control and build. I found on some occasions that the progress bar got stuck on 99% even though I ensured enough materials were available. I would scout the area and find no items blocking the way to restrict building which would end up with me having to finish the building myself. If I was having to finish a building myself, I would notice the required material was not in the chest due to a NPC already holding the item so I would have to craft another one.
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| A large pyramid that was built by NPC's with very little assistance from me |
Excluding the camera angles and NPC issue, Dragon Quest Builders 2 is definitely a game worth picking up if you are looking to relax and build in a fantasy world. I have played a lot of Minecraft in my time and feel that the Dragon Quest Builders series is more suited to me and more enjoyable to play. This is due to the art style, story and memorable characters. I also like the vast amount of decorative items available when building which Minecraft lacks in my opinion.
I enjoyed my time playing Dragon Quest Builders 2 and definitely recommend trying this game. It is a step-up from the first game and has a lot more features and building options. A demo is available on each platform if you wish to try the game before committing to a purchase.
What rating would I give Dragon Quest Builders 2? 8/10
I hope you all enjoyed reading my review for Dragon Quest Builders 2. Writing reviews is still a very new thing for me so do be gentle when leaving a comment, all constructive criticism is welcome. Please let me know if you have played this game and what your thoughts are in the comments below.
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| Ending this review with a little fireworks display :) |
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