Review: Dragon Quest Builders 2

Slimecraft

Dragon Quest Builders is one of the only games on the market to offer Minecraft better than Minecraft. It took the gameplay of the open world and probably the best selling game of all time and gave it all its meaning, adding a real sense of purpose as you roamed the country, rebuilding what was once. Dragon Quest Builders 2 tries to repeat this success, this time by building on the events of 1987 Dragon Quest 2. Whether or not as successful as the original will depend on exactly what you want these games.

Dragon Quest Builders 2 (Playstation 4 [reviewed], Switch)
Developer: Omega Force, Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Released: July 12, 2019
MSRP: $ 59.99

A bit like the first game, Dragon Quest Builders 2 presents players with a "what if?" situation following one of the games of the main series. Here, in the years following the defeat of Hargon and Malroth, a group of disciples known as "The Children of Hargon" pursues his vision, brainwashing the peoples of the world to lead them to lead a life of despair and destruction in a surprisingly opposite plot. religion. I do not know if that's what Square Enix had planned to do, but it's not hard to see parallels between the charges being lobbied against this cult and the actions of true organized religions.

The children of Hargon want to see the world slowly die, and any attempt to revive cities, farms, and cities that once existed faces violent vengeance. It goes without saying that this cult hates builders, that's why Manufacturers 2 starts with your builder on a prison ship, towards their inevitable disappearance. A strong storm ends up saving them, landing them on the island of Awakening. It is here that they meet the aforementioned Malroth, but as amnesic with a human form. After meeting the spirit of the island, they traveled to nearby lands to recruit people to rebuild the island of Awakening to its former glory.

Unlike his predecessor, Dragon Quest Builders 2 is a very simple game. He does not feel as open as his predecessor, and the pioneering sense of discovery that has resonated across all chapters of builders is absent in Manufacturers 2. Instead, the game flow is very similar to a standard Dragon Quest Game: You and Malroth discover a new city and try to solve all its problems before continuing. It's a formula that allows the game to slowly introduce new features and ideas to the players, but for those coming back from the first game, these new ideas can be introduced a bit too slowly. The gilder cape, which is so much talk, is introduced on the first island you visit, but concepts such as riding animals, coloring and metallurgy can take hours before you get those abilities.

Pacing is only one of the problems that extend to Manufacturers 2. There are not many islands to explore, so the game will do its utmost to extend the time that players have to spend in each main zone. It suits me to have to rebuild these cities – that's what we did in the last game – but every time I get to the end of each scenario for each island, the game offers me one or two goals from the last second second. to complete before I can really move forward. Do not get me wrong, the story is worth telling. You will love Babs and it's really paying off in the end, when different stories come together. But the padding of the break is pretty obvious, even with the new ability to move fast, and a bit frustrating when you've seen everything an island has to offer. Some sections do not help at all certain sections with insoluble or fast-paced dialogue and the similar rhythm of the story of each island that can give rise to a sense of déjà vu.

My other main problem with Manufacturers 2 does it do nothing to improve the fight in the first match. It's always a simplified hack-and-slash, with crowds of enemies attacking your colonies from time to time and big boss battles that add an extra element you need to consider. It is usable, exactly as it was the last time, but apart from the addition of attacks in cooperation, not enough done to introduce more of the Dragon Quest combat system in the game

But I do not play these games to fight, although I am obliged; I play them to build and Dragon Quest Builders 2 is an exceptional title when all you have left is to create these towns and villages. There are still plans and plans that you will need to follow for some rooms, but for the most part, you will be able to choose how you build them, provided you include a specific list of items.

Some of the choices made here are strange, such as hostel signs should stand on the inside wall instead of the outside or force players to open a bathroom door in an area, but allow NPCs another to do a dumping where everyone can see. but there are so many options and design elements available that you can really create spectacular rooms and buildings. Space is a problem on each of the main islands of the game – it never seems that there is enough room for everything I wanted to build – but I was able to build my cities more efficiently this time thanks to the first-person camera mode. In fact, it does not really help the fight, it's worse, but I preferred to build in the first person from the moment I used it for the first time.

Other additions to Manufacturers 2 It's not quite the same effect on me. The glider cape is underutilized outside of several specific moments. Underwater travel is more of a nuisance than a new exciting way to further explore the sport. And I'm not too fan of Malroth's AI and his insistence that he do everything I do (if I hit a rock to pick up some rock, he'll run and find a rock to hit to be able to also pick up some stone). I will say that I am grateful that I do not have to worry about the degradation of my weapons and armor anymore, but I do not think it's a big enough addition to help elevate this game against the 39; original. There is a four-player cooperative, but I have not been able to test it during this period of examination.

It's easy for me to say Dragon Quest Builders 2 It's a good game because it would be a lie for me to say the opposite. The foundations laid by the first title are always sound, but they just did not catch me in the same way as his predecessor. That's not to say I'm going to stop playing so soon – I still have my home island to complete – but that does not mean that she's not going to grab my full attention for weeks like the first match.

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

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Dragon Quest Builders 2 Reviewed by CJ Andriessen