Dragon Quest Builders

I haven't played much in the Dragon Quest universe. The only other DQ game I played extensively was Dragon Quest IX: Sentinals of the Starry Skies. I really enjoyed my experience, but never ended up picking up another DQ game- with limited funds, I always prioritised games that I was more interested in. However, I saw a video on YouTube by BeatEmUps about Dragon Quest Builders, and bought the game the same day. I will post the video here for you.

When you first start playing, you are able to customise your character. I was a little worried that it wouldn't be an option, so I was glad to see that I was wrong. The customisation options are somewhat limited, but you can choose your gender, skin tone, hair colour, and eye colour. Your character has a distinct Dragon Quest style to it.

As you will see as we progress through this article, Dragon Quest Builders feels like a hybrid of a few different games. Most notably for me are Minecraft, 7 Days to Die, and of course, Dragon Quest. As I said above, I am personally not all that familiar with the lore and world of Dragon Quest, but if you are, from what I have seen online, you will find yourself in familiar territory, which I imagine will add to the enjoyment level of this game for fans of the series!

There are three modes to enjoy in this game. There is free mode, which provides you with unlimited resources and lets you build to your heart's content. There is the story mode, which is what we will primarily be focusing on today, in which you gather resources, help citizens, and defend your base. Lastly, there is Terra Incognita, which is a mesh of the two previous modes.

I have only played in the story mode thus far, and I have been thoroughly engaged with it. The story mode consists of isolated chapters, taking place in different settings, with varying characters, and based off of what I have played so far, different experiences and challenges to meet. The story mode consists of different elements.

As with Minecraft, and many other survival based games, you must gather resources. These come in many varieties- building materials, food, equipment, and so on. You then use these resources to build your base/city, cook food, create weapons and armour, and build furniture for your home and its residents. You discover new recipes as you play, speak with different NPCs, and discover new materials. You can use the furniture to put together rooms that often give you boons as well (such as increased passive health regain, stronger armour and weapons, etc).

As in 7 Days to Die, you must defend your base from monster attacks. It is not as difficult as 7 Days to Die, but it is still an enjoyable aspect of the game. You can build various defenses in order to keep your base and citizens safe. Spike traps are a defense you learn early on. You can strengthen your walls by upgrading them to sturdier material. And you can go out in person to attack the invaders.

And of course, you must do what you can to help your citizens, even if they're kind of rude to you... sometimes they will ask for particular items, or will provide you with blueprints for a room they want built. I have only recently begun playing Chapter Two, but the requests between chapters seem different enough to keep this part of the game entertaining.

Once you finish Chapter One, you unlock the third game mode, Terra Incognita. I haven't played it yet, but I am excited to give it a try. In this mode, you have a safe island where you can build the city of your dreams. NPCs will come and stay with you for a few days, then leave to make way for new ones (apparently you can designate favourites so that they will never leave). Even friendly monsters can come and visit. You can add them to your party, and explore various other islands (unlocked as you complete story mode chapters), fight monsters, and gather resources. If you exhaust those islands, you can ask the goddess to reset them, meaning that you can keep building and building, without fear of running out of resources. Completing the challenges in each chapter of story mode also unlocks a variety of  recipes you can make use of in Terra Incognita. 

As I said above, I am not very far in the game. I have recently started Chapter Two. It took me approximately 20 hours to complete Chapter One, though I know that I didn't 100% it. I was a little worried about beginning Chapter Two. When you travel to the next land, you lose all of your resources, many of your recipes, and items. I was concerned that I would be frustrated, or bored, in starting from almost scratch, but after having played Chapter Two for about five hours, I have not actually experienced any negative emotions. Chapter Two offers an experience very different from Chapter One, that has so far kept me engaged completely. I might go so far as to say that I am enjoying the new mechanics and items of Chapter Two more than I did those of Chapter One. And, if I do ever miss the city from Chapter One, I can always continue playing there, as each chapter uses its own set of save slots (five each). So, the chapters are completely isolated from each other, but I wouldn't say that this diminishes the experience in the slightest. I actually quite like the compact nature of this. And when I am all done, Terra Incognita will be waiting for me.

Leave me alone Slime, I'm trying to study!

Have you played this game? What do you think about it? I have found myself dreaming in blocks with how much I've been playing lately. It has been helping with my anxiety a great deal, and I do not regret spending the pricey $79.95 on it. I bought it on the Nintendo Switch, as I like the idea of being able to play in bed when my insomnia is bad, and while my husband plays Monster Hunter on the PS4. I play on taking it to my mum's tomorrow, just in case I have to play (you know what I'm talking about).